Professor Khaled Shahin was convinced the new research-based undergraduate engineering course he’d been imagining since starting at NYUAD would be life-changing for his students. This belief was based on some very personal, real-life data. As an undergraduate student, Shahin wasn’t entirely certain about the direction of his career until a mentor asked if they could do a research project together. That experience was transformative and solidified Shahin’s path in academia.
“To me, it paid dividends,” said Shahin, NYUAD’s clinical associate professor of civil and urban engineering. “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be here right now. That really opened my eyes to how research is done.”
Traditionally, a research-based curriculum is reserved for graduate students. In the fall of 2023 NYUAD engineering division introduced a two-credit research course specifically for undergraduate students. Shahin designed and completed his first-ever research project with a student still working on her bachelor’s degree.
Shahin and the student worked with materials and adhesives used to build airplanes, boats, and submarines. They glued carbon and fiberglass parts, and performed stress tests. The goal was to be able to predict the exact pressure that causes glued materials to come apart.
“Here's how these things fail. Here's how that glue line unzips,” Shahin said. “We can actually put a number on it and predict the strength of the glue line. We will then be able to make recommendations. For instance, suggest a maximum depth for a submarine or a top speed for an airplane. There are so many things that can be done to make our structures safer.”
The results of their experiments were a huge success, Shahin said, beyond what he had initially imagined. Just like the research-based work that shaped his undergraduate experience, this project did the same for his student, Valentina Juarez Ortiz. Ortiz’s work as part of this new engineering course led to her receiving the prestigious NYU Abu Dhabi's Tamayyuz Post-Graduation Research Fellowship, a competitive one-year opportunity that will foster her growth as an engineer, as well as help retain talent in the UAE.
Shahin has been at NYUAD for over a decade. He teaches, coordinates engineering assessments, and implements new courses. It’s a lot by any measure. But Shahin loves it and can’t imagine doing anything else.
“One thing I tell my students when they ask me about which majors to pick is that I tell them to pick something they're passionate about. Because one thing I feel is that I haven't worked a single day at NYU Abu Dhabi; it just doesn't feel like work.”
