President & Professor
Holds a B.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tripoli, Libya and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Dr. Abushagur is a professor of Microsystems engineering and professor of electrical engineering in the Kate Gleason college of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He came to RIT from the University of Alabama at Huntsville where he was professor of electrical and computer engineering and professor of optical science and engineering. At the University of Alabama, Dr. Abushagur led development of the university’s optical engineering degree programs. Dr. Abushagur now is the Founding President and Professor at RIT Dubai since 2008.
Professor Abushagur’s research interests include nanophotonics, micro-optical systems, optical MEMS, optical computing and signal processing, optical fiber communications and sensing. He served as the PI or Co-PI of many research projects totaling over 13 million dollars, supported by NSF, FAA, DOE, ARO, AFOSR, NASA. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 papers, 5 book chapters, a book on Fourier Optics and holds several patents. He received numerous excellence awards in research, teaching and service including Distinguished Faculty Member Award, College of Engineering, UAH, 1992; NASA Space Act Award from the NASA Inventions and Contributions Board 2004, and several US NAVY and NASA faculty fellowships.
Dr. Abushagur serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Advanced Optical Technologies, and serves on the editorial board of the Optical and Laser Technology Journal.
As part of Dr. Abushagur’s entrepreneurship activities he founded two start-up companies. He is the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Photornix (M) Sdn. Bhd., an optical fiber components companies founded in 1998 with private equity. Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer and VP of LiquidLight, Inc., an optical networking equipment developer. It was founded through venture capital investment.
He is an elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), an elected Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs & Professor
Luther Troell is the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at RIT Dubai. He received his MS at Texas A&M-Kingsville and his PhD from the University of Texas-Austin. After teaching mathematics and computer science for twenty-seven years at Victoria College, he joined RIT in 1999 as a Professor in the Department of Information Technology (specializing in Networking and System Administration). In 2001, his interest turned to networking and system security curriculum development. He has co-authored two papers on the development of computer, networking, and digital forensic courses.
He was named the first department chair of the Networking, Security, and Systems Administration Department when it was formed in December of 2005 and is a professor in that department.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Salameh Ahmad is an Assistant Professor of Condensed Matter Physics at Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai. He received his MSc in Experimental Solid state Physics from Yarmouk University and a PhD in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics from Michigan State University in 2007. Before joining RIT he was an Assistant professor of Physics at Michigan State University.
Dr. Ahmad research interest is theoretical understanding of electronic structure and transport properties of the novel ternary and quaternary narrow band-gap semiconductors containing different impurity atoms for their potential thermoelectric properties, using both LDA (local density approximation) and GGA (generalized gradient approximation) methods in DFT (density functional theory) calculations. So far he has published eight papers in refereed journals.
Associate Professor
Dr. Amer is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1999. Before joining RIT, he was with Nortel Networks and was involved in several technical leadership roles in Wireless Network Engineering. While with Nortel, Dr. Amer made significant contributions related to the development of 2G, 3G and 4G wireless products that has influenced the company’s technology evolution path and the product portfolio in addition to changes in LTE 3GPP specifications. In his recent role as leader of 4G RF Design and Engineering Solutions, Dr. Amer and his team used analytical and simulation methods to create performance characterization of LTE MAC/PHY algorithms and advanced engineering solutions and compared their offering with other emerging 4G technologies and existing 2G/3G systems. Dr. Amer also led an engineering team to create RF propagation models in the 3.5GHz band after securing the required fund to perform the testing and analysis. Dr. Amer was recognized by the company as a subject matter expert in engineering conferences and forums and in resolving customer’s critical design and performance issues. He was recognized as top talent by the president of Wireless Networks and was identified as a member of a very limited group of key employees in recognition of the importance of retaining them with the company.
Between 2001 and 2007, he was an adjunct at the University of Texas at Arlington and Dallas and the University of North Texas teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in the area of telecommunications. Dr. Amer has championed dozens of research projects in wireless engineering, holds patents in wireless product development, and has published extensively in IEEE journals and wireless engineering forums. Dr. Amer is a senior member of IEEE since 2003. His research interest includes carrier synchronization for CDMA and OFDM systems, MIMO systems, wireless propagation, interference control in cellular systems, and performance evaluation of PHY and MAC algorithms for 4G broadband systems.
Associate Professor
Dr. Russell Arent is Associate Professor of English at RIT Dubai. He received a Master’s degree in English as a Second Language and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. His most recent book is Bridging the Cross-Cultural Gap from the University of Michigan Press. His research papers have impacted international audiences in ten countries on diverse applied linguistics topics such as language learning and assessment, teacher education, pragmatics, genre analysis and sports history. He has extensive teaching and administrative experience at several highly regarded institutions in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the United States.
Associate Professor
Peter Bajorski, Ph.D., is a faculty member in the Graduate Statistics Department in the Center for Quality and Applied Statistics at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His duties include teaching graduate courses in statistics, designing and teaching short courses, and performing consulting and research for wide range of corporate clients.
Prof. Bajorski holds a Ph.D. degree in mathematical statistics, a BS/MS in mathematics, and an M.Eng. in industrial engineering. Prior to joining RIT, he held positions at Cornell University, the University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University. He was also an Associate Statistician at the Engineering Research and Development Bureau, New York State Department of Transportation.
Dr. Bajorski’s statistical expertise is in regression techniques, multivariate analysis, design of experiments, and nonparametric methods. He has done statistical work in Reliability, Imaging Science, Environmental Conservation, Transportation, Health Services, Quality Assurance, as well as in Material Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Industrial Engineering. He is certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt and is familiar with the Lean Enterprise approach to process improvement.
Dr. Bajorski has published 40 research papers in scientific journals with international circulation and has given more than 60 talks to the professional community. He has received several awards for his contributions to research and teaching. He has served as a referee for five statistical journals and wrote numerous book reviews for book publishers and for professional journals. He is President of the Rochester Chapter of the American Statistical Association.
Associate Professor
Charles Border is an expert on computer security, system administration, spyware, networking and higher education issues. His teaching concentrates on system administration and he has also taught networking courses.
Border has a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Buffalo and an MBA with concentration in Finance and Management Information Systems from the University of Buffalo.
He is comfortable talking about a range of issues related to networking and system administration and is in the process of developing expertise in computer and enterprise security.
English Instructor
Ms. Lynnette Crane is an English Instructor at RIT Dubai. She holds an M.A.L.S. Degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and a B.A. Degree, English, from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She came to RIT Dubai with sixteen years experience teaching a wide range of English courses in universities in the Middle East to students of various nationalities.
Ms. Crane’s research interests include integrating critical thinking into university courses for EFL students, causes of and solutions to plagiarism, the importance of language in examination instructions for EFL students, writing assessment, and writing across the curriculum for EFL students. She has presented papers on topics related to EFL writing and language instruction in Spain, Romania, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
Her publications include co-author of “Googling Assignments,” Gulf News, May 2005, which addresses the pros and cons of university students utilizing the Internet for research writing, and “Plagiarism, Cheating, and Getting Ahead,” Essential Teacher, Online, March 2007.
lcrane@ritdubai.ae
Phone: 971 04 371 2073
Professor Dayton holds a bachelor’s degree in Classics from Princeton and a PhD in Classics from Brown University. He has taught history, literature, and Greek, Latin, and English language courses at a number of institutions in the US, Canada, and Europe, including Indiana University, the University of Calgary, and the American University in Bosnia and Herzegovina. An authority on the conventions of warfare and conceptions of peace in ancient Greece and Rome, he is the author of ‘The Athletes of War’: An Evaluation of the Agonistic Elements in Greek Warfare (Toronto: Edgar Kent, 2006) as well as several academic articles. He is a Fellow of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and a member of the American Philological Association.
Associate Professor
Alexander Friess is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai. He received his B.Sc. in Physics and M.Sc. and Ph.D. (1997) in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York. His research background includes experimental fluid dynamics and instrumentation, composite materials and lightweight structures, and optimization with a focus on high performance sports. Dr. Friess has been active globally as consultant and design engineer working on a variety of projects, including participating in the design and engineering of South Africa’s yacht for the America’s Cup 2007, and he has held executive leadership positions in the renewable energy industry in Spain, as well as academic appointments as Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Dubai Aerospace Enterprise University. Current interests are focused on renewable energy applications, and the field of engineering design and design education, with a focus on multinational student collaboration and educating the “global engineer”.
Professor
Dr. Hany Ghoneim is a full professor in the department of mechanical engineering. He has joined numerous research and development laboratories; including Phillips laboratory, Cornell Injection Molding Program, Lawrie Technology, AT&T laboratory and IBM; where he conducted state of the art research projects in the fields of thermo-mechanics of plastics and composites and vibration damping and control. He also published and presented dozens of papers; as well as developed and taught courses in both fields. He successfully managed a couple of grants in the fields of thermo-mechanical behavior of metals and plastics as well as in vibration suppression and control
Professor
Steven Gold is a professor of economics in the Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology. His administrative experience includes serving as department chair of finance and accounting for five years, faculty director of the college's management development program, and vice-president of the faculty senate at RIT. The focus of his research has been in the field of business simulations and gaming. He has published over 26 referred journal articles and proceedings on the topics of simulation and gaming, and the modeling of demand, production and finance algorithms. He is the author of 4 computerized business and economic simulations with publishers including MacMillan, Random House, and McGraw-Hill.
He is a fellow and past-president of the national Association of Business Simulations and Experiential Learning (ABSEL). A bibliometric co-citation study cited Steven Gold as one of the most "influential" authors in simulation research with this association. He has received three best research paper awards, and in 2008 was recognized as one of the outstanding reviewers in the simulation research track. Steven Gold has presented his research abroad at the International Simulation and Gaming Association in Weimar, Germany; as a lecturer at Scheffield Polytechnic Institute in England; and in Prague, Czech Republic. For many years, he was an associate editor of Simulation & Gaming: An International Journal of Theory, Design, and Research; and is currently one of the reviewers. He received his B.A. in economics and B.S. in industrial engineering at Rutgers University in New Brunswick; and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from the State University of New York in Binghamton.
Associate Professor
Chun-Keung (Stan) Hoi is an associate professor of finance in the College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Hoi earned his Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in finance and a minor in economics at the Arizona State University in 1997. He has a MS (1989) and a BS (1987) in economics both at the University of North Texas.
His current research interests include corporate finance, corporate governance, and "law and finance". He has published in academic journals. His recent works on the labor market for directors and director compensation have appeared in the Journal of Finance and the Financial Management. His teaching interests include corporate finance, investment, international finance and economics.
Professor
Dr. James Jacobs, Ph.D. is Chair of the Service Leadership and Innovation graduate program in the School of Hospitality and Service Management. He brings unique experience to the classroom given his years as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force and years of consulting in the service sector. Dr. Jacobs teaches numerous courses which HSA students take during their studies at RIT.
Adjunct Professor
Professor Greg Van Laeken earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1994. Immediately upon graduating from RIT Mr. Van Laeken relocated to the New York Metropolitan area and began a career as an interbank dealer of interest rate and currency derivatives. By 2003 he had moved to Zurich, Switzerland as the vice president and global head of emerging markets trading for a prestigious private Swiss bank. In this role Mr. Van Laeken helped to develop and oversee rapid growth in the emerging market trading and sales operation for the bank’s foreign exchange division. In 2005 Mr. Van Laeken left the financial services industry to take on a newly created position at his alma mater – business manager and analyst for RIT’s global operations. This role requires Mr. Van Laeken to work directly with senior management across all divisions of the University to provide leadership in the areas of business and financial planning, daily operations and risk management for RIT's overseas campuses. Additionally, Mr. Van Laeken has been tapped to oversee the management of the University's short-term investment portfolio, as well as advising senior management on the University's debt portfolio and interest rate hedging strategies. Mr. Van Laeken also serves RIT’s Saunders College of Business as an adjunct faculty instructor for the MBA program, specializing in the field of international finance and derivative products. Mr. Van Laeken earned his Master of Business Administration degree from RIT in 2008.
Professor
Dr. Merouane Lakehal-Ayat has been a faculty member since 1986. He currently teaches investment theory and corporate finance related graduate and undergraduate classes. During his tenure, he has received numerous awards for his devotion towards his students’ development (most notably, the Who’s Who of American Teachers, along with four College Teaching Awards). Dr. Lakehal-Ayat is also active in the research area through publishing and attending conferences centered on a variety of issues in the field of finance.
In addition, Dr. Lakehal-Ayat was awarded Fulbright Fellowships in 2001, 2002, 2007 where he was involved in a number of consultancy, research, and teaching projects around the world. As such, he is able to offer students a unique, first hand approach rooted in international experience towards facilitating the understanding of how financial theory allows for market economies and its entities to behave and interact with one another.
Professor
Ann Leonard brings more than 20 years experience as a director for worldwide learning and organization development, first for Eastman Kodak Company's Health Group and most recently for Carestream Health. In this capacity, she provided strategic organization development consulting to the leadership of these two $2.5 billion companies, with a focus on business transformation, global learning and development, talent management and employee engagement. Ann also served as HR Director and Vice President for Kodak's Entertainment Imaging, and Document Imaging organizations, during periods of organization growth and acquisitions. She led global HR teams in both of these divisions in processes such as leadership development, succession planning, recruiting, and performance management. Ann also launched Kodak's eLearning strategy. She earned an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Rochester.
Associate Professor
Tae H. Oh received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University in 1990 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 1995 and 2001, respectively.
Before joining RIT, he worked for several telecom and defense companies like Raytheon (Communication Systems Engineer: 1990-1995), Nortel Networks (Senior Software Engineer: 1995-1999), Ericsson (Systems Engineer: 1999-2001) and Ceterus Networks (Senior Systems Architect: 2002-2003) and Rockwell Collins (Principle Systems Engineer: 2003-2008) in the area of military communication systems, circuit switching, ATM, MPLS, wireless networks and MANET.
He also taught MPLS, IP and Network Management courses at SMU as an adjunct professor (2004-2008). His current research interests include MANET, Sensor Networks, Telemedicine, Network/Cyber Security, Green Communications, and Scalable Modeling and Simulation.
Associate Professor
Victor Perotti is an Associate Professor and consultant on the business implications of new technologies including: digital business, digital entrepreneurship, Web 2.0, ecommerce, Web business models and mobile work. His most recent research examines social networks (especially Facebook.com), social computing, Clean Slate Internet approaches, mobile collaboration, digital entrepreneurship, electronic communities and video game business models.
Perotti is an accomplished communicator and educator, and was awarded RIT's highest honors for teaching: the Richard and Virginia Eisenhart Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching (2000) and the Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching (2004). His professional speaking engagements include academic conferences, small group meetings and large auditorium lectures.
Before joining RIT, Perotti completed Masters Degrees in Computer Science (1990) and Cognitive Psychology (1994) as well as a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology (1997), all at Ohio State University. His doctoral thesis examined the visual perception of 3-D structure from motion information.
Perotti's consulting work has ranged from conducting advanced business simulation experiences at Harris R.F. to business plan development for pre-seed video game companies to creating multimedia software for David Bowie's "Jump" CD-ROM
Please check out Victor's blog about his trip to RIT Dubai
Assistant Professor
Daniel Tessoni is an assistant professor of Accounting in the College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology and a CPA. He received his Ph.D. in Accounting from Syracuse University, a MS from Clarkson and a bachelor's degree from St. John Fisher College. He has presented seminars and executive programs on accounting and finance related issues to numerous companies including Constellation Brands, ITT Industries Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, Chase Manhattan Bank, First Empire Bank and Apple Computer.
He served as a member of the Board of Directors of ACC Corp., a publicly- held long distance and cellular telephone company from 1987 until 1998 when the company was purchased by ATT. Dr. Tessoni served as chairman of the Audit Committee, and as a member of the Compensation Committee and the Executive Committee and several special committees.He currently serves on the board of several privately held corporations.
His research interests are in the areas of agency theory and positive accounting theory.
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, IEEE Women in Engineering Chair UAE Section
Boutheina Kzadri Tlili joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at Rochester institute of Technology Dubai as an associate professor of Electrical engineering. Dr.Tlili earned her PhD (‘94) in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University. Prior to joining RIT, she was the program director of the Computer Engineering program at Michigan State University -Dubai. Dr. Tlili was an associate professor and program coordinator of Electrical and Computer Engineering program at the American University in Dubai from 2004-2008. Her area of Specialty is Applied Electromagnetic. Her research interest include Antenna analysis and design, Electromagnetic Theory, Field propagation in complex media and Microwave electronics. Dr. Tlili is an IEEE senior member and IEEE Women in Engineering chair for the UAE section.
International Adjunct Professor
Professor Traub has over 35 years of global industry experience in capacities including VP and director of Operations & Supply Chain at small start up companies, Kodak, Xerox, ITT Space Systems, and Delphi, His global Supply Chain experience includes an Expat assignment in China, and the global consulting has taken him to many emerging countries.
His international teaching experience started in 1983 with RIT, where he continues to teach 9 different graduate courses in International Business, Decision Sciences, Management, Multi Disciplinary Studies and Management Leadership. His most recent international assignments have been in Kosovo for CMS and Dubai in both the CMS and the Saunders College of Business MBA program. Professor Traub has led more than 30 major seminars for professional societies, including professional certification sessions.
Professor Traub is a licensed Marine Professional Engineer with additional private nuclear systems certification, Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and a Certified Purchasing Manager. His distinguished professional recognitions include " Leadership Awards", "Professional Development Award", ISM Professional Certification Test question writer, and President of the local ISM association. His long-standing contributions to community through many volunteer organizations have been recognized through special Leadership awards including two as volunteer of the year. He continues to give back to the community as a SCORE counselor for US small business.
His hobbies have included Karate and Ki Jiu-Jitsu, where he earned 3 degree Black Belt. During his international travels he has climbed Mt Fuji, sat on the Great Wall of China, rode a camel in the UAE dessert, snorkeled in some of the most beautiful waters of the world, visited several of the tallest and special buildings of the world, seen the worst poverty, and some of the greatest wealth up close and personal. Most of all, he has met some of the best people of the world.
Professor
Dr. Tarek Zaher is a professor of Finance at Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai on Sabbatical leave from Indiana State University. Dr. Zaher has held a number of professional positions with the industry and provided consulting services to a number of international institutions including the World Bank, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan and the Academy for Educational Development in the United States. He also manages a number of international portfolios and has offered a number of seminars in investment and international finance at a number of institutions around the world. Dr. Zaher’s research has been published in numerous prestigious professional and scholarly journals, including the Journal of Financial Research, the Journal of Banking and Finance, and Advances in Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management.
