Engineering with head and heart

When Vijayakumar Bhagavatula gave the opening remarks at the recent Milestone Moments talk, the interim dean of the College of Engineering seemed to genuinely wonder what the secret was to Maysam Chamanzar’s success.

In addition to touting the vitally important neuroscience breakthroughs the professor of electrical and computer engineering (ECE) has made in the development of next-generation brain-computer interfaces, Bhagavatula also marveled at the unusually high faculty course evaluations scores he received teaching Electromagnetics, one of the program’s toughest courses.

Chamanzar’s scores were not just high, they were a perfect 5.0 out of 5.0, noted Larry Pileggi, department head and professor of electrical and computer engineering, when he introduced Chamanzar.

“He is an incredible lecturer, and his research work is inspiring,” said Pileggi.

Chamanzar then revealed what may well be the secret to his success: the accomplished engineer is a philosopher at heart.

Chamanzar shared how his philosophy of life has guided his path and driven many of his achievements during his talk at the Center for Faculty Success’ fifth Milestone Moments event, which celebrates professors who have achieved the highest rank within their respective faculty tracks.

He says his upbringing in a close-knit Iranian family who valued education and learning led him to study philosophers like Nasir al-Din Tusi, the famous Persian polymath, astronomer, architect, physician, and scientist, who, like Chamanzar, wanted to understand the world through both science and philosophy.

Chamanzar who described the unexpected turns his career has taken declared, “When the destination is uncertain, the journey becomes wonderful and exciting."

When the destination is uncertain, the journey becomes wonderful, and exciting.

Maysam Chamanzar, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

After earning his Ph.D. at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he had to choose from offers he received from Harvard, Michigan, and the University of California at Berkley.  Despite the many mentors who told him to go to Harvard, something was pulling him to learn more about the brain, which he would have the opportunity to do in California. So, he took what he called a calculated risk and accepted the post-doctoral position that would demand more time to study the neuroscience that hadn’t been the focus of his previous studies.

He admitted that it wasn’t easy taking such a turn in his career path, but he truly believes that new territories are amazing to explore.

“Don’t be afraid of trying new things,” he told the audience, which included many of the doctoral students who now see him as their trusted advisor. By being flexible, he said ideas will emerge that present opportunities they should embrace.

At a time when he was deeply immersed in designing multi-modal neural interfaces and optical imaging of the brain, he was approached by scientists from a major cochlear implant manufacturer company who wanted him to work on designing sensors for ear surgery.

Although it was not the direction that he had imagined his work would take him, it has resulted in the creation of Advanced Optronics, a spin-out company that produces high precision sensors that make cochlear implant surgery safer and have the potential to be adapted for other surgical applications.

He also warned his students that while they, of course, should be organized they should not be too structured because people are not machines.

That may be somewhat ironic coming from an engineer who envisions making devices that can someday be interfaced with the brain so that people can control a computer or a robot with the power of their mind. He is also interested in working on a smart contact lens that could, one day, restore vision for blind people. He also wants to explore ways to mitigate the high energy cost of computing, inspired by the efficiency of brain function.

But such lofty challenges appear to be as dear to him as the deep appreciation he has for the students, colleagues, and his beloved family who he says optimize what he calls his enduring happiness. And Chamanzar’s ambition is well-tempered by his closest held philosophies that life is wonderful, and love is the essence of everything.