EE Professor Honored by Mississippi Academy of Science

March 30, 2003
Description: Photo of Award Presentation

An electrical engineering professor has made history as the first to receive the Mississippi Academy of Sciences' Outstanding Contributions to Science Award.

Dr. Atef Z. Elsherbeni, professor of electrical engineering, received the recognition in February at the MAS annual conference. Dr. Charles Smith, professor emeritus, said Elsherbeni is the first UM engineering professor to win the award.

"Dr. Elsherbeni is a truly worthy and outstanding recipient of this stateside MAS award," said Smith. "Over the past 16 years as a faculty member at Ole Miss, Dr. Elsherbeni has demonstrated enthusiasm, diligence, productivity, and just plain hard work. He's to be commended."

Elsherbeni, who received his doctoral degree from the University of Manitoba, was recognized for his teaching, service, and research. As a teacher, he has taught numerous undergraduate and graduate courses and has mentored 26 graduate students.

His contributions in the area of service are many. Elsherbeni has served as Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the Applied Computational Electromagnetic Society since 2001, as Editor of the Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications since 1996, and as Electronic Publishing Managing Editor for the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society since 1999. He's served as section chairman or vice-chairman of over 20 national, regional, or local conferences.

Elsherbeni has established himself as a remarkable scholar. While he has several areas of interest, he has performed pioneering research in computational electromagnetics on modeling microwave circuits, microstrip transmission lines, and wireless antennas using MoM (moment methods) and FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) techniques. Having received 53 funded research grants, published or presented over 230 papers, research reports, and presentations, and contributions to more than 12 books related to his research area, he has distinguished himself among scholars locally, regionally, and nationally. He also serves as an Associate Director for the Center for Applied Electromagnetic Systems Research (CAESR) at Ole Miss.

"This award is the highest honor the academy presents," said Sarah McGuire, chair of the MAS awards and resolution committee. "Dr. Elsherbeni is truly outstanding."

In 2002, he was named the Region 3 Outstanding Engineering Educator in 2002 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and he was presented with the Outstanding Engineering Faculty Award at The University of Mississippi. In addition, he was selected as the 1996 Outstanding Engineering Educator by the IEEE Memphis Section.

MAS is an association of scientists of all backgrounds from across the state. The Academy aims to bring together scientists in the state to encourage scientific interactions and to better science and science education in the state.

-Tobie Baker, University of Mississippi, Media/Public Relations