Student Spotlight: Neda Shafiei

Name

Neda Shafiei

Year in Program

Fourth year Ph.D. candidate in Reliability Engineering

Advisor

Dr. Modarres; Co-advisor: Dr. Herrmann

Research Interests

Estimating the reliability of consumer electronics, test specification design, machine learning, data analysis

Dissertation Topic

Designing test specification for consumer products and estimating their reliability using the accelerated life test data and user survey data.

What drew you to engineering?

I became interested in engineering when I was a teenager. During school time, I was always interested in mathematics and physics. Considering my tendency to these subjects, my parents encouraged me to pursue an engineering major. Furthermore, I was enthusiastic about knowing the mechanism of gadgets and due to my strong mathematical & physical background, finally, I decided to choose mechanical engineering as my university major.

What made you decide to come to UMD and the ENRE Program?

I came to the University of Maryland because it is one of the best universities in mechanical engineering. During my PhD studies at UMD, I took several reliabilty engineering (ENRE) courses and gradually became interested in reliability engineering. Due to my interest, I joined the reliability engineering program to earn more knowledge and skills in this field. I am so happy with my decision as I had the chance to work with experienced professors and expand my reliability knowledge.

What do you want people to know about Reliability Engineering that they may not know?

Almost everything we learn about reliability engineering at UMD is to address industrial problems. The connection between reliability engineering and industry is very visible in ENRE courses. So, taking the courses seriously will make us resourceful reliability engineers in our future careers.

What is a fun fact about yourself?

I play santur and guitar. Also, I enjoy watching movies and gatherings with my family and friends.

Published December 16, 2021