Faculty and Staff
Department Chair | Dept. Administrative Aide | Full-time Faculty | Part-time Faculty | Staff
Department Chair
Email: Lan.Xiang@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-1740
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436C
Biography
Dr. Xiang holds a BS from Jiaotong University in China and an MS and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the department in fall 2003. Dr. Xiang has taught all of the electrical engineering courses including: Digital Logic Design, Basic Circuit Analysis, and Programming Concepts for Engineering.
Dr. Xiang's research interests are in communication systems, statistical and digital signal processing, blind source separation, and interference cancellation.
Educational Background
- BS, Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiantong University
- MS Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University
- MS, Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
- PhD, Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania
Department Administrative Aide
Full-time Faculty
Email: Palmyra.Catravas@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4120
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436N
Biography
Dr. Palma Catravas holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and a BM in piano performance from the University of Maryland at College Park and an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She performed research in the area of radiation-based electron beam diagnostics and plasma based accelerators at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Prior to joining Montgomery College, Dr. Catravas mentored undergraduates as a faculty member in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Union College, where she was a finalist for the Stillman Teaching Prize in 2014 and the recipient of the Student-nominated Brate Advising Award in the spring of 2018. Dr. Catravas developed a specialized laboratory at the interface of Electrical Engineering and Music (Phasor Lab) and has received a patent on a spectral analysis technique derived from music visualization.
In addition to traditional EE topics, her teaching interests also include nanoscale microscopy, including scanning electron and atomic force microscopy.
Educational Background
- PhD in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- MS in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- BS in Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland at College Park
- BM in Piano Performance, University of Maryland at College Park
Email: Craig.Mogren@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5237
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436E
Biography
Professor Garrison-Mogren holds a B.S. from Clarkson University and a M.S. from Syracuse University. He joined the department in spring 2006 semester. Prior to joining us Professor Garrison-Mogren was Professor and department chair at the Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus where he taught chemistry, engineering, and physics courses.
He was an international service engineer for Westinghouse Power Service Company. His research work at Syracuse was in studying the kinetic properties of molecules in free molecular flow inside capillaries. He designed, organized, and built the graduate and undergraduate mechanical engineering laboratories at Johns Hopkins University. At the Maryland Science Center, he worked with the educational programs and advised on various technical questions in developing the programs.
He has since been a consultant engineer on the mechanical analysis of scaling down of chemical reactions in microplates, lifespan of flexing fiberglass plates, and mechanical properties of elastic membranes. He is currently working on design of residential energy systems (solar photo-voltaic systems, ground loop HVAC, energy efficient residential construction). Professor Mogren is also the faculty advisor for the Montgomery College chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA).
Educational Background
- BS, Mechanical Engineering, Clarkson University
- MS, Mechanical Engineering, Syracuse University
Email: Kedar.Hardikar@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4949
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 444
Biography
Dr. Kedar Hardikar has come to Montgomery College as an Engineering and Physics faculty after a 20+ year career in the tech sector in the San Francisco Bay Area while staying involved in academia as an adjunct professor and advisor to students at San Jose State University, Santa Clara University and overseas students at Indian Institute of Technology. Dr. Hardikar received his Ph.D. from the Division of Engineering, Brown University. After receiving his Ph.D. he has held several key positions in the tech sector ranging from Staff scientist, Principal Engineer, Manager and as a Director at leading technology companies in the domains of Semiconductor Capital Equipment Industry (Novellus, LAM Research), Solar Industry (MiaSole) and Consumer Electronics Industry (Microsoft, Google). His last job before moving to MC was as a manager of Hardware Reliability Group at Google. Dr. Hardikar has extensive background in computational modeling, mechanics of thin films, mathematics, product reliability and organizational leadership. He has authored numerous publications and holds several patents.Dr. Hardikar has also authored three poetry books- two in his native language Marathi and one international poetry publication in English. His unique literary experiment in poetry in his book – “Abstract Intersections – A poetic Journey Through Mathematics” has been received well by literature enthusiasts globally as well as leading mathematicians and scientists of international stature including a letter of praise for the concept of the book from a Fellow of Royal Society. He continues to engage in his hobbies – poetry, painting, clay modeling and playing cricket while pursuing his passion in teaching at MC.
Educational Background
Ph.D (Engineering), Major - Solid Mechanics, Division of Engineering, Brown UniversityMS (Mechanical Engineering), Syracuse University.
BE (Mechanical Engineering), Mumbai University.
Email: wendy.he@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5229
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436H
Biography
Dr. He received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a B.S. degree in applied mechanics from the National University of Defense Technology, China. She joined the department in the Fall 2005 semester. Dr. He worked in the aerospace industry for five years where her duties included mechanical design, thermal stress, and heat transfer analysis of rocket engines. Prior to joining Montgomery College, Dr. He was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Lake Superior State University, where she taught the complete range of general engineering courses and supervised senior research projects involving the development of an underwater robotic arm and associated control systems.
Dr. He’s research work includes the design of mechanical testing and numerical modeling on biomaterials and biomechanical design for the chromatography column, which had been collaborated with Holland Laboratories (of American Red Cross) in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. He is a member of the Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue.
Educational Background
- BS, Aerospace Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, China
- MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- PhD, Bio-mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Email: chienannalex.hou@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7608
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436D
Biography
Dr. Hou holds a B.S. from National TsingHwa University in Taiwan and a M.S. and Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Dr. Hou joined the department in fall 2002. Dr. Hou taught Mechanical Engineering for more than ten years at Howard University. He also has five years experience working in the aerospace industry and for the federal government as a computer systems engineer. He holds a Professional Engineer (PE) license in DC and has co-authored more than 20 research articles and served as chair of many professional conferences.
He is the Engineering Program Coordinator responsible for coordinating engineering events and activities. His primary teaching responsibilities cover almost all Engineering Science (ES) courses. He has served as the Robotics Club advisor since 2003, leading students to national competitions. From 2008 to 2013, Dr. Hou was the Principal Investigator (PI) of NSF S-STEM grant that provided more than a half million dollars in MC and transfer scholarships. In fall 2013, he was invited as a visiting honorary professor to teach and conduct research at China University of Science and Technology (CUST) in Taiwan.
Dr. Hou's research interests are in CAD/CAM, robotics, numerical mechanics, and engineering
education.
Website: https://info.montgomerycollege.edu/faculty/chou/index.html
Educational Background
- BS, Power Mechanical Engineering, National TsingHua University, Taiwan
- MS, Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University
- PhD, Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University
Email: david.kuijt@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5172
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454F
Biography
Dr. Kuijt graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in computer science from the University of Maryland College Park, where he later earned a Ph.D. after completing a computer science dissertation on "An Object-Oriented Approach to Parallel Spatial Indexing of Vector-Format Polygons." After serving as an adjunct professor who taught courses in computer science and electrical engineering, Dr. Kuijt joined Montgomery College as a full-time associate professor at the start of the fall 2015 semester.
Prior to joining MC, Dr. Kuijt taught both undergraduate- and graduate-level computer
and information systems courses at the American University. He has also taught in
the College Park and University College divisions of the University of Maryland.
Dr. Kuijt was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is director of the MC Grand Challenges
Scholars Program and faculty mentor for the MC NASA Swarmathon competition team.
Educational Background
- BS, Computer Science, University of Maryland
- PhD, Computer Science, University of Maryland
Email: Sam.Pouryoussefi@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5164
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 439
under recruitment
Email: catalina.cetina@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5236
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 444
Biography
Dr. Cetina received her PhD degree in experimental nuclear physics from the George Washington University based on work performed at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility in Newport News, VA. She studied fission of heavy nuclei induced by photons in the few-GeV energy range.
Dr. Cetina won the National Research Council award for postdoctoral research at the Naval Research Laboratory and worked in applied physics at the lab's multipurpose 3-MV accelerator facility. She concentrated on accelerator mass spectrometry and specialized in high-precision isotope analysis, but also performed accelerator-based ion-beam implantations and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry.
Dr. Cetina started teaching physics to engineering students in her home country – Romania. She later returned to teaching at Northern Virginia Community College, where she was also co-advising the undergraduate research activity within the local chapter of the Society of Physics Students. She joined the physics faculty at Montgomery College, Rockville, in fall 2013 and is currently serving as STEM representative on the General Education Restructuring Committee.
Educational Background
- BS/MS, Nuclear Physics, University of Bucharest, Romania
- PhD, Nuclear Physics, The George Washington University, Washington DC
Email: maryam.hosseini@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5239
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 445
Educational Background
ABD, Condensed Matter Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
MS, Condensed Matter Physics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
BS, Applied Physics, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran
Research Experience
Conducted research in various areas, including Growth of semiconductors, electrodeposition of thin films, improvements of surface hardening, enhancement of corrosion resistivity, and microstructure development in complex alloys.
Email: richard.szwerc@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4453
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 443
Educational Background
PhD, Acoustics, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PennsylvaniaDissertation: The Separation of the Structure-Borne Sound Intensity of Bending and Longitudinal Waves using a Wave Decomposition Technique
MS, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken
Thesis: The Experimental Detection of Atomic Hydrogen
BE, Engineering Physics, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken
Design Project: Design and Manufacture of a Superconducting Two Tesla Solenoid
Email: helio.zwi@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5240
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436K
Biography
Trilingual (English, Portuguese and Spanish) Dr. Zwi has taught various physics courses including lectures, discussion sessions and labs, for both engineering and non-engineering majors since 2014, and, as the core course physics coordinator has been highly involved in course planning and development since 2016. Dr. Zwi has had a major role in implementing and administrating the common exam system for core physics courses and has taken an active role in exam preparation and assessment. Dr. Zwi has tutored students in physics and mathematics at the Ackerman Learning Center since his arrival at the College, and has participated in multiple full-time faculty search committees.Prior to joining Montgomery College, Dr. Zwi worked as a senior software architect for a firm offering engineering, consulting, and construction services to private industry and government clients. He also served as a senior research physicist in scientific software design and development, as well as a research physicist developing environmental control and data analysis software. He is skilled and credentialed in multiple programming and networking languages.
Dr. Zwi earned his doctorate and master’s degree in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), completing a dissertation in the field of experimental plasma physics entitled, “Plasma Fluid Equilibrium and Field-Plasma Coupling in Steady Field Reversed Configurations Drive by Rotating Magnetic Fields.” His post-doctoral research was at UCLA'S High Power Auroral Stimulation Observatory in Fairbanks, Alaska. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from UNICAMP in Campinas, Brazil.
Educational Background
- BS, Physics, UNICAMP Brazil
- MS, and PhD, Physics, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Part-time Faculty
Office Location: Rockville Campus
Biography
Professor Mirchin has been a science teacher and secondary educator for over 20 years, working in middle schools, high schools, and community colleges. Professor Mirchin has been teaching at Montgomery College for five years for courses such as General Biology, Introduction to Chemistry, and Physical Science.Educational Background
- Ed.D., Science Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
- Ed.M. Secondary Science Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
- B.S., Biology, Guilford College
Office Location: Germantown Campus
Biography
Chidubem Arthur Nwokoye, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor in the Rockville Engineering,
Physical, and Computer Sciences Department, where he has taught courses such as ENEE
207 (Electric Circuits) and ENES 100 (Introduction to Engineering Design). He has
B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the George Washington University,
and a M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
He has over 10 years of experience working as an electronics engineer for the Navy
on projects that involve ferromagnetic resonance measurement systems, low temperature
magneto-optical measurement systems, antenna systems design, and radar systems. He
is the author of nine peer-reviewed technical papers and is the recipient of the Twelfth
Annual NAWCAD Commanders Award and the 2014 BEYA’s Modern Day Technology Leader Award.
He is also a member of the American Physical Society (APS), Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Association of Old Crows (AOC).
Educational Background
BS, Electrical Engineering, George Washington University
MS, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
PhD, Electrical Engineering, George Washington University
Email: hollis.williams@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240 567-2258
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 446
Educational Background
Dr. Williams holds a B.A. in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. and a Ph.D. – both in physics – from American University. He has taught from high school through all college levels. Other institutions at which he has taught include T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA; Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology; Northern Virginia Community College (Annandale); The American University; and, Trinity University.
The emphases of his master’s thesis and Ph.D. research dissertation were in acoustical physics, since music has always been a major key (B#) of his life.
Dr. Williams is a member of the Acoustical Society of America and continues his lifelong love affair with music by participating in various live music events, where he mainly plays bass (guitar) and sings (often in harmony). He is a longtime member of a local choir.
His current responsibilities at Montgomery College are teaching physics to enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts, alike.
Educational Background
- BA, Physics, University of Pennsylvania
- MS, Physics, American university
- PhD, Physics American University
Email: kam.yee@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5484
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 446
Biography
Principal Systems Engineering Consultant at GL Communications, Inc., specializing in communications systems for the public transit industry.Educational Background
BS, Electrical Engineering, North Carolina State University
BS, Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University
MS, Electrical Engineering, North Carolina State University
PhD, Electrical Engineering, North Carolina State University
Staff
Email: paul.bayhurst@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4179
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 425
Biography
Mr. Bayhurst is the Engineering Lab Coordinator/Shop Supervisor. He has a BA in English from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. Before working for Montgomery College Mr. Bayhurst worked as a cabinet-maker, having studied his trade in places such as Cleveland, Charlotte, San Diego, Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Washington DC. Not only has he mastered the tools of the trade, but he also taught classes in the fine art of cabinet-making and furniture-making. Mr. Bayhurst's experience ranges from the complexities of taking a job from the earliest stages of planning and engineering to getting the required tools and materials for which to build the project. He is a winner of the Washington Building Congress award for a job he did for Choice Hotels International. When he’s not building something Paul can be found riding his Indian motorcycle or on a rugby pitch.
Email: Greg.Downs@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-1961
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436Q
Biography
Greg Downs completed his BS in Chemistry from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and later earned both his MS in Chemistry and his MS in Education from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). His research focused on ligand synthesis for organometallic chemistry in the field of C-H bond activation (conversion of methane into methanol in the natural gas industry) and the effect of improved, individual student-focused formative assessment on the results of their summative assessments (pedagogy of testing in secondary science education). He has experience teaching high school Chemistry, Physics and Physical Science classes prior to joining Montgomery College in 2014 with progressive roles as an adjunct faculty member then Senior Instructional Assistant (at the Chemistry Department in Rockville); followed by the Physics, Engineering and Geoscience Instructional Lab Coordinator (at the Science, Engineering & Technology/SET Department in Germantown) then most recently the Instructional Lab Manager for the SET Department (covering the Rockville, Germantown and Tacoma Park/Silver Spring campuses).
Email: Brennan.Ferguson@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7420
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 401
Biography
Brennan Ferguson received his MS in Geology from West Virginia University where his research focused on the chemical interactions that take place between hydraulic fracturing fluid and the Marcellus shale in hydraulically fractured natural gas wells. This published work has implications for gas production and recovered fracturing fluid contamination. He has industry experience as a consulting geologist primarily working on geohazard threats to linear infrastructure in Appalachia as well as environmental remediation and groundwater sampling projects. Brennan joined Montgomery College in 2023 as the Geoscience Instructional Lab Coordinator.
Email: Syed.Gilani@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567- 2296
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 420
Biography
Mr. Syed Gilani completed his MS in Physics from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan. Later he earned his MS in Physics from North Carolina Central University and MS in Nanoscience from University of North Carolina Greensboro. He has experience of fabrication characterization of thin film, nanowires, quantum dots, microfluidics and microelectrodes. His research in graduate school was to design and fabricate flexible microelectrode for future portable electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor that can easily incorporated into textile for long term monitoring of cardiac activities and cost-effective diagnostic tool. The microelectrode that has potential to revolutionize the conventional health care system and transform it into a public health care model based on personal data collection further reduce the burden of patients on health care providers. He also designed a new technique to create multilayer microchannels that serve as platform for future point of care and screening devices. Mr. Gilani has more the 15 years of experience in teaching, research and lab management in the United States and abroad before joining Montgomery College as Instructional Lab Coordinator.