Beach Connection Magazine : Fall 2017 Fall 2017 | Page 9

Faculty Highlight •
NO LIMITS,
NO BARRIERS
IN ENGINEERING
Dr. Jalal Torabzadeh
CURRENT POSITION:
Professor and Chairman, Mechanical and

Aerospace Engineering
Coordinator Petroleum Engineering Program, CSULB
EDUCATION
1984 Ph.D., USC – Petroleum Engineering
1980 M.S., USC – Petroleum Engineering
1978 B.S., Abadan Institute of Technology -

At age 15, Dr. Jalal Torabzadeh moved out of his parent’s
home in the small town of Bafgh, Iran. The first in both his
family and hometown to continue his education, he planted
himself in the much bigger and busier city of Isfahan to pursue
his studies at a reputable high school. His impressive acade mic
achievement then lead him to the Abadan Institute of Technology,
where he was chosen for an internship with Iran’s National
Oil Company.
After, Dr. Torabzadeh planned for a temporary move to the
United States to receive an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering
at USC. However, his stay would become permanent with
the start of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980. Unable to return home
and with encouragement of his professors and department
chair, he remained at USC to obtain his Ph.D., and the rest
is history. Unsurprisingly, his greatest advice to students is
to “be flexible, open-minded, persistent, and a hard worker,
and be prepared for everything unpredictable.”
In 1986, Dr. Torabzadeh joined The Beach to launch the
petroleum engineering program and to serve as an Assistant
Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Since then, he has
touched nearly all corners of campus as the current MAE
Department Chairman, as undergraduate and graduate
advisor, through various roles in university governance
(including serving for 16 years on the Academic Senate and
its councils, committees, and task forces), as well as nearly
all College of Engineering and department committees.
Chemical Engineering
His campus contributions have not gone unnoticed. In 2013,
he received the Nicholas Perkins Hardeman Academic
Leadership Award—the highest CSULB honor recognizing
major contributions to university shared governance. He has
also been awarded on multiple occasions as an outstanding
educator and distinguished faculty member by the University
and several educational and professional organizations.
Dr. Torabzadeh has devoted his career to teaching and
researching thermodynamics, heat transfer, transport
processes in porous media, environmental engineering,
enhanced oil and gas recovery, water resources, remediation
of contaminated soil, and much more. His cutting edge
research has allowed him to take part in major projects
funded by the US Department of Energy, Southern California
Gas Company, and Chevron Petroleum Technology Co.
When Dr. Torabzadeh is not improving university policy or
producing top-tier engineers, he enjoys classical music. He
expressed “I did not have time to learn how to play music
myself,” but that his two sons are taking on the violin and the
piano. He is a regular at the LA Philharmonic, the Hollywood
Bowl, and the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.
Reflecting on his time at The Beach, Dr. Torabzadeh said: “I
want to be a person who is remembered as a visionary, and
for touching many lives and making changes for the better.”
FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 7
9