Dr. Hekmat Alighanbari

How do you train a student to think like an engineer? For Hekmat Alighanbari, it’s a clear combination of two things. “Of course, you need the foundational knowledge university gives you,” he says. “And it’s an excellent bonus to have worked in industry, too.”

Alighanbari has experienced both worlds. A senior aerospace engineer at Bombardier before becoming a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University in 1999, he shares all he’s learned with his students in the classroom, as well as one-on-one. “I sit down with them and talk about how they can better manage their academic workloads or dive into the industry. I’ll help guide them in any way I can.”

Alighanbari has ample knowledge to share. After all, he helped create the university's aerospace engineering department—the first of its kind in the country. And although his other duties include being part of a team that reviews, revises and modernizes the curriculum, it’s his time with students that he most enjoys. “It’s very fulfilling to help them decide how to best put their engineering minds to use.”