Education Strategist

Ziad O. Abu-Faraj, Ph.D. received the B.E. degree in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut-Lebanon in 1988. Specializing in Biomedical Instrumentation and Biomechanics/Biomaterials, he obtained the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University-USA in 1991 and 1995, respectively. During 1995-1997, he served a Post-Doctorate Research Fellowship in Pediatric Motion Analysis at Shriners Hospital for Children-Chicago. He was employed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs at the Milwaukee Zablocki VA Medical Center: during 1990-1992 as Research Assistant in the Sensory Motor Laboratory, and 1993-1995 as Research Associate in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Service. In 1998, he was appointed as Lecturer in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the American University of Beirut, and in 1999 as Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at Notre Dame University-Lebanon. In 2002, he was contracted as Academic Expert in the Tempus III Education Program of the European Commission. In the same year, he joined the American University of Science & Technology-Lebanon as Assistant Professor and Founding Chair of a comprehensive premier regional program in Biomedical Engineering and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006. In 2010, Dr. Abu-Faraj received another appointment at AUST to Chair the Department of Computer & Communications Engineering. From 2013 till 2018, he was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering; and, in 2014, he led an accreditation team and attained official accreditation of the engineering programs by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET Inc., Baltimore, MD, USA. On October 1, 2017, Dr. Abu-Faraj was promoted to the rank of Full Professor of Biomedical Engineering. During the same year, he was appointed as a consultant for the Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA) Technology Center of the United Nations, New York City, NY, USA. On October 1, 2018, he was appointed as the Dean for Research at AUST. On January 12, 2020, Dr. Abu-Faraj joined Khayal Production, Doha, Qatar—on a seasonal basis—as a Scientific Interface Officer. Khayal Production is the producer of Stars of Science—an edutainment TV initiative by Qatar Foundation, and the regional leading innovation show, empowering the young generation to implement creative solutions through science, technology, and innovation. On September 1, 2020, Dr. Abu-Faraj joined Mebex Consultants as a Strategic Facility and Curriculum Planning Consultant. Mebex Consultants is a Healthcare Planning, Architectural, and Engineering Services Consultancy Firm. Concurrently, Dr. Abu-Faraj is working as an Education Strategist fostering student-centered and transformative learning environments. Dr. Abu-Faraj is a Charter Member of the Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society-USA, a Senior Member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society-USA, a Member of the Biomedical Engineering Society-USA, and a Member of the Order of Engineers and Architects-Lebanon. In October 6-7, 2016, he was the General Chair of the Third Middle East Conference on Biomedical Engineering that was held in Beirut, Lebanon. In July 2017, Dr. Abu-Faraj was appointed as Program Evaluator for the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET Inc. Dr. Abu-Faraj has served as a technical reviewer on a number of refereed international journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers. In 2019, he was appointed as Guest Associate Editor for the Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, and in 2020 as Associate Editor for Biomedical Engineering Education by BMES and Springer Nature. Professor Abu-Faraj is the Editor of a comprehensive two-volume research handbook in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering entitled “Handbook of Research on Biomedical Engineering Education and Advanced Bioengineering Learning: Interdisciplinary Concepts,” published by IGI-Global, Hershey, PA, USA in 2012. He is the lead author of a reputable number of research articles in several areas of Biomedical Engineering. His research interests are in: Humanities and Social Sciences: Sustainable Development, Science Technology and Innovation, and Fourth Industrial Revolution; Biomedical Science and Biomedical Engineering Education; Kinesiology and Orthopaedic Biomechanics: Physical Activity, Exercise Physiology, Human Movement Analysis, Postural Stability, Measurement of Human Performance, and Plantar Pressure Analysis; Rehabilitation Science and Engineering; Neuroscience and Neural Engineering; Biomedical Instrumentation and Control: Portable Microprocessor-Based Data Acquisition Systems, Biosensors, and Biocontrol Systems; Biometrics; Biomedical Informatics and Biomedical Computing: Biosignals and Systems, Biostatistical Analysis, and Modeling of Physiological Systems; Electroencephalography; Epidemiology; Public Safety; and, Ergonomics and Engineering Design.