Systems, Man & Cybernetics - July 2015 - 68

Figure 1. mo Jamshidi.

Antonio. This is my "retirement" job
after 27 years at the University of New
Mexico. My research areas are systemof-systems engineering (cyberphysical
systems), autonomous vehicles, and
bioinformatics via machine learning
and renewable energy.
El-Hawary: What motivates you to do
research, teaching, and volunteering?
Jamshidi: My biggest motivation
is to help young men and women with
a desire to learn and do well on their
way to very successful careers. I have
done it for 125 individuals (at the M.S.
and Ph.D. levels) from 22 nations for
the past 42 years. My volunteerism in
the IEEE and many other activities
are based on my desire to give to others rather than take.
El-Hawary: Who are your role models? Why?
Jamshidi: I have been fortunate
to have been mentored by giants in
the field during my education in the
United States and to have crossed
paths with other giants via the IEEE
or other professional activities like
conferences and publications. Here is
an alphabetical list:
◆ Joe Cruz, Jr.
◆ Joe Engelberger, the founder of
first robotic company, Unimation, and the father of industrial
robotics
◆ Ali Javan, coinventor of the helium-neon gas laser, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
◆ Eli Jury, University of California,
Berkeley and the University of
Miami
◆ Rudy Kalman, University of Florida, Gainesville and ETH Zurich
68

(Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
◆ Petar Kokotovic, formerly at the
University of Illinois (Urbana
Champaign), currently professor
in the Department of Engineering
at the University of California,
Santa Barbara
◆ Bill Perkins, University of Illinois
(Urban Champaign)
◆ Faz Reza, Syracuse University,
information and circuit theorist
and poet
◆ the late Andy Sage (see the January 2015 issue of IEEE Systems,
Man, and Cybernetics Magazine)
◆ Lotfi Zadeh, University of California, Berkley.
I have been very blessed to know and
learn from these giants in systems,
controls, robotics, and photonics.
El-Hawary: How did you get started
as a volunteer in the IEEE and elsewhere?
Jamshidi: I first volunteered for
the IEEE as a junior at Oregon State
University in 1966. I was the vice
president of the Student Chapter and
helped introduce the IEEE to our
student body in electrical engineering and persuaded them to volunteer
and build their electrical engineering
careers. Outside of the IEEE, I have
been active in the International Federation of Automatic Control, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, the World
Academy of Sciences, and others.
El-Hawary: What was your early
work for SMCS?
Jamshidi: Due t o my deep
respect for Andy Sage, I was always
willing to help the SMCS, a nd,
through Michael Smith, I rendered
my help to SMCS after many years
of activities in the IEEE Control Systems Society (including as founding
EIC of IEEE Control Systems Magazine) as a member of the BoG. Later,
I served two terms as the SMCS vice
president for conferences. I was the
general chair of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Systems,

IEEE SyStEmS, man, & CybErnEtICS magazInE Ju ly 2015

Man, and Cybernetics in Waikoloa, Hawaii, when I introduced the
SMCS to my former doctoral student
Edward Tunstel and my peer Philip
Chen. Both of them have gone on to
serve SMCS superbly.
El-Hawary: How and why you did
you volunteer to serve as EIC?
Jamshidi: I have helped establish
two IEEE publications. In 1980, I was
the founding EIC of IEEE Control
Systems Magazine, which is now one
of the most popular magazines in the
IEEE, and, in 2006, I was asked to
help with a new publication for the
IEEE Systems Council, IEEE Systems
Journal, which now has an impact
factor near two. I volunteered to do
these because these activities were
challenging and that will last a long
time, well after I am gone.
El-Hawary: What is the most rewarding aspect of being EIC?
Jamshidi: The most rewarding aspects are that it will keep me
informed on the progress and advances of technologies of the publication's
scope and allow me to get to know
so many peers around the world as
board members and reviewers.
El-Hawary: What were the most challenging aspects?
Jamshidi: The most challenging aspects are how to publish the
right quality and types of papers as
well as establishing the theme and,
unfortunately, having to reject or ask
authors to withdraw papers that are
out of scope.
El-Hawary: What has been your
proudest achievement as EIC?
Jamshidi: My proudest achievement as EIC has been to make the
two publications attractive to readers
around the world and to help ensure a
healthy impact factor for them.
El-Hawary: Tell us about your social
life (married, kids).

(continued on page 72)

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