Mohammad Akhlaghi | Personal Webpage

My Biography

After completing high school with honors in Iran, Mohammad Akhlaghi moved to Canada to continue his education. Beginning studies at SFU in 2007, as a student in the English Bridge Program, he was admitted to the Engineering Science program later that same year after achieving an excellent score on his IELTS test. Since then, Mohammad has been studying Electronics Engineering and Business full-time, while somehow finding the time to participate in more volunteer and extra-curricular activities than seem humanly possible.

Volunteering is one of Mohammad's passions (ask him about volunteering his technical skills in support of the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics games). In fact, Mohammad was recently chosen as the Chairman of the SFU IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the largest professional organization in the world with branches in more than 160 countries, as a result of his active volunteer history. Mohammad has been involved with a number of volunteer societies both on and off-campus, including the Iranian Society, of which he is a former Vice-President, the SFU Iranian Music band, of which he is the founding member and current President, and the SFU auto sports club, on whose executive he participates.
An accomplished violinist and song writer, Mohammad also enjoys playing a number of different sports and credits his creative and recreational activities with helping him maintain balance in his hectic schedule. Although soccer is his favourite sport, Mohammad is also an active member of the SFU tennis club and has been a certified lifeguard for many years, he also recently managed to get a first aid cetificate. In his spare time, you may find him designing web pages, recording music in his small home studio, or relaxing with his friends.
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Written by:
Marilyn Trautman, Coordinator, Academic Programs
Faculty of Applied Sciences, SFU

Volunteer Experiences

Chairman SFU IEEE
IEEE is the largest professional association is the world with branches in over 160 countries. Simon Fraser University hosts one of IEEE's branches and I was elected as the Chairman for that branch. During my experience with IEEE I managed a team of 15 talented people to organize events, workshop and field trips for graduate and undergraduate Students.

President Music Band
I conducted a band of 9 musicians playing eastern musical instruments. We had several major and minor performances across Vancouver.

Multimedia Manager
I helped set up an online broadcasting system so the events can be played live through internet from anywhere. I developed an interface to encode the video and audio signals for the computer to process and broadcast online.

Olympics Technology Team
I was a member of the technology team for the Vancouver winter Olympics 2010. I worked for countless hours with experienced staff in Whistler Olympics Park (WOP) to manage over 200 computers and servers which helped the Olympic games run as smoothly as possible.

Vice-President SFUIC
I was elected as the vice-president of the SFU Iranian Club for the year 2009-2010. SFUIC is one of the largest and most active clubs at SFU with over 300 active members. I helped organized recreational activities and events for students.

University Involvement
Despite my busy schedule with school I managed to participate in more volunteer and extra-curricular activities than seem humanly possible. Click the title to be redirected to the specific page for details.

University Involvement

Student Panelist Lecturer
I was invited by Marylin Trautman, FAS coordinator of Academic Programs, for two consecutive years to do a presentation for newly admitted Engineers during their first year orientation.

Midnight Madness Team Leader
Since the first day of school I attended every single one of the midnight madness', I am one of the few people who have a four year collection of engineering T-shirts. Last year I had the chance to be a team leader but that didn't keep me from playing the historical game of human foosball.

Student Orientation Leader
I had a chance to show our secret doorways and vending machine secret combinations to our newly admitted Engineers. They would figure it out sooner or later anyways so why not let them know from the start !!

SFU Mentorship Panel
I was invited by Daniela Abasi, Student Affairs Coordinator, to take part in panel of students to discuss about the mentorship program and how we can help.

Engineering Curriculum Review Committee
As Dr. Saif, our past Engineering Director, mentioned during one of his talks, I am a member of the Engineering Curriculum Committee to adjust the current engineering curriculum and make it more realistic. Curriculum is the list of courses you need to take every semester according to the calendar.

Student Clubs
I was a member and sometimes executive of many student clubs at SFU such as auto sports club, tennis club and magic club. This gave me a chance to meet new people and get experienced running student activities.

Workshops attended and Certificates Received

Leadership Summit – Jan 2010
The Leadership Summit is an annual one-day conference for SFU students who wish to explore their own leadership development, explore the topic of leadership, social change and citizenship, and learn from a range of presenters.

Passport to Leadership (BBY) - Effective Presentation – Nov 2009
Passport to Leadership is a series of interactive workshops that introduce key skills and topics in leadership: personal values and goal setting, interpersonal communication, diversity awareness and leaving a positive lasting impression on others.

Passport to Leadership (BBY) - Diversity Awareness – Nov 2009
This workshop gives you an opportunity to look beyond only race and gender as measures of diversity, see how each person has their own unique story, and examine how the words we choose have an impact on the people we interact with.

Passport to Leadership (BBY) - Interpersonal Communication – Jan 2010

Passport to Leadership (BBY) - Effective Presentation of Self – Feb 2010

Backpack to Briefcase (B2B) conference – Oct 2010
Backpack to Briefcase (B2B) is a one-day conference that offers SFU students and recent graduates the opportunity to learn valuable life and career skills not taught in the classroom, to ease the transition into a successful post-university life.

Communicating Non-defensively – Feb 2011
Conflicts are normal; however, our reaction to a difficult situation can often make it worse. With the importance of team work in today's workplace, employers increasingly value people with interpersonal skills. This workshop helps participants get become more aware of their responses to conflict situations.

Networking Essentials for Today's Business Professionals – Mar 2011
Most individuals break into sweat thinking about meeting and making conversation with new acquaintances. However, in today's highly competitive job market, companies are looking for people who can network effectively and adapt to a variety of business and social situations. Learn the art of schmoozing and gain the self-confidence and know-how needed to "master the art of networking."