Hamed Khodadadi Tirkolaei

Hamed Khodadadi Tirkolaei first arrived at Arizona State University in 2015, when he came as a visiting scholar to complete his doctoral research. While on that visit, he was offered a postdoctoral position, so he returned to ASU after completing his doctoral degree.

After three years of working in his postdoctoral role, he was promoted to an assistant research professor position and then promoted again now to his current role as an assistant professor.

“I chose to come to ASU because of the Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics, where I have been working, which leads the world in my area of research,” Khodadadi Tirkolaei says. “What kept me here and made me strive for building my future academic career here were the people who I had the chance of working with, and the system that encourages innovation, interdisciplinary thinking and sustainability.”

Khodadadi Tirkolaei says he likes engineering because it brings science into real life in a more tangible and timely manner. He chose civil engineering because of his interest in construction, which was instilled in him by the situation in his home country of Iran at that time.

“I am excited that this new role provides me with the opportunity to explore further innovative solutions that are inspired by efficient, cost-effective and reliable natural systems and processes to address emerging geotechnical challenges,” Khodadadi Tirkolaei says. “I believe this enables me to more effectively contribute to responding to increasing social, economic and political demands for sustainable development of civil infrastructure systems.”

Khodadadi Tirkolaei is not new to teaching in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, having taught both undergraduate courses and graduate courses in the past. He will continue teaching courses specialized on geotechnical engineering in his new role.

“I try to implement the problem-based learning approach in my classes, especially the undergraduate ones,” Khodadadi Tirkolaei says. “The students taking my classes will be exposed to authentic real-world problems and they will work together in teams.”

During his time working at ASU, Khodadadi Tirkolaei has mentored 29 students, the majority of which have been women or underrepresented minorities and he has participated in more than 20 outreach activities advancing equity and access to higher education among students from underrepresented communities and low-income households.

Outside of the university, he loves spending time with his four-year-old daughter. He enjoys traveling and learning about different cultures and foods. Khodadadi Tirkolaei also likes to read books on anthropology, psychology and religions. And he recently started developing a new hobby of stargazing.

Meet the newest faculty members of the Fulton Schools of Engineering here.