Profile
About Me
I have spent my career working at the intersection of engineering, commercialization, and leadership. I started as an engineer and researcher, moved into the business side of engineering and commercializing innovation, and over time became interested in a bigger question: how do we turn good ideas into something that creates real and lasting value?
My career has taken me through academia, engineering consulting, technology companies, and now industry-level innovation. Each step has naturally led to the next and changed the way I think about engineering, business, and leadership.
Foundations and Academic
My journey started in mechanical and materials engineering, with a focus on metal forming and welding. I completed my BSc and MSc at Sharif University of Technology.
A turning point came when I met Dr. John Goldak, a pioneer in Computational Welding Mechanics. That meeting opened a new chapter for me and eventually brought me to Canada, where I joined Carleton University in Ottawa to pursue my PhD.
During my PhD, I combined academic research with practical engineering and worked with Goldak Technologies on real industrial problems. Having research and industry side by side shaped how I approached engineering in the years that followed.
But the more I worked with industry, the more interested I became in what happens beyond the technical problem itself.
Strengthening Industrial Integrity
After my PhD, I continued with postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Ottawa and later at the University of British Columbia. At the same time, my work with industry was pulling me more toward the business side of engineering and how engineering expertise could grow into a sustainable business.
That interest led me to SKC Engineering in Vancouver, where I established a new engineering business line. It was an important shift in my career. I was working directly with clients, building a team, developing new capabilities, and learning how to grow a business around strong engineering work.
When SKC was later acquired by Applus, my role expanded across North America and Europe. I continued working in welding engineering and structural integrity while taking on broader responsibilities in team leadership and business development.
Over time, that experience raised another question for me: what does it take to build a systematic way of turning new ideas into successful products?
Leadership at Novarc Technologies
That question became a much bigger part of my work when I joined Novarc Technologies, where I served as Vice President of Innovation and later as Deputy Chief Technology Officer. My focus shifted toward creating the conditions for innovation to move from an idea into a successful commercial product.
I worked across engineering, product, application, and business teams, helping set priorities, align people around customer needs, and give new ideas a practical path toward the market.
It gave me the opportunity to look at innovation from inside a technology company. My next step was to look at the same challenge from a much broader industry perspective.
Innovation at the Canadian Welding Bureau
I then joined the Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) as Chief Innovation Officer, where my focus expanded from enabling innovation within one organization to looking at it across the broader Canadian welding industry.
My role is to look ahead, understand where the industry is changing, and help define how CWB can support that change. I explore, build, and oversee innovation programs, connecting industry needs with companies, educational institutions, researchers, entrepreneurs, and other parts of the welding ecosystem.
Thought leadership is also an important part of my role: helping the industry understand what is changing, where opportunities are emerging, and what they may mean for the future of welding. This work stays connected to CWB’s core purpose around public safety, workforce and industry capability, and the long-term competitiveness of Canadian welding.
Moving from research, to building an engineering business, to commercializing innovation, and now to working across an industry has also shaped how I think about innovation itself.
The Business of Innovation
One thing has become increasingly clear to me: innovation is not simply about technical capability. It is about building a sustainable model for creating value.
My time with the Venture Institute helped me understand this side of innovation more deeply. A good idea may be where innovation starts, but what matters is whether you can build the right model around it so it can grow and sustain itself.
For me, the goal is to create a cycle where success creates room for the next opportunity and, over time, innovation builds its own momentum.
And ultimately, none of that happens without people.
Mentorship and Future Vision
That is one reason teaching and mentorship have remained an important part of my career.
I have developed and taught engineering courses at the University of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia, and I enjoy working with the next generation of engineers. Teaching also keeps me connected to how they think about engineering, industry, and the changes ahead.
I encourage students to look beyond solving the technical problem and understand the bigger picture around their work. Looking forward, I want to continue contributing to the Canadian welding community by connecting people and ideas, developing capabilities, and helping the industry prepare for what comes next.
And behind my own journey, there has always been another group of people who made it possible.
Personal
Behind every step of progress stands a circle of people who make the journey meaningful. My wife, Sharareh, is the steady light that grounds me, and my daughters, Jana and Viana, are the inspiration that lifts every goal higher. I carry the values of my parents, Pouran and Hashem, with me, strengthened by the kindness of my in-laws, Zahra and Hossein. My brothers, Mazyar and Kamyar, and my sister-in-law, Shahrzad, together with their families, complete a family whose support has shaped who I am. Their belief is the quiet force that turns effort into impact and aspiration into purpose. Everything I build is, in some way, a reflection of the family who stands with me.
