Samy Mahmoud , MEng/71 / PhD/75

In 1970, Samy Mahmoud arrived at Carleton from Egypt as an international student. After completing a MEng/71 and PhD/75 in electrical engineering, he joined the faculty. Since 1987, Mahmoud has worked as an administrator, serving for a decade as chairman of the computer engineering department before being promoted to dean of engineering in 1998. He proceeded to transform the Faculty into one of Carleton’s flagship programs. Appointed acting vice-president (academic) in 2006, he became the university’s president and vice-chancellor, pro tempore, later that year. He served in that position until July 2008. He was appointed the 5th Chancellor of the University of Sharjah in August 2008.

Throughout his academic career, Mahmoud has maintained close ties with Ottawa’s technology sector. As a graduate student, he worked at Bell Northern Research. One of his collaborations with industry involved designing a precursor to the wireless data network that allows e-mail communications over cellphones and BlackBerry devices.

In addition to his research interests in telecommunications, Mahmoud has been involved in developing sensors for health care applications.