Please join us in congratulating Dr. Farhang Forghanparast on a standout year of teaching excellence and innovation! A rockstar in civil engineering education, Dr. Forghanparast was recently honored with three prestigious awards that reflect both his deep commitment to student learning and his growing national impact as a leader in entrepreneurial engineering education.
First, he received the 2024–2025 Outstanding Teacher Award from the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering. This annual honor is awarded to faculty who consistently demonstrate excellence in teaching, student engagement, and curricular innovation. Students and colleagues alike have praised Dr. Forghanparast’s ability to make complex topics accessible while fostering a dynamic, hands-on classroom environment.
Dr. Forghanparast was also named a 2025 KEEN Campus Rising Star by the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN). This national recognition is reserved for junior faculty with under 10 years of experience who go above and beyond to cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset (EM) in undergraduate engineers. As a KEEN Rising Star, he is recognized for designing engaging, real-world learning experiences that inspire curiosity, emphasize value creation, and connect classroom theory with industry relevance. His courses encourage students to think beyond the textbook and engineer with purpose.
And finally, in fall 2024, Dr. Forghanparast was selected as a 2024 Engineering Unleashed Fellow, joining a cohort of just 31 faculty from 27 institutions across the country. Supported by the Kern Family Foundation, this fellowship includes a $10,000 institutional grant to support a project focused on advancing entrepreneurial engineering education. As a Fellow, Dr. Forghanparast will serve as an ambassador for innovation in teaching, sharing strategies and insights that can amplify impact across the curriculum and beyond.
Congratulations again to Dr. Forghanparast—an educator who is not only shaping the next generation of civil engineers but also redefining what it means to teach with vision, passion, and purpose.
