As a child in Iran, Farimah Farahmandi, now Ph.D., knew she wanted a math-heavy career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every night, she would lie in bed and think about doing research and crunching numbers in technologically advanced countries like Japan or the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what would that look like? Engineering, sure, but what kind? At age 17, she was considering industrial engineering when her father invited her for a stroll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe took me to the mountain near my town for a long walk, and I had nowhere to escape,\u201d she recalled with a smile. \u201cHe talked about how the world was changing and how computing would transform everything. He said that soon everything would rely on computers: banking systems, appliances, cars. He told me computer engineering would be at the center of that transformation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He convinced her to choose computer engineering, and the rest is history. She traces her passion for hardware engineering to a third-semester class at the University of Tehran, where she first discovered digital circuits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farahmandi is now living her dream as a celebrated faculty member and researcher in UF\u2019s Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE). She is now the Walden C. Rhines Endowed Professor for Hardware Security and associate director of the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n