Dr. Firas Jarrar is an associate Professor and Acting Chair of the ME department at Al Hussein Technical University. He received his Ph.D. degree with honors in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 2009. His prior academic experience includes working as an assistant professor at Khalifa University and at the University of Jordan. Moreover, his professional background includes three years as a mechanical engineer with the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co.

Dr. Firas considers himself a space enthusiast as he dedicated his efforts towards the advancement of space technologies. During his work at Khalifa University, he supervised the design and construction of two CubeSats: DhabiSat and Light-1. He also served as Manager of the Yahsat Space Lab, where he supervised the CubeSat projects and was responsible for the space concentration academic program at Khalifa University. In addition, he is the lead developer of the CubeSat Wizard software application. To acknowledge his contributions, he was featured at the Expo 2020 UAE Pavilion, Land of Dreamers Who Do.

Dr. Firas has sixty-three papers published in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings. In 2017 he was awarded the Dean of the College of Engineering Teaching Award at the Petroleum Institute. He has also participated in several public television interviews to speak about space-related scientific and technological issues.

Research Areas:

Analysis of Small Satellites

Advanced Manufacturing Techniques

Kinematics of Robotic Arms