THE INSTITUTE IEEE mourns the loss of five members from Canada who died on 8 January when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was accidentally shot down in Tehran shortly after takeoff.
Mojgan Daneshmand and her husband Pedram
Mousavi with their two daughters.Photo: CBCnews
Pedram Mousavi and his wife, Mojgan Daneshmand—as well as their two daughters—were among the victims. The senior members were engineering professors at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Mousavi taught mechanical engineering. Daneshmand specialized in radio frequency microsystems. Both were active members of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (APS) and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTTS). The couple were on the steering committee of this year’s IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation.
Mousavi was an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.
He received his bachelor’s degree in telecommunication engineering in 1995 from the Iran University of Science and Technology, in Tehran, and emigrated to Canada to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg. There he received his master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1997 and 2001, respectively.
Daneshmand received her bachelor’s degree in 1999, also from the Iran University of Science and Technology. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Manitoba in 2001 and her Ph.D. in 2006 from the University of Waterloo, in Ontario. All the degrees were in electrical engineering.
She was an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation and the IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She was co-chair of the IEEE Northern Canada joint AP/MTT chapter.
She received the 2016 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Lot Shafai Mid-Career Distinguished Achievement Award “for pioneering contributions to microwave-to-millimeter, wave microsystem-based antenna and microwave technologies for communication and sensing, and being a role model for women in engineering.”
Among the other passengers were three IEEE graduate student members.
Zahra NaghibiPhoto: ResearchGate
Zahra Naghibi was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Windsor, in Ontario, who worked as a research assistant at the university’s Turbulence and Energy Laboratory. She was the 2019 co-chair of the IEEE Windsor Section Young Professionals group and was re-elected this year.
Iman AghabaliPhoto: CBCnews
Iman Aghabali was a graduate student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
Mansour Esnaashary Esfahani was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Waterloo. The school established a memorial fund in his honor.
Mansour Esnaashary EsfahaniPhoto: CBCnews
“The horrific crash has caused a tremendous loss across Canada, within the IEEE community, and at many academic institutions,” Jason Gu, IEEE Canada president, says. “On behalf of IEEE Canada, I extend condolences to all the families, loved ones, and friends of the victims of this terrible tragedy. They were outstanding volunteers, members, and friends and will be terribly missed.”
