2020-22 Herz Global Impact Scholar at Georgia Institute of Technology

“The Herz Global Impact Award has greatly improved my quality of life and granted me many opportunities to further continue my education. I have been able to fund conference and travel expenses comfortably.” -Ziad Rashed

Ziad Rashed graduated from Virginia Tech with a major in Engineering Science and Mechanics and a minor in Math and Biomedical Engineering. He grew up in Giza, Egypt and moved to the United States in 2005, and lived in Virginia. His undergraduate research focused on investigating tribological properties of oil-infused surfaces and fabrication of slippery surfaces. He also researched fabrication of synthetic trees to harness the natural power of transpiration.

He has co-authored two publications detailing his work throughout his undergraduate career and was awarded honors for best senior design project and a scholarship from the national adhesion society. Ziad joined the Georgia Tech EAS department in 2018 where he is researching how to use tools from nonlinear/chaotic dynamics to gain a greater understanding of the complex interactions between glacier and ocean systems.

Ziad is passionate about the crossroads of math and science and how we can utilize mathematical frameworks to describe our natural world. He is currently focused on investigating and modeling the cryosphere, particularly glaciers, with a greater goal of understanding global climate change dynamics.

He is currently working on a publication and is presenting his research at the next American Geophysical Union conference. Ziad will also be attending a summer glaciology workshop in Alaska.

Dr. Nina Lemmens, Iris Schultz, and Katrin Traoré of the Joachim Herz Stiftung and three of their scholars - Hemali Oza, Ziad Rashed, and Sophie Yount - met for lunch on March 2nd at the Battery while members of the Stiftung were visiting from Hamburg, Germany. Leslie Petter, Sherry Lundeen, and Kayleigh Malloy were also in attendance.

Katrin Traoré (Joachim Herz Stiftung), Sophie Yount (scholar), Dr. Nina Lemmens (Joachim Herz Stiftung), Ziad Rashed (scholar), Hemali Oza (scholar), and Iris Schultz (Joachim Herz Stiftung)