Department Chair | Dept. Administrative Aide | Full-time Faculty | Part-time Faculty | Staff
Email: helio.zwi@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5230
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436B
Biography
Trilingual (English, Portuguese and Spanish) Dr. Zwi has taught various physics courses including lectures, discussion sessions and labs, for both engineering and non-engineering majors since 2014, and, as the core course physics coordinator has been highly involved in course planning and development since 2016. Dr. Zwi has had a major role in implementing and administrating the common exam system for core physics courses and has taken an active role in exam preparation and assessment. Dr. Zwi has tutored students in physics and mathematics at the Ackerman Learning Center since his arrival at the College, and has participated in multiple full-time faculty search committees.Educational Background
Email: carrie.fitzgerald@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5415
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC436L
Biography
Dr. Fitzgerald received her MS and PhD degrees in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a BS degree in Physics from Stetson University. She joined the department during the fall 2009 semester, after working as a senior scientist at National Security Technologies Remote Sensing Laboratory. Prior to that, she was awarded a National Research Council Associateship with the Space Sciences Division at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).
Currently she is teaching Astronomy (AS101) and is actively engaged in getting the new observatory facility on the roof of the Science Center ready to use for astronomy education, student research, and community outreach. Dr. Fitzgerald organizes the twice monthly observatory public nights and special astronomy events. Additionally, she serves as the faculty advisor for the Astronomy Club (the 2012 “Club of the Year” at Montgomery College).
Website: Carrie FitzgeraldEducational Background
Email: huseyin.aygun@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4395
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436P
Biography
Dr. Aygun received his BS from the Turkish Naval Academy, Istanbul, Turkey, and his MS in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. He holds a PhD in Computer Engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey. Dr. Aygun has 14 years of teaching experience. He taught Computer Engineering and Software Engineering courses at both the Turkish Naval Academy and Maltepe University in Istanbul, Turkey. He also taught Compiler Design, Database Management Systems, Software Requirements Analysis, Python Programming, Java Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Programming Languages.Educational Background
Email: grigoriy.grinberg@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7161
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454U
Biography
Dr. Grinberg holds a B.S, a M.S. and Ph.D. from State Technical University, St. Petersburg, Russia, in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the department in Fall 2001. Dr. Grinberg has taught all levels of Computer Science and Information Technologies courses. He is one of the organizers of the annual programming competition for high school students that has been offered since 2007.
Dr. Grinberg’s research interests are in mobile programming, such as iPhone, iPad, and Android programming.
Educational Background
Email: janet.joy@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5180
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 438
Biography
Professor Joy holds a B.S. from Inter-American University in Puerto Rico, an M.S. from City University of NY (Brooklyn College) in Computer Science, and a M.Ed. in TESOL (ESL) from Shenandoah University.
She joined Montgomery College full time in spring 2009. Prior to joining Montgomery College, Professor Joy taught computer science at Northern Virginia Community College, Trenton State College and LaGuardia Community College in New York. She also worked as a programmer for several years.
Professor Joy is especially interested in online learning and the use of online technology to enhance learning. She has developed two educational websites, hello-world.com for language learning, and zebra0.com for computer science education. She creates educational games and activities using Flash, ActionScript, PHP, and Javascript.
Educational Background
Email: david.kuijt@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5172
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454F
Biography
Dr. Kuijt graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in computer science from the University of Maryland College Park, where he later earned a Ph.D. after completing a computer science dissertation on "An Object-Oriented Approach to Parallel Spatial Indexing of Vector-Format Polygons." After serving as an adjunct professor who taught courses in computer science and electrical engineering, Dr. Kuijt joined Montgomery College as a full-time associate professor at the start of the fall 2015 semester.
Prior to joining MC, Dr. Kuijt taught both undergraduate- and graduate-level computer
and information systems courses at the American University. He has also taught in
the College Park and University College divisions of the University of Maryland.
Dr. Kuijt was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is director of the MC Grand Challenges
Scholars Program and faculty mentor for the MC NASA Swarmathon competition team.
Educational Background
Email: khandan.monshi@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-8063
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 442
Biography
Professor Monshi holds a B.S. from Bilkent University in Turkey and a M.S. from Johns Hopkins University. After serving as an adjunct professor who taught courses in computer science, Professor Monshi joined Montgomery College as a full-time associate professor at the start of the fall 2015 semester. Among the courses she has taught at the College are Introduction to Programming, Java Programming Language, Computer Science I, and Discrete Structures. She has also taught computer science and digital design in Maryland at Paint Branch High School and Winston Churchill High School.Educational Background
Email: Ahmed.Tarek@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5177
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454C
Biography
Dr. Ahmed Tarek received his BS from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and his Master of Engineering (MEngg) from Nagoya Institute of Technology in Nagoya, Japan. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Texas Tech University. Since the beginning of his professional career, Dr. Tarek has taught a number of graduate and undergraduate computer science and computing courses to numerous US universities in and abroad. He has regularly published research articles related to computer science, computing, and computer science education in a wide variety of national and international journals and conference proceedings. He served as the Session Chair and Session Co-chair to a number of international conferences as well. His biography has appeared in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering since the 9th edition as well as in the Who’s Who in the World since its 25th Silver Anniversary Edition. For his contribution to computer science, he received the Best Research Paper award in 2009 from the World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society (WSEAS).Educational Background
Email: gary.thai@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7472
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 441
Educational Background
Professor Thai holds a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, a MS in electrical engineering from The Johns Hopkins University, and a MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management. In addition, he is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Professor Thai has taught on-campus, on-line and blended courses in the business, computer science and computer applications disciplines at Montgomery College (MC) for more than ten years. Prior to teaching at MC, he taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Phoenix. Professor Thai has more than 20 years of software development and project management experience, working as a project manager managing IT projects for various organizations in the Washington D.C. area.
Professor Thai enjoys sharing his knowledge with his classes, and he is passionate about teaching. His current interests include mobile and web development, and software development in the engineering discipline.
Educational Background
Email: Palmyra.Catravas@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4120
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436N
Biography
Dr. Palma Catravas holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and a BM in piano performance from the University of Maryland at College Park and an MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She performed research in the area of radiation-based electron beam diagnostics and plasma based accelerators at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Prior to joining Montgomery College, Dr. Catravas mentored undergraduates as a faculty member in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Union College, where she was a finalist for the Stillman Teaching Prize in 2014 and the recipient of the Student-nominated Brate Advising Award in the spring of 2018. Dr. Catravas developed a specialized laboratory at the interface of Electrical Engineering and Music (Phasor Lab) and has received a patent on a spectral analysis technique derived from music visualization.
In addition to traditional EE topics, her teaching interests also include nanoscale microscopy, including scanning electron and atomic force microscopy.
Educational Background
Email: Craig.Mogren@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5237
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436E
Biography
Professor Garrison-Mogren holds a B.S. from Clarkson University and a M.S. from Syracuse University. He joined the department in spring 2006 semester. Prior to joining us Professor Garrison-Mogren was Professor and department chair at the Montgomery College Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus where he taught chemistry, engineering, and physics courses.
He was an international service engineer for Westinghouse Power Service Company. His research work at Syracuse was in studying the kinetic properties of molecules in free molecular flow inside capillaries. He designed, organized, and built the graduate and undergraduate mechanical engineering laboratories at Johns Hopkins University. At the Maryland Science Center, he worked with the educational programs and advised on various technical questions in developing the programs.
He has since been a consultant engineer on the mechanical analysis of scaling down of chemical reactions in microplates, lifespan of flexing fiberglass plates, and mechanical properties of elastic membranes. He is currently working on design of residential energy systems (solar photo-voltaic systems, ground loop HVAC, energy efficient residential construction). Professor Mogren is also the faculty advisor for the Montgomery College chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA).
Educational Background
Email: Kedar.Hardikar@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4949
Office Location: Germantown Campus, SC 444
Educational Background
Ph.D (Engineering), Major - Solid Mechanics, Division of Engineering, Brown UniversityEmail: wendy.he@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5229
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436H
Biography
Dr. He received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a B.S. degree in applied mechanics from the National University of Defense Technology, China. She joined the department in the Fall 2005 semester. Dr. He worked in the aerospace industry for five years where her duties included mechanical design, thermal stress, and heat transfer analysis of rocket engines. Prior to joining Montgomery College, Dr. He was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Lake Superior State University, where she taught the complete range of general engineering courses and supervised senior research projects involving the development of an underwater robotic arm and associated control systems.
Dr. He’s research work includes the design of mechanical testing and numerical modeling on biomaterials and biomechanical design for the chromatography column, which had been collaborated with Holland Laboratories (of American Red Cross) in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. He is a member of the Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue.
Educational Background
Email: chienannalex.hou@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7608
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436D
Biography
Dr. Hou holds a B.S. from National TsingHwa University in Taiwan and a M.S. and Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Dr. Hou joined the department in fall 2002. Dr. Hou taught Mechanical Engineering for more than ten years at Howard University. He also has five years experience working in the aerospace industry and for the federal government as a computer systems engineer. He holds a Professional Engineer (PE) license in DC and has co-authored more than 20 research articles and served as chair of many professional conferences.
He is the Engineering Program Coordinator responsible for coordinating engineering events and activities. His primary teaching responsibilities cover almost all Engineering Science (ES) courses. He has served as the Robotics Club advisor since 2003, leading students to national competitions. From 2008 to 2013, Dr. Hou was the Principal Investigator (PI) of NSF S-STEM grant that provided more than a half million dollars in MC and transfer scholarships. In fall 2013, he was invited as a visiting honorary professor to teach and conduct research at China University of Science and Technology (CUST) in Taiwan.
Dr. Hou's research interests are in CAD/CAM, robotics, numerical mechanics, and engineering
education.
Website: https://info.montgomerycollege.edu/faculty/chou/index.html
Educational Background
Email: david.kuijt@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5172
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454F
Biography
Dr. Kuijt graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in computer science from the University of Maryland College Park, where he later earned a Ph.D. after completing a computer science dissertation on "An Object-Oriented Approach to Parallel Spatial Indexing of Vector-Format Polygons." After serving as an adjunct professor who taught courses in computer science and electrical engineering, Dr. Kuijt joined Montgomery College as a full-time associate professor at the start of the fall 2015 semester.
Prior to joining MC, Dr. Kuijt taught both undergraduate- and graduate-level computer
and information systems courses at the American University. He has also taught in
the College Park and University College divisions of the University of Maryland.
Dr. Kuijt was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is director of the MC Grand Challenges
Scholars Program and faculty mentor for the MC NASA Swarmathon competition team.
Educational Background
Email: Sam.Pouryoussefi@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5164
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 439
Email: Lan.Xiang@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-1740
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436F
Biography
Dr. Xiang holds a BS from Jiaotong University in China and an MS and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the department in fall 2003. Dr. Xiang has taught all of the electrical engineering courses including: Digital Logic Design, Basic Circuit Analysis, and Programming Concepts for Engineering.
Dr. Xiang's research interests are in communication systems, statistical and digital signal processing, blind source separation, and interference cancellation.
Educational Background
Email: alan.cutler@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5231
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436J
Biography
Dr. Cutler holds a B.A. in geology from Carleton College, a M.S. in geology from the
University of Rochester, and a PhD, in geosciences from the University of Arizona.
Over his career he has worked as a scientific researcher, exhibit developer, science
writer at the Smithsonian Institution and taught geoscience courses at the University
of Rochester, University of Chicago, National Louis University, and Northern Virginia
Community College. Before joining the department in fall 2010, Dr. Cutler was a science
writer and publications officer at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Dr. Cutler’s book, the Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood,
and the Humble Genius Who Discovered a New History of the Earth, was a Barnes & Noble
Discover Great New Writers 2003 summer selection and won the National Association
of Geoscience Teachers James H. Shea Award in 2008. His writings have appeared in
Science magazine, the Washington Post, Geotimes, and numerous other publications.
Dr. Cutler’s primary research interests are in paleobiology, paleoecology, the history
of geology, and the geology of Montgomery County. He also continues an active interest
in science writing.
Educational Background
Email: catalina.cetina@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5236
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 444
Biography
Dr. Cetina received her PhD degree in experimental nuclear physics from the George Washington University based on work performed at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility in Newport News, VA. She studied fission of heavy nuclei induced by photons in the few-GeV energy range.
Dr. Cetina won the National Research Council award for postdoctoral research at the Naval Research Laboratory and worked in applied physics at the lab's multipurpose 3-MV accelerator facility. She concentrated on accelerator mass spectrometry and specialized in high-precision isotope analysis, but also performed accelerator-based ion-beam implantations and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry.
Dr. Cetina started teaching physics to engineering students in her home country – Romania. She later returned to teaching at Northern Virginia Community College, where she was also co-advising the undergraduate research activity within the local chapter of the Society of Physics Students. She joined the physics faculty at Montgomery College, Rockville, in fall 2013 and is currently serving as STEM representative on the General Education Restructuring Committee.
Educational Background
Email: richard.szwerc@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4453
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 443
Educational Background
PhD, Acoustics, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PennsylvaniaEmail: hollis.williams@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240 567-4129
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436K
Educational Background
Dr. Williams holds a B.A. in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. and a Ph.D. – both in physics – from American University. He has taught from high school through all college levels. Other institutions at which he has taught include T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA; Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology; Northern Virginia Community College (Annandale); The American University; and, Trinity University.
The emphases of his master’s thesis and Ph.D. research dissertation were in acoustical physics, since music has always been a major key (B#) of his life.
Dr. Williams is a member of the Acoustical Society of America and continues his lifelong love affair with music by participating in various live music events, where he mainly plays bass (guitar) and sings (often in harmony). He is a longtime member of a local choir.
His current responsibilities at Montgomery College are teaching physics to enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts, alike.
Educational Background
Email: gloria.barron@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-6974
Office Hours: By appointment
Biography
Gloria Barron is an instructional designer, professional development trainer and course developer. She is a technical subject matter expert and provides guidance to less experienced employees. Gloria teachers computer courses in digital media and society, computer concepts, introduction to computer programming and animation.
Educational Background
Courses Taught
CMSC 100, CMSC 110
Email: ida.justh@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4524
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454G
Educational Background
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454G
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454T
Educational Background
Biography
Professor Mirchin has been a science teacher and secondary educator for over 20 years, working in middle schools, high schools, and community colleges. Professor Mirchin has been teaching at Montgomery College for five years for courses such as General Biology, Introduction to Chemistry, and Physical Science.Educational Background
Biography
Chidubem Arthur Nwokoye, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor in the Rockville Engineering,
Physical, and Computer Sciences Department, where he has taught courses such as ENEE
207 (Electric Circuits) and ENES 100 (Introduction to Engineering Design). He has
B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the George Washington University,
and a M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
He has over 10 years of experience working as an electronics engineer for the Navy
on projects that involve ferromagnetic resonance measurement systems, low temperature
magneto-optical measurement systems, antenna systems design, and radar systems. He
is the author of nine peer-reviewed technical papers and is the recipient of the Twelfth
Annual NAWCAD Commanders Award and the 2014 BEYA’s Modern Day Technology Leader Award.
He is also a member of the American Physical Society (APS), Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Association of Old Crows (AOC).
Educational Background
BS, Electrical Engineering, George Washington University
MS, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
PhD, Electrical Engineering, George Washington University
Email: tpeachey@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5230
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436M
Educational Background
BS, Physics, Catholic University of AmericaEmail: madhvi.shah@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5230
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436
Educational Background
BS, Information Technology ManagementBiography
Professor Shah has been an information technology professional for over 18 years. Teaching and working with students give her the opportunity to share her knowledge. She has taught at Montgomery College for over 15 years for courses such as Computer Concepts, Intro to Programming, C++, Python, MS Office, Computer and Database Concepts, Web technologies, and HTML.Office Hours: By Appointment
Educational Background
Biography
Professor Snyder teaches core programming classes to beginning computer science students, engineers, and scientists who want to do their own programming, and others wishing to try programming to see if it "feels right" as a career choice or a career change. Professor Snyder is actively employed as a programmer/analyst under contract to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and therefore teaches mainly in the evenings and sometimes on weekends. He makes time outside of class and work to meet with students one-on-one who may be struggling or need just a little extra help.Email: kam.yee@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4985
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 454A
Biography
Principal Systems Engineering Consultant at GL Communications, Inc., specializing in communications systems for the public transit industry.
Email: paul.bayhurst@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-4179
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 425
Biography
Mr. Bayhurst is the Engineering Lab Coordinator/Shop Supervisor. He has a BA in English from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. Before working for Montgomery College Mr. Bayhurst worked as a cabinet-maker, having studied his trade in places such as Cleveland, Charlotte, San Diego, Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Washington DC. Not only has he mastered the tools of the trade, but he also taught classes in the fine art of cabinet-making and furniture-making. Mr. Bayhurst's experience ranges from the complexities of taking a job from the earliest stages of planning and engineering to getting the required tools and materials for which to build the project. He is a winner of the Washington Building Congress award for a job he did for Choice Hotels International. When he’s not building something Paul can be found riding his Indian motorcycle or on a rugby pitch.Email: David.Burkart@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-1793
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SW 107
Biography
David Burkart received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from NC State and a master’s degree in zoology from Southern Illinois University. His research is focused on amphibian disease ecology. David has been a part time biology faculty at MC since 2019.Email: Michael.DePalatis@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5200
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SW 108
Biography
Mike DePalatis has a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, graduating with honors from the University of Maryland, and a Technical Writing certificate from Rutgers University. He is a professional tutor with experience tutoring students in SAT, ACT, chemistry, physics, and mathematics.Email: Brennan.Ferguson@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-7420
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 401
Biography
Brennan Ferguson received his MS in Geology from West Virginia University where his research focused on the chemical interactions that take place between hydraulic fracturing fluid and the Marcellus shale in hydraulically fractured natural gas wells. This published work has implications for gas production and recovered fracturing fluid contamination. He has industry experience as a consulting geologist primarily working on geohazard threats to linear infrastructure in Appalachia as well as environmental remediation and groundwater sampling projects. Brennan joined Montgomery College in 2023 as the Geoscience Instructional Lab Coordinator.Email: Syed.Gilani@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567- 2296
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 420
Biography
Mr. Syed Gilani completed his MS in Physics from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Pakistan. Later he earned his MS in Physics from North Carolina Central University and MS in Nanoscience from University of North Carolina Greensboro. He has experience of fabrication characterization of thin film, nanowires, quantum dots, microfluidics and microelectrodes. His research in graduate school was to design and fabricate flexible microelectrode for future portable electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor that can easily incorporated into textile for long term monitoring of cardiac activities and cost-effective diagnostic tool. The microelectrode that has potential to revolutionize the conventional health care system and transform it into a public health care model based on personal data collection further reduce the burden of patients on health care providers. He also designed a new technique to create multilayer microchannels that serve as platform for future point of care and screening devices. Mr. Gilani has more the 15 years of experience in teaching, research and lab management in the United States and abroad before joining Montgomery College as Instructional Lab Coordinator.Email: maryam.hosseini@montgomerycollege.edu
Phone: 240-567-5239
Office Location: Rockville Campus, SC 436Q
Biography
Ms. Hosseini received her BS in Physics from Razi University in Iran and her MS in Condensed Matter Physics from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. After receiving her MS, she continued her studies as a Physics PhD candidate and completed all PhD courses. During this time, she conducted research in areas such as growth of semiconductor, electrodeposition of thin films, surface hardening and microstructure development in complex alloys, and surface analysis using X-ray diffraction, optical and scanning electron microscopes. Ms. Hosseini started her teaching career in 2010. She continued teaching college level Physics and Math courses until June 2017 when she joined the Montgomery College Engineering, Physical, and Computer Sciences Department as the Physics Instructional Lab Coordinator.
