Ardeshir Jalaei​​​​​​​

The start point of shaping of my state of mind

Back in my school years, I got really into filmmaking, video editing, and adding cool effects to short films. Alongside all those cinema-related books, there was this one book about the philosophy of art that fascinated me. It made me look at things from a structural and formal angle, and I got to know Kant and Plato’s ideas about the difference between objectivity and subjectivity. After that, a series of books by Paul Strathern, which focused on the lives of philosopher-scientist-writer figures from history. Those books played a big role in shaping how I view the blending of various branches of knowledge.

School and Diploma

I was the kind of person who had already picked up reading and writing in both Persian and English quite well before school. To the best of my recollection, I wasn’t all that thrilled about attending school. Things changed in 2010 when I had open-heart surgery to deal with the worsening scoliosis in my spine. After that, I decided to skip school and studied at home from my second year of junior high (seventh grade) until I earned my high school diploma, only going to school when it was time for final exams.

treatment process

​They diagnosed my scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, when I was just six years old. From then on, I had to wear braces for several years, which helped control the curvature. But things took a "twist" after 2010, following open-heart surgery to address an aortic valve issue. I stopped wearing braces, and my scoliosis worsened. Due to the complexities of that surgery and my heart condition, we applied for a visa to the U.S. in 2013, which was finally granted in 2016. During that year, I had pre-surgery initial assessment first in NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital but during the assessment I underwent a unexpected emergency surgery (testicular torsion) and doctors postponed the spine surgery. Then I continue spine surgery procedure in New Jersey. I spent a year in the U.S. and had four surgeries, three of them related to my spine, all within last three months. Back in Iran, I had an emergency open-heart surgery again, bringing the total to five surgeries in less than a year.

​Industrial Engineering

Picking industrial engineering wasn’t about going all-in for me. It was more like cherry-picking the courses that piqued my interest. Along this journey, I made it a point to pay extra attention to the interdisciplinary nature of the subjects and the wide range of practical applications for the concepts presented. Personally, I believe this approach worked like a charm, both for my learning and for acing those grades. It’s probably why I graduated top of my class in 2022.
Let’s rewind to my undergraduate days in next two section ...

continue of my journey

Even though it took at least 5 years, from 2013 to 2018,to cook up these ideas. What’s cooking, you ask? Well, it’s been a journey to blend philosophy, math, and real-world engineering stuff into a coherent mix. Big shoutout to “The Lessons of History” by Will Durant and Melanie Mitchell’s “Complexity: A Guided Tour” for helping me see the big picture. And don’t forget, I’ve been diving into the world of complex systems, tracing their roots in math and biology, and that’s made ​​​​​​​my interests connect the dots between theory and practice.  It’s pretty clear that this path, stretching from the days of Descartes and Pascal to the realms of Russell, Gödel, and Einstein, has been my trusty guide and a massive inspiration for finding that seamless, interconnected route among different fields.

 Macro-System Engineering

Macro systems have been a big part of my academic journey becuase it is one the most important concept in Complex Systems. I mean, that’s why I picked industrial engineering as my major, with the goal of diving deeper into this area. You could say industrial systems are the closest thing to studying complex systems within this field. And, let me tell you, the course on System Dynamics, which is a fundamental way to break down complex systems alongside Agent-based-Modeling (from the east coast to the west coast institutions ), is right there in the curriculum.

 My academic journey  𝚰𝚰

On another note, I'd like to mention that in one of my semesters, I was super passionate about the topics in my calculus 2 class. So much so that I was studying them in several parallel classes. Plus, I did some research on the history of calculus (you know, those calculus wizards) that really connected the dots between the historical context and the concept of calculus, especially differential equations, to the concepts mentioned in the book "Complexity: A Guided Tour." In the same semester, I aced my differential equations course (scored a perfect grade). Although system analysis is a prerequisite for this course, the teaching approach leaned more towards teaching BPMN, which, I must say, became a bridge for me in my next academic stage, connecting these two modeling approaches (with a logical and deep-rooted history in the world of mathematics).

a time when the world of probability theory and applied statistics truly came alive for me. And let me tell you, it was all thanks to the brilliant guidance of Mr. Samimi. These subjects weren't just academic pursuits; they were a voyage into understanding the fabric of uncertainty and the art of modeling and that was a time that I know the relation between fuzzy logic and probability. It's like unlocking a secret code that transcends disciplines. And then there's the enchanting realm of statistical learning, stretching its arms from the intricacies of psychology to the vast possibilities of artificial intelligence. Alongside these intellectual adventures, the indispensable courses on optimization and simulation, the backbone of our field, brought depth and breadth to my understanding. Oh, and here's a fascinating point: I had the privilege of being a teaching assistant under Mr. Samimi's wing during the intense days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a wild ride that added a unique dimension to my academic journey.​​​​​​​

 My academic journey​​​​​​​ 𝚰