Biography
Dr. Ibrahim Ismael Hamarash is a Professor of Electrical and Control Engineering at Salahaddin University-Erbil. He holds a BSc in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Salahaddin University, an MSc in Electrical Engineering (Control Systems Engineering) from Mosul University, an MRes in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) from Staffordshire University (UK), and a PhD in Electrical Engineering (Control Systems Engineering) from The University of Technology. He also has an ICT project management certificate from UCSD, USA. In 2007, as a visiting postdoctoral researcher at Monash University, Australia, he was awarded the Endeavor Medal by the Australian Government for his research activities.
Dr. Hamarash co-founded the Mobile Education Centre for Regenerative Energy and Automation (MECREA) in collaboration with Karlsruhe University for Applied Science, Germany. He also established the Erbil Centre for Sustainable Development with five professors from international universities to support KRG projects. At Salahaddin University, he founded and led the Software Engineering Department from 2000 to 2004 and headed the Electrical Engineering Department from 2007 to 2011. He served as Vice President for Scientific Affairs and Postgraduate Studies from 2011 to 2017 and as Dean of the Engineering College from 2017 to 2018.
During his tenure in academic leadership, Dr. Hamarash initiated several programs adopted by the Ministry of Higher Education across Kurdistan. These include Quality Assurance Standardization (delPHI grant, UK), the establishment of the Critical Thinking and Academic Debate module (IRIS grant, USA), a 120-hour General English course for university freshmen (with Reading University), and the Split-Site PhD initiative. Between 2018 and 2020, he temporarily moved to the University of Kurdistan-Hewler, where he secured a grant (with a team) for building a data repository infrastructure (GIZ, Germany). He also initiated the first Hi-Tech fair in Kurdistan in 2000.
Dr. Hamarash authored the first national Computer Dictionary (English-Kurdish) in 1999 and a textbook on computers for year 7 and 8 students in the Kurdistan Region in 2001. He has authored over 50 scientific papers and served as the general chair and keynote speaker at many international conferences in Kurdistan and abroad. From 2012 to 2017, he was the Editor-in-Chief of Zanco, the scientific journal of Salahaddin University. He has been cited in the Encyclopedia of Erbil and The Bibliography of Hawler Writers.
In the industrial sector, Dr. Hamarash has designed and supervised numerous electrical, control, computer, and software projects for international agencies and companies between 1993 and 2011. Notable projects include IRIS: The HR and Payroll System for B-Plan Information Systems (UK), APTOS: Finance Management System (UK), e-Parliament (Kurdistan), and many more. He has also given numerous public seminars on AI at the Kurdish Writers Union, Kurdish Academy, and other institutions in Kurdistan and abroad.
Dr. Hamarash has supervised 30 MSc students and 7 PhD students in the fields of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Information Technology. He is a member of the Kurdistan Engineers Union, the Iraqi Engineers Syndicate, and a Senior Member of IEEE and the Interaction Design Foundation.