Dr. Sayavur Bakhtiyarov, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at New Mexico Tech, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to the Republic of Georgia for the 2024-25 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

His host university will be Georgian Technical University, selected for its strengths in emerging technologies, he said, such as nanotechnology, and functional and smart materials. Republic Center for Structure Researches (RCSR) is one of the major materials research and teaching centers in the Republic of Georgia.

“I expect that my work in the Republic of Georgia under the Fulbright award will benefit both New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and Georgian Technical University, and society in general,” Dr. Bahktiyarov said. “Structural and morphological characterization of dielectric nanocomposite will allow developing a novel dielectric nanocomposite material for space applications.”

“Dr. Bakhtiyarov's selection by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is another indicator of the talented faculty we have at New Mexico Tech,” said Dr. Michael Jackson, Vice President of Academic Affairs. “Along with expanding his scholarly pursuits, this experience will help enrich the academic experience for our students—whether through research opportunities with Dr. Bakhtiyarov, or in the curriculum offered by our Department of Mechanical Engineering.”

This will be Dr. Bakhtiyarov’s second Fulbright grant, with the first spent at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University (Turkey) in 2017.

Dr. Bakhtiyarov has collaborated with faculty and students at GTU for nearly 20 years. From 2007 to 2011, their research project “Structural Health Monitoring and Self-Healing of Aerospace Structures” was supported by the NASA EPSCoR (Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) program in the amount of $1.5 million. From 2008 to 2010, they collaborated on the “High Performance Turbojet Engine Nano-Lubricant” project supported by New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funding of $100,000.

Since 2013 to present, they have worked on different projects supported by the Science and Technology Center of Ukraine and Georgian National Science Foundation programs.

New Mexico Tech’s experience with the Fulbright Program goes back to 1961-62 when Tech’s Dr. Joseph Schufle studied at University College in Ireland. To date, NMT has received 18 Fulbright Scholar Awards for international study, and hosted five visiting grantees here at Tech. (See list here.)

 

About the Fulbright Program

Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Fellows, 41 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

Over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program annually. In addition, over 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program participants—recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals—participate in study/research exchanges or as English teaching assistants in local schools abroad each year. Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.