Amir Abo-Shaeer
{{short description|American teacher and mechanical engineer (born 1972)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Amir Muhsin Abo-Shaeer
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| nationality =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|03|20}}
| birth_place = São Paulo, Brazil
| education = University of California, Santa Barbara (B.S. 1996, M.S. 1998, M.Ed. 2001)
| spouse = Emily Shaeer
| parents = Muhsin Abo-Shaeer, Anita Bradford Abo-Shaeer
| children = 1
| module =
{{Infobox engineering career
| discipline =
| institutions =
| practice_name =
| employer = Santa Barbara School Districts
| significant_projects = Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy
| significant_design =
| significant_advance =
| significant_awards = MacArthur Fellowship (2010)
}}
}}
Amir Muhsin Abo-Shaeer ({{langx|ar|امير محسن ابو شعير}}; born March 20, 1972) is an American teacher and mechanical engineer. In 2001, during his first year of teaching, he established the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA) on the Dos Pueblos High School campus. In addition to being the Director of the DPEA, he teaches physics, engineering, robotics, machining, and manufacturing. His focused outreach efforts have yielded 50% female student enrollment in the DPEA. He also ran FRC Team 1717 as part of the academy program. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010. He is the first high school teacher to win the award, as well as the first FIRST mentor to win the award for work relating to FIRST robotics.{{cite web|url=http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.6196377/k.8704/Amir_AboShaeer.htm|title=Amir Abo-Shaeer - MacArthur Fouundation|accessdate=28 September 2010|publisher= MacArthur Foundation| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101001020155/http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.6196377/k.8704/Amir_AboShaeer.htm| archivedate= 1 October 2010 | url-status= live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dphs.org/main/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=203&Itemid=132 |title=Amir |publisher=Dos Pueblos High School |accessdate=29 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726003334/http://www.dphs.org/main/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=203&Itemid=132 |archivedate=26 July 2011 }}{{cite video|url=http://robotics.nasa.gov/first/2011/kickoff/FIRSTKickoffOpenCaptions.wmv|title=NASA TV FRC Kickoff Broadcast - Archived - Captioned|publisher=NASA TV. FIRST|date=8 January 2011}}
Early life and education
Shaeer was born to an Iraqi Muslim father and an Irish-American mother in São Paulo, Brazil, where his father was teaching physics at the university.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ub_Ur5TbtLAC&dq=amir+abo+shaeer+iraqi&pg=PA5|title=The New Cool: A Visionary Teacher, His First Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts|isbn=9780307588906|last1=Bascomb|first1=Neal|date=March 2012|publisher=Crown }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703775704576162421287300668|title=Celebrity Geeks|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=10 March 2011|last1=Crease|first1=Robert P.}} Before his first birthday, his family returned to Santa Barbara, California, where he has resided ever since.{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/45000956/The-New-Cool-by-Neal-Bascomb-Excerpt|title=The New Cool Excerpt|publisher=Crown Publishing}}
He graduated from Dos Pueblos High School and attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a B.S. in physics, a M.S. in mechanical engineering, and a M.Ed. in secondary education.{{cite web|url=http://www.dpengineering.org/Teachers/1Mr.%20Abo-Shaeer/1Biography.php|title=Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy - FIRST Robotics Team 1717 - Teachers|publisher=Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy|accessdate=28 September 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001232546/http://www.dpengineering.org/Teachers/1Mr.%20Abo-Shaeer/1Biography.php|archivedate=1 October 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
Career
Shaeer began his career as a mechanical engineer in the private sector. He worked on research and development in academia, aerospace, and telecommunications before deciding to pursue a career in education. Early on, he taught physics, wrote the curriculum, and developed courses for the DPEA. He eventually decided that the capstone course for the senior class would revolve around the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), which requires students to design and construct a {{convert|120|lb|kg|adj=on}} robot to compete against other robots in a game challenge that is different every year. The DPEA is known as Team 1717 in the FIRST community.{{cite web|url=https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index.lasso?page=team_details&tpid=29943&-session=myarea:C77D640516a8a2EF49wKU24F457F|title=What Events And Teams Are In My Area? - 1717|publisher=FIRST|accessdate=28 September 2010}}
In 2007, he garnered a $3 million California state matching grant to create a {{convert|12000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} engineering facility on the high school campus to support the implementation of the Career Technical Education (CTE) curriculum he created.{{cite web|url=http://www.dpeaf.org/facility.php|title=DPEA Foundation New Facility Elings Center for Engineering Education|publisher=DPEA Foundation|accessdate=28 September 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004122615/http://www.dpeaf.org/facility.php|archivedate=2010-10-04|url-status=dead}} The building opened in October 2011 and is currently in use.{{cite web|url=http://www.noozhawk.com/article/100111_dos_pueblos_high_elings_center_for_engineering_education|title=Dos Pueblos High Dedicates Its New Elings Center for Engineering Education|publisher=Noozhawk|date=1 October 2011|accessdate=23 March 2012}}
On September 29, 2010, Congresswoman Lois Capps congratulated him on the floor of the United States House of Representatives for winning the MacArthur Fellowship.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moR-s40S2f0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/moR-s40S2f0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Congratulating Amir Abo-Shaeer|website=YouTube |date=29 September 2010 |accessdate=30 September 2010}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r111:H29SE0-0022: |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720040323/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r111:H29SE0-0022: |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 20, 2012 |title=Congressional Record - 111th Congress (2009-2010) - THOMAS (Library of Congress) |publisher=Thomas.loc.gov |date=2009-05-20 |accessdate=2010-09-30 }}
Media
The New York Times-bestselling author Neal Bascomb wrote a book chronicling Abo-Shaeer’s teaching and his 2009 FIRST robotics team’s competition season. The New Cool was released on March 1, 2011.{{cite web|url=http://nealbascomb.com/books/ncool/ncool.html|title=The New Cool|author= |date= |publisher=NealBascomb.com|accessdate=12 March 2011}}
Personal life
Shaeer and his wife, Emily, have a daughter.{{cite web|url=http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=39902|title=DP Teacher Wins Genius Grant|work=Santa Barbara Edhat |date=28 September 2010}}
Awards and honors
- 2008 Goleta Educator of the Year
- 2008 Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition
- 2009 Santa Barbara Rotary Outstanding Service Award
- 2010 MacArthur Fellowship
- 2011 FIRST Woodie Flowers Award – Los Angeles Regional{{cite web|url=http://www2.usfirst.org/2011comp/events/CA/awards.html |title=2011 Los Angeles Regional Awards |publisher=FIRST |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723171741/http://www2.usfirst.org/2011comp/events/CA/awards.html |archivedate=2011-07-23 }}
- 2013 Distinguished Educator Award from the Paul Allen Family Foundation{{cite web|title=Distinguished Educators - PGA Foundations|url=http://www.pgafamilyfoundation.org/programs/distinguished-educators|website=PGA Foundation|accessdate=13 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206031131/http://www.pgafamilyfoundation.org/programs/distinguished-educators|archive-date=6 February 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
- 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award, University of California, Santa Barbara{{cite web|title=Distinguished Alumni Award|url=http://www.ucsbalum.com/programs/awards/distinguished|website=USCB Alumni Association|accessdate=13 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319214608/http://www.ucsbalum.com/programs/awards/distinguished|archive-date=19 March 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
- 2013 Marvyn Melvin Distinguished Teacher Award, Santa Barbara County Education Office{{cite web|title=Marvin Melvin Career Technical Educator Award Recipients|url=http://www.sbceoportal.org/teacherprograms/marvyn-melvin-career-technical-educator-award-receipients/|website=SBCEO Portal|accessdate=13 January 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150117181204/http://www.sbceoportal.org/teacherprograms/marvyn-melvin-career-technical-educator-award-receipients/|archive-date=2015-01-17|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://dpengineering.org/ Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy]
- [http://dpeaf.org DPEA Foundation]
- [http://dphs.org/ Dos Pueblos High School]
- [http://nealbascomb.com/ Neal Bascomb]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100929185622/http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/28/tuesdays-intriguing-people-30/ Amir Abo-Shaeer on CNN's Most Intriguing People]
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Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni