He’s helped build engines that don’t need to be tested. He’s taught machines how to detect failure before it happens. And he’s done it all without chasing attention or personal spotlight.
So, who is Dr. Muhammad Fahad, and why are his ideas being quietly adopted in research labs and engineering firms around the world?
This is the story of an engineer who grew up exploring radio parts in a small town in Pakistan and went on to design critical components for hybrid vehicles in North America.
Along the way, he’s brought power to remote farms, kept hospitals running during blackouts, and helped shape how modern engines are calibrated. Through it all, his focus has stayed the same: solve real problems with smart, dependable systems.
Whether you work in tech, transportation, or teaching, his approach offers something practical—and worth paying attention to.
A Career That Started with Questions, Not Connections
Dr. Muhammad Fahad’s path into engineering began with hands-on curiosity. As a child in Hyderabad, Pakistan, he would visit local electronics shops to collect spare parts—LEDs, motors, small switches—and try to understand how they worked.
“I was always intrigued by those tiny black chips with silver legs—integrated circuits,” he recalls. “I didn’t know what they did. I just knew they held answers.”
That curiosity turned into a passion for engineering. He earned top honors at Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, receiving both gold and silver medals for his performance.
A national scholarship later took him to Lahore for a master’s degree, and in 2011, he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to pursue a PhD in electrical engineering at Michigan Technological University.
His doctoral research in signal processing has since been used by researchers and engineers worldwide. He’s also served as a peer reviewer for respected publications, including IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.
But his interest in engineering has always been rooted in everyday impact. One of his earliest roles involved helping rural farmers in Pakistan transition from fuel-powered engines to solar energy systems. Many of these communities were off-grid, relying on expensive and polluting generators to pump underground water.
“I was calculating power needs for farmers who had no electricity access,” he says. “It wasn’t just about the technical design—it was about helping them spend less and grow more.”
He designed custom solar setups, developed programmable energy meters, and helped write feasibility reports for the local government. That project gave him more than technical experience—it gave him a working understanding of how engineering can support daily life.
Bringing Real-World Impact to Automotive Engineering
After completing his PhD, Dr. Fahad joined IAV Automotive Engineering Inc. in Michigan, where he worked on hybrid powertrain systems, engine calibration, and control software development.
One of his most valuable projects involved building a simulator that replicates crank and camshaft signals under various conditions, allowing engineers to test for engine misfires—without running the engine at all.
“It used to take hundreds of hours of dyno-cell testing just to capture the right sensor data,” he explains. “We replaced that with a desktop device. You plug it in, set your parameters, and it behaves just like a real engine under stress.”
The simulator has since become a proprietary tool used in engine control unit (ECU) development, reducing energy consumption, emissions, and cost. This shift from hardware-heavy testing to intelligent simulation is helping the automotive industry work more efficiently—and more sustainably.
Crank and cam signal generator prototype testing and ECU synchronization setup in HiL lab. (Courtesy of IAV Automotive Engineering Inc., Michigan, USA)
Developed signal generator for simulated engine misfiring under different operating conditions.
Dr. Fahad also contributed to torque and speed control algorithm development for permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs), commonly used in hybrid vehicles. His work ensured these systems met environmental regulations like those of the EPA and CARB, while also maintaining performance.
One challenge was aligning with teams across continents—North America, Europe, and Asia—each with its own technical standards and working styles. “You have to be very clear about what problem you’re solving and what success looks like,” he says. “Otherwise, you get stuck in loops of miscommunication.”
For engineers working in control systems and embedded design, his career offers a real-world case study in how to translate complex theory into practical, deployable systems.
Staying Grounded in a Rapidly Changing Industry
While his résumé includes advanced software tools, embedded hardware platforms, and global project work, Dr. Fahad doesn’t define himself by the stack of skills. He returns often to a simple principle: Does the system solve the problem it’s meant to?
That mindset was especially clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of his Fulbright agreement, he returned to Pakistan and worked at Suleman Roshan Medical College Hospital, where he was responsible for maintaining backup power systems and repairing critical medical equipment like ECG machines.
“It wasn’t research or development,” he says. “But it reminded me why I got into this field. People were depending on those machines, and I was the one keeping them running.”
Today, he continues his work as an engineering consultant based in Michigan. He recently passed the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam and is working toward professional licensure in the state.
His current projects focus on improving diagnostics for hybrid vehicles and enhancing sensing systems for driver assistance technologies.
In particular, he’s interested in LiDAR and RADAR-based solutions for collision prevention and automation.
“I want to work on systems that help reduce accidents, improve reliability, and lower emissions,” he says. “If a system works better today than it did yesterday, that’s progress.”
He’s not focused on personal branding or public speaking. He’s focused on clarity—of code, of system behavior, and of purpose.
Name of international companies and universities that are benefiting from the research of Dr. Muhammad Fahad. (Courtesy of Michigan Tech’s digital library readership statistics)
Building the Future, One Practical Solution at a Time
Dr. Muhammad Fahad may not be a familiar name in mainstream engineering circles. But his work—measured, tested, and quietly dependable—is becoming a reference point for how modern systems should be built.
He doesn’t claim to have all the answers. What he offers instead is something far more valuable: a steady, focused approach to solving technical problems in ways that make people’s lives easier, safer, and more efficient.
In a time when innovation is often loud, it’s the quiet, precise solutions that tend to last. Dr. Fahad’s work reminds us that lasting impact doesn’t always make noise—it just keeps moving things forward.