For Peyman Givi, the honor of being a fellow is just another feather in his cap — he… For Peyman Givi, the honor of being a fellow is just another feather in his cap — he has quite a few already.

Givi, a mechanical engineering professor, received a fellowship at the American Institute for Astronautics and Aeronautics. The institute chose him, among 30 other fellows worldwide. He was chosen for his “pioneering contributions” in mathematical modeling and computational simulation of turbulent combustion, according to a University news release. The institute will honor him for the award in May at the Spotlight Awards Gala in Washington, D.C.

Born in Tehran, Iran, Givi attended Youngstown State University in Ohio. He joined Pitt’s mechanical engineering staff in 2002.

Givi also works with NASA, mostly at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and in 2005 received NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal for developing mathematical methodology for the calculation of high-speed reacting flows. The medal is the highest honor NASA awards nongovernmental officials.

He jested that his good looks didn’t hurt his chances at getting the medal.

“A lot of people get nominated,” Givi said. “I think I was lucky that I got it.”

Givi, who finished his doctorate at Carnegie Mellon, is known for the development of computational, mathematical methodology for engine design. That means he studies engine turbulence and flow and creates computer models of engines, which can be tested in simulation.

He and others with him have developed fundamental mathematical equations that describe what is happening while, for example, pistons churn in a car engine.

In developing computational methodology to solve these equations, Givi makes development easier for engineers, who — thanks to the methodology — don’t have to actually build something before finding out it doesn’t work or can be made more effective.

He hopes his work will help revolutionize the way people do engine simulations,calculations and design.

Breaking the mold

One of Givi’s current Ph.D. students, Patrick Pisciuneri, appreciates his instructor’s accessibility and support. He said Givi meets with his students at least once a week, and that the time is encouraging and productive.

“I know some graduate students have had poor experience getting hounded for things that aren’t necessarily relevant,” Pisciuneri said. “He [Givi] really treats the students well.”

Pisciuneri said he is grateful to be working with Givi, whose personality is a refresher in the world of mechanical engineering.

“Especially being in the engineering department, it’s easy to fall into the nerdy mold,” Pisciuneri said. “[Givi] definitely doesn’t fit that.”

Givi plays flamenco and classical guitar. He said it resonates with traditional Persian music. His website links to many artists like Santana, the Monkees and the soloist James Piorkowski.

When he is not debugging code or plucking nylon strings, Givi might be riding the hills of Pittsburgh on his Honda Shadow 600 motorcycle (a purchase based not at all on his computational knowledge of engine mechanics, he emphasized).

Givi also appreciates the Persian and Iranian culture here at Pitt. While he would like to see more of it, he appreciates student activity like last month’s celebration of the Persian New Year. He’s excited about the new Persian restaurant, Shiraz, that recently opened on Centre Avenue.

Even though he got his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University, Givi said he had no intention of working there. He was always enamored with Pitt’s campus and is glad to be here for now. Though he keeps up with Esteghlal, the Persian sports club and soccer team in Tehran, he loves Pittsburgh sports.

“I really don’t think there is anybody who’s a bigger fan of the Steelers than I am,” he said.

Givi also immensely enjoys Pitt’s mechanical engineering department, the students and faculty. He plans no further than working here for now and hopes to continue to develop his methodology for engine design.

He hopes to see it adopted on a major industrial scale.

Additionally, Givi aims to bring his methodology to “mom and pop” shops, so small businesses and not just major industries can take advantage of his time and resource saving practices.

He’d like to be able to play the guitar like Paco DeLucio as well, when he finds the time.

‘He really treats the students well’

Givi values hard work and passion under his kind demeanor. He looks for those qualities when accepting and working with Ph.D. students, he says, rather than relying solely on grades and test scores.

“I think that the most important [judge of character] is to meet with the students, talk with them, work with them and to see what they have inside,” he said.

Pisciuneri received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Pitt, and is now working toward a Ph.D. in the same field.

He and other students work out of Benedum Hall in the Laboratory for Computational Transport Phenomena. There, using programs like C++, Pisciuneri and others work on code used for solving complicated problems, the likes of which Givi develops methodology for solving.

Each individual case or project requires changes to the code, Pisciuneri said. And problems – bugs – usually arise.

“Debugging might take a couple weeks,” he said.

After much problem solving and code debugging, Pisciuneri might run simulations with Pitt’s Supercomputing Center through a terminal.

The process is long and it can try patience, the methodology allows for testing of engines and other machinery in a simulation setting. The alternative is spending even more time and resources building something only to find it doesn’t work.

Pisciuneri hopes to get his Ph.D. within two years and would like to be published in the best journals in his field — an accomplishment which he said is an “unspoken requirement” to graduate. Afterward he looks forward to doing research in an industry setting.

“In my opinion, if you want to be a teacher, it’s usually good to have some relevant experience first,” he said.