AAMU Associate Professor Receives Prestigious Joseph Moquin Award
Yaqub Honored for Extraordinary Contributions to North Alabama Technical Community
Dr. Raziq Yaqub, an Associate Professor in the AAMU Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, recently received the prestigious Joseph Moquin Award at the Huntsville Association of Technical Societies (HATS) Professional of the Year Awards Banquet.
The Joseph Moquin award is presented to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the North Alabama Technical Community and celebrates outstanding leadership and commitment.
The award is named in honor of Joseph C. Moquin who was an executive vice president for what is currently Teledyne-Brown Engineering. Moquin was the driving force behind the establishment of Cummings Research Park.
“I am deeply honored and humbled by the recognition of my dedication and creativity in advancing the technical and economic development of Huntsville,” says Yaqub. “Being part of Alabama A&M University, a Historically Black University in Huntsville, fills me with pride, and I am grateful to the University for providing me with the opportunity to serve and contribute to its mission. Additionally, as a member of a minority group in my home country, I chose to serve a Minority Serving Institution. Committed to diversity and inclusion in higher education, I am confident that I will make a positive impact on underrepresented communities by empowering them academically and professionally.”
Yaqub's commitment to diversity and inclusion is evidenced by his receipt of the 2021 National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Professional of the Year award for his significant work and accomplishments in advancing African American Engineers.
Yaqub, who has been at AAMU since 2016, also remained a Faculty Fellow at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where he focused on artificial neural network-based fault detection and prediction for electrified propulsion aircraft.
He is credited with inventing technologies in cybersecurity, wireless communications, smart grid, and connected electric vehicles. With 85 issued patents to his name, he was honored with the prestigious Inventor of the Year Award by the Inventors Hall of Fame in New Jersey in 2014. He also served as a senior consultant to the State of New Jersey, where he secured an $87M grant, and was a spokesperson of the Department of Homeland Security for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project. In 2020, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) named Yaqub Outstanding Engineer in Region 3.
Yaqub has also received several awards at Alabama A&M University, including Innovator Young Faculty Award; Outstanding Engineering Educator Award and the Excellence in Scholarship and Research Award. Dr. Majed Dweik, Vice President of Research and Economic Development, presented Yaqub with the Leadership in Grants and Proposal Writing Award in 2023. This year Dr. Zhentao Deng, Dean of the College of Engineering, Technology and Physical Sciences, presented Yaqub with the Distinguished Services Award.
Yaqub has a BSEE and MSEE degree from NWFP University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan, an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and a Ph.D. from Keio University Japan.
Yaqub has served 25 years in the engineering field and has numerous publications in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). He is also a senior member of the IEEE, communicates in English, Japanese, Hindi, and Urdu and currently serves as a Senator in the Alabama A&M University Faculty Senate.