The distinguished career of academic and researcher in computer engineering, Professor Hamid Sharifzadeh was celebrated at his Professorial Address on Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae on Thursday 21 August.

But seeing the success of his students is Prof Sharifzadeh’s proudest achievement.

“I feel most proud about our students in this school and the way that they have become successful – some of them are my colleagues now.”
“Every day that I come to work, that is my motivation. The privilege to be working in education and to change lives of the people, that might sound like a cliché, but it's very true.” 

As a teacher, Hamid possesses an innate ability to nurture curiosity and critical thinking abilities to produce independent learners.

Many more of his achievements were shared at the address attended by friends and family, colleagues from the School of Computing, Electrical, and Applied Technology, and our wider Unitec whānau.

The professor’s research focuses on applied AI, with a strong record of publications in international journals and conferences.

The lecture, In Praise and Critique of AI: Navigating Progress through Research & Education explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way we live, work, and learn; transforming industries, influencing decision-making, and raising important questions about equity, responsibility, and trust.

Prof Sharifzadeh also reflected on his career from early research in signal processing to applied AI leadership in education drawing on nearly two decades of experience in machine learning, speech and image processing, while also sharing insights from work in academic leadership, including curriculum design and programme development.

The address highlighted key milestones in the professor’s work, showcasing collaborative research with tangible societal impact and international recognition.

Hamid also spoke on the role of academic leadership in shaping future-ready graduates through interdisciplinary thinking and a commitment to responsible and inclusive AI.

It included a reflection on how applied AI can drive meaningful innovation while remaining grounded in critical thinking and the diverse needs of society.

Prof. Sharifzadeh’s service to the institution goes much further than his school.

Our new Director Research and Enterprise – Tāmaki, Dr Rosanne Ellis, described Professor Sharifzadeh as “a highly productive researcher, a leader in his field and an extremely prolific contributor to the research environment.”

Dr Ellis says that performance in the research space is exemplary and contributed heavily to the School of Computing, Electrical, and Applied Technology and to his scholarship within the area.

Prof. Sharifzadeh earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from K. N. Toosi University of Technology in Iran in 2006 before completing a PhD at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2011.

Prof. Sharifzadeh joined Unitec as a lecturer after moving to New Zealand three year later.

After a productive four-year stretch as the school’s research leader, Hamid stepped into the role of Academic Programme Manager in 2020, with oversight of the degree programmes (GDCMP and BCS) and postgraduate programmes (PGDAT, MAT, and DCOMP), managing more than twenty kaimahi. 
At the time, the School of Computing had just been merged with the School of Engineering.

During this time, the professor worked closely with his team and the Head of School to improve the quality of courses, thesis supervision, and capstone projects.

Together the team developed several highly successful courses and thesis topics in artificial intelligence, including machine learning, data science, and the Internet of Things.

Prof Sharifzadeh also played a key role in shaping curriculum and research in areas such as digital health and digital forensics, while enhancing the student experience.

The Master of Applied Technologies-Computing was rewritten and improved and is now one of the fastest growing postgraduate programmes at Unitec, in addition overseeing the launch of the Doctor of Computing this year.

Prof. Sharifzadeh also collaborated with the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) team to enhance their postgraduate suite and offer a new eighteen-month Master’s qualification at Unitec, including a post graduate diploma and certificate plus a 90-credit research thesis, in the context of the Tāmaki Makaurau approach.

“So boy, if that isn't waka in action, I don't know what it is, right?” Dr Ellis remarked.

As a Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SrMIEEE) and Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET), Prof. Sharifzadeh’s work has earned international recognition and attracted competitive research funding.

In 2020, Hamid was part of the team that won an international funding grant from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFS) in Germany.

In addition, the professor was awarded a three-year external grant from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) in 2018 and an external grant from the New Zealand Health Innovation Hub (HIH) in 2016.

In recent years, Prof. Sharifzadeh’s research has focused on two major areas: speech reconstruction and forensic investigations.

He won a US patent and the Best Paper Award for vocal reconstruction work in 2011.

Hamid has collaborated with WDHB and Auckland Voice and Swallow Centre for natural speech reconstruction for voice-impaired individuals since 2015.

Prof. Sharifzadeh’s research on Bionic Voice has received public attention through featured articles published in the NZ Herald and an interview with Radio NZ and has won external and internal funding.

He has also continued research on forensics, which he began in 2012 as a postdoc research fellow in Singapore. He was part of the team that won a Singapore Police Award for his work on vein pattern recognition in 2013.

In 2014, Hamid established a research collaboration with our Forensics Department of the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) to develop, enhance, and embed artificial intelligence capacities into forensic applications.

In 2017, Prof Sharifzadeh held a seminar at the Department of Internal Affairs, with parties attending from OCEANZ, NZ Customs, ESR, DIA, and NZ Police. The seminar introduced the current state of vein pattern analysis research and its potential as an identification tool.

In 2019, he was invited to the member meeting of the Biometrics Institute to give a presentation in Wellington.

In 2021, the research progressed to the commercialisation phase, led by the ESR under an MoU between Unitec and ESR. Several of his postgraduate students have been working on biometric projects and being co-supervised by forensic experts.

Prof. Sharifzadeh has also traveled internationally to talk about his research.

In 2019, the University of Kent invited him to present on the Bionic Voice project.

In 2022, the Leibniz-Centre General Linguistics (ZAS), a research institute in Berlin, Germany, invited him to present his research and collaborate on projects.

Hamid has also been invited to serve as an external referee for European Research Council (ERC) in 2020.

In response to his lecture, DCE Academic – MIT & Unitec, Professor Martin Carroll described Prof. Sharifzadeh as the “quintessential academic”.
“I heard you say something that I wish I heard more academics say. That didn't work. That failed. I was wrong about that. We need to have not only the courage to recognise that it's okay to fail, but the wisdom to know that's where half the learning happens,” Prof Carroll explains.
“I appreciated that you then took what you were learning into a very applied world that had very tangible, positive benefits for people.”

Reflecting on the past four Professorial Addresses as a whole, Prof. Carroll said they were, “brilliant examples of why research has a home in a vocational education and training setting, and why it can have very applied benefits for people.”

Prof. Carroll then cogitated on the impact of AI on the workforce and said more work was needed to build on the great work Prof. Sharifzadeh and his School were doing in this space to apply it across all our programmes.

The Professorial Address Series concludes on 18 September, 2025 with Professor Peter McPherson from the School of Architecture.