Meet the Instructors: Medhat Rakha

Organization/Location
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Department of Mathematics, Suez Canal University, Egypt

Degrees
B.S. in Mathematics, The University of Benghazi, Libya
M.S. in Mathematics, Suez Canal University, Egypt
Ph.D. in Mathematics, Suez Canal University and Texas A&M University

Teaching Experience
Medhat Rakha began his academic career in 1993 as a mathematics lecturer in the Department of Mathematics, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. In 1998, he obtained a Ph.D. in algebra and special functions and was promoted to assistant professor. Rakha has taught courses in a wide range of topics in pure and applied mathematics. He began teaching Mathematica courses in 1999, and organized the first Mathematica workshop in the Middle East, titled "Mathematica in Education and Research," held in Ismailia, Egypt, in 2001. He is currently on sabbatical leave at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.

Mathematica Experience
Rakha has been using Mathematica since 1994, in the research areas of Lie algebra and special functions. He has used Mathematica in many of his publications. He incorporates Mathematica in his specialized university courses in linear and abstract algebras. With the support of UNESCO and Wolfram Research Europe Ltd., Rakha organized the 2004 Mathematica Gulf Conference at Sultan Qaboos University.

Language Fluency
English and Arabic

Interests
Computational algebra, basic and multivariate hypergeometric series, q-Beta integrals