Civil Engineering

Academic Staff

Oct. 31, 2026, 9:11 p.m.
Ayhan Hamed Saleem
Ayhan Hamed Saleem (Master)
Assistant Lecturer
Assistant Lecturer in Hydraulics Engineering

Civil Engineering
College of Engineering
University of Duhok
[email protected]
ORCID
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  • M.Sc., Water Resources Engineering/ Hydraulic Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Duhok, Duhok, Iraq., 2018-2020
  • B.Sc., Civil Engineering/Water Resources., College of Engineering, University of Duhok, Duhok, Iraq., 2009-2013

I earned my BSc in Civil Engineering (Water Resources) from the University of Duhok in 2013, graduating first in my class, followed by an MSc in Water Resources Engineering (Hydraulics) in 2020. I subsequently served as a assistant Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Duhok, combining teaching with research in computational hydraulics, numerical modeling, and high-performance computing. My research has resulted in peer-reviewed publications on dam-break simulations and GPU-accelerated shallow-water modeling.

I am currently pursuing a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), USA, focusing on scientific machine learning, and hydrological modeling. My long-term ambition is to advance the integration of artificial intelligence and physics-based modeling to improve water resources management, and contribute to scientific research, academic excellence, and capacity building at the University of Duhok and in the Kurdistan Region.

During my academic career as an Assistant Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Duhok, I taught undergraduate engineering courses, supervised student research projects, and supported practical and computational learning.

My teaching philosophy emphasizes integrating theoretical knowledge with real-world engineering applications, encouraging critical thinking, problem-solving, and independent learning. I aim to equip students with strong analytical and technical skills while promoting innovation, research engagement, and the effective use of modern engineering and computational tools.

Training and Courses

  • 2024 – The Circular City: Towards a Sustainable Urban Ecosystem, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  • 2023–2024 – DeepLearning.AI (Coursera Specializations & Courses):
  • Sequences, Time Series and Prediction
  • Convolutional Neural Networks
  • Advanced Learning Algorithms
  • Supervised Machine Learning
  • AI Python for Beginners
  • Generative AI for Everyone
  • 2023 – NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute:
  • Physics-Informed Machine Learning
  • Getting Started with Deep Learning
  • 2023 – Multilevel Water Governance, The Hague Academy for Local Governance, Netherlands.
  • 2023 – Water Scarcity and Drought Risks, IHE Delft and Nile Basin Capacity Building Network, Egypt.
  • 2023 – Post-Pandemic Actions in the Water Sectors in Asia, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.
  • 2022 – Flood Risk Management, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands.
  • 2021 – Advanced Water Transport and Distribution, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.
  • 2020–2021 – Pedagogical Training Program (30 ECTS), University of Duhok.
  • 2020 – Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Mapping, and Spatial Analysis, University of California, Davis, and University of Toronto (Coursera).
  • 2018 – Advanced Writing, University of California, Irvine (Coursera).

Research

  1. Saleem, A.H., & Norman, M.R. (2024). Accelerated numerical modeling of shallow water flows with MPI, OpenACC, and GPUs. Environmental Modelling & Software, 180, 106141.
  2. Saleem, A.H., & Mohammad, J.R. (2020). Simulation of Mosul Dam break using the finite volume method. Polytechnic Journal, 10(2), 10-20

Computational Hydrology and Hydraulics, with a focus on Scientific Machine Learning, Physics-Informed and Data-Driven Modeling, and High-Performance Computing.