Dr. Ryad Ghanam

Education

• Ph.D. in Mathematics, University of Toledo.
• M.A. in Mathematics, University of Toledo.
• B.Sc. in Mathematics, University of Jordan.

Biography

I have joined Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar’s faculty team in 2014 after an extensive teaching experience in the United States. During my eighteen years of teaching I have taught several courses at various levels. In addition to maintaining an interactive teaching style, I am heavily involved in research in the area of Lie algebras and their applications in differential equations. I have also supervised many students’ senior theses, many of whom had presented their theses in math conferences. For two years, I was invited to join a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) grant as a consultant at NASA where I would train teachers how to teach these subjects to school-aged students. I have been invited and still receive invitations to teach challenging math principles at schools to students of all ages, most of which I try to accept because not only do I believe in the importance of pure math research but also in the value of math education research.

Research Interests

• Primary: Applied Differential Geometry, Lie Algebras & Lie Groups.
• Secondary: Numerical analysis and numerical solutions to partial differential equations.

Publications

• Ghanam, Ryad, and G. Thompson. “Minimal matrix representations of five-dimensional Lie algebras.” ExtractaMathematicae30, no.1  (2015): 95-133.
• Awotunde, Abeeb A., Ryad A. Ghanam, and Nasser-eddine Tatar. “Artificial boundary condition for a modified fractional diffusion problem.” Boundary Value Problems2015, no. 1 (2015): 1-17.
• Azad, H., I. Biswas, R. Ghanam, and M. T. Mustafa. “On computing joint invariants of vector fields.” Journal of Geometry and Physics. 97 (2015): 69-76.
• Ghanam, Ryad A., N. Malik, and Nasser-eddine Tatar. “Transparent boundary conditions for a diffusion problem modified by Hilfer derivative.”  Math. Sci. Univ. Tokyo21 (2014): 129-152.
• Malik, Nadeem A., R. A. Ghanam, and S. Al-Homidan. “Sensitivity of the pressure distribution to the fractional order in the fractional diffusion equation.” doi 10.1139/cjp-2013-0387.
• Al-Homidan, Suliman, Ryad A. Ghanam, and Nasser-eddine Tatar. “On a generalized diffusion equation arising in petroleum engineering.” Advances in Difference Equations2013, no. 1 (2013): 1-14.
• Azad, H., Ahmad Y. Al-Dweik, R. Ghanam, and M. T. Mustafa. “Symmetry analysis of wave equation on static spherically symmetric spacetimes with higher symmetries.” Journal of Mathematical Physics54, no. 6 (2013): 063509.
• Ghanam, Ryad A., and Ahmad Y. Al-Dweik. “Conservation laws for the geodesic equations of the canonical connection on Lie groups in dimensions two and three.”  Math7, no. 1 (2013): 311-318.
• Ghanam, Ryad. “New Examples of Einstein Metrics in Dimension Four.” International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences (2010). Article ID 716035.
• Ghanam, R., F. Hindeleh, and G. Thompson. “Bi-invariant and noninvariant metrics on Lie groups.” Journal of Mathematical Physics 48, no. 10 (2007): 102903.

Presentations

• Representations of Low-dimensional Lie Algebras and the Inverse Problem. Colloquium Talk Invited speaker. NYU Abu Dhabi. September 12, 2015.
• Representations of Low-dimensional Lie Algebras and their applications in Differential Equations. The Joint Mathematics Meeting 2015. San Antonio, TX.
• “Equations”. Show and Tell. Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. November 4, 2014
• Representations of Low-dimensional Lie Algebras. Invited Colloquium Speaker. Qatar University. Qatar. October 20, 2014.
• Representation of Low-dimensional Lie Algebras and Applications. Invited Colloquium Speaker. King Saud University. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. September 18, 2014.
• Solving Partial Differential Equation: Use Lie Algebra! Invited Colloquium Speaker. University of Toledo, OH. November 8, 2013.
• Minimal Matrix Representation of low-dimensional Lie groups. International Conference on Mathematical Sciences. United Arab Emirates. March 11-14, 2012.
• Representations of low dimensional Lie algebras. King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. November 2010.
• Representations of Lie algebras and Applications. American Mathematical Society (AMS) 2009 Spring Southeastern Section Meeting. North Carolina State University, April 4-5, 2009.
• The Inverse Problem.  Invited speaker; colloquium talk. Indiana University of Pennsylvania. April 2008.
• Bi-invariant and non-invariant metrics on Lie groups. Midwest Geometry Conference. University of Iowa. May 18-20, 2007.

Funded Research Projects and Grants

• Principal Investigator, Faculty Research Grant, funded by Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Subalgebras of GL(4,R). June 1 2015-May 30 2016.
• Consultant, PA Multi-Region STEM Initiative. STEM grant funded the PA Department of Education. Budget ($1,500,000), June 2013-June 2016.
• Co-PI,11-OIL1663-04, funded by NSTIP (National Science and Technology Innovation Program, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). Modeling Fluid Transport through Porous Media with Application to Enhance Oil Recovery. Budget: SAR 1,700,000 ($453,290). March 2012-March 2014.
• Principal Investigator, FT101010, funded by KFUPM (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals), Minimal Matrix Representation of five-dimensional Lie Algebras. Budget: SAR50,000 ($13,332).  March 2011-September 2012.
• Principal Investigator, FT101002, funded by KFUPM. Noether’s Symmetry of the geodesic equations of the canonical connection on Lie groups. Budget: SAR 50,000 ($13,332). March 2011-March 2012.
• Co-PI, IN101026, funded by KFUPM. The wave equation on a spherically symmetric space-time. Budget: SAR120,000 ($31,996). May 2011-May 2013.
• Principal Investigator, USRG1201. This is an undergraduate project with Fahd Andergeeri (Co-PI, undergraduate student). Matrix Exponentials and Applications. Budget: SAR 32,000 ($8532).

Honors

• Professional Development Award, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, March 2008.
• Teacher of the year Award. University of Wisconsin-Rock County. Received in May 2003.