Amin Azad, a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto affiliated with ISTEP and the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry (2T6), has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship. His research lies at the intersection of engineering education, systems thinking and entrepreneurship, with a focus on preparing engineering students to become not only technical problem solvers, but also systems thinkers who can identify and act on meaningful opportunities in the world around them.
“During my time at U of T, I’ve been passionate about preparing engineering students to be more than just technical problem solvers,” Azad explains, “but to become systems thinkers who can identify and act on meaningful opportunities in the world around them.”
Azad has worked closely with faculty across engineering and business. He has taught and been a teaching assistant for undergraduate and graduate courses in innovative design, human factors engineering, and entrepreneurship, while also co-developing curriculum and workshops that integrates opportunity identification frameworks into engineering. “These experiences—spanning teaching, research, and entrepreneurship—have shaped my focus on bridging the gap between traditional engineering education and the complex, real-world skills needed for impactful innovation,” he says.
His interest in systems thinking and entrepreneurial identification stems from personal experience. “I was passionate about building ventures and wanted to get ahead in entrepreneurship, but found that engineering education wasn’t helping me see the bigger picture,” he recalls. “I learned tools, but not how to identify the right kinds of opportunities worth pursuing. Over time, I saw that this wasn’t just my experience—many others in the entrepreneurial community felt the same.”
As he began mentoring student ventures and design teams, he noticed their struggles often lay not in building solutions, but in framing problems correctly. “That led me to systems thinking as a pedagogical tool—one that helps students look beyond technical fixes to map the larger systems at play. To me, entrepreneurship is how we act on those systems insights. Identifying opportunity isn’t just a business skill—it’s a way of driving meaningful change.”
His academic path has been shaped by the guidance of several mentors. “Dr. Ade Mabogunje from Stanford’s Center for Design Research helped me see how entrepreneurship unfolds within engineering contexts,” Azad says. “At U of T, working with Dr. Emily Moore and the ISTEP team has been foundational. Dr. Moore has supported my efforts to bring systems thinking into the classroom and explore how it shapes students’ mindsets toward opportunity and leadership. My courses in engineering education and my community at Massey College have also been important spaces for critical reflection on how to drive change within educational institutions.”
For Azad, receiving the Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship is both an honour and a unique opportunity. “The Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship is one of the most prestigious international exchange programs in the world,” he explains. “It validates the work I’ve been doing and creates a unique opportunity to collaborate internationally at the highest levels.” He vividly remembers the moment he found out: “I was sitting in a coffee shop when I saw the email. I reread it three times, in disbelief. Then I smiled and immediately called my parents to share the news.”
Azad research explores how to help engineering students become better at identifying important problems and opportunities—not just solving the ones presented to them. “I use tools like systems mapping and feedback loops to teach students how to understand the broader context of the challenges they’re working on,” he explains. “My goal is to help them think beyond their disciplines, recognize complex patterns, and act in ways that have real impact.”
He is motivated by a fascination with complex problems—especially those that persist despite funding or technological advances. “I’ve seen firsthand how student ventures can be powerful change agents when they truly understand the systems around them,” he notes. “The reality is that most ventures don’t fail because they can’t build a good product—they fail because they don’t fully understand the market, regulations, or the systemic context they’re stepping into. My work is about bridging that gap between technical skills and systemic insight.”
Azad believes that systems thinking can reshape engineering education by equipping students, educators, and the profession with new ways to approach societal and technical challenges. “For students, it builds confidence in ambiguity. For educators, it offers powerful new frameworks for teaching innovation. And for the engineering profession, it strengthens our ability to address the complex, interconnected problems that define our time—from sustainability to health equity.”
As part of his Fulbright Scholarship, Azad will begin a research residency at MIT Sloan School of Management in September 2025. He will work with Professor Hazhir Rahmandad, who is part of the System Dynamics Group and whose work in systems modeling in complex organizations has been deeply influential to him. “I’m especially excited to explore how these insights can inform better educational tools and entrepreneurial training programs,” he says. He also looks forward to engaging with MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through the Martin Trust Center and the MIT Media Lab, and to immersing himself in Sloan’s “unique culture of system-level experimentation.”
Looking ahead, he plans to use his time at MIT to deepen his skills in system dynamics modeling and expand his understanding of how these tools are applied in business, policy, and innovation. “I plan to use what I learn to improve and scale the systems thinking workshops I’ve created for engineering entrepreneurship education,” he explains. “I’m also developing academic publications and curricular resources that can be shared across institutions. More broadly, I want to foster stronger partnerships between universities and entrepreneurial ecosystems, especially for early-stage ventures.”
He also remains committed to contributing to Canada’s innovation and education ecosystem. “I’ve studied in the U.S. before—at Stanford—and each time I return to Canada, I aim to bring back valuable lessons that strengthen my work and community here,” he says.
In the long term, Azad hopes his work will help shift engineering education toward being more reflective, systems-aware, and impactful. “I want to cultivate engineers who are technically excellent and able to think critically about the complex systems they’re working to improve. With the rise of AI tools, the emphasis is shifting—from writing code to understanding where and how that code fits into real-world systems. That’s where systems thinking becomes essential.”
When asked what advice he would give students considering scholarships like Fulbright, Azad encourages them to be bold: “Don’t wait until you feel ‘ready.’ Start building your story—what drives you, what you want to change, and how the opportunity helps you get there. The most impactful work I’ve done came from aligning three things: what I’m good at, what I care about, and what the world needs. And reach out to past recipients—those conversations were incredibly helpful for me.”
Above all, he expresses gratitude. “Just my deep gratitude—to the mentors, collaborators, and communities that have supported me along the way,” Azad reflects. “Opportunities like this are never achieved alone, and I hope to pay it forward through my work—both in Canada and beyond.”