March 28, 2013

To Whom it May Concern (U.S. Embassy, Ankara, Turkey):

I have been asked to provide the information below on behalf of Mr. Touraj
Farsadi who is an Iranian citizen and has been accepted for admission to the Ph.D.
program in the Graduate School of Computational Engineering at the University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga. It is my understanding that U.S. Embassy personnel in
Ankara have asked Mr. Farsadi to provide this information which is related to his
anticipated educational activities while engaged in our doctoral program, and the
following discussion is offered toward that end. Please do not hesitate to contact
me if you need further information or clarification.

Sincerely,

Timothy W. Swafford, Ph.D.
Professor and Head
Graduate School of Computational Engineering
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
(423-425-5507) office
(423-425-5517) fax
Tim-Swafford@utc.edu


1) Explain the goals of your research and any practical applications.
The Graduate School of Computational Engineering, in conjunction with the
SimCenter: National Center for Computational Engineering, has established a
national reputation for excellence in solving real-world, practical engineering
problems in diverse fields such as hydrodynamics, aerodynamics, propulsion, heat
transfer, electromagnetics, and computational design optimization. In general, the
goal of each doctoral student is to conduct research that contributes to the state-of-
the-art and reports the results of that research in the form of a doctoral dissertation.
Students conduct research in one of the above named topical areas for which the
SimCenter has funding to support this research and in which the student has
interest. Because incoming students have not had direct exposure to currently
funded research topical areas prior to their arrival at the SimCenter, it is not
possible to name or describe the specific research topic in which Mr. Farsadi will
be engaged.
2) State sources and amounts of any U.S. government money (or funding from
U.S. corporations assisting the U.S. government) to be used to support this
research.

As stated above, it is not possible to be specific about the particular research topic
in which Mr. Farsadis research will be conducted and as such, the specific source
of funding is not identifiable at this time. Doctoral students typically require
approximately four years to complete their studies and their annual expenses
(including a stipend and various educational fees) are approximately $30,000
(currently). Hence, the total cost for a Ph.D. student to complete his/her degree
requirements is approximately $120,000 which is provided by the SimCenter,
assuming the student performs satisfactorily. In addition, it is SimCenter policy to
permit only authorized individuals (faculty and students) to be involved in and
funded from projects whose sponsors require U.S. citizenship or U.S. Permanent
Residency.


3) Describe any export-controlled technology and/or information that will be
shared.

We participate in the development and use of proprietary software that is used by
faculty and students for fundamental research and education purposes. Although
we protect the software as proprietary, the education program is operated in a way
that excludes access by international students to any information or technology that
is export controlled.