Thamir Alsharifi is a PhD student at VCU School of Engineering since January 2014, focusing on aerosol instrumentation and the design and modeling of a Differential Mobility Analyzer. Alsharifi has successfully published three peer-reviewed research papers and is currently working on a fourth. Previous experience includes a role as an M.Sc. student researcher at the University of Technology - Iraq from September 2005 to April 2008. Thamir Alsharifi holds a PhD in Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University (2015-2019), an M.Sc. in Power from the University of Technology - Iraq (2005-2008), and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the same institution (2001-2005).