Department of Civil Engineering

MD. MAFIZUR RAHMAN , Ph.D.

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

Professor

Tel: PBX:9665650-80 Ext:7645 Fax: +880-2-9660306

E-mail: mafizur@gmail.com
kaisar@ce.buet.ac.bd

Letter of Recommendation
It is with pleasure that I write this recommendation letter for Mr. Abdullah Al Mamun to
strongly support his admission and graduate assistantship into the UMD Civil and
Environmental Engineering PhD program. Abdullah and I discussed his recent decision to
pursue graduate study and I support his decision and strong desire to take his dedication and
skill to the next level. I have known Abdullah for 4 years as his B.Sc. undergraduate supervisor,
and as his instructor for CE 203: Engineering Geology and Geomorphology along with CE 405:
Socio-economic Aspects of Development Projects. Abdullah is such a person who makes things
happens, he does them well, and when given an opportunity, he shares his accolades with others.
These characteristics are manifest in the following 4 areas:
Academic Ability: During his B.Sc. program, Abdullah has achieved excellent grades;
including 28 A+s, 14 As and 15 As. This is simply outstanding. I have never known a student
to achieve so many A+s in such a diversity of courses. Also, during my lectures on Geology
and Geomorphology, he has always been attentive and concentrated, perceiving study material
profoundly and displaying a remarkable grasp of the content. He has consistently taken an active
part in classroom discussions and seminars, bringing in a lot with thoughtful comments and
interesting presentations. In completing tasks and assignments, Abdullah has always
demonstrated great initiative and a very positive attitude, as well as good team working skills.
Research Ability and Record: I believe this is the part, which differentiates Abdullah from
other excellent students. Although our department does not offer any course on Geospatial
Technologies, he took the challenge of conducting his undergraduate research focusing Remote
Sensing and GIS. He studied every minute detail of the materials that I provided him and after
finishing those he wanted even more. This kind of nature is the proof of his enthusiasm. He also
successfully took part in a professional training on ArcGIS. Truly, I am really amazed that he
has made himself well prepared for the research in just only 3 months!Working on an
undergraduate thesis under my supervision, Abdullah has shown excellent analytical skills and
intellectual creativity. He is an excellent problem solver. We had a time shortage to perform
ground truthing for accuracy assessment of land cover classification. He just brought the idea to
take real time training samples using Google Earth images of those respective years and solved
the problem. Using a broad interdisciplinary approach and involving plenty of resources,
Abdullah accomplished an exceptionally well researched and interesting project, which was
made part of the universitys best graduation works catalogue. His achievements relating to his
research are not limited to this but also he has published a peer-reviewed journal paper, in which
I have assisted him. I strongly believe that his systematic research design, appropriate use of
cutting edge techniques in methodologies, ability to discuss critically and smooth expressing
ability have led him to these achievements.
Teaching and Language Ability: Abdullah understands complex ideas very quickly, and has
the ability to synthesis and conveys his understanding in simple terms. This is no small feat, and
has been illustrated in a formal (20 min) presentation he gave in CE 400: Project and Thesis,
where he described specific aspects of the land use change of Dhaka City and in his interaction
with my other research team members. In both cases, his zeal for learning new concepts is
obvious. His written and verbal communication skills are excellent, and his IELTS score speak
for themselves. In Addition, Abdullah has presented his research in another Department graduate
seminar, and given oral presentations at several Private Universities where his research was very
well received.

Department of Civil Engineering

MD. MAFIZUR RAHMAN , Ph.D.

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

Professor

Tel: PBX:9665650-80 Ext:7645 Fax: +880-2-9660306

E-mail: mafizur@gmail.com
kaisar@ce.buet.ac.bd

Professional Experience and Skill: Abdullah is currently working as a Lecturer of Civil

Engineering Department in University of Asia Pacific (UAP), Dhaka. One of my colleagues
takes classes as a part-timer. According to his opinion, Abdullah is a very popular teacher of
UAP. Heholds a great personality, have good interaction with students and most importantly,
teach his assigned courses with passion and dedication. Abdullah has always been very friendly
and respectful, showing a great capacity for integration into university life. He has actively
participated in cultural activities provided by our university, being involved into students
performances and designing the stage. He is a broad-minded, internationally oriented student,
who has some abroad scouting experiences and is well prepared to new challenges.
Mr. Abdullah is an innovative thinker, a team player, a teacher and an excellent young dedicated
person, whom is revealing his potential to develophis technical base to the highest level. I offer
Abdullah my strongest support and thank you for considering his PhD candidacy within the
ENCE Graduate Program along with FinancialAssistantships.
If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Dr. Md. Mafizur Rahman

Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
BUET
Dhaka-1000