He has been working for more than 20 years in higher education institutes in different countries. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Strasbourg in France. Prior to joining UCA, he managed an Erasmus Mundus project for Iran, Iraq and Yemen from 2008 to 2013. Dr Shahbazkia also worked as a Senior Researcher for the French Research Institute for Development (IRD) from 2013 to 2015. He has been involved in the management of companies in different sectors of activity such as construction or tourism. His main research interests are image processing and artificial intelligence, and he is getting also involved in application of available high technology to sustainable development.