KINGSVILLE (November 6, 2026) — Dr. Reza Nekovei, electrical engineering professor in the Frank H. Dotterweich College of Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, has been awarded the prestigious Otto Mønsted Visiting Professorship to collaborate with AAU Energy at Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark during the summers of 2027 and 2028.
“In June 2026, I learned that the AAU Energy faculty would nominate me to the foundation. I thought the nomination was an honor in itself, but I didn't expect to be selected. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that I had been selected,” Nekovei said.
“This type of selection provides independent validation of Dr. Nekovei’s scholarly contributions and professional reputation,” said Dr. Dunren Che, professor and chair of the electrical engineering and computer science department. “Faculty achievements help the department's reputation and research ranking. They strengthen the department's standing among peer institutions and help attract talented students, collaborators, and potential future faculty.”
“AAU Energy, with which Dr. Nekovei will collaborate, ranked first in Europe and 26th worldwide for energy research. Energy grid research in reliability and security is fundamental to modern society, economic stability, and national security, Che added.
The international collaboration will focus on advanced research in intelligent energy systems, real-time embedded hardware using application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and digital system modeling for ultra-low-latency control. The research aims to develop high-performance systems that can rapidly adapt to changing operating conditions, detect faults in real time, and improve system performance, security, and reliability.
According to Nekovei, they will work to “design smarter electronic hardware and software for future power distribution grids that can keep working safely and securely even when parts of the system fail, malfunction, or are attacked.”
The Otto Mønsted Visiting Professorship is a prestigious grant awarded by the Otto Mønsted Foundation in Denmark to bring world-class international academic talent to collaborate at Denmark's leading universities. Through the professorship, Nekovei will work with researchers at Aalborg University to advance research at the intersection of intelligent energy systems, embedded computing, and high-speed digital control.
The collaboration will also strengthen international academic and research ties and create opportunities to exchange expertise in emerging technologies for next-generation energy and real-time embedded systems.
About Dr. Reza Nekovei
Nekovei has been conducting research in the field of micro/nano scale integrated circuit design for more than 15 years, including modeling of circuits for nano-electronic devices. He has been involved in the design and fabrication of over 100 integrated circuits.
He has received over $2 million of funding for his research and development work from state, federal and international agencies.
In 2008, Nekovei received the prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2009, he was named a Fulbright Fellow and joined the faculty at Bucharest Polytechnic University in Romania where he performed collaborative research on high-performance circuits for numerically complex computations.
Between 2012 and 2018, he received the Dean’s Teaching Award, the Dean’s Research and the Engineering Professor of the Year. In his spare time, Nekovei is faculty advisor for the TAMUK Robotics Club.
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