My current focus is teaching the junior-level MSE labs, 360 and 365, and the MSE section of Introduction to Engineering (ENGR100). I have assisted with developing and teaching content for the introductory MSE classes 220/250 and 242. Prior to teaching at Michigan, I taught a variety of undergraduate physics and astronomy courses and high school physics, math, and music.

My research primarily investigates teaching and learning in STEM fields, particularly in lab-based and experiential learning environments. I also have experience working in research-based curriculum design and in psychometric and statistical methods for rigorously quantifying teaching and learning outcomes. Additionally, I am interested in materials archaeology and historical materials technologies.

Sahar is responsible for managing the Van Vlack Undergraduate Laboratory.  She is co-instructor of the MSE577, Principles of Failure Analysis.  Her other duties include maintaining equipment, conducting training, and running outreach events and demonstrations.  She is available to assist faculty, staff and students with instructional and facilities needs. 

My research interests are currently focused on high temperature materials for hypersonic flight, long term durability of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) for turbine engines, and the performance and durability of ceramics and CMCs for elevated temperature energy applications. Both aerospace and energy applications provide aggressive thermal, mechanical, and chemical environments for materials and the principal focus of my research interests is to develop a fundamental understanding of the physics based response of materials to these aggressive environments through experimental evaluation to relate the thermodynamics and kinetics behind degradation mechanisms to the macroscopic material properties and mechanical/thermal performance of the structure. This experimental work is critical to the validation and verification of existing and new design tools.