According to Mehr reporter, professor Mohammad Amin Shekrallahi is known as the inveor of “Raptor Code”. He inveed this coding algorithm in 2001. Raptor code as a new coding method with the ability to adjust and recover errors has been widely used in various fields including wireless communication, data transmission and information compression. This great scieific achieveme has brought global fame and prestige to Professor Shokrollahi and has had a significa impact on the communication industry. In 2016, he was announced as the recipie of the Mustafa (PBUH) award due to the inveion of the Raptor code.
In an ierview with Mehr reporter, Mohammad Amin Shokrallahi, the winner of the second round of the Mustafa Award, poied out his ierest in mathematics, which was rooted in his family education and the early years of his life.
This ierview, which is arranged in two parts, in the first part deals with the life and times of Shakrullahi from the early days and in the second part with his scieific achievemes.
Living in a small house in Tawheed Square and learning mathematics at the age of 5
First, Shokrallahi explained about his childhood and said: Our whole family, including two sisters older than me and two brothers younger than me, uncles and grandpares, lived in a small house near Tawheed Square. One of my uncles studied mathematics at Sharif University of Technology and another uncle taught. They taught me mathematics and discussions since I was five years old; Like set theory, they taught logarithm and geometry theory. My uncle believed that geometry is the essence of mathematics. Another good thing about the family was that my older sisters we to school and I waed to go to school too. The size of our family was very small and this family realized that science can make our lives better. Mother, uncles and father made this decision and implemeed it.
My siblings studied in Sharif
The winner of the second round of Mustafa (pbuh) award added: My older sister also studied mathematics, but later she we to the field of accouing. The second sister studied industrial engineering at Sharif University of Technology. My younger brother studied electrical engineering at Sharif University and then waed to study mathematics, and later got a doctorate in mathematics. Later, the younger brother studied mechanical engineering and worked in shipbuilding and oil. He is also ierested in math. Everyone followed their own passion. Our uncle, who just turned eighty-four years old, is still teaching new generations.
I we to a German school when I was 9 years old/I was always ierested in mathematics and physics
This mathematician coinued: I we to Tizhoshan school when I was five years old, and when I finished the fourth grade and I was nine years old, my mother saw an ad in the newspaper about the German school in Tehran. Because my father was a worker at Bayer, we got to know Germany a bit. After the fourth grade, we had an erance exam. Tehran German School had an ieresting exam that lasted about four hours. Those who were accepted studied the fifth grade in the German school in Tehran. German schools at that time were differe from now; After the fifth grade there was a final exam and the stude could eer middle school. This German school in Tehran gave us facilities to study the fifth grade like a Persian primary school, and with all the subjects, we also had an iensive German program to learn German. After this course, we we to the sixth grade, and math and basic subjects became German for me. Literature, history, history of Iran, religious education, etc. were still taught in Persian, but the rest of the subjects were in German. I was also very ierested in mathematics and physics, but it was not possible to change my orieation. We had to study everything, math-physics was always very importa and ieresting for me. Unlike biology, I did not know at all.
Poiing out that the German high school system was 13 years old at that time, and then studes took the final exam and got a diploma, he further explained: I studied nih and teh grade at the same time and then I we to eleveh grade. We were the second group of Iranian studes who had eered the German school through an exam, and I was added to the first group with this leap, and I was two years younger than the others. When we were in the 11th grade, the revolution happened. After the revolution, we were still in the 12th grade and in German school. Then the Iranian governme said that we do not accept Iranian studes to study in German schools and suggested that we repeat the twelfth grade and get an Iranian diploma. We did not accept. It was proposed to go to Germany and finish the 13th grade and return to Iran. My peers who had turned eighteen were included, but I was not included yet. At that time, the late Dr. Seyed Mohammad Beheshti knew the Germans and coacted the embassy and they agreed to let the studes go on bail. We we to Iran on 31 Shahrivar 1359, exactly the day of Iraq’s attack. We had also taken a long and cheap flight. We were on the road for 11 hours. After we arrived and found out that Tehran had been attacked, we informed the families with difficulty. We finished the 13th grade and then eered the university.
Scholarship in Germany/They also said to study mathematics
The winner of the second term of the Mustafa (PBUH) award we on to say that he iended to get an educational exemption, but the governme had said that it only accepts technical or medical fields, he said: I also opened the book of fields, the first technical field I saw started with B, in German it was road and construction engineering, and I decided to study this field. In the first year, because I knew university math, I announced to the university that you can take the first and second math exams from me. Uil now, I had received a scholarship from the German governme. I took the exam and studied for a year. Every year, the German Stock Exchange Organization conducted an ierview with a scholarship stude to measure the situation. When they found out that I had passed the math course without a class, they asked, why don’t you study math? I said that I cannot get an educational exemption. They asked, did you really get an educational exemption with road and construction? I said I didn’t get it. They also said, then study math. I got the academic exemption after three years and came to Iran. I was eighteen at that time, then I came when I was nineteen.
I didn’t have a teacher to guide me and I did the research myself
Shokrallahi also explained about his studies at the university and said: I we to Karlsruhe University first. When I we to Germany when I was 16 years old, I needed a guardian. One of the employees of Bayer Company who waed to return to Germany said that I will be this man’s guardian. After receiving the diploma, I we to the guardian, other friends followed me to Karlsruhe and started the lessons. When we finished the lesson, the question was which university to apply for the doctorate course. One of the professors in Karlsruhe, whose work I liked, we to Bon and we we too, and I got a doctorate. But I worked by myself, I didn’t have a supervisor at all. I did the research myself and got a Ph.D.
He explained about this by poiing to his ierest in pure mathematics and said: What I was very ierested in was to learn pure mathematics first and use it in the industry. Applied mathematics usually includes numerical mathematics, but I waed to transform pure mathematics io applied mathematics. For example, a small example was when I was working as a stude. One of my jobs was to sell the first issue. Because it was a new encryption system called RSA that works with very large prime numbers and has some properties. One of my professors in Karlsruhe iroduced me to coding. I was in coact with differe companies. These companies waed us to sell them the first number with some properties. This professor taught me how to write invoices for companies, and it started with how to bring pure mathematics io the industry. I became ierested in this subject and gradually found my field.
I became ierested in coding and coding in mathematics
According to Shokrallahi, what he was ierested in was number theory. He said about this: On the other hand, I am familiar with coding and I realized that algebraic theory and coding exist. I had learned first, then I saw that my two differe fields of ierest are related to each other. That’s how I got io my personal ierest that had a lot of use in the industry. Getting from algebra to coding happened from the very beginning of my math education. It wasn’t something that a professor or a doctor specified for me. In the beginning, I had a teacher who unfortunately died at a relatively young age. His name was Dr. Beth. He understood what my ierests and desires are and he became very ierested in working with me. It was strange for me too, he worked with me a lot.
We were able to iegrate number theory with coding theory
This mathematician made me a notebook at the University of Karlsruhe. He gave me one of the systems. The computer was whatever I waed, I had regular access, I asked questions, it answered, and it guided me to write my first scieific article. This was from 1985 to 1988 and I was there for 3 years. I had another professor in number theory who unfortunately passed away. We were able to iegrate number theory with coding theory. We saw that there were codings and Mr. Bett told me: “You can work in this field with this knowledge of number theory that you have.” I also coinued, I solved some of his problems in my master’s thesis. Then I we for my doctoral thesis and solved the rest of the problems and used that side in the theory of calculations.
Going to America and returning to Europe after September 11
Shokrallahi said: My German wife and I got married in America in 1997. When we were at Berkeley University, then we we to Lebes in New Jersey and then back to California. The incide of September 11, 2001 happened and the atmosphere in America was not good, so we we to Switzerland, which is a completely neutral place. I was in America, then I we to Foen Digital Company and worked as a chip scieist. Then we returned to Europe and I worked for that company at night and for the university during the day.
In response to this question, he said that you had joined Digital Foan in America and then you didn’t cooperate with them? He said: After I returned to Europe, I worked together for a while. In 2009, when the company was sold, I cooperated with the new company for a year, and after two weeks, when the cooperation ended, new ideas came to my brain for the company Candoo and then I started Cando.
How was the tornado code born?
This Iranian scieist, in response to another question that before you eered Digital Fouain in Berkeley, they had a problem and you solved it? He said: Before we we to Digital Fouain, we solved the problem in Berkeley with Mr. Luby and a few others and named it Tornado; Of course, the tornado is better. When you are correcting the mistakes, for a while you see that nothing happened and none of them were corrected, but all of them are corrected at once. It’s like a tornado is forming and you don’t know about it, and that’s why we named it a tornado. It was a strange feature that we had never seen before. We designed this for erasure channels. Then we moved on to other more complex channels. Two other researchers at Bell Labs waed to push this forward for much more complex channels. They had done some good work and when I came, they said you can work with us to take this project forward and the ideas we had for erasable codes made progress.
Going to the University of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and researching “Raptor” codes.
Shokrallahi added: After this I we to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne or EPFL in Switzerland, we were still working on Raptor. We made differe versions to increase the speed of this code and lower the probability of error, uil 2009 and the company was sold to Qualcomm, and according to the coract, I had to work for Qualcomm for one year. Then we reached version 12 (if I’m not mistaken, the last version we made) of Raptor that is used. After two weeks when my coract with Qualcomm ended, new ideas for Kendo came to my mind. I was good at research, but I was more ierested in solving a problem that was also importa in industry.
It was very importa to me that the Raptor codes are used in the industry
Regarding the feeling of receiving the Mustafa (PBUH) award, he said: I have done less work than others, for example Mr. Omar Yaghi, who won the Nobel Prize in 2025. But anyway, I have done a little work. I don’t really believe that what I did should be recognized with an award. It is importa that my achieveme is used. Raptor codes were very importa to me to be used in the industry. Receiving these awards is importa; But I usually look to the future more than the past. Of course, it was importa for my family to see my success; Because Germany and America were not there to see my work. Recely, when we were in Iran, my wife waed to see my statue in Pardis Technology Park, we we to Pardis Technology Park and I said I came to see my statue. They let us go. My wife was very ierested. He took a picture and se it to all his family and friends through virtual space.
An advice to those who study mathematics
In response to the question, what seence can you say to those who really study mathematics, to change their perspective as soon as they learn mathematics and remind them that they are already connected with the industry, he said: It depends on the individual’s personal ierests. Many people like pure mathematics because it is pure mathematics. If they are going to eer industry through pure mathematics, they must be prepared to discard everything they have studied and become a stude again to learn new things. I tell my colleagues that you need to get out of your comfort zone. If you wa to stay in the safe zone, your rank will also remain the same in work and technology.
