From Iran to Indiana, Arvin is used to making a splash wherever he goes

You could say Arvin Moradi's journey to Cummins is about as far from typical as you can get. And it's not just because he traveled over 6,000 miles from Iran all the way to Indiana to be here. Growing up in Iran, Arvin was an outstanding athlete and a member of the Iranian National Swim Team. Before he became a Cummins Systems Engineer testing the technical requirements of engine emissions standards, he was testing the waters as a Youth Olympic athlete and a member of the Iranian National Swim Team. 

“I was competing in the Asian Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2009, when an American coach noticed me and invited to come to the United States in Florida to train at his camp,” he said. “He would train swimmers from all over the world and get them ready to represent their home country in international competitions, including the Olympics.” 

Arvin accepted his invitation and has called America home ever since. After competing all over the world, both for Iran and professionally, Arvin decided to stay in Florida, enrolled in the University of Florida and received his degree in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, he then began his Cummins career, accepting a role as Systems Engineer at our Columbus, Indiana (USA) headquarters. Arvin credits his friends for drawing him to Cummins. 

I didn’t do an Internship at Cummins, but a lot of my friends did. And I never heard a single bad word about Cummins from any of them.

So, when Arvin was looking for a full-time career, Cummins was always in the back of his mind. Arvin says Cummins’ commitment to diversity played a big role as well. 

“When I was swimming professionally, we had over 100 members on the team, and they were from all over – from Israel to Egypt, South America and more. And I really liked that diversity and interaction and learning about different cultures. And I knew from my friends that I could find that kind of diversity at Cummins too.” And his friends were right.

We have something called the Passport Series, where every month different groups of people from all over the world and different backgrounds get together to discuss their culture, food, and all kinds of different things.

Arvin says he also enjoys the opportunity to connect with a diversity of people within his work designation as well. “We have a global system engineering team, and we meet every two weeks at the minimum. It’s a great chance to talk through any challenges you may be up against, learn from your peers and get insights about any upcoming opportunities. It’s company-wide, so it’s people from all over like China, India, Europe and Africa.”

Arvin goes on to explain that a great team of diverse talent isn’t the only thing competitive swimming and Cummins have in common. Similar to swimming, Cummins also gives you the opportunity to stand out, prove yourself and distance yourself (and the company) from the competition. 

Arvin is just three years out of school, and he has already been promoted to Senior Systems Engineer, responsible for driving critical design decision methodology to ensure the selection of capable aftertreatment architecture for an engine family, market, and application.

As a System Engineer, I essentially do risk mitigation. We’re thinking about the end-user in different operation conditions so we can anticipate a risk. And to me, a good system engineer isn’t only identifying all these different risks, but also coming up with solutions.

This type of thinking recently led to not one, but two great achievements for Arvin and his team. 

“I’m on a great group of five people and we recently identified a problem, and in brainstorming solutions, we came up with a very unique idea that we ended up submitting for an IEP. This idea is unique to Cummins, which will allow us to maintain and advance our competitive edge. This is the second IEP we have submitted, so if both of them go through, then my name will be on a patent. That’s something pretty exciting and unique and something I think not too many people only three years into their career can say.” 

We agree. Good luck, Arvin. 
 

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