Pictured above: Photos taken from the NASA Curiosity Mars Rover. Futek’s sensors helped ensure the Curiosity Rover could continue drilling for samples after the original drill mechanism failed.
Some of Javad Mokhbery’s fellow Blue Devils discouraged him from taking Dr. Richard Lundstrom’s courses, recognizing the professor as one of the school’s toughest academic hurdles.
“They said, ‘No matter how much you kill yourself, you’ll still get a C’,” said Mokhbery, who graduated from Lawrence Technological University in 1979 with a degree in mechanical engineering.
And yet someone thoroughly prepared to share his knowledge is exactly what the young student was hoping for.
“I really liked the way he communicated with us. The examples he used got my attention,” said Mokhbery, who was born in Iran where he grew up with his brothers, including the late Mohammad Mokhberi, also an LTU grad and with whom he co-founded Futech Research from a one-bedroom apartment in the ‘80s. The company changed its name to FUTEK Advanced Sensor Technology, Inc. in 1992.
Mokhbery did, in fact, get a C in that first class. But that didn’t stop him from enrolling in two more of Dr. Lundstrom’s classes – where he eventually earned A’s, though not without additional challenges.
“First, he would give me an incomplete because he was never pleased; he would show me my tests and say, this is great but how about if you do this and you do that?” Mokhbery continued.
While such demands could have been discouraging, they actually inspired him to perform at a higher level. “Doing your best was not good enough,” he learned. “Everybody does their best. You needed to go above and beyond.”
It’s a philosophy that still drives him today, setting the tone for an accomplished career as president and CEO of FUTEK, which has since grown to include a technologically-focused workforce of 140 employees, producing sensors and related technologies with a keen focus on product quality and customer service.
“Everybody here knows that going above and beyond is my expectation,” Mokhbery said.
Lundstrom was hardly surprised by Mokhbery’s success during a recent visit to FUTEK’s two manufacturing facilities in Irvine, California. Between the original 22,000-square-foot building and a newer 70,000-square-foot facility, he saw a company designed to accommodate a massive presence in sectors like aerospace, automotive, and healthcare. It was there that Lundstrom sat in on FUTEK’s daily 6:59 a.m. meeting – a masterclass in cross-functional communication that has fueled the company’s growth.
As a matter of fact, FUTEK supplied two mission-critical sensors for NASA’s 2012 Curiosity Mars Rover mission, allowing the robotic structure to know how hard it’s pushing, pulling, or twisting, which is critical for complex tasks like drilling and collecting samples on a planet millions of miles away.
“He showed that management style where you let people take responsibility for their work,” said Lundstrom, who worked as a product engineer at Ford Motor Co. and as a faculty member and administrator at Wayne State before he was hired as a professor at LTU. “Not everyone can do that. Not everybody will do that. But he’s amazing.”
He was also impressed with the daily 6:59 a.m. meeting, which Mokhbery initiated in 2003 to enhance the company’s overall communication, discussing engineering issues on Monday, software and purchasing issues on Tuesday, quality and supply chain issues on Wednesday, and sales and marketing on Thursday, with Fridays reserved for an open forum.
“Everybody was calm. Everybody was friendly. I think that all comes from the way he runs the organization and the way he just treats people.”
Lundstrom continued, “Over the years I’ve been around, I’ve been in a lot of meetings. Almost always there’s a flare-up or somebody whose ego gets touched. But there wasn’t any of that in Javad’s 6:59 meeting, and on the tour where we met his employees, it was the same way. There’s just a lot of respect there. He was exceptional.”
Lundstrom – who is now retired and living in Northern Michigan with his wife, Marti – appeared moved by the impact he had on his former student, though he doesn’t take credit for Mokhbery’s success. And as for those A’s the FUTEK CEO eventually earned, “He’s the one who did that. All you can do as a faculty member is hope that what we say or what you show them helps.”
Lundstrom added, “After getting that first C, he said, ‘I’m never going to get one of those again’. And he didn’t. He never complained. He wanted to prove himself and here we are.”
But he can take a little bit of credit. “Certainly, as a faculty member, you don’t want to affect a person negatively. You want to affect them positively, and Javad is an example of my success at that.”
“You don’t know how much we can affect the life of the younger generation; it doesn’t matter how smart they are, but guiding them, mentoring them is so important.”
– Javad Mokhbery
There’s no doubt he made a difference – and the reason Mokhbery honored Lundstrom in a speech at LTU’s 2024 inaugural scholarship gala when Lundstrom was presented with the Luminary Award. The award recognized his impact during his 20-year tenure, including his role as founder and director of LTU’s vehicle dynamics lab. He also developed courses in vehicle dynamics and thermal system design.
“You don’t know how much we can affect the life of the younger generation,” Mokhbery said at the time. “It doesn’t matter how smart they are, but guiding them, mentoring them is so important.”
Lundstrom’s response is typically humble. “But that’s the privilege you have when you’re in a position where you claim to know something that you’re going to teach somebody else. You may not know anything, you know? But you get a chance to affect people.”
Two years after honoring his mentor on the LTU stage, Mokhbery returns this May as the keynote speaker for the 2026 Scholarship Gala – a full circle moment for the student who once feared a C.
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