Bobak Ferdowsi (born November 7, 1979) is an Iranian-American astronaut who presented Bot Breakdowns during World Championship I. He also served as a guest judge during BattleBots World Championship III.
In a playlist of videos uploaded to the BattleBots YouTube, he provided insight into a handful of robots which competed in the 2015 season, detailing how they worked and their primary weaponry.[1]
Bobak Ferdowsi (right) on the judging panel during the 2018 season.
He also featured in a one-off interview with skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, who was in attendance during parts of the first World Championship on ABC.[2]
Outside BattleBots[]
Born in Philadelphia to an Iranian father, Bobak Ferdowsi spent his early childhood in the United States before moving to Tokyo, Japan at the age of 11, graduating in 1997. He moved back to the United States to pursue a major in aerospace engineering at the University of Washington, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2001. He later joined the Lean Aerospace Initiative at MIT in Massachusetts and taking part in his first missions in the mid-2000s.
Due to his hairstyle and frequent cameos in August 2012's televised Curiosity landing, he adopted the nickname "Mohawk Guy" during his tenure with NASA. Up to that point, he revealed that he sported a different hairstyle for each mission and the mohawk was the team's popular vote. More recently, he adopted the role of Fault Protection lead at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.[3]
Away from space missions, Ferdowsi has lent himself to public speaking. He even made appearances in other media, featuring in the 2015 film Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, as well as the Food Network show Cupcake Wars as a celebrity contestant.