Eight men from the Macquarie University School of Engineering have grown their moustaches together to raise funds for men's health during Movember - this is the story of organiser Behrouz Aghajanloo.
Biomechanical engineering PhD candidate Behrouz Aghajanloo loves moustaches. “Ever since I was little, I've always looked up to my dad, especially his impressive moustache,” says Behrouz. “It's more than just facial hair; it represents strength and resilience, something that's become a big part of my life.” Behrouz is also deeply committed to the global fight against cancer – particularly after losing his beloved uncle to the disease several years ago. So it’s not surprising Behrouz was intrigued when an email arrived in his in-box sporting the Movember logo (a striking illustration of a moustache) – from Dr David Payne, who chairs the School of Engineering’s Work, Health and Safety Committee. Movember is a worldwide men’s health movement started in Melbourne in 2003 which raises funds for mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Supporters join the ‘Order of the Mo’ – the world’s least secret society – and raise funds from sponsors as they grow a moustache during November. “Behrouz wanted to organise a group of us to do Movember together – something I was keen to support,” says Professor Iain Collings. “There are now eight of us growing out our mo’s during November to raise funds for all the dads, brothers, sons and mates in our lives.”
Behrouz began his PhD at Macquarie in April 2023 under supervision of Dr Christopher Pastras and Professor Mohsen Asadnia, inspired by his connection with Associate Professor David Inglis during the two years he spent as a research fellow in Italy at Politecnico di Torino focused on cancer research and rapid virus detection kits. He had moved to Italy following a research program in biomedical engineering at Isfahan University of Technology (IUT) and Royan Institute for Biotechnology, a Master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering at the Babol Noshirvani University of Technology (BNUT), and a Bachelor of Engineering at Iran’s University of Tabriz, not far from his hometown of Zanjan in north-west Iran. “Movember means a lot to me,” says Behrouz. “Seeing our beloveds suffer and lose their battles with cancer was so heart-rending for us. It pushed me to focus my biomedical engineering research on cancer research for seven years.”
Behrouz admits moustaches are not for everyone. “Getting everyone at the School of Engineering on board with Movember was a bit funny at first,” he says. “But, with a lot of encouragement and support from Dr David Payne and Professor Iain Collings, we managed to get Professor Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil, Dr Salman Jalalifar, Dr Sajad Moshizi, and Mackenzie Siyuan Zhuang to join in.” The team gather for moustache progress photos, and stay connected with regular updates, he says. “All in all, we had heartfelt stories with some fun. We all keep an eye on each other's moustache growth through pictures on our ‘ENGIMO MACQUARIE’ group on Teams. It's been a great way to have fun together and stay connected for a good cause,” says Behrouz. The ENIGMO Team welcomes donations at the link below and would love to hear from fellow moustache-growers. |
Pictured L to R: Back – Professor Iain Collings, Professor Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Dr David Payne, Dr Binesh Puthen Veettil. Front – Dr Sajad Abolpour Moshizi, Behrouz Aghajanloo, Dr Salman Jalalifar, Mackenzie Siyuan Zhuang