Motaref’s own engineering education began in her home country of Iran, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s in earthquake engineering. She moved to the U.S. with her husband in 2006, obtained her Ph.D. in civil engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, and joined the UConn faculty in 2011. For the past several years, Motaref’s research has focused primarily on engineering education, specifically neurodiversity in engineering education and the use of AI-powered personalized learning. Through the project, 16 I Courses (“I” for “inclusive”) were redesigned to better support neurodiverse students. In one I Course, students were asked to choose a mechanics concept and apply it to their own interests.