Naeem Ahmad Khan

Naeem Ahmad Khan (12 April 1928 – 29 September 2013), FPAS, was a Pakistani nuclear physicist and a university professor of physics who was known for his work in developing techniques using the solid-state nuclear track detector and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance.[1]

Naeem Ahmad Khan
Born (1928-04-12) 12 April 1928
Hoshiarpur, British State of Punjab, British India
DiedSeptember 29, 2013(2013-09-29) (aged 85)
Risalpur, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
CitizenshipIndia (1928–1947)
Pakistan (1947–present)
Alma materUniversity of Delhi
Sindh University
Karachi University
University of Manchester
Known forSolid-state nuclear track detector
Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction
Scientific career
FieldsNuclear physics
InstitutionsPakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)
Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH)
India Meteorological Department (IMD)
Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR)
PAF Air Force Academy (AFA)
Air University
University of Karachi
University of the Punjab

Although he worked with the Government of Pakistan for most of his career, he also taught physics at many Pakistani universities and served as the civilian scientist in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) until his death.[1]

Early life

Naeem Ahmad Khan was born in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India on 12 April 1928.[2] After his matriculation, Khan enrolled at the University of Delhi and attended St. Stephen's College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) with honors in mathematics in 1946.:346[3]:228[4] After graduating, Khan joined the Indian Meteorological Department (Indian Met Office), but transferred to the Pakistan Meteorological Department after the Partition of India in 1947.[1]

In 1948, Khan left the Pakistan Meteorological Department to attend Sindh University in Hyderabad where he graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) in mathematics in 1950.:231[5] In 1951, Khan joined the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), received a commission as Lieutenant (local rank: Flt-Lt.), and worked in Air Force education units as a senior instructor.:102[6] His time in the military built up his interest in physics, and he transferred to the Air Force Reserves to attend the physics program at Karachi University in 1953.:102[6]

In 1955, Khan graduated with a Master of Science (MSc) in physics (with research focused on mass spectroscopy) from Karachi University, and earned funding from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in 1956 to pursue doctoral studies in physics in the United Kingdom.:175[7]:231[8][9] He attended the University of Manchester and was conferred with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in nuclear physics in 1958.:288[4]:8[10] In 1959, he earned the fellowship of the Physical Society of London.[1]

Scientific career

Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

In 1960, Khan returned and joined the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), eventually promoted as a scientific officer in 1961, where his early research was concentrated towards low energy nuclear reactions. He eventually left PAEC for the United Kingdom.:31[11][2] From 1961–62, Khan remained in England where he conducted his postdoctoral research at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, which was jointly funded by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.:8[10] In 1962, Khan went to the United States and worked as a research fellow at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the U.S. from 1964 to 1965.[9]:102[6]

In 1965, Khan returned to Pakistan and joined PAEC as a senior scientific officer at the PAEC Minerals Center in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, and was later promoted as principal scientific officer in 1967.[2] There, Khan was responsible for forming the Nuclear Physics Group that had mechanical engineer Hafeez Qureshi and physicists Bashiruddin Mahmud and Samar Mubarakmand as its vital members.:2–3[12] The Nuclear Physics Division conducted fundamental calculations on neutron scattering through the gas centrifuge process, but the group was disbanded by 1969.[13]

In 1970, Khan was posted in the corporate administration of PAEC and initially served as the Director of Training and International Affairs before becoming Secretary.[1] His research remained focused towards developing the solid-state nuclear track detector, and his contribution was noted in aiding the work on neutron scattering. In 1968, Khan published a scientific article on the subject with Qureshi.:2[14] In 1975, Khan was appointed as director of the Research Technological Department, and he later directed the Nuclear Physics Division before taking over the directorship of the Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (the national laboratory site) in 1977.[2][15]

Chair PCSIR, academia and Government of Pakistan

In 1984, Khan left the directorship of the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology when he became chairman of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), which he chaired until he accepted the position of technical adviser to the Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) in 1989.[1] In 1986, he helped found the Islamic World Academy of Sciences as its founding fellow to promote science and technology in the Islamic world.[1] In 1996, Khan left COMSTECH when he was elected as the vice-president of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) until 1997.[1]

From 1997 onwards, Khan served as a professor of physics in the science faculties of Karachi University, Sindh University in Hyderabad, Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Bahauddin Zakariya University in Bahawalpur, Punjab University in Lahore, and the Air University in Islamabad.[2] He supervised five doctorates in physics for students of Punjab University, whose funding was made possible by PAEC.[2]

Besides teaching physics in his country's universities, Khan was employed by the Ministry of Energy (MoE) and briefly served on the advisory board of the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan.[2]

In 2007, Khan accepted an opportunity to become the Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) civilian scientist and instructed its pilots on aerodynamics and meteorology at the Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur.[16] Khan died in Islamabad on 29 September 2013 and was buried there.[2] Physicist N. M. Butt published a eulogy and obituary on his behalf at the PAS in October 2013.[2]

Research in physics

Khan's research explicitly revolves around the field of biological applications of nuclear physics. His work is noted in fission production calculations and energy measurement through the solid-state nuclear track detector (SSNTD), which he pioneered in 1989 when he co-authored a brief study of his work "Solid State Nuclear Track Detection: A Useful Tool for Basic and Applied Science Research", with another PAEC scientist – Hameed Ahmad Khan.[17] In the 1980s, Naeem Khan supervised the SSNTD project at the SSNTD Laboratory, at the Nuclear Engineering Division that was installed in the European Organization for Nuclear Research's (better known as 'CERN') particle accelerators. He had played a vital role in the establishment of the SSTND Laboratory, and had a central role in the development of the nuclear accelerator and particle detectors at PINSTECH.

In 1989, Khan and his team of scientists at PINSTECH studied the behaviour of 960 MeV(electronvolt)/nucleon uranium-238 (238U) ions that passed through a stack of CR-39 (39CR) detectors. His team had observed that the uranium ions not only underwent binary fission, but also broke into protons, alpha particles, and heavy ions while moving through the stack.[18] These results were surprising, as decomposition took place only when the 960 MeV/nucleon-238U ions are slowed down to about 200 MeV/nucleon energy, but did not when these ions had a starting energy of 460 MeV/nucleon that slowed down to about 200 MeV/nucleon in 39CR detectors.

Publications

Bibliography
  • Khan, PhD, Naeem Ahmad, Physics: A Scientific Approach for Engineers and Scientists (1999), Punjab Textbook Board, University of Punjab Press.

Research publications
  • Solid State Nuclear Track Detection (SSNTD): A Useful Scientific Tool for Basic and Applied Research. Published and written by Naeem Ahmad Khan, Hameed Ahmad Khan, PINSTECH SSNTD-Laboratory, Nuclear Engineering Division.
  • Changes produced by high doses of light charged particles in registration properties of mica track detectors Hameed Ahmed Khan and Naeem Ahmad Khan Nuclear Engineering Division, Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH).
  • Charge (Z)- and Z/β-threshold values of some track detectors: Measurements and use in nuclear reaction studies by, Hameed Ahmed Khan, Naeem Ahmad Khan; Masood Ahmad
  • Pion induced interactions in tantalum, europium, antimony, and zirconium, by Hameed A. Khan, Naeem A. Khan and R.J. Peterson, Solid State Nuclear Track Detection Laboratory, Nuclear Engineering Division, PINSTECH
  • Response curves for different dielectric track detectors.
  • Fission and spallation induced by 7-GeV protons on 92U, 83Bi, 82Pb, 79Au, 74W, 67Ho, and 80Ag.

Fellowships
  • Fellow, Institute of Physics, London, 1968
  • Fellow, Physical Society, London, 1958
  • Fellow, Islamic Academy of Sciences
  • Member, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission; Member, National Economic Board
  • Member, National Commission on Electronics, Pakistan
  • Member, National Commission for Science & Technology, Pakistan; Member, National Scientific Research and Development Board, Pakistan
  • Chief Editor, Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, Karachi, 1984–1989
  • Editor, COMSTECH Technology Window.

References
  1. "IAS » Prof. Naeem Ahmad Khan" (html). www.iasworld.org. iasworld. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  2. Butt, PhD, N. M. (30 September 2013). "Obituary: Dr. Naeem Ahmad Khan, FPAS" (PDF). Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. Islamabad: Pakistan Academy of Sciences Press. 50 (4): 347-348. ISSN 0377-2969. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  3. Reza, S. Mohammad (1990). Persons who Shape Our Destiny: A Compendium of Bio-datas of Those Persons who are Rendering Important Services in Various Fields of National Activity. Lahore, Punj, Pakistan: Dar Publications. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  4. Haslett, Arthur Woods (1963). World Nuclear Directory. Harrap Research Pub. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  5. International Who's who in Energy and Nuclear Sciences. Longman Group Limited, Professional and Information Publishing Division. 1983. ISBN 978-0-582-90110-0.
  6. Biographical Encyclopedia of Pakistan. Biographical Research Institute, Pakistan, for International Publishers (Pakistan). 1970. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  7. Energy & Nuclear Sciences International Who's who. Longman. 1990. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  8. International Who's who in Energy and Nuclear Sciences. Longman Group Limited, Professional and Information Publishing Division. 1983. ISBN 978-0-582-90110-0. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  9. "Khan, Naeem Ahmad". Pakistan Academy of Sciences Press Publications. Pakistan Academy of Sciences Press Publications. Archived from the original on 10 August 2007.
  10. Commission, Pakistan Atomic Energy (1961). Pakistan's Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  11. Riazuddin, PhD, Dr. (1 April 2006). Khan, PhD, Hameed A.; Qureshi, PhD, M. M.; Hussain, Tajjammul; Haye, Irfan (eds.). "50+5 Years of Physics in Pakistan" (PDF). COMSATS' Series of Publications on Science and Technology. Islamabad, Pakistan: M/s A.R. Printers. 8 (6): 217. Retrieved 3 May 2020. Fifty five years of Physics in Pakistan have been analyzed from a personal perspective. Successes and failures, together with their causes, are also discussed. The current trends in development of Physics are also mentioned.
  12. Proceedings of the Pakistan Science Conference. Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science. 1968. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  13. Mahmood, Sultan Bashiruddin (15 August 2007). "Hafeez Qureshi: A great scientist passes away". The Nation, 2007. The Nation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  14. Proceedings of the Pakistan Science Conference. Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science. 1968. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  15. "Professor Dr. Naeem Ahmed Khan".
  16. "Naeem A. Khan". Archived from the original on 10 June 2011.
  17. Khan, Hameed Ahmad. "SSTND (Ibid)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2005.
  18. Khan, Hameed Ahmad; Khan, Naeem Ahmad (1989) [1989], "Solid State Nuclear Track Detection: A Useful Tool for Basic and Applied Science Research" (PDF), Journal of Islamic Academy of Sciences:IAS-Medical Journal, 2 (4): 303–312, archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2005
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