The Rising Star

10 Pakistani Scientists who Made a Difference in the World

Mostly, Pakistani students are taught about inventions and discoveries of Muslims and they list hundreds and thousands year old inventions by Muslims. But one important fact needs to be highlighted that Pakistani scientists, too, have a great contribution in where the world is standing today. There are hundreds of capable scientists which have worked on prestigious scientific missions and many of them even have invented numerous things in their disciplines.

This list of greatest Pakistani scientists prove that Pakistan is not far behind anyone in development of today and has a contribution in the modern world. Even though resources in the country are minimal, yet these brilliant minds were stronger enough to take over the circumstances.

(Following number-list is just for convenience, and it is not meant to rank them on certain positions.)

1) Dr. Naweed Syed

He is a Pakistani Canadian scientist. He is the first scientist who managed to 'connect brain cells to a silicon chip'. Dr. Naveed estimates science-fiction type 'Machine-Men' may be developed within 10 to 20 years, using his silicon chip. Currently he is a Professor and Head Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy at the University of Calgary, Canada. He was featured in Time Magazine (Canada) as well.



2) Naveed Zaidi
Organic Chemist and Polymer Scientist Naveed Zaidi developed world's first plastic magnet that functions at room temperature. Along with his colleagues Prof. Andy Monkman, Mr. Sean Giblin and Dr. Ian Terry from Department of Physics of Durham University, research took 4 years making him first scientist to develop world's first practical plastic magnet.


3) Amjad Farooq and Basit Farooq

They made world's first computer virus in 1986. It was made for MS-DOS operating systems. The virus used to infect the boot sector of storage media formatted with the DOS File Allocation Table (FAT) file system. This virus was suppose to stop and track illegal copies of their disk.



4) Abdus Salam
Abdus Salam was a Pakistani theoretical physicist who won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to 'electroweak unification' in 1979. He is the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize.


5) Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood
Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood is a Pakistani nuclear engineer. He has been an important part of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and regarded for development of the SMB probe to detect heavy water leaks in nuclear power plants. You can know more about him by watching his interview given to a local Pakistani TV Channel.

 

 6) Ayub Khan Ommaya
Dr. Ommaya published over 150 articles, chapters, and books. His research focused on cancer treatment, traumatic brain injury, a CSF artificial organ, and philosophy of mind. He developed Ommaya reservoir in 1963. The reservoir was the first medical port to use silicone which is biologically inert and self-sealing.



7) Sayed Amjad Hussain
Sayed Amjad Hussain is another Pakistani inventor who invented two surgical devices – the pleuroperitoneal shunt and a special endotracheal tube. Dr. Hussain is a member of 17 professional organizations, 10 administrative positions, is a visiting professor to 12 universities throughout the world and is a member of the editorial board of 6 medical journals.


8) Sohail Khan
Professor Sohail Khan, a Pakistani researcher at Loughborough University designed a clever lavatory that transforms human waste into biological charcoal and minerals. These can then be used as fuel or a form of conditioner for soil. It also produces clean water. His invention was appreciated by Bill Gates.


9) Mahbub ul Haq
Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq introduced the concept of 'The Human Development Index' in 1990. Since then, this concept is used to rank countries by level of human development.


10) Abdul Qadeer Khan
A.Q. Khan is nuclear physicist and a metallurgical engineer. Apart from participating in Pakistan's atomic bomb project, he made major contributions in molecular morphology, physical martensite, and its integrated applications in condensed and material physics.