Prestigious International ISESCO Prize for Dr. Hameed Ahmed Khan – Felicitations from the President and Prime Minster

Pakistan’s renowned scientist, Dr. Hameed Ahmed Khan, H.I., S.I., has received the prestigious International ISESCO Science Prize for 2006 from His Highness Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the Prime Minister of Kuwait in an impressive ceremony held recently in Kuwait. The President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf and the Prime Minister Mr. Shaukat Aziz, while felicitating Dr. Hameed Khan, have said that this award will act as an emulating example for other Pakistanis.

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) which is the international Islamic organization equivalent of UN’s UNESCO, awards these prizes to Muslim scientists from its Member States every three years selected on the basis of their meritorious and outstanding contributions to their fields of specialization. The objective of these Prizes is to enhance scientific research in the Islamic countries and to strengthen support to the efforts deployed for its development. Dr. Hameed received the 2006 Prize in the field of Physics.

Presently Dr. Hameed Khan is working as the Executive Director of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), located in Islamabad and comprising twenty one Member States from all over the world. In this capacity Dr. Khan has played a key role in revitalizing the available scientific resources for the development of the countries of the South. From the COMSATS’ forum, he has successfully promoted the cause for developing collaboration and synergies with the international donor and development agencies. His dynamism has helped channelize the available scientific resources both in the North & the South for optimizing and bringing about sustainable development in COMSATS Member States. His strong networking and leadership qualities have made possible the initiation and realization of some of the much needed programmes in collaboration with several local and international agencies in the form of projects like Industrial Information Network (IIN), Biotechnology Web-portal, Data Grid Application of Information and Communication Technologies for Development in the far flung Northern areas of Pakistan, the most noteworthy being the Tele-health Services.

Prior to joining the COMSATS, Dr. Khan had served as Director General of the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH), the world class research organization of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. In 2000, Dr. Khan was designated with the prestigious status of Scientist Emeritus by the PAEC. Dr. Khan has 40 years of scientific and administrative experience to his credit. He has published more than 530 papers in the world’s most reputed journals and has authored several books on science, technology and sustainable development.

Dr. Hameed Ahmed Khan’s enduring strives for excellence has fetched him respect and recognition at national and international levels. The President of Pakistan had conferred upon him two high civil awards of “Hilal-i-Imtiaz” (H.I.) in 1999, and “Sitara-i-Imtiaz” (S.I) in 1984. The National Book Council of Pakistan (Ministry of Education) bestowed upon him the award of the “Scientist of the Year – 1987” on the development and applications of the technique of Solid State Nuclear Track Detection in Pakistan and first prize in Physics consecutively for three years, 1991, 1992 and 1993. The Pakistan Academy of Sciences awarded him a Gold Medal in 1975 for his original scientific contributions, unmatched by a scientist of his age, a Fellowship in 1990 and INFAQ Foundation Gold Medal in Physical Sciences in 1994. The Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation of Germany awarded him the prestigious Fellowship in 1981. He was also awarded the international Kharazmi Prize by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1993 and the First prize in Technology by the TWNSO (Trieste – Italy) in 1998. Dr. Khan holds the Third top most position in the ranking of all Pakistani scientists in all disciplines and second topmost position in Physics as declared in 1998 by Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST) on the basis of “Impact Factor”. The numerous outstanding contributions of Dr. Hameed Khan to science and technology have earned him the coveted Memberships and Fellowships of many national and international learned societies. Presently he is devoting his efforts to utilize his long and rich expertise in opening new avenues of socio-economic uplift of Pakistan and other COMSATS’ developing Member States through knowledge based economy employing the cutting-edge emerging technologies.