Mohammad Sajjad "Saj" Alam (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: মহম্মদ সাজ্জাদ আলম, ; 5 January 1947 – 4 May 2022) was a Bengali Pakistani and a naturalized

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

particle physicist Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and ...

. His work focused on

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

and

computational physics Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical analysis to solve problems in physics. Historically, computational physics was the first application of modern computers in science, and is now a subset of computational science ...

. He played a significant role in several major

experiments (the Mark II,

CLEO Cleo may refer to: Entertainment and media Film and TV * ''Cleo'' (2019 Belgian film), a drama * ''Cleo'' (2019 German film), a drama * '' Snowtime!'', released as ''Cleo'' in the United Kingdom, a 2015 Canadian animated film * ''Cleo'' (TV ser ...

GEM A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, an ...

BaBar Babar (), also variously spelled as Baber, Babur, and Babor is a male given name of Persian language, Persian origin, and a popular male given name in Pakistan. It is generally taken in reference to the Persian language, Persian ''babr'' (Persian ...

ATLAS An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

collaborations) that led to new discoveries in the area of high-energy particle physics.

Early life and family

Alam was born to a

family in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, then part of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

of British India (now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

), to a family hailing from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. His family moved to

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

around 1971, after the secession of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

.Iconic war veteran MM Alam passes away

The News International ''The News International'', published in broadsheet size, is one of the largest English language newspapers in Pakistan. It is published daily from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/ Islamabad. An overseas edition is published from London th ...

. Retrieved on 19 March 2013. Alam was one of eleven siblings: his eldest brother,

Muhammad Mahmood Alam Muhammad Mahmood Alam (; ) (6 July 1935 – 18 March 2013), popularly known as M. M. Alam, was a Pakistani fighter pilot and flying ace of the Pakistan Air Force. He is officially credited with having downed five Indian fighter aircraft in ...

(1935 – 2013), was a Pakistani fighter pilot and war hero who rose to the rank of one-star general in the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

; another brother of his,

M. Shahid Alam Mohammad Shahid Alam is a Pakistani people, Pakistani economist, academic, and social science, social scientist. He is a professor of economics at Northeastern University. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Policy Research & ...

, is an economist and a professor at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

,Institute for Policy Research & Development
Advisory Board

Dr. M. Shahid Alam
Cihan Aksan, ''State of Nature''

/ref> Alam decided to become a physicist when his eighth grade science teacher at Saint Gregory High School in

introduced him to atomic and nuclear physics: "I was hooked; I came home and told my father I know that I would become a physicist," he wrote. He was the first member of his family to come to the United States, and was one of the first Pakistanis to get a PhD in experimental particle physics. He ultimately became a naturalized American citizen, and lived the rest of his life in the U.S. He was a married man and the father of two children.

Academic history and positions

Alam began his academic career at

Dacca University The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...

(in what is now

), where he earned a BSc in physics and an MSc in theoretical nuclear physics. He then went on to earn a PhD in experimental particle physics from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in 1975. Alam afterwards spent a year at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

as a research associate before securing a position at the

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, Ca ...

. In 1979, after spending four years at the

SLAC SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, California, United States. Founded in 1962, the laboratory is now sponsored ...

, he accepted a faculty position at Vanderbilt. Alam remained with Vanderbilt until 1984, at which time he joined the faculty of the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a Public university, public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the St ...

. At Albany, he served as chair of the physics department (2003–2006) and director of the Albany High-Energy Physics Lab. Alam was also the chair professor of physics at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.

Research

Alam's research focused on experimental particle physics and computational physics. He was the principal investigator on several major experiments, including the

ATLAS experiment ATLAS is the largest general-purpose particle detector experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland. The experiment is designed to take advantage of ...

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

, the

BaBar experiment The BaBar experiment, or simply BaBar, is an international collaboration of more than 500 physicists and engineers studying the subatomic world at energies of approximately ten times the rest mass of a proton (~10 GeV). Its design was motiva ...

, and the CLEO experiment. He was the author or co-author of over 1200 refereed papers, 43 of which were his direct publications. The major experiments that Alam had directed or played a significant role in include: *(1972–1974) SLAC E-82 Searches for Exotic Associated with

Mesons In particle physics, a meson () is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticles, the ...

Using a Fast Forward Neutron Trigger with the 15" Rapid Cycling

Bubble Chamber A bubble chamber is a vessel filled with a superheated transparent liquid (most often liquid hydrogen) used to detect electrically charged particles moving through it. It was invented in 1952 by Donald A. Glaser, for which he was awarded th ...

*(1974–75) SLAC E-103 Search for Exotic Mesons Using a Fast Forward Proton Trigger with the SLAC Streamer Chamber *(1976–79) MARK II at

SPEAR A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

studying collisions. Focus on charm physics *(1979–2000)

collaboration (CLEO 1.5, CLEO II), studying collisions at the

Cornell Electron Storage Ring The Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR, pronounced Julius Caesar, Caesar) is a particle accelerator operated by Cornell University and located 40 feet beneath a football field on their Ithaca, New York, Ithaca campus. The accelerator has contribu ...

(CESR). Focus on charm and beauty physics *(1992–1993)

Gas Electron Multiplier A gas electron multiplier (GEM) is a type of gaseous ionization detector used in nuclear and particle physics and radiation detection. All gaseous ionization detectors are able to collect the electrons released by ionizing radiation, guiding them ...

(GEM) detector proposal for the

Superconducting Super Collider The Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), nicknamed Desertron, was a particle accelerator complex under construction from 1991 to 1993 near Waxahachie, Texas, United States. Its planned ring circumference was with an energy of 20 TeV per proto ...

*(1993–2000) CLEO II Upgrade. Particle Identification System *(1995–present) Joined the ATLAS detector pixel group at the

Large Hadron Collider The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, ...

*(1998–2000) Nominal member of BTeV at FNAL *(2000–present) Joined the BaBar Collaboration Alam worked with the

Beowulf cluster A Beowulf cluster is a computer cluster of normally identical, commodity-grade computers networked into a small local area network with libraries and programs installed that allow processing to be shared among them. The result is a high-performa ...

class of supercomputers. He greatly enjoyed mentoring new physicists, supervising more than twenty PhD students. He was also keenly interested in the relationship between science and religion, and taught a course on the subject.

Honours and awards

*Dacca University, East Pakistan Overseas Merit Scholarship (1970) *Excellence in Research Award by the University at Albany, SUNY (1993) *Abdus Salaam Award for Achievements in Science, Pakistan League of America (2000) *Fellow,

Islamic World Academy of Sciences The Islamic World Academy of Sciences (IAS) is a non-profit organisation of scientists and technologists that works for the promotion of science and technology in the Islamic world. It was founded in 1986. Foundation The establishment of the ...

(2002) *Member,

Pakistan Academy of Sciences The Pakistan Academy of Sciences () (Abbreviations and Acronyms, abbreviated as: PAS), is a learned society of sciences, which described itself as "a repository of the highest scientific talent available in the country." Established in 1953 in ...

(2003) * ISI

Highly Cited Researcher Highly Cited Researchers is a list published annually by Clarivate of academic authors whose publications have received particularly high numbers of citations in academic journals indexed by ''Web of Science The Web of Science (WoS; previou ...

in Physics *

(2006)

References

External links

curriculum vitae

Scientific publications of Mohammad Sajjad Alam
on

INSPIRE-HEP INSPIRE-HEP is an open access digital library for the field of high energy physics (HEP). It is the successor of the Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES) database, the main literature database for high energy physics since the 1 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, Mohammad Sajjad 21st-century American physicists People associated with CERN Foreign fellows of Pakistan Academy of Sciences Academic staff of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Living people Muhajir people People from Dhaka Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani physicists Particle physicists University of Dhaka alumni Pakistani people of Bengali descent University at Albany, SUNY faculty 1947 births