Srinagar: A 31-year-old professor from Rajouri has made it to the prestigious list of World's top scientists across disciplines, a compilation of University of Stanford, USA.
Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry in Government Degree College, Mendhar, Dr Shakeel Ahmed has figured along with Dr MS Khuroo, Dr Parvaiz A Koul and Dr Ahsanulhaq Qureshi in the "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators". It lists the top 2 per cent scientists from all over the world from a list of over 1,59,000.
The database, a work of John Ioannidis, Kevin Boyack and Jeroene Bass from the departments of Medicine, Epidemiology and Public Health and Biomedical Data Science, University of Stanford, California, USA has been published in the October 16 issue of PLos Biology. It evaluated the global impact of the works of top scientists in the World.
The research profile of the two medicos has been enviable and since the breaking of the news, the social media was abuzz with congratulatory remarks from a wide range of people from all walks of life. Senior academicians have and a source of inspiration for the youngsters of the state.
Dr Shakeel has published research publications on green nanomaterials and biopolymers for various applications including biomedical, packaging, and water treatment.
He says, "It is a moment of gratification to be on the list. This will inspire youngsters especially from Pir Panjal region to work for extensively on science."
Dr Shakeel has published over 20 books in the area of polymers, nanomaterials, and green materials with publishers of international repute such as Elsevier, CRC Press, Wiley, Scrivener publishing, etc.
"I was just one year old when my father passed away. We were going through the difficult times as there was no breadwinner in our family. At times I even thought of giving up on studies but I somehow managed to continue," he said.
Talking about his early life, Dr Shakeel said, "I belong to Dhangiri village (in Rajouri district) as such did my elementary schooling from a local school in my village, BSc from Government Degree College here. For masters, I moved to Delhi and did MSc from Dr Saiqa Ikram Department of Chemistry, Jamia Milia Islamia and in 2016 completed my PhD from Jamia Milia Islamia itself. I was able to do that because of the continuous support from family members and merit scholarships."
"At IIT Delhi, I gained post-doctoral experience in biocomposite materials. Following which I became a regular member of American Chemical Society (ACS), USA, member of Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC), UK, member of the international association of advanced materials (IAAM), Sweden and a life member of Asian Polymer Association and Society of Materials Chemistry (India)."
On being asked why he preferred to join GDC Mendar despite having lucrative offers, he said, "I am here for the last three and a half years. I am native to this area. For others, it might be a border area but for me, it's home. What I am today is just because of this place. Now, it was my time to give back to the community. I am doing that only."
