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Abdus Suttar Khan (c. 1941 – 31 January 2008) was a
Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
scientist. He researched on aerospace for four decades with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
, United Technology, and
Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
, a French power generation company. Khan invented more than forty different alloys for commercial application in space shuttles, jet engines, train engines and industrial gas turbines.


Early life and education

Khan was born in Khagatua village, PS Nabinagar,
Brahmanbaria District Brahmanbaria ( bn, ব্রাহ্মণবাড়িয়া, translit=Brahmôṇbaṛiya) is a district in eastern Bangladesh located in the Chittagong Division. Geographically, it is mostly farmland and is topographically part of the Ga ...
,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(now in
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
). He attended Ratanpur High School and did his intermediate at
Comilla Victoria College Comilla Victoria Government College is a college in Comilla, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest and renowned colleges in Comilla as well as in Chittagong division. The college is located beside of Ranir Dighi on 32 acres of land including its inte ...
. After graduating at the top of his class from
University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
with a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in 1962 and master's degree in chemistry in 1963, Khan joined the Chemistry department as a lecturer at the same university. In 1964, he accepted a scholarship to study at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
and received his PhD degree in chemistry in 1968. Following his PhD, Khan returned to the Chemistry department of DU as an associate professor and worked there until 1973. That year, he left Bangladesh to conduct research in the field of materials engineering (alloys) in the United States.


Professional work

During his career, Khan invented more than forty different alloys. These alloys are designed for the use in the area of high temperature, such as blades of gas turbine or jet engines. They are coated with environmentally resistant coatings to provide protection from oxidation and/or corrosion, high temperature (to prevent thermal fatigue), to provide wear resistance etc. These have been commercially applied in space shuttles, advanced commercial jet engines, and US air force jet engines. These alloys made engines lighter, which enabled the aircraft to fly faster. Khan's work in Switzerland also involved alloys, which increased the speed of train engines and industrial gas turbines. One of Khan's during work with US Military Technology he invented his most valuable and memorable invention , high strength nickel based alloys, were used for increased fuel efficiency in
F-15 The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
and
F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
fighter engines. Subsequently, these alloys were declared as 21st Century materials for advanced aircraft engines in the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Magazine (Popular Science, June 1990).


Commercial products developed

# Nano-catalysts developed are used for in fuel flow path in advanced jet engines for high mach propulsion # Advanced abrasion resistant materials developed are used for increased fuel efficiencies of US AF fighter engines (Proprietary to United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney) # Corrosion & fatigue resistant coatings deposited by cathodic arc process is used in advanced commercial in Pratt & Whiney jet engines (Proprietary to United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney) # Electrodeposited wear resistant coatings developed is used in advanced GT24/26 industrial gas turbine engines by Alstom, Switzerland (Proprietary to Alstom, Switzerland) # Electrodeposited oxidation-corrosion resistant coatings used by Alstom, Switzerland in Alstom Power GT-11 industrial gas turbine engines (Proprietary to Alstom, Switzerland)


Awards and achievements

For Khan's outstanding research and its application in aerospace, he received numerous prestigious awards from NASA, the US Air Force, United Technology, and Alstom. In addition to these achievements, Khan was a Chartered Scientist (Professional Scientist) of the Royal Society of Chemistry (Great Britain, 2005), Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (Great Britain, 1996), and a member of the American Society of Metals. Some of his important awards and recognitions include: * The "1986 United Technologies Special Award" for contributing the development of high strength nickel based alloys (known as Alloy Y) used for increased fuel efficiency of F-15 & F-16 fighter engines. The Alloy Y was highlighted in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Magazine (AMM Magazine), 4 August 1986. Subsequently, the Alloy Y was declared as 21st Century Materials for advanced aircraft engines. * "United Technologies Research Center Award of Excellence" for developing a unique manufacturing process for hydrocarbon catalysis for high-speed aircraft & missile propulsion (1994). * The hydrocarbon fuel catalyst technology developed under NASA-Air Force contract was declared as enabling technology by NASA and US Air Force in 1992. * "Pratt & Whitney's Special" Award for contribution to development of manufacturing technology for advanced surface protection coatings for use in jet engines (1993)


Retired life

During his retired life, Khan was conducting research as an honorary professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
. While researching there, he tried to establish a Center of Excellence in nanomaterials for research in the area of carbon nanotechnology for applications in materials science and biomaterial technology.


Social achievements

Besides his scientific achievements, Khan was also involved in community services in the United States. Khan was the founder of the Bangladeshi Association of Florida and organised numerous Asian community events. In 1991, he raised $61,000 for Bangladeshi flood victims and donated these funds to the
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
. Khan also established a cooperative agreement between Dhaka University and Lamar University in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
to train faculty members and graduate students of DU.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Abdus Suttar 1941 births 2008 deaths University of Dhaka alumni Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Florida State University faculty Foreign Members of the Royal Society 20th-century American chemists Florida State University people Bangladeshi scientists University of Dhaka faculty People from Brahmanbaria district Comilla Victoria Government College alumni