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, ur, ; 5 January 1947 – 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, pe ...

particle physicist Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standa ...

. His work focused on

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

and

computational physics Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical analysis to solve problems in physics for which a quantitative theory already exists. Historically, computational physics was the first application of modern computers in science, ...

. He played a significant role in several major

experiments (the Mark II,

CLEO Cleo may refer to: Entertainment * ''Cleo'' (magazine), an Australian magazine established in 1972, now active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand * Cleo (group), a South Korean girl group formed in 1999 * ''Cleo'' (play), by Lawren ...

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

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

ATLAS An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

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 ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

, then part of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

of British India (now

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 ...

), to a family hailing from

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

. His family moved to

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...

around 1971, after the secession of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

.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 that cater ...

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

Muhammad Mahmood Alam Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam (Bengali: মহম্মদ মাহমুদ আলম; ur, ) 6 July 1935 – 18 March 2013) was a Bengali fighter pilot officially credited by the Pakistan Air Force with having downed four India ...

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

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

; another brother of his, M. Shahid Alam, is an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and a professor at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

,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 Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

(in what is now

), where he earned a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

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 system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 1975. Alam afterwards spent a year at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

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 United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S. Departme ...

. In 1979, after spending four years at the

SLAC SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S. Departm ...

, 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, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

. 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 ...

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 a northwestern 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 ( or ) 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, ...

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 the 196 ...

*(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 pole weapon 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 hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

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 Caesar) is a particle accelerator operated by Cornell University and located 40 feet beneath a football field on their Ithaca campus. The accelerator has contributed to fundamental research in hi ...

(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) (also nicknamed the desertron) was a particle accelerator complex under construction in the vicinity of Waxahachie, Texas. Its planned ring circumference was with an energy of 20 TeV per proton and was ...

*(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 collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundred ...

*(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 what are normally identical, commodity-grade computers networked into a small local area network with libraries and programs installed which allow processing to be shared among them. The result is a hig ...

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 th ...

(2002) *Member,

Pakistan Academy of Sciences The Pakistan Academy of Sciences ( ur, ) (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 Lahore, Punjab, the A ...

(2003) * ISI

Highly Cited Researcher Clarivate Plc is a British-American publicly traded analytics company that operates a collection of subscription-based services, in the areas of bibliometrics and scientometrics; business / market intelligence, and competitive profiling for ...

in Physics *

(2006)

References

External links

curriculum vitaeScientific 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 1970 ...

{{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 People from Dhaka Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani physicists Particle physicists University of Dhaka alumni Pakistani people of Bihari descent University at Albany, SUNY faculty 1947 births