Dr. Farooq A. Kiani Talks about Computational Chemistry at Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Dept. Seminar

Thursday, December 6, 2018

As a part of its recently launched seminar series, the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering organised a seminar on ‘Computational Chemistry’ on November 23, 2018. Dr. Farooq A. Kiani from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, was the guest speaker for the event.

Dr. Kiani talked about the role of computational methods in understanding the production of energy in muscle cells. Dr. Kiani has years of experience on the applications of the Computational Chemistry in understanding biological and chemical systems. He currently works as a Visiting Scientist at Heidelberg University in Germany. Formerly, he has worked as an Associate Professor at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad (2014-2017) and as Research Scientist at Boston University School of Medicine, United States of America (2017-2018).

During the talk, Dr. Kiani described the role of computational methods in understanding the production of energy in muscle cells. He showed how a combination of classical and quantum mechanicals simulations are being used to help understand the movement of proteins and production of energy in the muscle cells.  “For their contraction and relaxation, muscles need energy that is obtained by the catalytic hydrolysis of an energy rich compound (ATP),” he elaborated.

The Chemistry Seminar series is a platform where renowned scientists and academics are invited to share recent developments in the areas of Chemical Sciences and Engineering with the students and faculty at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE).