Dr. Muhammad Faryad, Assistant Professor of Physics at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) at LUMS has been declared the winner of the 2019 Gallieno Denardo Award by the International Commission for Optics (ICO) and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for his contributions to Optics research and education.
The Award recognises the contribution of young physicists under the age of 40 years who are working in a developing country. Dr. Faryad’s award citation reads, ‘For his contributions to the understanding of light interaction with nanostructured materials, and applications in the area of optical surface waves, solar cells, optical metamaterials and the modelling of wave propagation in the nanostructured mediums.’ Dr. Faryad was nominated for the award by Dr. Muhammad Sabieh Anwar, current faculty and former Chair of the Physics Department, SBASSE and the founder of the Physlab at LUMS.
The 2019 award was shared between Dr. Faryad and Dr. Christian Schmiegelow, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sharing his views on winning this prestigious award, Dr. Faryad commented, “This award is a testament of the research-supportive environment at SBASSE and the hardworking students who contributed enormously to our research in optics and photonics that has been recognised by the ICO and the ICTP.”
Dr. Faryad obtained his BSc in Physics and Mathematics from the University of the Punjab in 2002, and his MSc and MPhil, both in Electronics, from the Quaid-i-Azam University in 2006 and 2008, respectively. His MPhil dissertation was supervised by Prof. Qaisar Naqvi. He obtained his PhD in Engineering Science and Mechanics from the Pennsylvania State University, USA in 2012 while working under the supervision of Prof. Akhlesh Lakhtakia. He worked as a Post-Doctoral Scholar in the Pennsylvania State University for two years before returning to join as a Physics faculty member at LUMS in 2014, where he has been working since then.
The International Commission for Optics (ICO) and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) established this joint prize in 2000. In September 2007, the ICTP and ICO agreed to dedicate the Award to the memory and legacy of the late Prof. Gallieno Denardo, who greatly contributed to the development of optics research within ICTP and in developing countries.
Expressing his pride at the achievement of Dr. Faryad, Dean SBASSE, Dr. Shahid Masud said, "This award is a recognition of the high quality research that is being carried out by the faculty at SBASSE."
