সাক্ষাৎকার : ড. আতাউল করিম

কিছু কিছু মানুষ থাকে যারা মাইলস্টোনের মত কাজ করে, যাদেরকে লক্ষ্য করে জীবনে চলা
যায় তেমনি একজন ব্যক্তিত্ব হল ড.
আতাউল করিম। যিনি শুধু মাত্র একজন বিজ্ঞানী হিসাবেই সার্থক নন
সেই সাথে একজন দক্ষ academic leader। বর্তমানে তিনি আমেরিকার ভার্জিনিয়ার Old
Dominion University তে ভাইস প্রেসিডেন্ট হিসাবে কর্মরত। তিনি শুধু মাত্র বিজ্ঞানের
বিভিন্ন শাখায় গবেষনাই করেননি, গবেষকদের জন্য আনুসঙ্গিক কাঠামো গড়ে তুলেছেন।
আমেরিকার মত দেশে এইরকম এক সার্থক বাঙালীর কাছ থেকে আমাদের অনেক কিছূ শেখার আছে। এই
ইন্টারভিউ তে তিনি তাঁর জীবনের গল্প করেছেন। এছাড়া বাংলাদেশের ও প্রবাসের নবীন
বিজ্ঞানীদের জন্য কিছু অমূল্য সাজেশন দিয়েছেন। আমরা তাঁর উত্তরোত্তর সাফল্য কামনা
করি।

[ সাক্ষাৎকার শোনার জন্য প্রে ক্রিক করুন। মূল mp3 ফাইল]

তারিখ: ২রা জুন ২০০৬ (১২ মিনিট)

তাঁর জীবনী:

Mohammad A. Karim is Vice-President for Research
at the Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia, and
as such he overseas its research enterprise, that conducts $50M
in research expenditures, and involves six colleges, 20+ research
centers, 600+ faculty and 5000+ graduate students. Karim serves
on the Governor’s Virginia Research and Technology Advisory
Commission (VRTAC), and on the board of the Southern Universities
Research Association (SURA). Since 1999, he has been serving as
chair of the International Program Committee of the International
Conference on Computing and Information Technology (ICCIT). Karim
is North American Editor of Optics and Laser Technology, an Associate
Editor of IEEE Transactions of Education, a Member of the Editorial
Board of Microwave and Optical Technology Letters. He has served
as guest editor of 16 technical journal issues.

Prior to joining ODU, Mohammad Karim served as Dean
of Engineering at the City College of New York of the City University
of New York (2000-2004), Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering
at the University of Tennessee (1998-2000), and Chair of Electrical
and Computer Engineering (1994-1998) and Founding Director of
Electro-Optics (1990-1998) at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Karim is author of 8 text and reference books, over 325 research
papers, 6 book chapters, 10 book reviews, 2 US patents, and of
numerous technical reports and editorials. His books Digital Design:
A Pragmatic Approach (1987), Electro-Optical Devices and Systems
(1990), Optical Computing: An Introduction (1992), Electro-Optical
Displays (1992), Continuous Signals and Systems with Matlab (2001),
and Contemporary Digital Design (2005) are used in numerous universities
and institutions throughout the world at both undergraduate and
graduate levels. He is an elected fellow of the Optical Society
of America (OSA), the Society of Photo-Instrumentation Engineers
(SPIE), and Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS) and a Distinguished
Engineering Fellow of the University of Alabama.

Karim’s area of research encompasses optical computing, information
processing, pattern/target recognition, night vision, displays,
electro-optical systems, and sensors. The list of his past and
current research sponsors include US Air Force, Naval Research
Laboratory, US Army, National Science Foundation, NASA, US Department
of Education, Ohio Aerospace Institute, US Department of Defense,
and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. During his academic career,
Karim served as research mentor of over 55 MS/PhD. students.

Mohammad Karim was born in 1953, completed his pre-university
education at Faujdarhat Cadet College and Sylhet Government College
in Bangladesh, and received his BS Honors degree in physics from
the University of Dacca in 1976, and MS in physics, MS in electrical
engineering, and Ph.D. in electrical engineering degrees from
the University of Alabama respectively in 1978, 1979, and 1981.
Karim was ranked first among the 39,488 students who took the
Bangladesh’s Higher Secondary Certificate Examination in
1972, and fourth among the 64,432 students who took the Secondary
School Certificate Examination in 1969.

Dr. Karim is recipient of numerous awards: Outstanding
Engineering Research Award (1998), Outstanding Scientist Award
(1994), Alumni Award in Scholarship (1991), NASA Tech Brief Award
(1990), Up and Comers Education Award (1990), and NCR Stakeholder
Award (1989). He has been listed in American Men and Women in
Science, Marquis International Who’s Who in Optical Science
& Engineering, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering,
Who’s Who in America, Outstanding People of the 20th Century,
Dictionary of International Biography, and 2000 Outstanding Scientists
of the 20th Century.

Dr. Karim and his wife Setara lives in Virginia
Beach, VA, have a son, Lutfi, and two daughters, Lamya, and Aliya.

[scholarsbangladesh.com থেকে সংগ্রীহিত]