Every year, the world marks 11th February as International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This week You! recognises some brilliant women in the STEM field hailing from Pakistan…
Women make up almost half the of the world population, and they are only now starting to raise their numbers in the national workforce and earn more graduate degrees than men. Yet the gender gap in science persists, to a greater degree than in other professions, particularly in high-end, math-and-physics-intensive fields such as computer science, engineering etc.
Beyond important moral and ethical arguments in favour of diversity in science, we need diversity in these fields to improve productivity and innovation. We have already witnessed how empowering and educating women and girls has made a difference as they are using their talent and leadership in global economy, politics and society - essential in succeeding in today’s challenging landscapes.
Despite the gender gap in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) field, there are many brilliant women, hailing from Pakistan, who have made their invaluable contributions to the world of science. In light of International Day of Women and Girls, observed each year on February 11th, this week You! recognises some exceptional women who are leading innovation and have inspired many young girls to follow suit…
An environmentalist at heart, Dr Sarah Qureshi has a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Cranfield University in UK. After graduating as a Mechanical Engineer from Pakistan, Sarah gained extensive experience of working in the local automotive and engineering industry. She holds a Private Pilot License (PPL) with 70 hours of flying experience. She has also learned acrobatic flying and several flight manoeuvres while at Cranfield.
Dr Sarah is the CEO and co-founder of Pakistan’s first commercial airplane engine ‘Aero Engine Craft Private Limited’, which is developing environmentally safe contrail-free aircraft engines for the global aviation industry. She launched the company with her father, Masood Latif Qureshi, who is also a scientist and a physicist.
Contrails are water vapour that condenses as ice onto soot particles emitted from aircraft engines. It heightens the effect of global warming, as it may account for more than half (57 per cent) of the entire climate impact of aviation. Qureshi has been working on the project since 2018 to eliminate the negative impact of commercial air carriers on the stratosphere that contributes to global warming.
The product is a low-cost alternative to aero engine redesign, and offers revenue potential to the aviation industry while solving a crucial environmental challenge. Her company is born global and is also involved in the development of other environment friendly innovations such as automotive engines, drone engines, executive aircraft and green airlines in order to address sustainable development goals by developing sustainable technologies based on new inventions.
In addition, she serves in the capacity of a Visiting Academic at the school of Aerospace at Cranfield University, where she provides technical feedback on research on environmentally safe aircraft engines.
Dr Tasneem Zehra Husain is a theoretical physicist and the first Pakistani woman to specialise in string theory, a theoretical framework attempting to describe the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Her knack to solve logical conundrums motivated her to become a physicist.
Dr Tasneem was educated at Kinnaird College, Quaid-e-Azam University, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, and got her doctorate from Stockholm University. She has been a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University and helped establish the School of Science and Engineering at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
Among her many talents, Dr Tasneem is also passionate about writing and outreach. She published her debut novel ‘Only The Longest Threads’ in 2014, which presents first-hand, fictionalised accounts of people witnessing the major moments of discovery in the history of physics. Moreover, she teaches writing, conducts workshops for science teachers and writes popular science for various online and print magazines.
In an interview with Spectra magazine, Dr Tasneem spoke about where Pakistan is going wrong when it comes to producing quality scientists. “A crucial first step is to create a culture that values research. Academics have to be given the time, and space, and leisure, to pursue ideas based on their intellectual appeal, and not always in the service of a tangible goal. New knowledge is not often arrived at by charting the most efficient course from Point A to Point B – it usually lies along the byways. Academics need to have protected time, away from teaching, away from administrative duties; time to be spent in the company of peers, discussing ideas, exploring these intellectual side roads. As long as that is perceived to be a luxury, research can never prosper. And until we are in the business of creating knowledge, rather than just consuming it, it will never truly become ours.”
Training to be a female programmer in a traditionally male-dominated industry does not come without its challenges, but Mobina Zafar overcame these challenges to succeed. Based in Lahore and raised in a family that values the education of women, Mobina is a SMEC Senior Programmer. She was honoured as Young Female Professional of the Year at the Surbana Jurong (S.J.) International Awards held in Brisbane, Australia, in December 2018. From several exceptional nominees, Mobina was recognised for her technical skill, innovation, and dedication. Mobina has been working with SMEC, a member of the Surbana Jurong group of companies, since 2012. She was recognised as the most outstanding employees, projects, and innovations of their group, which operates in more than 40 countries. She played a crucial role in pioneering the development of a ‘Project Management and Monitoring Information System (PMIS)’ for the company’s water resources project in Pakistan.
“Information technology has changed our world, and this fascinates me! It’s why I chose to do my graduate degree in Computer Sciences and later completed a Master of Science in Software Engineering,” she enthuses. “There are indeed barriers, but I feel the way to break them down is to demonstrate our true potential and quality contribution to our fields. We should support and motivate more women in Pakistan to enter STEM fields. Information technology is such an exciting sector with tremendous opportunity for innovation and learning.”
Asma Zaheer is a Pakistani computer scientist who became the proud recipient of International Business Machine Corporation prestigious award; Best of IBM in 2019. She is the first Pakistani computer scientist to have received the honour from IBM. The winners for the Best of IBM link 2019 were chosen from all business units and roles. This award was meant for those IBM link employees who work tirelessly to increase the success of the company, clients and the world at large.
Asma did her Bachelor’s in Computer Science from University of the Punjab (PU), and later did her Master’s from National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (FAST), Lahore. Her core area ensues analytics, cloud computing and cognitive computing systems. She has been working at IBM Pakistan since 2013 with her current designation being IGNITE & Test Innovation Practice Leader for IBM’s Global Business Services, Client Innovation Center (CIC).
With her hard work, Asma’s achievement is a source of inspiration to young girls aspiring to step into the world of tech!
Zartaj Waseem is a speaker, innovator and pioneer of STEM Education in Karachi. A software engineer by profession, she co-founded Pakistan Space Science Education Centre (+PSSEC) - the first dedicated Space Science venture in the country in 2015. Moreover, she is the Advisor for universities and STEM education organisations. Zartaj had been the National Organizer and is the first Pakistani Judge for World Robot Olympiad (WRO) and was also the first Pakistani to be an International Award Judge and Global STEM Corps Advisor for FIRST Global (a yearly Olympics-style robotics competition organised by the International First Committee Association) in July 2017. She has also been a FIRST Lego League (FLL) Regional Planning Committee Head, FLL Judge Advisor and is a Robotics Teams Coach since 2013. She is a certified Design Thinking Trainer from Back2Back Australia and their official representative in Pakistan for conducting Design Thinking and Doing Program.
Her company’s flagship programme is called Mission to Mars (MTM) 2025. Underneath the banner of MTM, they have launched a variety of experiences that cater to students from 2nd grade up to university level. These experiences are all hands-on, Space Science-based STEM activities which includes learning how to assemble and operate a rover, carrying out experiments and simulations.
Zartaj believes Pakistan can adapt to technology very quickly which can help with progression in Pakistan. “The market is ripe for tech entrepreneurship ventures. In Pakistan, tech entrepreneurship ecosystem for women remains challenging because women are considered not to have the requisite skill set as compared to their male counterparts. But there are invigorating ventures in Pakistan that are solely aimed at bringing women entrepreneurs to the forefront.”
Born in Lahore and raised in Karachi, Nergis Mavalvala is an award-winning physicist, a pioneer in the detection of gravitational waves and of quantum measurement science. A long-time member of the scientific team behind the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which in 2016 detected the gravitational waves resulting from colliding black holes. Her parents, who prized education, encouraged her to explore her interests in the STEM disciplines. The young Mavalvala was known for her skilled work, whether in the classroom studying math and physics or at the neighbourhood bike shop repairing her own bicycle. She moved to the United States to attend Wellesley College, earned her bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy, and enrolled at MIT to pursue her Ph.D. in physics. With her doctoral adviser, Rainer Weiss, she helped to develop the gravitational-wave detector technologies that are at the heart of LIGO – enabling scientific discoveries that earned Weiss and his colleagues the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology, she joined the MIT faculty in 2002. In 2012, she received the MIT School of Science Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. In addition to speaking at Yale during academic conferences, she visited campus to attend the 2016 Gruber Cosmology Conference, which celebrated the LIGO team’s Gruber Prize earlier that year. She also delivered the Leigh Page Prize Award Lectures, hosted by the Department of Physics, in 2018.
She is an eminent Pakistani and American astrophysicist who since September 2020 has been appointed as the Dean of the MIT’s School of Science; the first woman to have this coveted position.
Hibah Rahmani is a rocket engineer at NASA. She has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, with Honors in the major from the University of Central Florida, graduating summa cum laude. After graduation, Hibah accepted a position with The Boeing Company as a Systems Engineer working on the International Space Station processing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). While working full-time for Boeing, she earned a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech. She is also a registered Professional Engineer (P.E) in the State of Florida. After working for Boeing for seven years, Hibah accepted a position with NASA as an Avionics and Flight Controls Engineer. Currently, she works in the Avionics Division of the Engineering and Technology Directorate. She is part of the Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELV) Avionics Branch, where she supports the NASA Launch Services Program (LSP), working on ELVs such as Pegasus and Falcon 9. While working at NASA, Hibah received a Graduate Certificate in Space Systems Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and also participated in the International Space University’s 2012 Space Studies Program. She is the recipient of several awards including Pride-at-Boeing awards, NASA Group Achievement awards and NASA On-The-Spot awards.
Hibah’s tale serves as a role model to girls all over the world that no matter how bleak things appear at times, they have it within themselves to defy all odds and break stereotypes. “One of the challenges is that women are under-represented in STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths). I think that if you are good at what you do, people will see you as a good engineer or a good scientist. They will not think that you are a male or female. My message to women in Pakistan and all over the world is that if they want to go into a STEM field, they should go for it without any fear!”
