Muhammed Zafar Iqbal | |
---|---|
Iqbal at Ekushey Book Fair, Dhaka in February 2015
|
|
Native name | মুহম্মদ জাফর ইকবাল |
Born |
Sylhet, East Bengal, Pakistan (now in Bangladesh) |
23 December 1952
Nationality | Bangladeshi |
Education | PhD in Physics from University of Washington |
Alma mater |
|
Occupation | Physicist, writer, columnist |
Spouse(s) | Yasmeen Haque (1978–present) |
Children |
|
Parent(s) |
|
Relatives |
|
Awards | Bangla Academy Award (2004) |
Signature | |
Muhammed Zafar Iqbal ([muɦɔmmɔd̪ dʒafɔr ikbal] born 23 December 1952) is a Bangladeshi author, physicist, professor and activist. He is a professor of computer science and engineering at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
Iqbal was born on 23 December 1952 in Sylhet. His father, Faizur Rahman Ahmed was a police officer who was martyred in the Liberation War of Bangladesh. His mother was Ayesha Akhter Khatun. He spent his childhood in different parts of Bangladesh because of the transferring nature of his father's job. Iqbal's elder brother was the legendary author and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed. His younger brother, Ahsan Habib, is the editor of the satirical magazine, Unmad (Mad) and a cartoonist. Iqbal and his siblings were encouraged to write by his father in their early lives.
Iqbal passed SSC exam from Bogra Zilla School in 1968 and HSC exam from Dhaka College in 1970. He earned his BSc in Physics from Dhaka University in 1976. Iqbal went to University of Washington to obtain his PhD the same year and earned the degree in 1982.
He married Yasmeen Haque in 1978. She is currently the Dean of the Life Science Department and Head of the department of Physics at SUST. They have two children – son Nabil and daughter Yeshim.
After obtaining his PhD degree, Iqbal worked as a post-doctoral researcher at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from 1983 to 1988. He then joined Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), a separate corporation from the Bell Labs (now Telcordia Technologies), as a research scientist. He left the institute in 1994.