Meet KAUST Prospective Student: Imran Pervez
Soon-to-be graduate Imran Pervez will join KAUST from Aligarh Muslim University, India. An initial reference from a friend piqued his initial interest in joining KAUST. This interest in joining was solidified by an inspiring interaction with Professor Khalid Nabil Salama, which further convinced Pervez to join KAUST.
About
Soon-to-be graduate Imran Pervez will join KAUST from Aligarh Muslim University, India. An initial reference from a friend piqued his initial interest in joining KAUST. This interest in joining was solidified by an inspiring interaction with Professor Khalid Nabil Salama, which further convinced Pervez to join KAUST.
Imran will be joining KAUST in the fall of 2020 as a M.S./Ph.D. candidate in the KAUST Sensors Lab under the supervision of Professor Salama.
Since an early age, Pervez has been motivated by innovation and a consistent obsession with electrical circuits. An eagerness to twiddle with, and break and rejoin old electrical toys were a creative pursuit that provided him with a sense of fulfillment. Over the years, this interest towards inventiveness prompted him to pursue a bachelor of technology in electrical engineering.
Why have you chosen to study an M.S./Ph.D. at KAUST?
It all started when I got the first piece of advice about KAUST from a senior colleague in Malaysia. He informed me about the top-quality faculty at KAUST and the services that the University provides. Alongside that, KAUST’s ranking among the top universities in the world is excellent.
Moreover, KAUST’s state-of-the-art laboratories and its Supercomputing Laboratory are amazing. Plus, my supervisor, Professor Salama, is a U.S.-level professor with various publications and granted patents. All these aspects, when combined, developed my enthusiasm to join this university.
What are your research interests? When did your interest in electrical engineering arise?
After reading a few papers of Professor Khalid Salama, related to optical communication and fractional-order elements (FOE), which I found very insightful with significant contributions to the existing pool of knowledge. I made my main focus towards applying optimization algorithmic techniques for performance enhancement of FOE. I also want to mitigate the current loopholes in the implementation of optical communication as an energy harvester.
Apart from that, I have a good knowledge of power electronics and a strong enthusiasm for applying this field in my research. I am also interested in renewable energy, due to the vast scope of its implementation, abundant availability, and the opportunities it provides for cross-functional research with power electronics. To achieve a collaboration of power electronics and renewable energy, I applied my programming skills to conduct research.
What do you do in your spare time? What are you passionate about?
In my spare time, I try to gain more insight into new things, particularly technology that can contribute to my research. Apart from that, I also guide my colleagues for their future endeavors. My hobbies are mostly related to sports (I mostly play basketball, go to the gym, and jog) or learning about new things.
My passion is a hybrid of competition and academics. Regarding academics, I am very much interested in research to develop new things and to serve humanity. Hence, I am very passionate about making creative things and developing innovative ideas by using my knowledge.
What is your future outlook?
I want to become a faculty member at some reputable university and to serve humanity through my research skills that I will get after receiving a Ph.D. degree from KAUST.
Can you give a piece of advice to students who plan to pursue an M.S./Ph.D. at KAUST?
My advice to prospective students is to make KAUST their top preference if they want to pursue quality research. KAUST is not simply a university; it’s a hub for the research which supports its students in various ways. I did multiple verifications on the research productivity of KAUST to come to this conclusion.
For those students who choose brand universities, I would say the main difference between KAUST and other more established North American universities, is the gap in age. KAUST is a young university; however, it is one of the most rapidly rising universities.
Moreover, reputation does not affect quality. After doing so much research on KAUST, I came to know that it is better than other reputable universities. Finally, I would say, don’t be much doubtful in choosing KAUST for pursuing your further studies.
