Shaheer Niazi: a talent unrecognised

Shaheer Niazi, aged 17, now a world acknowledged scientist, is a graduate of Lahore College of Arts and Sciences. While in the lab, Shaheer observed a layer of oil in an electric field between a pointed electrode and a flat one. A honey comb pattern appeared on the layer of oil when a high voltage was passed through. He elaborates: “Electric Honey comb perfectly demonstrates how everything in this Universe is seeking equilibrium and its hexagonal shape is the most stable structure”.

Shaheer told the media that "at the laboratories at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Dr Sabieh Anwar, who leads the PhysLab initiative, handed him a thermographic camera. Like most 17-year-olds, he began by taking his own pictures, but also caught on camera temperature differences on the surface of a layer of oil in an electric field between a pointed electrode and a flat one (a honeycomb pattern appears on the layer of oil when high voltage is passed through). He used shadowgraphy to image the ion stream. This had not been done before."

Due to Shaheer’s struggle, two new factors in the electric honey comb phenomenon have been introduced. Later, he decided to write a research paper on his findings and after experiencing difficulties of fulfilling his ambition to publicize it, Professor Troy Shinbrot assisted in the publication of his article. This is how the youngest Pakistani scientist managed to publish his research paper in the Journal of Royal Society Open Science.

Professor Troy Shinbrot at the Rutgers University was quoted by the media as saying: “I read Mr Niazi’s paper and thought it was really lovely work, but he needed help writing the manuscript in a publishable form. This was I think just a matter that the work was good, but the presentation needed polishing to strengthen his case. In the end, I referred him to a colleague, Dr Tapan Sabuwala, and the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology, who generously agreed to spend the time working with Mr Niazi doing the necessary polishing. I’m very glad to see the work published.”

Shaheer stated that he was only 16 when his research was published and Newton was 17 when he publicised his first research. Moreover, he is aiming to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for Pakistan and is looking to continue this work at a top university, like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Moreover, backed by his research, he is the one who had represented Pakistan in the International Young Physicists’ Tournament in Russia in 2016.

According to a survey led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), an overwhelming majority of young Pakistanis travel overseas for better opportunities, mostly to US, Europe and Australia. The survey revealed that most of the children and young men between 14 and 25 seeking opportunities belonged to Pakistan. This youth later settles down abroad due to lack of opportunities for them within the country. This practice is leading to “brain drain” and needs immediate attention at government level.

If Shaheer could manage to achieve a goal that most of his colleagues find unthinkable, then he deserves wide public recognition. For this, such talent should be highlighted to its optimum, which on the one hand would boost the national morale and on the other hand would serve as a model for the youth in order to strive for similar endeavours.