Saifullah Sani
SENIOR MEMBER
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- Apr 15, 2011
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THE annals of history of science sparkle with name of Prof. Abdus Salam when it comes to CERN informal association with Pakistan in 1960. A leading role was played by this eminent to pave a path for discovery of neutral currents at CERN in 1973. Then a series of scientific developments continued around the theory predicting nature of electro weak force, a driver for neutral currents. The debut of Pakistan in the wonderland of CERN inspired a scientific community including physicists and engineers to become a part of the most advanced, challenging and rewarding scientific endeavour.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) had a leading role in making a formal scientific collaboration with CERN that started in 1994. This collaboration leads Pakistani scientists and engineers to impart their share in common heritage of knowledge. The CMS detector is standing on magnet supports constructed by our engineers with an in-kind contribution for CERN. The acknowledgement emerged with a unanimous acceptance of CERN council to approve Pakistan as an associate member. By no means has Pakistan stood the first Asian state to be recognised by CERN as a scientific community. This status, of course, embraces the efforts put in by Pakistani scientific institutions, national universities, colleges and potential industry.
The assessment conducted by CERN expert team during their visit last year shows that Pakistan has a potential to play a significant role in the future plans of CERN. The plans of CERN, of course, are development of particle accelerators with new concepts and advanced technologies. The required particle energies set by theoretical findings of particle physicists are huge in figures. The state of the art technology has a great challenge to make available these energies on the exit of present accelerators. Therefore, to address the need, new concepts for building of particle accelerators are explored like Plasma Wakefield and CLIC. The work on such kind of accelerators is in progress. The second major objective of CERN is to develop particle detectors to record the events created by collision experiments.
The accelerators and detectors never work alone, as they are coupled with lots of ancillary systems. These systems include vacuum technology, analog and digital electronics, pulsed power electronics, data acquisition and huge data computation. Therefore, the scientists and engineers working in Pakistani laboratories can explore their relevant area of research and development in connection with CERN. The access to experiments at CERN will definitely provide a boost for learning and knowledge of individuals and organizations in Pakistan. The involvement of scientific community in CERN activities will help promoting scientific culture and attitude in Pakistan. The scientific culture is indispensible to acquire knowledge base economy in the present era.
The opportunities are also for entrepreneurs to look for means to engage our industry in the projects at CERN. The professional at Pakistan industry has potential to turn the ideas into machines and useful products. The sharing of experience with CERN can generate more valuable products needed by our country. This addition of knowledge and resources can help in turning the wheel of our economy. The advanced countries have shown that future economies can only sustain on scientific development. Pakistan having talented young generation as major proportion of the society has edge in this concern. The secret of progress lies in scientific and industrial drift that is inevitable for socio-economic development.
The association agreement is going to be formally signed on 19 December, 2014. The debates are underway at different quarters of life in different perspectives. Some people are optimistic and few stay pessimistic as usual. For those who favor such a remarkable achievement of Pakistani scientists and engineers the CERN association is a road to scientific excellence. CERN has proven to be a place of fostering scientific culture and nurturing curious minds. The science and technology transfer is a prima manifesto in CERN charter. Pakistan being an associate member shall enjoy new opportunities and avenues. The public sector universities, scientific institutes and relevant industry will have more openings for joint ventures and winning contracts, respectively.
Dr Muhammad Abid Aleem, Senior Scientist, PINSTECH
Pak-CERN association: A way to scientific developments
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) had a leading role in making a formal scientific collaboration with CERN that started in 1994. This collaboration leads Pakistani scientists and engineers to impart their share in common heritage of knowledge. The CMS detector is standing on magnet supports constructed by our engineers with an in-kind contribution for CERN. The acknowledgement emerged with a unanimous acceptance of CERN council to approve Pakistan as an associate member. By no means has Pakistan stood the first Asian state to be recognised by CERN as a scientific community. This status, of course, embraces the efforts put in by Pakistani scientific institutions, national universities, colleges and potential industry.
The assessment conducted by CERN expert team during their visit last year shows that Pakistan has a potential to play a significant role in the future plans of CERN. The plans of CERN, of course, are development of particle accelerators with new concepts and advanced technologies. The required particle energies set by theoretical findings of particle physicists are huge in figures. The state of the art technology has a great challenge to make available these energies on the exit of present accelerators. Therefore, to address the need, new concepts for building of particle accelerators are explored like Plasma Wakefield and CLIC. The work on such kind of accelerators is in progress. The second major objective of CERN is to develop particle detectors to record the events created by collision experiments.
The accelerators and detectors never work alone, as they are coupled with lots of ancillary systems. These systems include vacuum technology, analog and digital electronics, pulsed power electronics, data acquisition and huge data computation. Therefore, the scientists and engineers working in Pakistani laboratories can explore their relevant area of research and development in connection with CERN. The access to experiments at CERN will definitely provide a boost for learning and knowledge of individuals and organizations in Pakistan. The involvement of scientific community in CERN activities will help promoting scientific culture and attitude in Pakistan. The scientific culture is indispensible to acquire knowledge base economy in the present era.
The opportunities are also for entrepreneurs to look for means to engage our industry in the projects at CERN. The professional at Pakistan industry has potential to turn the ideas into machines and useful products. The sharing of experience with CERN can generate more valuable products needed by our country. This addition of knowledge and resources can help in turning the wheel of our economy. The advanced countries have shown that future economies can only sustain on scientific development. Pakistan having talented young generation as major proportion of the society has edge in this concern. The secret of progress lies in scientific and industrial drift that is inevitable for socio-economic development.
The association agreement is going to be formally signed on 19 December, 2014. The debates are underway at different quarters of life in different perspectives. Some people are optimistic and few stay pessimistic as usual. For those who favor such a remarkable achievement of Pakistani scientists and engineers the CERN association is a road to scientific excellence. CERN has proven to be a place of fostering scientific culture and nurturing curious minds. The science and technology transfer is a prima manifesto in CERN charter. Pakistan being an associate member shall enjoy new opportunities and avenues. The public sector universities, scientific institutes and relevant industry will have more openings for joint ventures and winning contracts, respectively.
Dr Muhammad Abid Aleem, Senior Scientist, PINSTECH
Pak-CERN association: A way to scientific developments
