Mohammad Ataul Karim
Encyclopedia
Professor Mohammad Ataul Karim is a Bangladeshi American
scientist and Vice President for Research of Old Dominion University
(ODU) in Norfolk
, Virginia
. He is trained as a physicist and an electrical engineer with expertise in electro-optical devices and systems, optical computing, image processing, and pattern recognition.
, Bangladesh, he grew up in Barlekha, a border town in Moulvibazar. Attended Shatma Primary for his elementary education and Patharia Chotolekha High for a year after which he left home to be schooled at Faujdarhat Cadet College
(1965–1969), Sylhet MC College (1969–1972), and the University of Dhaka
(1972–1976) wherefrom he received his bachelors' honors degree in physics. His years at Faujdarhat is documented in a book titled A Steeplechase Story, a memoir published in 2008 to celebrate 50 years of Cadet College movement in Bangladesh. Karim got admitted to the University of Alabama before his result was released. He moved to the United States in 1976 and earned his masters' degrees in physics (1978) and electrical engineering (1979), and a doctor of philosophy in electrical engineering (1982) from the University of Alabama
.
Karim got his start with creative writing early in his college years. Over thirty of his popular science writings in Bangla appeared in Bigyan Shamoeeki and Bangla Academy Bigyan Patrika during 1972–1976. Of these, the most significant were Biborthon Kahinee, a series of articles on cosmic and biological evolution, and Shamproteek, a monthly feature of current affairs in science, both of which appeared in Bigyan Shamoeeki. During his undergraduate years, he submitted to Bangla Academy
a popular science book manuscript for publication. He waited for two years and felt rebuffed when he could not extract any reviewer feedback from the Academy. Fortunately, this personal disappointment coincided with his plan to depart for US marking an abrupt end to his creative writing in Bangla.
All his books on science and engineering as well as research works appeared from outside of Bangladesh. A 2004 Government of Bangladesh report and a number of books in Bangla including Bangladesher Shera Bigyani (Hitler A. Halim, Shikor, 2004) and Medhabi Manusher Golpo (Mohammad Kaykobad
, Annyaprokash, 2005) as well as Star Insight cite him as an example of outstanding success of the Bangladeshi diaspora. He was featured also in "Hidden Costs of Brain Gain" (David Wessel; Wall Street Journal, 2001) and in turn by David Heenan who explored the economic, cultural and political factors driving a return of many back to their homelands in his book Flight Capital: The Alarming Exodus of America’s Best and Brightest.
(1982–1983), Wichita State University
in Kansas (1983–1986), University of Dayton
in Ohio (1986–1998), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (1998–2000), the City University of New York
(2000–2004), and Old Dominion University
(2004–present). He was founding director of electro-optics program at the University of Dayton.
Karim led development of a number of accredited degree programs – computer engineering programs at three institutions (at University of Dayton, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and CCNY), a biomedical engineering program (at CCNY), and an earth systems science and environmental engineering program (at CCNY), as well as establishing the Department of Biomedical Engineering at CCNY. At the University of Dayton, he championed establishment of an interdisciplinary doctoral program in electro-optics, one of only seven such programs in North America.
Mohammad Karim authored over 375 scientific articles, 18 books, and seven book chapters and served as guest editor of 28 journal special issues. During his academic career, he supervised MS/PhD research of over 57 graduate students.
His most significant contribution in support of Bangladesh and its scientific community includes leading the International Conference on Computer and Information Technology
(ICCIT) effort and transitioning it to become the largest scientific and technological conference held in Bangladesh.
His books Digital Design: A Pragmatic Approach (1987), Electro-Optical Devices and Systems (1990), Optical Computing: An Introduction (1992), Electro-Optical Displays (1992), Continuous Signals and Systems with Matlab (2001, 2009), and Digital Design: Basic Concepts and Principles (2008) are used in numerous universities and institutions throughout the world at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Bangladeshi American
Bangladeshi Americans are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis. Most of them have immigrated from Sylhet region with a long trading history. Bangladeshi immigrants arrived in the United States especially since the early 1990s to become...
scientist and Vice President for Research of Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
(ODU) in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. He is trained as a physicist and an electrical engineer with expertise in electro-optical devices and systems, optical computing, image processing, and pattern recognition.
Early life and Education
Born on May 4, 1953 in SylhetSylhet
Sylhet , is a major city in north-eastern Bangladesh. It is the main city of Sylhet Division and Sylhet District, and was granted metropolitan city status in March 2009. Sylhet is located on the banks of the Surma Valley and is surrounded by the Jaintia, Khasi and Tripura hills...
, Bangladesh, he grew up in Barlekha, a border town in Moulvibazar. Attended Shatma Primary for his elementary education and Patharia Chotolekha High for a year after which he left home to be schooled at Faujdarhat Cadet College
Faujdarhat Cadet College
Faujdarhat Cadet College, is a selective high school , modeled after public schools in the UK , financed partially by the Bangladesh Army, located at Faujdarhat, near Chittagong, in Bangladesh....
(1965–1969), Sylhet MC College (1969–1972), and the University of Dhaka
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka is the oldest university in Bangladesh. It is a multi-disciplinary research university and is among the top universities in the region. Established on July 21, 1921, as per the Government of India Act, 1920, it was modelled on the Universities in England and soon gained...
(1972–1976) wherefrom he received his bachelors' honors degree in physics. His years at Faujdarhat is documented in a book titled A Steeplechase Story, a memoir published in 2008 to celebrate 50 years of Cadet College movement in Bangladesh. Karim got admitted to the University of Alabama before his result was released. He moved to the United States in 1976 and earned his masters' degrees in physics (1978) and electrical engineering (1979), and a doctor of philosophy in electrical engineering (1982) from the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
.
Karim got his start with creative writing early in his college years. Over thirty of his popular science writings in Bangla appeared in Bigyan Shamoeeki and Bangla Academy Bigyan Patrika during 1972–1976. Of these, the most significant were Biborthon Kahinee, a series of articles on cosmic and biological evolution, and Shamproteek, a monthly feature of current affairs in science, both of which appeared in Bigyan Shamoeeki. During his undergraduate years, he submitted to Bangla Academy
Bangla Academy
Bangla Academy , established on 3 December 1955, is the national academy for promoting Bangla language in Bangladesh. The main office of the organization is located at the Burdwan House, once a part of the campus of the University of Dhaka, beside Suhrawardy Udyan.-History:The importance of...
a popular science book manuscript for publication. He waited for two years and felt rebuffed when he could not extract any reviewer feedback from the Academy. Fortunately, this personal disappointment coincided with his plan to depart for US marking an abrupt end to his creative writing in Bangla.
All his books on science and engineering as well as research works appeared from outside of Bangladesh. A 2004 Government of Bangladesh report and a number of books in Bangla including Bangladesher Shera Bigyani (Hitler A. Halim, Shikor, 2004) and Medhabi Manusher Golpo (Mohammad Kaykobad
Mohammad Kaykobad
Mohammad Kaykobad is a computer scientist, educator, author and columnist from Bangladesh. He is one of leading specialists in Information Technology who along with Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, started the national mathematics olympiad...
, Annyaprokash, 2005) as well as Star Insight cite him as an example of outstanding success of the Bangladeshi diaspora. He was featured also in "Hidden Costs of Brain Gain" (David Wessel; Wall Street Journal, 2001) and in turn by David Heenan who explored the economic, cultural and political factors driving a return of many back to their homelands in his book Flight Capital: The Alarming Exodus of America’s Best and Brightest.
Marriage and Children
Karim got married to Setara, a biochemist in 1977. She was Karim's classmate. Karim has two daughters and a son. His son lives in is also an Electrical Engineer. One of his daughters is studying biomedical engineering and the other one just finished her high school and is going to pursue studying journalism.Scientific Accomplishments
Karim is known for his many original contributions in a number of different topics the most notable of which includes:- BIOPHYSICS: This phase of his research was conducted during 1976–78 when he devoted to the understanding of carcinogenic single crystals of 3-hydroxyxanthine (3-OHX). He used electron spin resonance and thermo-luminescence techniques to characterize 3-OHX and identified possible impacts of x-ray irradiation on these crystals in an attempt to understand how to contain spread of cancer that is caused by 3-OHX.
- NONLINEAR IMAGE PROCESSING: This aspect of his research in the early 80's was centered around use of all-optical image processing systems. He designed, fabricated and used halftone contact screens to convert two-dimensional analog optical images in to their digitized equivalents. The digitized images would be used thereafter in FourierFourierFourier most commonly refers to Joseph Fourier , French mathematician and physicist, or the mathematics, physics, and engineering terms named in his honor for his work on the concepts underlying them:In mathematics:...
optical systems to analyze finer apects of original analog image. Karim was first in the world to design a functioning all-optical homomorphic imaging system that used a specially designed logarithmic halftone contact screen to transform multiplicative images into additive components. The homomorphic system made use of a specially designed exponential halftone contact screen to then separate the additive components and, thus, filter out multiplicative noises from the signal. He used his all-optical system to separate multiplicative noises from radiographic images in near real-time.
- ELECTRO-OPTICAL DISPLAYS: Karim studied degradation of images that would be captured otherwise by night-vision goggles (NVG). He and his team members established that degradation is caused by latency of phosphors that are used in NVG intensifier tubes and becomes pronounced when the NVG is on board a system that itself is in motion. NVG’s worn by pilots in a helicopter when flying closer to the ground terrain, in particular, caused severe enough degradation that the pilots would be prone to making errors when identifying targets on the ground. Karim designed an optimized inverse filter system that when incorporated to NVG systems corrected for motion-associated image degradation as well as methods to characterize infrared detection and display systems.
- OPTICAL COMPUTING: Karim and his team of students demonstrated use of a polarization-encoded optical shadow-casting (POSC) system for realizing digital optical computing. They successfully identified a number of powerful algorithms to realize any arbitrary arithmetic, logic, and sequential operations using POSC system. Upon identifying what particular function needs to be realized, the corresponding POSC algorithm can be used readily to design encodings of the inputs. While in Boolean algebra, the design of electronic logic systems leads to identification of electronic logic units; the POSC technique leads instead to design of the encoded inputs rather than the incoherent optical processing unit. Karim and his students succeeded also in designing numerous optical symbolic substitution (OSS) systems to realize arithmetic and logical operations as well as image processing in parallel. This latter system depended often on content-addressable holographic memory units and on identification of substitution rules that are used sequentially until the output bits can be generated by the OSS system.
- OPTICAL & HYBRID ELECTRO-OPTICAL SYSTEMS DESIGN: Karim and his students designed several unique optical as well as hybrid electro-optical systems which were able to convert an input optical beam to different types of output optical beam. Examples of such systems that he designed and studied are able to convert: (a) Gaussian input beam to uniform (or flat-topped) output beam; (b) Gaussian input beam to Bessel-type diffraction-free output beam; and (c) circular input beam to annular output beam and vice-versa. One of the major challenges of designing Type (c) beam, in particular, is to make sure that the resulting system doesn’t get heated up when transmitting high-power CO2 beams through it. Karim also contributed significantly to the design and understanding of optical heterodyne detectionOptical heterodyne detectionOptical heterodyne detection is an important special case of heterodyne detection. In heterodyne detection, a signal of interest at some frequency is non-linearly mixed with a reference "local oscillator" that is set at a close-by frequency...
systems as well as of distributed feedback lasers, establishing techniques for high-accuracy measurement of Gaussian beam diameters, determining modulation transfer functions of charge coupled devices, and characterization of signals from staring array detectors.
- PATTERN RECOGNITION: Starting late 1980s, Karim and his coworkers studied extensively ways to identify means to recognize objects or targets of interest in raw images. Based on the type of applications, the target could be of military interest, medical diagnostics or manufacturing needs. The techniques and systems that were optimized by Karim and his team focused on accomplishing the tasks in question in real-time at a speed much faster than what could be accomplished otherwise by electronic means. The systems he explored are hybrid electro-optical in nature – the ones that are able to process two-dimensional images in parallel and makes use of two-dimensional Fourier transformation operations with signal being transmitted in parallel at the speed of light. A wide variety of optical as well as hybrid electro-optical systems were explored and analyzed over the years by Karim. These pattern recognition systems were based on either (a) amplitude-modulated phase-only filter; (b) joint-Fourier optical systems; or (c) Mellin transform based systems. Each of these systems were characterized in terms of their robustness, degree of recognition, noise tolerance, and degree of invariance as far as pose, lighting, scale and rotation effects are concerned.
- Maglev train:
Academic career
His academic career included serving as a faculty member at the University of Arkansas at Little RockUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....
(1982–1983), Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
in Kansas (1983–1986), University of Dayton
University of Dayton
The University of Dayton is a private Roman Catholic university operated by the Society of Mary located in Dayton, Ohio...
in Ohio (1986–1998), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (1998–2000), the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
(2000–2004), and Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
(2004–present). He was founding director of electro-optics program at the University of Dayton.
Karim led development of a number of accredited degree programs – computer engineering programs at three institutions (at University of Dayton, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and CCNY), a biomedical engineering program (at CCNY), and an earth systems science and environmental engineering program (at CCNY), as well as establishing the Department of Biomedical Engineering at CCNY. At the University of Dayton, he championed establishment of an interdisciplinary doctoral program in electro-optics, one of only seven such programs in North America.
Mohammad Karim authored over 375 scientific articles, 18 books, and seven book chapters and served as guest editor of 28 journal special issues. During his academic career, he supervised MS/PhD research of over 57 graduate students.
His most significant contribution in support of Bangladesh and its scientific community includes leading the International Conference on Computer and Information Technology
International Conference on Computer and Information Technology
International Conference on Computer and Information Technology or ICCIT is a series of Computer Science and Information Technology based conferences that is hosted in Bangladesh since 1997 by a different university each year...
(ICCIT) effort and transitioning it to become the largest scientific and technological conference held in Bangladesh.
His books Digital Design: A Pragmatic Approach (1987), Electro-Optical Devices and Systems (1990), Optical Computing: An Introduction (1992), Electro-Optical Displays (1992), Continuous Signals and Systems with Matlab (2001, 2009), and Digital Design: Basic Concepts and Principles (2008) are used in numerous universities and institutions throughout the world at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Honors and awards
- Ranked 4th in Bangladesh's Secondary School CertificateSecondary School CertificateThe Secondary School Certificate, also known as SSC, is a public examination taken by students in Bangladesh, Pakistan and in the states of Tamilnadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Goa in India after successfully completing at least ten years of schooling. It is followed...
Examination in 1969. - Ranked 1st in Bangladesh's Higher Secondary (School) CertificateHigher Secondary (School) CertificateThe Higher Secondary Certificate, also known as HSC, is a public examination taken by students in Bangladesh, Pakistan and in the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Goa in India after successfully completing at least twelve years of schooling, that is two years...
Examination in 1972 - NCR Stakeholder Award (1989)
- Up and Comers Education Award (1990)
- NASA Tech Brief Award (1990)
- Alumni Award in Scholarship, University of Dayton (1991)
- Outstanding Scientist Award, Engineering & Science Foundation of Dayton (1994)
- Outstanding Engineering Research Award, University of Dayton (1998)
- American Men and Women in Science
- Marquis International Who's Who in Optical Science & Engineering
- Who's Who in Science and Engineering
- Who's Who in America
- Outstanding People of the 20th Century
- Dictionary of International Biography
- 2000 Outstanding Scientists of the 20th Century
Membership
- Fellow, the Optical Society of America
- Fellow, The Society of Photo-Instrumentation Engineers
- Fellow, the Institute of PhysicsInstitute of PhysicsThe Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....
- Fellow, the Institution of Engineering and TechnologyInstitution of Engineering and TechnologyThe Institution of Engineering and Technology is a British professional body for those working in engineering and technology in the United Kingdom and worldwide. It was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers , dating back to 1871, and the...
- Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersInstitute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersThe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
- Fellow, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences
- Fellow (Honoris Causa), Independent University, BangladeshIndependent University, BangladeshIndependent University, Bangladesh or IUB is a private university in Bangladesh. It has two campuses, one at Dhaka and other at Chittagong.Its main campus is in Bashundhara, Dhaka...
- Distinguished Fellow, the University of AlabamaUniversity of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
- Karim has been recognized as an outstanding alumni by Faujdarhat Cadet CollegeFaujdarhat Cadet CollegeFaujdarhat Cadet College, is a selective high school , modeled after public schools in the UK , financed partially by the Bangladesh Army, located at Faujdarhat, near Chittagong, in Bangladesh....
, Sylhet MC College, Dhaka University, and University of AlabamaUniversity of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
. - Serving as as chair of the Technical Committee of the International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Technology & Automation (IETA) since 2005
Editorial Roles
- North American Editor, Optics and Laser Technology
- Associate Editor, the IEEE Transactions on EducationIEEE Transactions on EducationIEEE Transactions on Education is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the IEEE Education Society. It contains articles and other contributions in the area of education research, methods, materials, programs, and technology in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and...
- Editorial Board Member, Microwave and Optical Technology LettersMicrowave and Optical Technology LettersMicrowave and Optical Technology Letters is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published monthly by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and is edited by Kai Chang . It is a rapid publications journal....
- Editorial Board Member, World Journal of Modeling and Simulation
Patents
- Fiber Optic Coupling System, US Patent No. 4, 798, 428, January 17, 1989
- Trinary Associative Memory, US Patent No. 5,257, 387, October 26, 1993
- Imer-product array processor for retrieval of stored images
- Optical pattern recognition technique
- Raster scanner with a selectable spot dimension
Books
- IASTED Technology Conferences 2010, Acta Press, November 2010. (With K. Lee, H. Ling, D. Maroudas, and T. Sobh).
- Technological Developments in Networking, Education and Automation, Springer, The Netherlands, August 2010 (With A. Mahmood, T. Sobh, V. Kapila, M. Iskander, and M. Elleithy).
- Technological Developments in Education and Automation, Springer, The Netherlands, 2010. (With M. Iskander, and V. Kapila).
- Projeto Digital: Conceitos e Principios Basicos (in Portuguese), LTC-Livros Tecnicos e Cientificos Editora S.A., Rio de Janerio, Brazil, 2009. (With Xinghao Chen)
- Novel Algorithms and Techniques in Telecommunications, Automation and Industrial Electronics, Springer, The Netherlands, 2008. (with T. Sobh, K. Elleithy, and A. Mahmood).
- Continuous Signals and Systems with MATLAB 2nd Edition, CRC Press – Taylor & Francis Group, Florida, January 2008. (With T. El-Ali).
- Digital Design: Basic Concepts and Principles, CRC Press – Taylor & Francis Group, November 2007. (with Xinghao Chen)
- Innovative Algorithms and Techniques in Automation, Industrial Electronics and Telecommunications, Springer, The Netherlands, 2007. (With T. Sobh, K. Elleithy, and A. Mahmood.
- Advances in Computer, Information, and Systems Sciences and Engineering, Springer, The Netherlands, 2006. (With K. Elleithy, T. Sobh, A. Mahmood and M. Iskander.
- Continuous Signals and Systems with MATLAB, CRC Press, Florida, 2001. (With T. El-Ali)
- Solutions Manual – Continuous Signals and Systems with MATLAB, CRC Press, Florida, March 2001. (With T. El-Ali, and Y. Tian).
- Optical Computing: An Introduction, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1992. (With A.A.S. Awwal).
- Electro-Optical Displays, Marcel Dekker, New York, 1992.
- Electro-Optical Devices and Systems, PWS KENT Publishing Co, Boston, Mass, 1990.
- Solution Manual Accompanying Electro-Optical Devices & Systems, PWS Kent Pub. Co., Boston, Mass, 1990.
- Digital Design: A Pragmatic Approach, PWS KENT Publishers, Boston, Mass, 1987. (With E.L. Johnson).
- Solution Manual Digital Design: A Pragmatic Approach, PWS Kent Publishers, Boston, Mass, 1987. (With E.L. Johnson).