Institute of High Performance Computing

“I feel I am privileged to have had the opportunity to get the highest education, thus, it is now my responsibility to give back to society by working hard to develop useful techniques, discover new phenomena and develop new applications that help people.” - Dr Iftikhar Ahmed

In many ways, the 1969 Moon Landing was a giant step for mankind.

And a giant step forward for a young Iftikhar Ahmed.

That epic lunar expedition inspired Iftikhar to consider the wider implications of science – and in particular, electromagnetics.

“My quest started early, when I read a story about Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon in my textbook during my school days. What fascinated me most was how he could communicate with people on Earth while being 384,400km away on the Moon. I realized later that electromagnetic waves made such long distance communications possible.”

That fascination became his inspiration to pursue a PhD in electromagnetics, after getting his degree in Electrical Engineering.

And he is passsionate in his pursuit of breakthroughs in his chosen field, ultimately hoping to lay a strong foundation for future scientists to build upon.

“I believe computational electromagnetics has the potential for modeling and simulation of front-end future technologies. For example, there are a lot of applications in the emerging technologies such as nano devices, nano-photonics and nano-plasmonics because of the ever increasing requirements of faster high-speed data transfer in more compact-sized devices. There is a tremendous scope in this field, and it encourages me in the development and implementation of new methodologies, and the exploration of new phenomena that will help future generations.”

It is clear that Iftikhar loves both his job and his workplace.

“IHPC is a great place to work. There are lots of opportunities to collaborate in research as we can find multidisciplinary experts under one roof.”

And being in the Electronics and Photonics (EP) Department, in particular, is a source of inspiration that keeps him breathlessly excited about the future.

“The projects in EP are related to emerging and challenging areas. They are all very interesting and interlinked in some ways by electromagnetics. In my area of research, what drives me most is the need to develop new methods for the efficient and accurate modeling and simulation of devices that cannot be done with today’s commercial software. By the way we observe new phenomena in order to develop new devices, we are in other words challenging the industry and our fellow scientists in the field to make the breakthroughs.”

Iftikhar can be found busy helping out in events such as IHPC’s annual ReachOut activity for children.

“I really enjoy reaching out to students, to get the younger generation interested in science and technology. This is one way I feel I can serve the people.”

He admits, somewhat bashfully, that he did not know what Singapore was like before he found out about a job offering here – at IHPC, no less. Four years on, he is now very familiar with this little island.

Away from the office, you can find the avid sports buff out on hikes or checking out off-the-beaten-path tracks around MacRitchie Reservoir or Bukit Timah Hill with family in tow. Or you might bump into him biking on Pulau Ubin.

Iftikhar plays squash and badminton as well, and be it for sports or research, he is on the lookout for partners.