Noted nanotechnology scientist AKM Abdul Hakim, also a former director of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) and a former visiting professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), passed away on Thursday, says a press release.
Hakim envisioned the country's first Institute of Nanotechnology, which was finally approved by the Ecnec recently.
Suffering from heart and lung complications, he breathed his last around 8:30am while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Dhaka.
The scientist left behind his wife, a son and a daughter, three grandchildren, and countless research colleagues and students to mourn his death.
He was buried at the Rayer Bazar graveyard in the capital later in the day. His first namaz-e-janaza was held after Johr prayers at the head office of BAEC in Agargaon, while his final funeral prayers were performed after Asr pryaers on a mosque premises in Dhanmondi.
Despite the chances to work in parts of the world, he was involved in research at BAEC and BUET for almost four decades. He is a leading scientist in Bangladesh on nanomaterials whose more than 200 research articles have been published in various top peer-reviewed journals of the world.
Under his leadership, a new generation of scientists in nanomaterials research in Bangladesh has been trained.
Throughout his long career, he worked as a visiting fellow at different organisations including -- Indian Institute of Science, and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India; Vietnam Academy of Science in Hanoi, Vietnam and International Science Programme (ISP) of Uppsala University in Sweden.
The scientist was also the vice-president of the Bangladesh Physical Society.