2016 Annual Conference Program

Association of Muslim Scientists, Engineers and Technology Professionals (AMSET)  
Annual Conference at ISNA Annual Convention 2016, Chicago, IL
Saturday -Sunday, Sept 3-4, 2016

Session I “AMSET Motivational Session” 

Welcome and introduction to AMSET – M. Affan Badar, PhD is AMSET President.

• Tanvir Arfi – Uncommon Leadership ‐ Charting a Successful Career Path: This topic will cover elements of what makes a successful executive in business today, why should young professionals take a long view of their career flight plan and how they should go about doing it.
• Ghalib V. Begg – Get up and Grab the opportunities the modern economy is offering and be the leaders through modern entrepreneurship: This topic will cover elements of being a successful entrepreneur, availing the business opportunities in today’s economy and also being community leader.

Panel discussion and audience participation
Speakers: M. Affan Badar; Tanvir Arfi; Ghalib Begg
Moderator: Shafeeq Bandagi
Time & Location: Saturday, September 3, 2015, 12:15 – 1:15 PM, Room -7

Career and Business Session 1

• Shafeeq Bandagi – Practical Strategies for Breaking into any Job Market: A very detailed workshop with Tips and Tricks on Resume Preparation, Approaching Employers, Networking and Interviewing.
• Dr. Mohammad Abul Quasem – An Overview of careers in diverse fields: Useful information will be presented on the scope, qualifications and job search strategies for careers in diverse fields like IT, Engineering, Pharmacy, Law, etc.

Speakers: Shafeeq Bandagi; Omar Malik
Moderator: Asad Mohammed
Time & Location: Saturday, September 3, 2016, 3:30 – 4:30 PM, Room -7

Career and Business Session 2

• Nawaz Malik – Simple Steps to Starting, Setting Up, and Building a Business: A practical workshop on choosing a business, registering, establishing, financing and growing using vast resources available in our nation.
• Abdul Wassay, Faraz Shah, SCORE  – An Overview of  Business Development Issues: Practical Suggestions on getting into a Business; Developing an effective business plan; Securing capital to grow a business; Franchising/Buying/Building a business; Experiences of a young budding entrepreneur.

Speakers: Nawaz Malik; Abdul Wassay; Chicago Small Business Administration- SCORE Officials; Faraz Shah
Moderator: Samir Khan
Time & Location: Saturday, September 3, 2016, 4:45 – 5:45 PM, Room -7

Session 2. “Connecting the science of evolutionary biology and the teachings of Islam”

AMSET needs you – Sohel Anwar, PhD is AMSET Vice President.

• Dr. Taher Saif – Engineered Living Machines: For the last few decades, engineering has produced marvelous machines and devices. With the increasing understanding of living cells, there are possibilities of developing biological machines where engineering precision meets the variability of life. Can order emerge from such variability and chaos? If so, then one can envision machines with unprecedented capabilities, including memory and learning, self‐healing, and decision making. How should such machines be viewed in light of Islamic principles?
• Dr. Muhammad A. Alam  – How a Synthesis of Biology and Electronics may Transform the World As we Know It: Today, Intel makes more transistors per year than the number of leaves on trees in the whole world. It has been a fantastic voyage, but unfortunately, the journey is ending: We have made the transistors as small as possible, making them smaller will be hard. This is when Dr. Alam discovered bioelectronics – an emerging field that uses electronic sensors to explore biophysics and biotechnology. As he began to explore using nanobiosensors, the book of life written in DNA, the elegant complexity of a simple bacteria, the emergence of antibacterial resistance and the techniques to combat them, implantable electronics to monitor the vital signs and chronic symptoms, a new world opened before his eyes and the endless possibility have been mesmerizing. In this talk, he will tell the story of what he learned and how that has transformed his views of the world.

Speakers: Sohel Anwar, PhD; Dr. Muhammad A. Alam; Dr. Taher Saif
Moderator: Sohel Anwar, PhD
Time & Location: Sunday, September 4, 2015, 12:16 – 1:15 PM, Room -7

Session 3 “Cyber-security and Muslim Contribution to Science” 

All About AMSET – Syed M. Shah, PhD is AMSET Past President.

• Rasheed Rabbi – Connecting Muslims on Cyberspace: The global impact of Internet in the Muslim world is easily noticeable, but the trend is unpredictable. Academia also admires the emerging cyber culture, but calls it scatter within the believers. Muslims are increasingly associating in the virtual sphere, but the collaboration between Internet and Islam looms unclear. Therefore, this presentation provides a roadmap of comprehensive cyber integration to dismiss the apparent deviation. It sketches a cohesive infrastructure to encompass the disperse initiatives and incorporate them into a shared objective. It lays out a framework based on “Diffusion of Innovation” to realize the latent possibilities in personal sphere, social matters and global affairs, and put them together towards our potential future.
• Dr. Mohammad Abul Quasem – Higher Education, Scientific Development and Civilization: The Quran mentions the term ilm (knowledge) 750 times, third after Allah and Rab (Lord), which are repeated 2800 times. The importance of knowledge and education in Islam is underlined in the very first word revealed to the Prophet (pbuh) – “read.” Thus as Islam spread throughout the world, the world also saw significant discoveries and growth in science, mathematics, engineering, art, astronomy, medicine, philosophy, and social science. The contributions from centuries of Islamic scholarship and civilization are still seen and recognized today. This paper will present the role of Muslims in the development of education and scholarship, with a particular look at the role of Muslims in scientific research and discovery and the history of the growth of this brilliant and outstanding civilization.

Panel discussion and audience participation
Speakers: Syed M. Shah, Rasheed Rabbi, Mohammad Quasem
Moderator: Syed M. Shah
Time & Location: Sunday, September 4, 2016, 3:40 – 4:40 PM, Room -7