Bilal's mug-shot

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Dear Friends and random visitors (alike),

Welcome to my little domain on the internet. I hope you will find it interesting to navigate and to find what I am may consider particularly important in my life (though I must say my blog is more updated on my current thoughts and ideas than this website). It is a very personal site – so yes, I am sharing my personal life with you and hoping you will not abuse this ‘privilege’ in any way. I am grateful to Allah (God/Yahweh/whatever you like to call Him) for all the successes that I have enjoyed so far and I pray for a lot of things: health of my parents and relatives, success for my siblings and friends, and a peaceful, happy future for the world. The journey continues, and as Robert Frost said, "I have miles to go before I sleep...".

I am currently engaged in an entrepreneurial venture (GEO2 Technologies), after having spent time in strategic management consulting at The Boston Consulting Group. GEO2 is an advanced materials company, commercializing novel substrate technologies for filtration and other uses. I am one of the co-founder and am presently the VP of Product Development. Key markets for GEO2 products are in automotive emissions control, stationary engine emissions control, air-oil separation, fuel-cell applications and catalytic conversion in industrial applications. Prior to BCG I received my Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology  under the guidance of Professor Mario Molina. Mario won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the Ozone Depletion theory. My research focused on atmospheric chemistry, particularly the microphysics of the tropospheric inorganic aerosols, the fate of soot in urban environments, heterogeneous nucleation of particulates, cloud condensation properties of organics and soot, and thermodynamics of nanometer-sized organic and inorganic particles. You can view some of my research publications below. Mario has since then moved to University of California, San Diego, and has continued research on soot chemistry and its oxidation in the atmosphere.

Before coming to MIT, I was an undergraduate student at The College of Wooster, Ohio. I received my B.A. in chemistry (cum laude) in 1998. The Chemistry department at Wooster has some of the best chemistry professors I have met so far, and if you are looking for a good chemistry undergraduate education in a liberal arts environment, Wooster is a great place for you. If you are a high school student looking at Wooster, do drop me a note and I will be happy to chat with you about my personal experiences there and how they have helped shape who or where I am today.

My high schooling was done entirely in Pakistan and with the exception of early years in a small private English-medium school, at St. Patrick’s High School (Saddar, Karachi). St. Patrick's is considered among the elite schools in Karachi but I must say it has the sort of MIT’s blue-collar association that others of its caliber do not.  St. Pats (as it is lovingly called by Patricians) has a long history of educating people who later became famous scientists, lawyers, doctors, teachers, politicians (and military rulers in some cases). For the A-levels class of 1995, we now have a listserve at patricians95@yahoogroups.com.

A lot of people ask me these days about my plans for the future. I simply respond with "Allah Malik Hai", i.e. Only God knows (at least that is what I think in my mind). My experience so far has been both broad and deep – with a gradual shift from science to technology and now to product and business development. I think I interact well with people, have managed small and large projects and have tried to expose myself to a wide ranges of personal and professional challenges. My resume (not updated in a while) reflects on my experience as well as my portfolio of interests. Have a look for what it’s worth. I was impressed when I put it together but soon realized any resume can be made to look pretty darn good. The proof is in the pudding.

Love and peace,
Bilal

Some people who have touched my life deeply:
Ammi-Abboo-Phooa-Faraz-Hashim-Mahvash-Lama-Kim-Nana Abboo(late)-Nani Ammi-Dada-Dadi-Salim Zuberi(tayajan)-Salma Aunti-Neelo Aunti-Moti Aunti-Shafiq Uncle-Arshad Uncle-Nayyer Uncle-Mama-Mami-Mamoon Jan (the great)-Marta-Samia-Shagufta Baji-Badar Bhai-Saad-Sharjeel-Mohsin-Faiza-Fahd Sultan-Zainab-Akhil-Jaggi-Aradhna-Nupur-Amee-Kaushik-Anant-Akanksha-Sushant-Sarah Fenske-Liliona-David Powell-Errol Fernando-Yolande Henderson-Linda Morgan Clement-Charles Borders-Ana Isasi-Lucia-Shuja-Sriganesh-Nikolay-Philip-Samia-Marta-Mario Molina-Allan Bertram-Kirsten-Junoon......and many others.