Professor Dr Atta Ur Rahman, PhD in organic chemistry from Cambridge University (1968), has 1052 international publications in several fields of organic chemistry. He is the Editor-in-Chief of eight European Chemistry journals and Editor of the world's leading encyclopedic series of volumes on natural products "Studies in Natural Product Chemistry". Dr Rahman won the UNESCO Science Prize (1999) and was elected as Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society (London) in July 2006. He has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by many universities He was elected Honorary Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK, conferred the TWAS (Italy) Prize and the Austrian government has honoured him with its high civil award Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande in 2007. He is the most decorated Pakistani scientist having won four national civil awards including Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Imtiaz, and the highest national civil award, Nishan-i-Imtiaz.
In recognition of his global outstanding services to the development of Science and Technology, University of Technology Mara, Malaysia UiTM, has established an institution entitled, Atta-ur-Rahman Institute of Natural Product Discovery (RiND) in 2013
Dr Rahman was the Federal Minister of Science and Technology/Higher Education of Pakistan (2000-2008) and Coordinator General COMSTECH (OIC Ministerial Committee on Science & Technology) (1996-2012). He is Chairman of UN Committee on Science Technology and Innovation for the UNESCAP. Dr Atta Ur RahmanNational Professor, University of Karachi Former Federal Minister, Ministry of Science and Technologyview profile
Dr Pervez A Hoodbhoy
Dr Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy is a Pakistani nuclear physicist, essayist and national security analyst. He taught at the Quaid-e-Azam University’s Physics Department for 40 years before becoming a professor of Physics and Mathematics at Forman Christian College University in Lahore where he currently teaches.
The awards Dr Hoodbhoy has won include the IEEE Baker Award for Electronics (1968), the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics (1984), the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularisation of Science (2003), the Joseph A Burton Award (2010) from the American Physical Society and the Jean Meyer Award from Tufts University. In 2011, he was included in the list of 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. In 2013, he was made a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament, a position he currently holds.
Dr Pervez A HoodbhoyProfessor of Physics and Mathematics, Forman Christian College, Lahoreview profile
Ms Gelareh Kiazand
Ms Gelareh KiazandJournalist, VICE Newsview profile
Ms Aurélie Salvaire
Ms Aurélie Salvaire is a French social entrepreneur based in Barcelona. She has been working in the social innovation field for the past 10 years, collaborating with Oxfam, Ashoka, Unreasonable Institute and Impact Hub. She has founded and curated different TEDx events such as TEDxBarcelonaWomen, TEDxBarcelonaED and TEDxBarcelona Change. Ms Salvaire is passionate about storytelling and coaches teams and individuals all around the world to better master their own narrative. She is now running her own freelancing activities, The A Factor, as an events curation advisor and has set up events in places as diverse as Beirut and Nairobi. Ms Salvaire also founded the ShiftBalance association to coach women leaders in communication and storytelling in emerging countries.Ms Aurélie SalvaireFounder, Shift Balanceview profile
Mr Alex Haines
Mr Alex Haines, a French-British national, is a barrister based in London specialising in the internal law of international organisations. He regularly appears and litigates before International Administrative Tribunals (e.g. the United Nations Appeals Tribunal and the Administrative Tribunal of the Asian Development Bank); and (ii) International Sanctions Boards (e.g. the World Bank Sanctions Board and the Asian Development Bank’s Integrity Oversight Committee) in London, Washington DC, New York City, Geneva and Manila.
Mr Haines is a member of the Bar Council of England and Wales’ International Committee and he sits on Transparency International’s Suspension and Debarment Anti-Corruption Taskforce. He is a rapporteur for Oxford International Organisations (OXIO), and also sits as Honorary Board Member of the Exeter Student Law Review.
Prior to being called to the Bar in 2007, Mr Haines, who is fluent in English, French and Spanish, completed a Master’s degree in European and International Law. He worked for the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on the Democratic Republic of the Congo Katanga case before undertaking pupillage in London.
He has given presentations on tackling corruption internationally and the role of the sanctions regimes of multilateral development banks in the anti-corruption fight to the Bar Associations of Brazil, Korea and Shanghai, as well as the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
He has lectured at the Universities of Brasilia, Exeter, City of London, Hong Kong, King’s College London and La Sorbonne on the immunities of international organisations and the applicability of international human rights law to their internal systems.
Mr Haines is a keen traveller and has played rugby union for most of his life and is currently captain of his local rugby club in London.Mr Alex HainesBarrister at Lawview profile
Ms Tina Sani
Ms Tina Sani began her journey with music in 1979. A purist by temperament, Ms Sani initiated formal training in Indian classical music with Ustad Nizamuddin Khan Sahib and later with Ustad Chand Amrohvi.
Over time, she merged her commitment to the classical discipline with a native love for Urdu poetry. In this regard, Ms Sani may be seen to follow in the footsteps of ghazal maestros such as Mehdi Hasan, Begum Akhtar, Mukhtar Begum, Farida Khanum, and others.
Her performances are considered emotively rich, full of vocal nuance and lyrical feeling. Ms Sani’s repertoire includes poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmad Faraz, Mirza Ghalib, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Allama Iqbal and Rumi amongst others. Her renditions in Coke Studio (Pakistan) were highly appreciated.
Most prestigious amongst the numerous awards she has received are President's Pride of Performance in 2004 and Outstanding Contribution to Music award from the President of India, Smt Pratibha Patil in 2011.
Ms Sani is currently researching for a book she plans to write on Pakistan and its rich music.Ms Tina SaniMusicianview profile
Mr Shahidul Alam
A photographer, writer, curator and activist, Dr Shahidul Alam obtained a PhD in chemistry from University of London before switching to photography. Returning to his hometown, Dhaka, in 1984, he documented the democratic struggle to remove General Ershad. A former president of the Bangladesh Photographic Society, Dr Alam set up the award winning Drik agency, Bangladesh Photographic Institute, Chobi Mela festival, Majority World agency and Pathshala, the South Asian Media Institute, considered one of the finest schools of photography in the world.
Dr Alam’s work has been shown in MOMA New York, Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, Royal Albert Hall and Tate Modern London and Museum of Contemporary Arts Tehran. He has been a guest curator of Whitechapel Gallery, Winterthur Gallery, National Art Gallery Malaysia, Musee de Quai Branly and Brussels Biennale. His numerous photographic awards include Mother Jones, Howard Chapnick Grant, Open Society Institute Audience Engagement Grant and Shilpakala Award, the highest state honour given to Bangladeshi artists.
A speaker at Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Oxford and Cambridge universities, museums in all continents, as well as TEDx, POPTech and National Geographic, Dr Alam has been a jury member in prestigious international contests, including World Press Photo, which he chaired. Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, he is a visiting professor of Sunderland University in UK and advisory board member of National Geographic Society and Eugene Smith Fund.
Dr Alam’s book, My Journey as a Witness, listed in Best Photo Books of 2011 by American Photo, has been described by John Morris, the former picture editor of Life Magazine, as “The most important book ever written by a photographer.” His current work on Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia, was the central exhibit at the Global Forum on Migration and Development in 2016.Mr Shahidul AlamArtist, Photographerview profile
Mr Shubhendu Sharma
Formally educated in Industrial Engineering, Mr Shubhendu Sharma is an expert in Miyawkai Method of afforestation. His company Afforestt is on a mission to bring back our native forests, specialising in making natural forests of native species in urban setups. Mr Sharma is an INK Fellow (2012), TED Fellow (2014) and an Ashoka fellow (2013).Mr Shubhendu SharmaDirector, Afforesttview profile
Mr Jibran Nasir
Mohammad Jibran Nasir is a lawyer, civil rights activist, blogger, and an independent politician. Mr Nasir is involved in relief work through Elaj Trust and advocacy for marginalised communities through Pakistan For All and is working to strengthen the counter extreme narrative through Never Forget Pakistan. Jibran regularly engages youth on topics of extremism and social taboos and has spoken at a total of 40 national and international Universities such as LUMS, IBA, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia etc.Mr Jibran NasirLawyer and Civil/Political Rights Activistview profile
Ms Kami Chouhdry
Ms Kami Chouhdry is a development professional who has been working with sexual and gender minorities since 2012. Her areas of interest include human rights, gender, health and advocacy, leadership, education and project management. She has attended several national and international conferences through her work with Naz Pakistan as a Drop In Centre Coordinator at the Karachi community based organisation.
Ms Chouhdry is also a focal member of the Asia Pacific Transgender Network and Board Member of Forum of Dignity Initiative, Rights Now Pakistan and Street to School. Her approach toward sexual and gender minorities is loud and proud. She raises her voice for youth who face problems in Pakistan. She has participated in several national and international level consultations on transgender and other sexual and gender minorities who exist in Pakistan. She was also featured in an international award winning documentary Chuppan Chuppai (Hide n Seek) which documents the lives of sexual and gender minorities and has actively participated in Youth Voices Count Bangkok and Youth Lead.Ms Kami Chouhdry Trans Rights Activistview profile
Mr Martijn Van Strien
Mr Martijn van Strien graduated from the prestigious Design Academy Eindhoven with majors in textile design and forecasting. Mr Van Strien uses modern technologies to bring innovative ideas to the fashion world. By testing radically different approaches to garment design, production and consumption, he changes our perception and opens possibilities for a more sustainable industry.
In 2015, his studio launched The Post-Couture Collective, an open-source project that spawned the first maker community for garments. It gives consumers the possibility to produce their own clothing by introducing a line of wearable garments designed specifically for production on lasercutters and 3d printers.
In February 2016, he co-wrote and published the Open Source Fashion Manifesto with Vera de Pont. Addressing designers, producers and consumers, this manifesto presents their shared vision for a sustainable fashion industry fuelled by open source design and production.Mr Martijn Van StrienFounder, Post-Couture Collectiveview profile
