Meet Shamim, a Mechanical Engineering PhD student working on ceramic-metal composites. These materials will be useful as efficient thermal barriers from high temperatures and have many potential applications across industry and defense. For example, they may be used to create protective layers for gas turbine blades.
Shamim began his academic journey at the highly selective Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology where he maintained Dean’s List as he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Post-graduation, after a brief stint as an engineer in a pharmaceutical company, Shamim spent two years with hands on experience as an operations engineer at a powerplant.
However, drawn back to research, he decided to pursue a Master’s degree. He received multiple scholarships and a multi-year Presidential Graduate Research Assistantship at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Shamim participated in numerous projects, including investigation on the effect of the molecular weight and solvent (DMF and Water) effect on PVP nanofiber by centrifugal spinning method, resulting in a publication in Fibers and Polymers journal (Springer). He also has synthesized CsPbX3 perovskite photo luminescent nanocrystals at ambient condition, tuning the blue to green color luminescent from the same precursor solution and applied it in the preparation of luminous PMMA-CsPbX3 fiber by centrifugal spinning method. This has never been done before and resulted in a publication in Royal Society of Chemistry Materials Advances.
Focusing on projects with practical applications for daily life, Shamim transitioned to developing biodegradable piezoelectric and triboelectric nanogenerators that harvest energy from human motion. Imagine your movements charging the batteries in your smartwatch or, more critically, in devices such as a pacemaker. While there are numerous potential applications for nano energy harvesting materials, their use is limited due to the presence of lead in high piezoelectric materials, a carcinogen that is appropriately restricted for environmental and health reasons. Shamim and his team have identified that the lead-free chalcogenide perovskite family of materials exhibits piezoelectricity without the associated hazards of lead-containing materials.
During this period, Shamim faced significant physical challenges, including undergoing a total thyroidectomy and experiencing paralysis in his left hand for a month. Despite these hardships, he successfully completed the project and published his findings. He is the first author of a 2024 article in Nature Communications.
Building on that breakthrough, Shamim, as first author, led another study entitled “A composite bacterial cellulose for enhanced-performance triboelectric and piezoelectric nanogenerators”, published the highly praised journal ‘Nano Energy” in 2025. In this paper, he showed a simple spray-assisted electroless copper-plating route that embedded a conformal, breathable Cu electrode directly into bacterial cellulose (BC), creating a composite bacterial cellulose (CBC) film that doubles as both tribo/piezo-active layer and electrode. CBC-based devices achieved this performance—all without sacrificing BC’s flexibility, breathability, or biodegradability. This innovative pathway eliminates adhesive metal tapes, simplifies manufacturing, and charts a sustainable route to self-powered wearables and implantable sensors. He and the team have submitted a provisional patent for this work.
In his brief time in the Rensselaer PhD program, Shamim has made a tremendous impact on his faculty, peers, and student mentees. He continues to propose innovative cross-disciplinary ideas and has earned the respect of his faculty and students as a dedicated and professional role model. He is enthusiastic about pursuing an academic professorship post-doctoral degree. Advisor Johnson Samuel states, “Shamim represents a rare blend of research talent, resilience, and positivity. Despite battling major medical challenges, he led original, interdisciplinary work across campus collaborators in biotechnology, energy, and materials. He is well on his way to becoming a future academic leader in manufacturing.” Co-advisor, Semih Akin concurs, “Shamim is an inspiring PhD student with a rare combination of research innovation, strong leadership, and a collaborative spirit. Even though he faced serious health challenges, he consistently remained dedicated and succeeded in publishing his research as the first author in top-tier journals—an impressive achievement given all he went through. Without a doubt, Shamim will be a rising star with a promising future in academia."
In his "spare" time, Shamim has embraced his most cherished role yet: fatherhood. He and his wife welcomed their beautiful daughter during the second year of his PhD program and eagerly anticipate the adventures that come with the journey of parenthood.
