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'To the universe!' Hafizah invites young scientists on gravitational wave ride
Published:  Feb 20, 2016 11:48 AM
Updated: Jul 4, 2016 5:39 AM
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MALAYSIANS KINI In many ways, scientist Hafizah Noor Isa broke convention when she was named as a part of the team which made the historic breakthrough to prove Albert Einstein's gravitational wave theory last week.

For starters, the baby-faced 29-year-old is a woman.

In the United Kingdom, where she is a PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow, women make up less than 15 percent of those who work in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Hafizah is from Kelantan – the poorest state in terms of average wage in Peninsular Malaysia – and was not one of the many bright Malaysian teens shipped out abroad after sterling SPM results.

Her path to Glasgow was via local universities – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), where she pursued her Bachelors and Masters degrees in material physics, and Universiti Islam Antarbangsa (UIA), where she became a tutor.

And while not many in polite company would come out to say this, Hafizah broke convention in another way – she is Malay, part of a community often stereotyped as being lazy and reliant on handouts.

Despite smashing misconceptions on various levels, Hafizah's achievement would have gone unnoticed had it not been for local physicists who saw her name cited among the 1,004 co-authors in the mammoth international effort.

The long list of authors in the scientific paper which made international headlines has also raised scepticism over the weight of her contribution.

It would be several days since she made headlines before Hafizah could manage to look up from her research work, to return Malaysiakini 's queries in a carefully-worded e-mail.

When she does, she takes pains to credit her supervisors – Rahim Sahar, the UTM, Skudai, professor who was her Masters supervisor, and Ian McLaren, the senior lecturer now supervising her PhD work, and congratulating her team mates for the achievement.

After all, she points out, the University of Glasgow's Institute of Gravitational Research (IGR)'s scientists have been working on it since the 1970s.

“I would like to congratulate my fellow team members who have long worked on this project, and my contribution is nothing in comparison,” she said.

She reveals very little about herself – we only know that when she's not in the lab, she is reading novels and watching movies.

But the little that she says may speak volumes. Instead of basking in self-praise, she uses her achievement to urge the government to continue sponsoring studies overseas for “talented and deserving Malaysians”.

“I really hope I can inspire more Malaysians, especially the young ones, to dream big and keep working towards their goals, because nothing is impossible.

“I hope this opens new horizons for a new generation of young scientists to study the universe.

“Ultimately, I also hope that the Malaysian government would continue to offer scholarships to talented and deserving Malaysians so that they can make Malaysia proud,” she said.

Hafizah explains her work at the University of Glasgow, where she has been since 2014, and how she feels about the attention at home, in her own words:

HONESTLY, I FEEL HONOURED AND OVERWHELMED , I feel honoured and overwhelmed by the attention and publicity generated by the significant finding.

When I first worked on this project, I did not expect to receive such recognition from the public. Indeed, it was my goal to dutifully complete the job successfully.

With that, I would like to thank everyone who has congratulated me on my success and those who have prayed for my well-being.

I WAS BORN in 1987 at Hospital Machang. I am the youngest of seven siblings in my family.

I received my primary education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Belukar and Sekolah Kebangsaan Pangkal Mak Wan, Kelantan, after which I did my secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Machang, Kelantan, from 2000-2004.

Upon completing secondary school, I enrolled into a one-year matriculation programme at Kolej Matrikulasi Johor in Tangkak from 2005–2006.

I ENJOY COLLECTING NOVELS as well as watching movies. I like spending my leisure time at home with my family.

I'D LIKE TO START explaining about the university's IGR team . The focus is on the development of detector hardware and software for sensing gravitational waves (GW) from astrophysical sources.

The work of the IGR includes materials characterisation, advanced interferometry, and novel data processing for signal analysis. We carry out research related to Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo), GEO600, LISA Pathfinder, and other gravitational wave detectors.

In particular, Glasgow-originated and developed technologies are selected as essential elements of the Advanced Ligo design, in particular fused silica suspensions.

In addition, Glasgow leads a UK consortium of universities working with the Ligo team to design, develop, and install the fused silica suspensions that support the mirrors of Advanced Ligo.

MY INVOLVEMENT IN THIS PROJECT is to understand the noise properties of the coatings applied to these mirrors; in particular to help in understanding how to make better mirrors in future and allow us to make even more sensitive GW detectors. This is since my main PhD activity is materials.

The IGR scientists in Glasgow who have been working in the field of GW detection since the 1970s, are founder members of the Ligo scientific collaboration which was formed in 1997, and have been part of the Advanced Ligo project since 2003.

I AM BLESSED to be part of the teams that have long been established in the University of Glasgow and this has given me an opportunity to make a small contribution of my knowledge.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the teams as they have been very helpful in guiding me and working together to achieve the desirable result.

THE DETECTION IS OF HIGH SIGNIFICANCE , not just for the IGR, but for the whole discipline of astronomy.

At present, the IGR members include a team who has worked on GEO600 team, including six academic staff and seven research assistants. In addition, many more people, including PhD students, have worked on GEO600 over the years.

I would like to congratulate my fellow team members who have long worked on this project, and my contribution is nothing in comparison.

I REALLY HOPE I CAN INSPIRE MORE MALAYSIANS , especially the young ones, to dream big and keep working towards their goals, because nothing is impossible.

I hope this opens new horizons for a new generation of young scientists to study the universe.

ULTIMATELY, I ALSO HOPE THAT THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT would continue to offer scholarships to talented and deserving Malaysians so they can make Malaysia proud.

 


 

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