Ahmed Badruzzaman

Ahmed Badruzzaman is a Bangladesh-born American energy scientist with experience on research, development, or deployment of nuclear, petroleum and, solar technologies, gained through a 40-yr journey through several US R&D and educational institutions.  Since his retirement from industrial research in 2012, he has focused on two areas: (i) research on alternatives to radioactive sources to probe the geology including in mitigation of climate change and (ii) examining energy transition challenges.  On the former, he is also an SME consultant to the US Department of Energy.   On the latter, he co-teaches the course, Energy and Civilization he co-initiated at U C Berkeley in 2016, now as a professional faculty member of Hass School of Business.  The course seeks to inform students on the existential threat humanity faces from energy-climate conundrum.  In addition to the course, Dr. Badruzzaman’s commentary at various forums on energy issues includes nuclear as a climate solution, energy challenges in developed vs. developing countries, and Bangladesh energy/gas issues.  

Dr. Badruzzaman is author or coauthor of over 50 papers & two patents, and an upcoming textbook.  He is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, a two-time Distinguished Speaker of both the Soc. of Petrol Engineers (SPE), and Soc. of Petrophysicists and Log Analysts (SPWLA), a recipient of several awards from professional societies, including a 2019 Distinguished Technical Achievement Award by the SPWLA.  He chairs the SPWLA Nuclear Logging SIG, the Society’s technical group on nuclear technologies.  He was the editor of the journal, Petrophysics, and chaired several committees at professional societies and was the VP of Publication of SPWLA.  He helped set up the SPE Section in Bangladesh in 2000.  

He chairs the energy panel of Bangladesh Environmental Network (BEN) a diaspora organization  dedicated to limiting environmental degradation in their native country.  He chaired the Overseas Experts Committees  of ICBEN-4, the 4th International Conference on Bangladesh Environment held globally in December 2020 and the 2022 conference on Bangladesh Energy, Climate Change, and Sustainability.

A strong supporter of the Bangla language initiative at the UC Berkeley, he led the fundraiser that helped endow the program in 2013.  During 2014-2015, he served on the first Advisory Board of the Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the Institute of South Asia Studies at Berkeley.

Area of interest:

Nuclear radiation technologies for human welfare; Sustainable energy options & climate change mitigation; Technology transfer; Bangla language & literature

Degree:

Ph. D, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 1979