OBITUARY

Tariq Shams while in St. Gregory's School

Tariq Shams, son of Late Professor Shams ul Huq, and younger brother of ex civil servant Khaled Shams, breathed his last on November 17, 2011, at NIH Hospital, Bethesda, USA. He was suffering from cancer of the kidneys. He leaves behind his wife Tasneem and only daughter Raeefa. Born in 1948, Tariq Shams was a gifted individual with a rare combination of talent, human qualities, humbleness, wit, humour and simplicity. He studied at St. Gregory's High School, Dhaka College and Physics Department of Dhaka University. He did his Ph.D from George Washington University in the USA where he also taught for 6 years. For the last 25 years, he was with GESAC, Inc., an R & D venture firm in the USA where he was the brain behind developing high tech human dummies for use in crash testing of automobiles. His technology was used by world famous car manufacturers like Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Since his death streams of messages and comments have been pouring in from his class friends, colleagues and clients through the internet. "He was the most talented among us," "he seemed to have a wisdom about life and a sense of humour that reflected a comfortable acceptance of what came his way," were some of the comments on this outstanding personality. Tariq Shams will be buried at his family graveyard on November 24th, 2011, in Savar to rest beside his loving parents.

The writer is Professor & Chairperson, Department of Bio-Medical Physics & Technology, Dhaka University.