Shahnaz, Senior Members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Fellow of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, received her PhD degree from Concordia University, Canada, as a winner of the Canadian Common Scholarship. She has been a professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology since 2015. She was a recipient of Bangladesh Academy of Science Gold Medal for her contributions in science and technology. Recently, her nomination has been approved and she has been inducted into IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu as a Professional Member into the Eta Chapter of the board of governors. She has been elected as 2022 IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee chair-elect and she is serving as the 2023–24 IEEE WIE committee chair. She has been appointed as 2022–23 member, IEEE New Initiative Committee; 2021–23 Member, IEEE History Committee; liaison between IEEE History Committee and IEEE WIE. She has served as 2021–23 chair, IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) Women in Signal Processing; 2021–23 liaison between IEEE SPS and IEEE WIE; 2021–22 member, IEEE Educational Activities Board Faculty Resource Committe.

Nahar (MSc, Dhaka University; MA, PhD, Wayne State University) is an atomic astrophysicist at Ohio State University; adjunct professor, Cairo University and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU); Iron Lady of international Opacity Project and Iron Project; known for her seminal contributions in radiative atomic processes of photoionization and theoretical spectroscopy. She introduced a unified method for electron-ion recombination and x-ray spectroscopy for cancer treatment. Delivering research and lecture courses with computational workshops globally since 2013, she trained over 700 researchers. She is co-author of textbook Atomic Astrophysics and Spectroscopy (Cambridge), founder of NORAD-Atomic-Data database, co-founder, Indo-US STEM Education and Research Centre, AMU; founder, STEM research and education programme in developing countries; founder, International Society of Muslim Women in Science; director, Women in STEM Roadshow. Fellow of American Physical Society (APS), Bangladesh Physical Society, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Recipient of President's Golden Dome Award, Cairo University; Gold Medal, Topical Society of Laser Sciences; Medal, NRIAG; John Wheatly Award of APS.