New Delhi: Passion and hard work can take
you places, says an old adage. Mohammad Aamir Ali found it proving true. Son of
a Jamia Millia Islamia electrician, Ali bagged an annual salary package of over
$ 100,000 from an American firm: the highest offered to any Jamia diploma
holder.
Second among seven brothers and sisters, Ali had scored good marks in JMI school board examinations. And yet he couldn’t get through to Jamia’s BTech course for three consecutive years. He was selected for an architecture course at NIT Jharkhand, but couldn’t join due to financial constraints.
Second among seven brothers and sisters, Ali had scored good marks in JMI school board examinations. And yet he couldn’t get through to Jamia’s BTech course for three consecutive years. He was selected for an architecture course at NIT Jharkhand, but couldn’t join due to financial constraints.
In 2015, he took admission for a diploma in
mechanical engineering at Jamia in 2015. Finally, his passion for electric
vehicles found an outlet.
“Charging infrastructure for electric
vehicles is a major challenge in India. I developed a theory. If I succeed, the
cost of charging vehicles will be almost zero. But initially, my teachers
didn’t believe me as it was a new area of work. However, assistant professor
Waqar Alam finally realised the potential of my work and guided me. I made a
prototype of my research and showcased it in the Talimi Mela of Jamia. I also
sent an expression of interest to the Centre for Innovation and
Entrepreneurship. Professor Zeeshan Hussain, director of CIE, promoted the
project at various levels and got it uploaded on the university website,” said
Ali.
The idea attracted the attention of Frisson Motor Werks, Charlotte, North Carolina. They contacted him through the university, and after a month-long discussion, they offered him a job to work on his idea in the US as a battery management system engineer.
His father, Shamshad Ali, said, “Amir used to
ask all kinds of questions related to the functioning of electrical equipment
and electricity. I couldn’t answer them despite being an electrician for so
many years. But I always advised him to work hard and pursue his interests.
Today, it has borne fruit and I am very happy for him.”
