Forbes just released its much anticipated “30 under 30” Asia list and nine Pakistanis have made it to the list.
Forbes stated, “Despite a challenging environment, young Pakistanis are increasingly looking to make a difference in their country. And they’re likely to be successful, too. More than 60% of the country’s booming population (the sixth-largest population in the world) is made up of young people. That amounts to a workforce that’s youthful, energetic and just may be the generation to bring the positive changes needed.”
Muhammad Asad Raza and Abrahim Ali Shah
“Muhammad Asad Raza and Abrahim Shah launched Neurostic; the healthcare startup aims to provide low cost and high quality wearable and implantable medical devices for the developing world.
Neurostic also provides prosthetic services for amputees in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, places that have little or no access to rehabilitation facilities.”
Muhammad Shaheer Niazi
At just 17, Muhammad Shaheer Niazi is already a full-fledged scientist whose work has appeared in the prestigious Royal Society Open Science journal. The teenager was the first to photograph the movement of ions, capturing the charged ions that create the honeycomb. Niazi aims to win Pakistan’s first Nobel Prize in Physics.
Adnan Shaffi and Adeel Shaffi
“Brothers Adnan Shaffi, 28, and Adeel Shaffi, 29, founded PriceOye in 2015, a price comparison platform for electronics in second and third-tier cities in Pakistan.
While e-commerce stores in Pakistan are restricted to first-tier cities like Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, many have forgotten about lower-tiered cities, leading to a 20% increase in prices in those areas.
The platform uses data analytics to provide marketing information to retailers and at the same time finds the best deals across a variety of retailers for the consumers.
Sadia Bashir
Pakistani entrepreneur Sadia Bashir found she had a passion for video games, and while female education was not a priority at home, she fought for and funded her own education.
After working for established gaming companies she cofounded Pixel Art Games Academy. The mission of the academy is to bridge the gap between industry demand and education by providing training in video game development and recruitment opportunities.
She has also created scholarships for women who want to learn video game development within her academy.”
Hamza Farrukh
What began as Hamza Farrukh’s college project to bring fresh water to one rural Pakistani village funded by a $10,000 Davis Project for Peace grant, quickly grew into a mission to implement cost-effective, sustainable and maintenance-free clean water access for all rural Pakistanis.
Farrukh began Bondh-E-Shams -The Solar Water Project and developed a solar-powered water extraction and filtration system. Costing $8,000, it has a lifespan of 25 years and can service around 5,000 people per day.
Syed Faizan Hussain
Syed Faizan Hussain is a solution-driven social activist based in Pakistan. He founded non-profit Perihelion Systems in 2013 to better the lives of many by using technology. Some of Perihelion’s products include; Edu-Aid, an American Sign Language translating software; One Health, a disease surveillance and tracking system used to predict outbreaks and alert health institutions to expedite intervention; and Glove Gauge, wearable technology to facilitate professional production processes such as measurements.
Momina Mustehsan
Momina Mustehsan is one of Pakistan’s biggest music stars and is fast becoming one of the most high profile activists in the country. After singing a duet with famed singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Mustehsan quickly earned an online following in the millions. Mustehsan used her newfound exposure to advocate for social causes important to her, including women’s rights, cyberbullying and mental health awareness. She was named one of BBC’S 100 Influential Women for 2017.
