Dr. Durrani received a B.Sc.Eng. (Hons.) degree from Lahore
in 1949, a Master's degree from Manchester, England in 1953,
and a doctorate from the University of New Mexico, USA, in 1962,
all in Electrical Engineering. He taught for more than 10 years,
and worked in industry for 10 years with GE, RCA, Comsat Labs,
and Operations Research, Inc.
He joined NASA in 1974 and held research and management positions
at the Goddard Space Flight Center (including System Planning
Manager for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Systems)
and at NASA Headquarters (including Chief Scientist of Communications
Division). After retiring from NASA in 1992, he worked with
Computer Sciences Corporation on similar projects till 1998.
He was a Guest Lecturer on space communications at the International
Space University in Strasbourg, France in 1998, and was a Consultant
with SUPARCO in Pakistan under the UN Development Program in
1999. He served as an IEEE-USA Executive Fellow and Technical
Advisor with the Federal Communications Commission in Washington,
DC for 2000-2001, and held a similar position with the U.S.
Department of State during 2004-2005.
Dr. Durrani is a Fellow of the IEEE, has been
active in the IEEE for almost 40 years, and has received numerous
awards
for his services. He was President of the Aerospace and
Electronic Systems Society (AESS) in 1982 and 1983, and a member
of
the
IEEE Board of Directors in 1984 and 1985. More recently,
he was Chair of the IEEE-USA’s Aerospace Technology
Policy Committee in 2001, and Chair of IEEE National Capital
Area
Council in Washington, D.C. in 2002.
