Make a Difference in the World!

The next Lindau Meeting will be on Physics. Zaynah Dhunny participated in the Physics Meeting in 2016 and regards this attendance as a once in a lifetime experience. Learn how the 66^th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting changed Zaynah’s career path.

Since I was small, I knew I would become a Physicist. I completed a double PhD in Physics and Computing and continued with a post doc in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Mauritius and have been publishing heavily in high impact factor journals like Elsevier, Springer etc. The topic I chose was climate change based on the current world issue. I worked heavily on climate change solutions and modelled everything using artificial intelligence algorithms that I developed by myself. And I was working as a professor at different universities for engineering and physics as well as artificial intelligence. Then I participated in the 66^th Lindau Meeting – the stay in Lindau was a milestone that changed my career direction.

I came there while I was waiting for my PhD response as my thesis had already been submitted. So, I attended as an early career scientist, and it was mind blowing. It changed my entire thought process! I realised that I wanted to make a change in the world with my technology. In Lindau, I spent a good amount of time with Nobel Laureate Steven Chu and he totally inspired me.

After my trip to Lindau, I decided to become an entrepreneur as listening to the Nobel Laureates’ talks and inventions had inspired me and turned my life around.

From Climate Change to AI in Medical Applications

I joined the international technology company Cyberange to head their product division and I ended up loving it so much that I became partner and run the business. Cyberange is a cyber security & artificial intelligence start up having operations in India, Africa, and Middle East. With years of experience on cyber security research, the solutions from Cyberange are based on cutting edge artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to bring customers pre-emptive defense threat intelligence and cyber defense capabilities. Cyberange has multiple divisions in its group catering for different technologies. The company owns a range of internet protocolls for its cyber security and artificial intelligence-based products.

I am working on a world class invention on medical advancements with artificial intelligence. Currently, it is learning by itself and in stages of development and will be ready to be deployed in about one year. This invention will change lives of people in developing and underdeveloped countries. Even though I left academia, the analytical skills that I developed as a scientist is what I put in my daily work.

Beside the turn-around in my career, what I took home from Lindau are the contacts I had made there. Each country I travel, I meet my fellow participants of that 2016 class.

My advice to future Young Scientist is to change the mindset from being an academic to being a real scientist by making a difference in the world. I hope that many of the participants in Lindau 2024 will take that perspective to heart.