Syed Ali Nawab

Syed Ali Nawab
Nawab c. 1980s
Birth name	Syed Ali Nawab
Nickname(s)	Anis Nawab Ali Nawab Anis Ali Syed
Born	6 October 1925 (1925-10-06) Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, British India
Died	22 February 1994(1994-02-22) (aged 68) Islamabad
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1951–1983
Rank	Major-General
Unit	Pakistan Army Corps of EME
Commands held	Pakistan Ordnance Factories DG Corps of EME
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 Indo-Pakistani war of 1971
Awards	Hilal-i-Imtiaz (military) 1979 Sitara-e-Basalat Tamgha-i-Pakistan
Other work	Consultant for Pakistan Government.

Major-General Syed Ali Nawab (Urdu: سید علی نواب; b. 6 October 1925–22 February 1994^{: 220 [1]}) (HI (m) 1979, SBt, TPk, PE), was an engineering officer in the Pakistan Army Corps of EME, and a mechanical engineer with an MIMechE from UK and two bachelor's degrees, one in Electrical Engineering, and the other in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). He was known for his classified works in the development of atomic bomb at PAEC and the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) in the 1970s.^[2]

In 1979, in recognition of Nawab's contributions, head of the nuclear weapon's program, Ghulam Ishaq Khan recommended Nawab for the highly prestigious Hilal e Imtiaz (Military) - a solid gold medal, that in its original format, conferred upon the recipient, allotments of residential as well as valuable irrigated agricultural lands reserved for recipients of gallantry awards and heroes of Pakistan. The first Hilal e Imtiaz (Military) in Pakistan's history, was awarded to 4 star General Zia ul Haq after he was appointed Chief of the Pakistan Army by Prime Minister Z A Bhutto in 1976. Three years later, 4 star Admiral of the Navy Mohammad Shariff and Nawab also became recipients of this highly prestigious and financially attractive award. Since all recipients prior to 1980 except Nawab had been 4 star General officers, Nawab was a member of a small but very influential, elite group of officers in Pakistan, at the time. After 1979, the medal was no longer reserved for military officers directly reporting to the Defense Secretary General of Pakistan. Accordingly, the military medal's format was changed by President General Zia ul Haq to a gold plated, largely ceremonial award, given without all the expensive irrigated land allotments reserved for recipients of gallantry awards and heroes of Pakistan that accompanied the original medal.

His engineering career is associated with research work at Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL), including the operations of computer numerical control (CNC) machines that he worked on throughout his career.^[2] Earlier in his career, he was posted twice as the military liaison officer at the High Commission of Pakistan in London in the United Kingdom, to the British Army.^: 23 [3] Later, as a General officer in the Pakistan Army, he used his knowledge of engineering and connections developed during his stay in Britain to establish a network and enable the import of critical engineering hardware, equipment and supplies from Europe that were used at ERL.

Among his colleagues at Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), he had a reputation of being a qualified machinist and a competent engineer who sought quick solutions. Later, he worked as a consultant engineer on electric power production and quality assurance at the Ministry of Defense Production of Government of Pakistan for many years.^[4]