Faria Khan fell in love with nanoparticles. Her continued research has met with with early success and now she has a product: a disinfectant paint for the healthcare and hospital sector that is already being test-marketed. Through the NUST competition, I mentored her in preparing a business plan and gave a direction to her product development and marketing strategies. Though the final product is still under research, Faria now understands the purpose of marketing and financial sustainability. She is now test marketing a basic model and yes, making some money too. She made my day a few weeks back, when she asked me to join her startup, NanoSmart, as its CEO. These are proud moments for any parent or father figure!
Faria Khan’s Journey
Born in 1989, Faria Khan had travelled extensively in Pakistan while she was still a young girl. She was an inquisitive soul and loved nature. After being denied admission to a medical school on a technicality, she joined the Virology and Immunology Department at NUST-Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB).
While at NUST, Faria secured a two-month long internship at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland in 2013. The internship helped her grow as a professional. When she returned to Pakistan, she began developing an innovative disinfectant formulation, which used Pakistan’s indigenous herbs with modern nanotechnology tools to control hospital-acquired infections.
Faria completed her Master of Science degree in Industrial Biotechnology from NUST in 2016. The BS final-year project that she had begun in 2014 is now moving towards commercialization. Meanwhile, Faria has been working to improve the disinfectant formulation prior to its commercial launch. Under NUST’s banner, her team is developing a patentable product, commercially viable and more eco-friendly than other disinfectants in the market.
