This Modesto Junior college student is going to Geneva to conduct physics research
Riverbank resident and new Modesto Junior College grad Abdul Ahad is heading to Switzerland this summer to conduct physics research for two months. After his time in Geneva, he’ll start classes at UC Berkeley toward a bachelor’s in electrical and computer engineering.
“I wanted to delve deeper into the fabric of this universe and what everything is made of,” Ahad said. “What is gravity, what is time, what’s really going on at the most fundamental, the smallest level? Luckily enough, I’m able to tackle the question of what’s really happening at the smallest level.”
Ahad heard in January 2025 that he was accepted for an internship with the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, or CERN – a European organization that includes Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and 21 others conducting research on particle physics.
He received a $6,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and a $1,500 scholarship from MJC for this opportunity to participate in the ATLAS experiment. Student involvement is relatively new for the ATLAS experiment, currently on the second year of a program meant for students at California’s Hispanic-serving institutions.
He will be the first MJC student to participate in this venture, and is mentoring three other students who are hoping to apply next year. During his time at MJC, Ahad tutored on campus for two years and was a supplemental instruction leader for Physics 165 and Physics 101.
Ahead of his May 27 departure date, Ahad has been familiarizing himself with physics research and packing for his trip. During his time in Geneva, he will be collecting data from CERN’s particle collider experiments as researchers aim to find an undiscovered particle.
As a teenager, Ahad’s early education was impacted by financial burden. He said he barely attended classes his junior year of high school and sold candy at lunch to help make ends meet. His senior year, he did school online and worked at a Dollar Tree store.
Ahad’s candy-selling days led him to consider starting a business after high school. But his brother advised against that. “He said, ‘Why don’t you try a semester at MJC and see where it goes?’” Ahad listened.
In 2023, he enrolled at MJC, where a first-semester physics class sparked a passion for the subject. The professor, Dan Chase, helped Ahad build on his interest.
“He saw that I was passionate about physics even though I didn’t have much experience and I was just learning everything, so we connected,” Ahad said.
Chase described Ahad as “a hard-working, dedicated student with a genuine passion for science and education,” and nominated him for science and math awards for his performance in Physics 101.
“I was not surprised at all when he was accepted into the program. I knew he would succeed and be selected because of the hard work he put into the class,” Chase said in a statement to The Modesto Bee. “I am very excited for Abdul to have this opportunity to continue growing as a student and achieve even greater accomplishments in the future.”
Ahad will return on Aug. 1, just weeks before the UC Berkeley school year starts. And his business aspirations are far from dead.
“I think every great business needs a great foundation and I didn’t have any foundation after high school,” Ahad said. “I still plan on having a business some day, but it will be more within the engineering and tech space – once I build enough knowledge to produce that.”
