The challenging fact of mathematics fascinates me. Each time you discover or understand something, it is like you are the master of the world
Education
- 2014 : Habilitation
- 2011-2013 : Post-doctoral
- 2010 : PhD. Mathematics. USTHB
- 2006 : Master. AIMS. South Africa.
- 1995 : Magister. USTHB
- 1992 : BCS. USTHB.
Professional experience
- 1992-2004 : Lecturer. Faculty of Mathematics. USTHB
- 2010-2014 : Assistant Professor. Faculty of Mathematics. USTHB
- 2010: Associate Professor. Faculty of Mathematics. USTHB
- 2011-2013 : Post-doc at UVIC
- 2013- : Researcher at UVIC.
Honours and prizes
- 2011 Honours of the Chancellor of USTHB for PhD
- 2014 Honours of the jury for the HDR
- 2016 Elsevier Reviewer recognition.
Questionnaire
Your story with mathematics
Can you tell us something about your story? Why did you join the field of Mathematics? When have you decided to be a mathematician and why?
Because it is a challenging area and also it is at the heart of all the sciences; since I wanted when I was a child to be a scientist in every things, I said to
myself you have to be mathematician.
How did you discover your passion for mathematics?
When I was 14 years old, Mathematics in the begin was like a foreign language for me, but suddenly I discovered that, there is always a way to understand it and then to produce and discover more and more. When I was 14 years old, I got very good marks in all area, then I was qualified to follow any discipline in high school, but I decided to be a mathematician, because it is a challenging area, you can feel free when you are doing mathematics and you can apply it to solve problems life.
What fascinates you about Mathematics?
The challenging fact of mathematics. Each time you discover or understand something it is like you are the master of the world. It does not matter if you
are poor or sick or hungry.
Did you have a role model that influenced your decision to become a mathematician?
I was fascinated by the people who devoted them self to science especially Marie Curie. When I was 8 years old I read her biography; she was a model for me. But I have chosen to be Mathematician after my father past away, he got a and after some weight night studying mathematics to enter a specialized school. I was 10 years old and I believed this was due to mathematics. Then I decided to defect the ghost of mathematics. At the age of 14, I was already in love with Mathematics.
Has anyone supported you in your choice and during your career?
My mother was always supporting my choice, although she was far away, she was a nurse, she had a large respect and admiration for science and specially mathematics.
Were there any specific factors that helped you succeed?
The most important factors are my motivations and the support of my teachers and family. Everything you want to do in life is difficult and easy at the same time; it depends from where you start.
What is the funniest or most memorable thing that has happened to you while working in mathematics?
When I was doing my Master degree, I had to solve an equation; for that I had to first take gamma under some constraint. After working few nights on this equation, one night I was so tired that I slept on the table, and I have seen a nightmare on gamma which become like a ghost and wanted to eat me.
Career and Family
Do you come from an academic family? How does your family regard your career choice? Tell us about balancing family life with work life?
My Father was a policeman who died very young, when I was 10 years old, my mother was a nurse. My family respected my choice and more than that they encouraged me. They respected the fact that I wanted to be devoted to my research. As a Mathematician and specially as an academic it is very hard to have a balanced life, with many students waiting for you to help them to reach their dream in research and degree. But I think I managed to have some stability and balancing life.
Women and Mathematics
What were the biggest obstacles you had to overcome? What kind of prejudices, if any, did you have to face? How did that make you feel? Were you able to overcome these? Do you have anything else that you’d like to tell us about?
The biggest obstacle is to change the mind of the people specially the colleagues and your Professors. To explain to people that applied mathematics is so important than pure mathematics, we can solve some pure mathematical problem using applied mathematics. The most hurting prejudice it was when I was travelling alone for my study or for attending conferences. Some people cannot understand your passion for mathematics, which can erase the distance and any obstacle you overcome. Sure this situation was not comfortable for me, but I was saying to myself the time will change things and finally it was true. I would like also to thanks Prof Selmane Schehrazad who was my mentor and she was always encouraging me.
Did you encounter any specific difficulties relating to the field of mathematics?
Of course each time you start a new area you have some difficulties in understanding, but the perseverance help you a lot to understand and fill the gap you have.
Do you consider it necessary to organize special programs like Girl’s Day promoting mathematics for girls in schools? What else, do you think, could further be done to support woman with mathematics as their career?
It will be nice to have some Women mathematicians which can mentor young mathematicians. I knew bright women in mathematics, but for some reason they cannot find jobs (may be just because they were different), then they abandoned, because simply they need to survive.
Teaching mathematics, especially to non-mathematicians, can be a challenge.
What is your strategy to catch and keep the attention of your audience?
I always focus on applied mathematics; in pedagogy we call that secondary motivation. The time process can change the secondary motivation to primary motivation, which is mathematics for mathematics.
How would you explain your research to a layman (non-specialist)?
Actually I am working on error-correcting codes and cryptography. It is on the border of discrete mathematics, computer science and applied mathematics. We are taking care and designing some models which can be used to improve computing.
Can you tell us about the applications of your research, if any?
Security of communications
Speed and improvement of communications
Reaper of error of communications.
Conclusion
What are your biggest achievements, and what your biggest failures?
My biggest achievement is to transmit my vocation and interest to my students and some of my Professors and colleagues. My biggest failures are to fail in transmitting the same vocations to some of my colleagues and professors.
Do you have a dream? Any particular problem you dream to solve now?
Yes I have a dream to apply mathematics in solving problems of misery in the world. One day one of the greatest Mathematicians wanted me to work with him on some theoretical problems in mathematics, (which may have some application that I cannot notice it), I said to him there are too much misery in the world and the life is too short to waist it on this kind of problems. It was true we are on this earth for a short time we have to leave a good legacy for the next generations of researchers.
Which advice would you give to young girls who want to engage a career in mathematics?
I liked the advice of Marie Curie; It is crazy to leave and abandon your dream for any one. You have to find a dream and follow it.