Shah Tanvir ur Rahman Chowdhury

Dr. Shah Tanvir ur Rahman Chowdhury is an assistant professor of Physics with an interdisciplinary background in electrical engineering and computational physics. He earned his PhD in physics from Temple University and has held research appointments at Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania, where his work focused in computational materials in science, molecular dynamics and data-driven modeling. His professional journey across engineering, physics and computation has shaped a teaching philosophy centered on making complex ideas accessible and empowering for students.

Dr. Chowdhury brings extensive classroom and laboratory teaching experience to DelVal, having taught algebra- and calculus-based introductory physics laboratories at Temple University and served as a lecturer of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Daffodil International University. His courses emphasized hands-on learning, simulations and real-world applications. Drawing on his interdisciplinary background, he focuses on making physics accessible to non-majors through clear physical intuition, modeling and connections to real-world problems.

Prior to joining DelVal, he worked as a physics domain expert at Tundra Technical Solutions on assignment at Meta AI Research, contributing to the evaluation of large language and Generative AI models for advanced STEM problem-solving. Outside the classroom, he enjoys photography, exploring the relationship between science and religion, and studying the Arabic language.

Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals

• Perdew, J. P. et al. (2022). Symmetry Breaking with the SCAN Density Functional Describes Strong Correlation in the Singlet Carbon Dimer. Journal of Physical Chemistry.
• Chowdhury, S. T. R. and Perdew, J. P. (2021). Spherical vs. Nonspherical and Symmetry-preserving vs. Symmetry-breaking Densities of Open-shell Atoms in Density Functional Theory. Journal of Chemical Physics.
• Chowdhury, S. T. R., Tang, H., and Perdew, J. P. (2021). van der Waals corrected Density Functionals for Cylindrical Surface: Ammonia and Nitrogen dioxide adsorbed on a Single-walled Carbon Nanotube. Physical Review B.
• Tang, H. et al. (2020). Density Functionals Combined with van der Waals Corrections for Graphene Adsorbed on Layered Materials. Physical Review B.
• Kaplan, A. D. et al. (2020). Simple hydrogenic estimates for the exchange and correlation energies of atoms and atomic ions, with implications for density functional theory. Journal of Chemical Physics.
• Rahman, M. M. et al. (2015). Long Distance Pulling, Trapping, and Rotation of Fully Immersed Multiple Objects with a Single Optical Setup. Annalen Der Physik.
• Chowdhury, S. T. R. et al. (2014). Time-Dependent Force outside a Complex Magneto-Dielectric Particle: Abraham-Minkowski Controversy. (Conference Proceeding).

Key Projects and Research Highlights

• Developed the vdW-dZK (van der Waals corrected Density Functional) model to efficiently include long-range dispersion interactions in DFT calculations.
• Worked as a Physics Domain Expert for GenAI Training at Tundra Technical Solutions on assignment at Meta AI Research, where he developed detailed rubrics to benchmark and improved Llama models' scientific reasoning.
• Pioneered the use of Machine Learning (PyTorch) to study electron behavior in complex chiral systems (like DNA/proteins) and their reaction to magnetic fields.
• Developed a Python package, PyAuger, to compute Auger recombination coefficients for high-throughput material screening.

Awards

• Recipient of the Stanislav Kotsev Memorial Award (2021/2022) for exceptional progress in the Physics Graduate Program at Temple University.
• Awarded the Dissertation Completion Grant from Temple University (Summer 2022).