THE BEGINNING After the second world war, political changes took place in the Indian sub-continent. India was divided and AQ Chowdhury, a well known journalist and former editor of the Assam Herald joined Ali Bhoy Ltd., Dhaka as its Managing Director for the marketing of Radios and Cameras etc. Thereafter, Prof. SN Mitra of the Department of Physics, Dhaka University inspired the young AQ Chowdhury to establish the present company. The company soon became known throughout Pakistan as the leading supplier of scientific AQ Chowdhury (1920 - 1983) instruments and chemicals to universities, research institutes and industries. Distributors were appointed throughout Pakistan and a demonstration laboratory showing the performance of equipment was established. In course of time, the company liberally participated in science conferences and shows to promote the use of Science & Technology. Today, the company specializes not only in instruments but also in turnkey packages to set up Scientific Research Centers, Quality Control, Environmental and Science Teaching Laboratories. These packages include from the supply of equipment, to installation, maintenance and training of the work force.
COMPANY HISTORY AQ Chowdhury aka AQC has been a pioneer of providing advanced technology solutions to study and monitor the quality of air, water, soil, food, pharmaceuticals, chemical, metal and petroleum products. AQC provides scientists with innovative tools and works hard to exceed their expectations in helpfulness and courtesy. Founded as a family business in the middle of the last century, the company’s history is marked by unparalleled service on its way to becoming a national leader for these years. Its historically close cooperation with the scientific and medical community is the key to AQC’s continuous success, which draws on users’ ideas and solutions tailored to their requirements.
From the outset, the competence of AQC meshed closely with its entrepreneurial spirit. In the beginning of the fifties of the last century, the founder, AQ Chowdhury took training in optics in Germany and Switzerland. Today, the fields of Spectroscopy, Chromatography and Microscopy offer the most insightful perspectives into the world of AQC. The company at the national level is organized in three divisions, all of which are among the OHDGHUV LQ WKHLU UHVSHFWLYH ¿HOGV
RESOURCES AQC’s knowledge base is located in Uttara, Dhaka where as many as 40 highly trained Scientists and Engineers find solutions of science in a state-of-the art laboratory of 14,000 sqft. Known as Plasma Plus+, the laboratory has found solutions for many national problems and is South Asia’s first such laboratory in the private sector. Developed in 1993, the laboratory is a not-for profit centre aimed to promote Science & Technology and their application. It is registered with the Joint Stock Company under Section 28 and is the social responsibility project of AQC.
RESOURCES Today, Plasma Plus+ offers solutions at a fraction of cost for scientific research in food, agriculture, medicine, environment, metal, plastic and other materials. The laboratory is equipped with leading edge technologies like GC-Mass Spectrometer, Gas Chromatograph, High Performance Liquid Chromatograph, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, FT-IR Spectrophotometer, Microwave Digestion System and many more. Analytical technologies keep changing fast, systems of high precision, excellent repeatability and reproducibility along with large throughput are the demands of today. This basically means users of instruments must be continuously upgraded. AQC and Plasma Plus+ have been a pioneer in offering “hands on” training courses to meet the demands of the time under its own banner, “Continuing Education in Science & Technology”, CEST. There are ready courses on many analytical modalities. Instruments defying obsolescence are used. Clients include users of instruments from national research laboratories, pharmaceutical and chemical laboratories. The facility is also used by neighbouring countries.
ACHIEVEMENTS *First company to start business in scientific instruments. *First company with in-house Chemists and Engineers to introduce modalities like NMR Spectroscopy, Electron Microscopy, Mass Spectroscopy, AA Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffractometry, Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, FT-IR Spectroscopy, Gas and Liquid Chromatography, Optical Emission Spectroscopy, Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and many more. *First company to have an application laboratory. *First company to provide engineering service to overseas countries for application and maintenance of spectroscopic and chromatographic equipment. *First company to introduce in house training on various analytical modalities. *First company in Bangladesh to analyze the deadly diethylene glycol in paracetamol syrup. *First laboratory in Bangladesh to isolate melamine in powder milk (Technology Transfer to BSTI). *First laboratory in Bangladesh to analyze Selenium in serum using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (Technology Transfer to ICCDR,B). *First company in Bangladesh to present scientific papers in national and international symposium. PARTNERSHIPS $QWHF % 9 7KH 1HWKHUODQGV Ɠ $UXQ 7HFKQRORJLHV Ɠ 'LVWHN ,QF 86$ Ɠ +DQQD ,QVWUXPHQWV ,QF 86$ Ɠ +HLGROSK *PE+ *HUPDQ\ Ɠ -HRO /WG -DSDQ Ɠ /DEFRQFR &RUSRUDWLRQ 86$ Ɠ /HLFD 0LFURV\VWHPV *HUPDQ\ Ɠ /H\EROG 'LGDFWLF *PE+ *HUPDQ\ Ɠ /LQNDP 6FLHQWLILF ,QVWUXPHQWV /WG 8. Ɠ 0LOHVWRQH 6UO ,WDO\ Ɠ 0LFURPHULWLFV ,QF 86$ Ɠ 1DQRVXUI $* 6ZLW]HUODQG Ɠ 1HZSRUW 86$ Ɠ 3KHQRPHQH[ 86$ Ɠ 3ULQFHWRQ ,QVWUXPHQWV 86$ Ɠ 4XRUXP 7HFKQRORJLHV /WG 8. Ɠ 6KHOGRQ ,QF 86$ Ɠ 6KLPDG]X &RUSRUD- WLRQ -DSDQ Ɠ 6SHFWUD 3K\VLFV 86$ Ɠ :HVWHFK 6FLHQWLILF ,QF 8.
PRODUCT LINE Spectroscopic & Chromatographic Apparatus, Electron Microscopes, NMR Spectrometers, ESR Spectrometers, Laboratory Instruments for Sample Preparation, Science Education Systems, Lasers and Accessories.
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    KEY PERSONNEL IQ  Chowdhury:  Chairman   &  CEO HQ  Chowdhury:  Director,  Product  Development Z.  Ahmed:  Director,  Commercial Prof.  AH  Khan  Ph.D:  Director,  Science  &  Technology Sarabindu  K.  Saha:  General  Manager Touhid  Raihan:  Manager,  Application Irteja  Naser:  Product  Manager
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OTHER INFORMATION Number  of  staff:  80 Number  of  offices:  4 Yearly  turnover:  US$12M  as  of  2009
    OFFICES Corporate  Office: For  Spectroscopic  and  Chromatographic  Equipment,  NMR  and  ESR  Spectrometers,  Electron  Microscopes,  Laser  Optics,  Science  Education  Systems  and  Sample  Preparation  Equipment: $4 &+2:'+85< 6&,(1&( 6<1(5*< 397 /7' Baridhara  Central  Plaza,  Floor  2 87  Suhrawardy  Avenue  Baridhara,Dhaka  -  1212  Tel:  (8802)  9862272,  9894533  &  8625121;Íž  Fax:  (8802)  8854428 E-Âmail:  aqchowdhury@aqchowdhury.com  &  aqcss@aqchowdhury.com Branch: For  Oscilloscopes,  Signal  Generators,  Histopathology  and  Thermo-Âelectric  Equipment: $4 &+2:'+85< &203$1< 397 /7' 83  Laboratory  Road  Dhaka  -  1205 Tel:  (8802)  8625121  &  9669288;Íž  Fax:  (8802)  8854428 E-Âmail:  aqcsi@aqchowdhury.com Overseas  Office: $4 &+2:'+85< 6&,(1&( 6<1(5*< )0 :HVW 6XLWH + +RXVWRQ 7H[DV Tel:   281  440  5874;Íž  Fax:  281  444  3527 E-Âmail:  aqcusa@aqchowdhury.com  &  ike@aclusa.net  Application  Laboratory  and  Customer  Support  Division: PLASMA  PLUS+ House  12  Rd  5A  Sector  11  Uttara  Dhaka  -  1230 Tel:  (8802)  8953450  &  8953501;Íž  Fax:  (8802)  8854428 E-Âmail:  plasmaplus@plasmaplus.org Web:  www.aqchowdhury.com