Islam then traveled to the United States and received his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles.

[1] As a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Islam and his research team demonstrated the first 3D transistor array based on horizontally suspended silicon nano-bridges.

[4] He also demonstrated the conversion of vertically oriented light waves into an ensemble of laterally oriented collective guided light beams in semiconductor thin films by integrating a 2D periodic array of nanoscale holes and implemented such slowly propagating trapped-light to enhance photon material interaction in ultrafast and highly efficient photodetectors.

[8] The following year, he was also elected to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for the development of novel sensors and ultra-fast photodetectors.

[9] Islam served as the Chair of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of UC Davis during 2017–20 and as the Director of the Northern California Nanotechnology Center during 2012–15.