The Incredible True Story Behind Nasir Ahmed
While fans waited on the edge of their seats to see if Kevin (Justin Hartley) would make it back to his fiancé Madison (Caitlyn Thompson) in time to witness the birth of their twins, This Is Us writers introduced two new characters to season 5 — an electrical engineer named Nasir and his outspoken other half, Esther Ahmed.
When we first meet them, Esther is immediately drawn to Nasir's ambition, though she later struggles to understand what is keeping her husband at the office so late at night. While it's initially unclear how Nasir and Esther are connected to the Pearsons, in true This Is Us fashion, everything comes together at the very end of the episode. It's then that viewers learn Nasir is a real-life inventor who helped make video-calling technology possible. In other words, the Pearsons — like so many of us right now — were able to stay connected via FaceTime amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic thanks to Nasir's work.
At the end of the latest season 5 episode, entitled "In the Room," the This Is Us writers paid tribute to Nasir and Esther right before the credits rolled. Sharing a collection of photos of the couple, the writers wrote, "You don't know his name, but Nasir and his team are responsible for keeping us connected today."
Who are Nasir Ahmed and Esther Pariente-Ahmed?
In the show, Nasir and Esther meet each other in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is where Nasir spent much of his career. After earning his B.S. at the University College of Engineering in Bangalore, India in 1961, his bio in Orthogonal Transforms for Digital Signal Processing reveals that Nasir pursued both his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Nasir is Professor Emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Mexico. His LinkedIn page clarifies that Nasir worked for the university for nearly 18 years before retiring in 2001.
Today, Nasir is perhaps best known for leading a group of researchers in the mid-1970s to develop what is called Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), a technological technique that helped make image sharing and video-conferencing possible. Nasir and his team's work on DCT is used in numerous commercial applications, including high-definition digital TVs, teleconferencing, and other image-sharing platforms.
According to Bustle.com, Esther has a master's degree in English from Kansas State University. What's more, The Order of the Crest and Bustle reported that Esther also has a Ph.D. in Spanish and Latin American Literature. The outlet went on to claim that both Nasir and Esther once released a limited edition book about their life called Parallel Lives in Curved Space.
As referenced in the show, Esther and Nasir have a son together named Michael Pariente, who now works as a criminal defense attorney at a Las Vegas-based firm. The show also pointed out that Nasir and Esther recently celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary together.
After the latest season 5 episode aired, writer Vera Herbert talked to People about what it was like speaking with Nasir and Esther and writing an episode highlighting their real-life story. Apparently, the writers were able to connect with Nasir and Esther last August while they were quarantining in Argentina.
"All we knew was Nasir created this programming technique and so we set up the Zoom with him," Vera revealed. "Every time we asked a question, his wife, Esther, would, kind of, weigh in from off screen and was very close to the Zoom, not technically on the Zoom. Finally, [show creator Dan Fogelman] was like, 'Does your wife want to join too?' Then she fully became part of the Zoom. She's so supportive and calls Nasir a genius. They're clearly so in love."
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