Issue 12 - JUL 2021
KU Students Win at EmiratesSkills Competition
Khalifa University’s Society of Petroleum Engineers Student Chapter Receives Excellence Award
KU Students Learn about UAE Energy Sector at Total and Institut Francais Youth Hackathon
A Step Closer to Brain Like AI with Hyperdimensional Computing
Six KU Master’s students participated
Research into the Atmospheric Aerosols over the UAE Shows Dust Levels Decreasing
Khalifa University Ranks 183rd in 2022 QS World University Rankings
in a Youth Hackathon hosted by
Khalifa University has Become the
TotalEnergies and the Institut Francais
First University from the UAE to be
in the UAE focused on the evolution of
Placed among the Top 200 Universities
the UAE energy sector.
in the World. 1 KU TIMES
ABOUT KU TIMES KU TIMES IS A NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE KHALIFA UNIVERSITY MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT. IT AIMS TO KEEP OUR STAKEHOLDERS INFORMED AND UPDATED ABOUT KHALIFA UNIVERSITY’S LATEST BREAKTHROUGHS, CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH, COLLABORATIONS, INITIATIVES, STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND NEWS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT AN IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE, NOMINATE STUDENTS OR OTHERS TO BE INTERVIEWED, PROVIDE SUGGESTIONS ON TOPICS YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ ABOUT, OR SIMPLY WANT TO LEAVE A COMMENT, PLEASE EMAIL US AT COMMUNICATIONS@ KU.AC.AE.
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Khalifa University’s DhabiSat Set for Launch on 20 February from Aboard Cygnus
Military Assistance as Political Gimmickry?
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USING RED-TINTED GLASSES CAN MAKE COLORS MORE PROMINENT, BUT ACHIEVING THIS CORRECTION IN A COMFORTABLE MANNER IS MORE CHALLENGING.
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RESPONDING TO COVID-19 Understanding How the Covid-19 Virus Enters the Body and Drugs that Could Mitigate Infection
In the search for treatments for Covid-19, many researchers are focusing their attention on a specific protein that allows the virus to infect human cells. This protein, which cells carry on their surface, is called angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and provides the entry point for the coronavirus to enter cells. ACE2 is present in all people, but the quantity of this protein can vary among individuals and in different tissues and cells throughout the body. A team of researchers including Dr. Dietrich Lorke, Professor and Chair of the KU Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, recently published a review into the potential impact of commonly prescribed drugs and pharmacologically active
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compounds on Covid-19 pathology and risk through the regulation of ACE2 levels in the body. Dr. Lorke, with Dr. Murat Oz, Kuwait University, and Dr. Nadine Kabbani, George Mason University, published their findings in the journal Pharmacology and Therapeutics. “The emergence of Covid-19 as a global pandemic has raised concern throughout the world and spurred an urgent need for prevention and treatment,” said Dr. Lorke. “In order to enter the host cell, the coronavirus binds to an enzyme called angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is found in a variety of different organs in the body, including the lungs, small intestine and the nasal cavity.”
RESPONDING TO COVID-19
ACE2 generates small proteins that regulate functions in the cell. Using a spike-like protein on its surface, the Covid-19 virus binds to ACE2, and makes its way into the cell through this doorway. Not only does ACE2 act as an entry point for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but its normal function also influences inflammation and cell death in the lung cells. When the Covid-19 virus binds to ACE2, this regulation is disrupted, which contributes to the lung and heart damage seen in Covid-19 patients. It is understandable, then, that higher ACE2 expression in the body is correlated with higher infectivity, suggesting that increased ACE2 levels may predispose individuals to Covid-19. Patients with hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease may have higher levels of ACE2, but while the SARS-CoV-2 virus requires ACE2 to infect cells, the precise relationship between ACE2 levels, viral infectivity and the severity of a resulting infection is still a matter of debate. Certain medications, including ACE inhibitors and Angiotensin 1-Receptor (AT1-R) blockers, have been reported to increase ACE2 expression, raising concerns regarding the safety of these drugs in patients exposed to Covid-19. This is especially concerning since both an ACE inhibitor and an AT1-R blocker are among the ten most commonly used drugs worldwide, with a combined 155 million prescriptions per year in the USA alone. Patients receiving these drugs would represent a substantial group of people at risk if this hypothesis proved true. However, several studies have shown that using these medications does not increase a patient’s risk of contracting Covid-19. “The problem is that many of these observations have been made in animals and that these results do not necessarily reflect the situation in humans,” explained Dr. Lorke. “In one analysis of 12,594 patients who tested positive for Covid-19, there was no association between any single medication class and an increased likelihood of a positive test. Moreover, none of these medications were associated with an increased risk of severe illness among patients who tested positive. Several other clinical findings show similar results.” Additionally, results from these studies suggest the use
of ACE inhibitors may even have some beneficial effects on the clinical outcome of Covid-19. In small cohorts of Covid-19 patients with hypertension, the use of ACE inhibiting drugs significantly improved outcomes, with some critically ill elderly Covid-19 patients seeing lower mortality rates. ACE2 also has some protective effects against tissue injury, the likes of which are seen in the lungs following infection with Covid-19. With the virus occupying the ACE2 receptor, the ACE2 levels in the body are reduced, which may make individuals more susceptible to severe illness from Covid-19. The ACE2 facilitates the virus getting into the body, but the decrease in available ACE2 contributes to tissue injury such as inflammation in the heart and lungs. “ACE2 plays an important role in counteracting some of the harmful effects of inflammation in the lungs,” explained Dr. Lorke. “Unsurprisingly, a vast number of drugs significantly affect the activity and expression of ACE2. Considering the crucial role of ACE2 in coronavirus infections, the consequences of these drugs have been the subject of much recent debate. So far, evidence from the majority of clinical and epidemiological studies indicates that these drugs do not negatively affect the susceptibility and prognosis of Covid-19. It remains to be seen whether other drugs and pharmacologically active substances affect coronavirus susceptibility or disease prognosis.” Understanding the action mechanisms of ACE inhibitor drugs is crucial for providing guidance for further clinical studies. Knowledge of the pharmacological regulation of ACE2 by various drugs and compounds also helps to better understand how these molecules work at cellular and organ system levels, particularly concerning infection with Covid-19. The researchers report that interrupting the SARSCoV-2 spike protein binding to ACE2 is a feasible strategy against Covid-19. They note that new drugs could be developed that bind to the active site of ACE2 and disrupt the interaction with the SARS-CoV-2 virus to help prevent infection.
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RESPONDING TO COVID-19
Investigating the Sociodemographic Factors in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Covid-19 Cases
Emerging in Wuhan in December 2019, Covid-19 rapidly spread across the globe through sustained human-to-human transmission. Affecting over 77 million people and causing over 1.7 million deaths, the Covid-19 pandemic proved difficult to control, in large part due to asymptomatic cases and the ease of its transmission. A large portion of the people who contract Covid-19 never develop noticeable symptoms: they don’t cough or feel short of breath, they don’t run a fever, they don’t lose their sense of smell. They have few if any signs of illness.
KNOWING WHAT MAKES A PATIENT MORE OR LESS LIKELY TO BE A SILENT CARRIER COULD HELP PROTECT THE POPULATION AND PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.
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Working with Dr. Rami Al-Rifai and Luai Ahmed from United Arab Emirates University’s Institute of Public Health, and Farida Ismail Al Hossany, Bashir Aden, Shamma Abdullah Al Memari and Shereena Khamis Al Mazrouei from Abu Dhabi Public Health Center, Dr. Juan Acuna, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Khalifa University, investigated Covid-19 cases,
RESPONDING TO COVID-19
both symptomatic and asymptomatic, to determine the sociodemographic characteristics, travel history, working status and chronic comorbidities of the patients involved. This first of its kind study of Covid-19 positive cases in the UAE was published in PLOS One, shedding light on the strength of the association between sociodemographic characteristics and chronic comorbidities with presenting symptoms. In Dr. Acuna’s research, 82.2 percent of the cases tested were expatriates, with 43.5 percent of these being asymptomatic. The researchers wanted to identify the sociodemographic characteristics associated with presenting symptoms in patients with Covid-19. They found that older age, working, or having at least one chronic disease was independently associated with developing Covid-19 symptoms; patients were more likely to be symptomatic if they fell into any one of these categories. Interestingly, the researchers found the symptomatic cases occurred in significantly older patients than the asymptomatic cases, and those working in healthcare settings and aviation or tourism services were more likely to be symptomatic than asymptomatic. Additionally, a significantly higher proportion of symptomatic cases had at least one chronic comorbidity. “Younger people are more likely to be healthier and not have underlying comorbidities such as diabetes or hypertension,” explained Dr. Acuna. “However, they are also more likely to be working and in contact with other people who may be carriers. Repeated exposure to Covid-19 may have contributed to an increased level of the contracted viral load, which may have expedited the symptomatic state.” Globally, patients with asymptomatic Covid-19 infections have a similar viral load as those with symptomatic infections, and approximately 80 percent of Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic or mild. While this is good for the patient as they experience little to none of the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, a patient with no knowledge of their disease can potentially transmit the virus to other people without any awareness. While coughing, a prominent symptom of Covid-19, may result in more viral particles shared than talking or breathing, meaning symptomatic patients are more
contagious, asymptomatic patients are more likely to be in close contact with others. “As an outbreak containment strategy, a large number of contacts of confirmed Covid-19 cases were traced and tested,” explained Dr. Acuna. “The first two reported Covid-19 symptomatic cases were two members of a cycling racing team who had arrived in the UAE in February. From these two cases, 693 individuals were traced and tested for Covid-19 within two days after identification. Contact tracing and testing can detect a substantial number of potential silent transmitters.” While these silent carriers were in the majority according to the results of this research, being symptomatic was more common in patients with existing chronic diseases. Diabetes and hypertension were the most frequent chronic diseases reported in the research population, which is in the line with other research documenting these diseases as the most distinctive comorbidities in patients with Covid-19. “Patients with chronic comorbidities are more likely to be older and suffer from immune system impairments,” explained Dr. Acuna. “Patients with diabetes suffer from a lack of energy supply to immune cells, which weakens the immune system’s response to the virus. In patients with hypertension, the medications they were prescribed to reduce their blood pressure were associated with an increased viral load of Covid-19 in the patient, delaying viral clearance and making them more likely to present with symptoms.” Importantly, the research showed a substantial proportion of the Covid-19 cases in the Abu Dhabi Emirate were asymptomatic, meaning implementing prevention measures and raising awareness among populations working in high-risk settings is necessary. The estimated proportion of asymptomatic cases is a vital parameter for future studies, but the strength of the association between symptoms and exposure, age and work settings is vital for public health prevention and control interventions. Knowing what makes a patient more or less likely to be a silent carrier could help protect the population and prevent the spread of Covid-19. 7 KU TIMES
RESPONDING TO COVID-19
Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Oceans THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS IMPACTED EVERYTHING FROM THE LARGEST SOCIETIES ON EARTH TO THE SMALLEST MICROALGAE IN THE SEA.
The oceans directly influence life on Earth, regulating the global climate, stimulating rainfall, and providing 50 to 80 percent of the Earth’s oxygen. Any change on the surface of the ocean has a direct effect on life on this planet. They also constitute the Earth’s largest source of food, with more than 40 percent of the world’s population relying on the oceans as their primary food source. As the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus has shown a pronounced effect on the environment in general, recognizing its effect on the oceans is paramount. Dr. Maryam R. Al Shehhi, Assistant Professor in the Khalifa University Department of Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering, investigated the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the oceans with Dr. Yarjan Abdul Samad from the University of Cambridge. “The global Covid-19 lockdowns resulted in the closure of the largest industries in the world for a period of two months,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “This was enough to cause a seven percent drop in anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. While there have already been investigations into the effect of the pandemic on the atmosphere, the question remains: what happened to the oceans?” KU TIMES 8
One way of determining the state of the oceans is to consider their productivity. Ocean productivity represents the health of the marine ecosystem and the carbon cycle and largely refers to the production of organic matter by phytoplankton suspended in the ocean. Phytoplankton harvest light to convert inorganic carbon to organic carbon and then supply this organic carbon to organisms that obtain their energy from the respiration of organic matter, such as zooplankton, fish, and marine mammals. “Productivity is commonly estimated as the plant biomass in the ocean, and chlorophyll-a is one of the key metric indicators,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “Associated with ocean productivity are the sea temperature and the carbon cycle. “Big industries, such as the automobile factories, textile and clothing factories, and maritime fishing and shipping operations, were on hold for a period of two months, with many fishing vehicles unable to leave port and a substantially reduced demand for many seafood products,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “These human stressors have been seriously affecting the ocean for several decades, causing a high sea surface temperature, ocean acidification, and increasing ultraviolet radiation. If these industries continue to operate as they have, the sea surface temperature is projected to rise by 2.8°C by 2100, which would have devastating effects on the planet.” However, during the pandemic lockdowns, there was a seven percent reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions from cumulative human activity.
WORLD LOCKDOWN PERIOD
The researchers considered how this reduction could have affected the oceans by examining the levels of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) before and during the pandemic using satellite images. Their results show a reduction in chl-a concentrations in the global oceans, particularly in the coastal regions. Satellite images can be used to measure the concentration of chl-a, the pigment used by phytoplankton to photosynthesize. The levels of chl-a in the surface water are an indication of how much primary production is occurring in the surface of the ocean. Since phytoplankton need nutrients for photosynthesis and growth, chlorophyll concentrations are highest where nutrient concentrations are highest. Currents in the ocean can bring nutrient rich water from the deep up to the surface, which means there is a correlation between water temperature and chlorophyll concentration. Cold water generally has higher chl-a concentrations than warm water because it contains nutrients that have recently been carried up from the deep ocean. The cold, nutrient-rich waters of the North Atlantic are more productive than the warmer, tropical waters found around the equator. Dr. Al Shehhi and Dr. Samad investigated the chl-a concentrations in eleven regions, selected for the presence of either high industrial activity or large population: Alaska, Northeast United States, Southeast USA, Pacific Ocean, Southeast America, China and South Korea, Middle East, North Europe, Northwest Africa, Southwest Africa, and Southeast Australia. “We saw a prominent decrease off Alaska, Northern Europe, South China and the Southeast USA,” said Dr. Al Shehhi. “CO2 emissions from South China dropped by 123 tonnes during the pandemic, and this resulted in a five percent drop in chl-a in the surrounding ocean. This drop in chl-a could
be caused by the reduction of the CO2 emissions during the pandemic period because phytoplankton biomass takes up the atmospheric CO2 during photosynthesis.” The reduction in atmospheric CO2 emissions has also affected the carbon cycle in the ocean. The ratio of inorganic carbon to organic carbon has decreased, indicating a reduction in CO2 uptake. In Europe, the reported reduction of atmospheric CO2 emissions by 24 percent may have caused a direct 75 percent decrease in the carbon ratio of the seas in northern Europe. The coastal areas off Alaska and in the North Indian Ocean and Eastern Pacific also saw a cooling response of 0.5°C following the reduction in CO2 emissions. As the water there had previously been warmed by global climate change, this cooling can be attributed to a reduction in emissions. “A lower surface temperature can improve the uptake of atmospheric CO2 by the ocean and can enhance the productivity process,” explained Dr. Al Shehhi. “Therefore, the reduction in CO2 emissions doesn’t have a direct effect on chl-a and surface temperature, rather, it is related to both of them.” The researchers explained that while carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is needed by phytoplankton to photosynthesize, during this process, the water in the oceans becomes warmer, more acidic, and less oxygenated. “If anthropogenic pressures return to normal, CO2 emissions will return to normal,” said Dr. Al Shehhi. “This will continue to contribute to global warming and affect the oceans by causing acidification, stratification, increasing sea temperature and increasing productivity. Instead, maintaining global activities at the levels observed during the pandemic period could help to recover the oceans.” 9 KU TIMES
INNOVATION FORWARD
KU Team Develops Simulations to Find Materials for Capturing Carbon from Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Cutting-edge research and breakthroughs
WITH MYRIAD MATERIALS TO CHOOSE FROM, SIMULATIONS HELP SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF SELECTING THE RIGHT MATERIALS FOR THE JOB.
With most of the world still relying on fossil fuel-driven power plants for their energy, carbon dioxide emissions remain a global concern. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, is paramount in combating climate change. One way to do this is to capture the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions directly from the smokestacks of the power plants before they enter the atmosphere. Dr. Lourdes Vega, Director of the Khalifa University Research and Innovation Center on CO₂ and Hydrogen (RICH) and Professor of Chemical Engineering, is leading a collaborative research team that is analyzing different types of materials to determine their potential for postcombustion carbon dioxide capture and separation.
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INNOVATION FORWARD
The team includes Dr. Daniel Bahamon, Research Scientist, and Dr. Maryam Khaleel, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, both from Khalifa University, along with Dr. Santiago Builes from EAFIT University, Colombia, and Wei Anlu from China University of Petroleum, a student who spent six months at the RICH Center at Khalifa University for performing part of this study. They published their work in January in the journal Frontiers in Chemistry. “Mitigation strategies such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) play an import role in limiting the contribution of CO₂ emissions to global climate change. One key approach to this is capturing post-combustion CO₂ from flue gas at power stations and chemical manufacturing plants,” explained Dr. Vega. Flue gas is the by-product gas that leaves a fossil fuel power station or plant via a chimney known as a flue. While its composition depends on what is being burned, it mostly comprises nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor and a number of pollutants such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The ‘smoke’ seen pouring from these flues is not smoke at all, but the water vapor in the gas forming a cloud as it meets cooler air. Carbon dioxide is the second largest component of flue gas at around 4 to 25 percent, depending on the source. Although there are technologies available now to capture this carbon dioxide before it can wreak havoc on the atmosphere, they have several disadvantages. Currently, aqueous amine solutions, which are solutions containing water and amines, organic compounds derived from ammonia and containing a nitrogen atom attached to hydrogen and carbon atoms, are used to capture CO₂ in large-scale applications. Amine solutions are excellent at trapping the CO₂, making them the most popular and developed carbon capture technology. However, the disadvantages to this technology is that in order to separate the trapped CO₂ from the amine solution, it has to be heated, requiring additional energy, and some of the amines are lost in this high energy process. To overcome the shortcomings of amine solutions, solid sorbent materials are a viable alternative. Solid sorbents can selectively adsorb CO₂, however some solid sorbent materials perform better than others, and finding the most optimal carbon capturing material was the focus of Dr. Vega’s investigation. A good adsorbent is a highly porous material with a large internal surface, full of holes to collect the CO₂. Metal-organic frameworks
(MOF) materials possess enhanced stability, greater CO₂ cycling capacities and lower regeneration energies, making MOFs a material of choice for solid sorbent-based carbon capture. However, MOFs alone are not enough to adsorb the CO₂ from flue gas at low pressures, especially since water vapor in the gas can compete with the carbon dioxide for adsorption. To counter this, attention has turned to amine-functionalized MOFs, where amines are grafted onto the open metal sites to increase CO₂ adsorption selectivity and capacity. These materials combine the benefits of both the MOFs and the amines, avoiding the disadvantages of the need for heating the solvent for removing the CO2 or the evaporation of the amines. There are multiple types of amines, each of which has different characteristics relevant to CO₂ capture. Finding the optimal amine for each real-world application can be a timeconsuming endeavor. “Molecular simulations can allow the systematic and precise study of the various relevant variables of a system,” explained Dr. Vega. “We can isolate and quantify the effect of each functionalized MOF on the performance of the system, making simulation an excellent tool for the rational design of materials.” The research team used molecular simulations to explore the relationship between the structure of different kinds of aminegrafted MOFs and their CO₂ adsorption performance. A series of amine-grafted MOFs were screened, establishing the most promising materials for adsorbing low-concentration CO₂, while considering their regeneration performance, or how many cycles the MOFs could operate before degrading. “Our work offers a molecular understanding of how functionalization takes place on MOFs and how it affects their final performance, providing guidance on the design of the best material/amine combination for optimal post-combustion CO₂ capture,” said Dr. Vega. Once the best material is found with this procedure, it will be synthesized and tested in a reactor at the conditions required for CO₂ capture from different sources. Dr. Vega’s team’s work is a significant contribution to the development of efficient and sustainable carbon capture utilization and storage solutions, as part of the RICH Center effort to find optimal materials to produce clean energy. 11 KU TIMES
INNOVATION FORWARD
A Tunable 2D Covalent Network for Charge-selective Removal of Toxic Dyes from Wastewate
KU RESEARCHER WORKED WITH NYUAD TO CREATE THE FIRST WOVEN CALIXARENE-BASED COVALENT ORGANIC FRAMEWORK (COF) WITH PLENTY OF TUNABLE PORES FOR ADSORPTION APPLICATIONS
Synthetic dyes are common ingredients in the textile industry, but because of their general use, they often find their way into waterbodies from industrial wastewater, where they pollute the water and threaten water security. Removing these polluting dyes can be achieved through adsorption, where the dyes are collected in the pores of highly porous materials that scoop the pollutants from water and trap them in the pores. Dr. Dinesh Shetty, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, has created a tunable, two-dimensional polymeric network from an organic macrocycle called calixarenes that can selectively adsorb toxic dyes from wastewater. KU TIMES 12
INNOVATION FORWARD
Dr. Shetty is a member of the Khalifa University Center for Catalysis and Separation (CeCaS), one of KU’s 18 specialized research centers. CeCaS research aims at developing practical solutions to chemical engineering challenges faced by several industries today. In collaboration with researchers from New York University Abu Dhabi, Dr. Shetty has developed a novel structure using calixarenes to remove dyes selectively and efficiently from wastewater. Their work was recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and appeared as a cover article. Calixarenes are bowl-shaped organic molecules that consist of defined hydrophobic cavities. This unique feature allows host-guest chemistry where calixarenes play the host for small molecules and/or ions. “Calixarene molecules have been extensively exploited as versatile supramolecular building blocks,” explained Dr. Shetty. “This is due to their ability to adopt different conformations, which refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule, and the relative ease with which they can be functionalized, which refers to how easily a calixarene can take on new functions, features, capabilities, or properties by changing its surface chemistry.” This is particularly true of calix[4]arenes where the ring consists of four aromatic rings. Calixarenes work as excellent adsorbers, but in the monomer form, they can be dissolved in some solvents, which would hinder their practical use. In a macroscopic architecture, however, calixarenes become insoluble in almost every solvent, especially in water. To create calixarenes with a macroscopic architecture, Dr. Shetty and his team turned to covalent organic frameworks, or COFs. COFs are a class of materials that form two- or three-dimensional structures through reactions between their organic components, resulting in strong, covalent bonds that create porous, crystalline materials. “COFs have proven to be an important class of porous materials on account of their well-defined structures, tuneable pore functionality, and good chemical stability,” explained Dr. Shetty. Giving calixarenes a macroscopic architecture is very challenging but if successful could allow them to be
incorporated into practical platforms such as powders in cartridges or membranes. While few researchers have attempted to build COFs with multiple ringed, or macrocyclic molecules, like calixarenes, Dr. Shetty’s team realized that a calixarenebased COF would be an ideal way to remove toxic dyes from industrial wastewater. Dr. Shetty, along with Trabolsi research group at NYUAD, developed the first woven structures of calixarenebased COFs, making a 2D network that can be delicately tuned for each application. They joined calix[4]arenes by creating covalent bonds between the organic molecules to link them together, then these calixarene chains were interwoven by slotting one calixarene into the bowlshape of another, effectively stacking the chains. The synthesized COFs showed well-defined lattice structures, indicating a highly crystalline nature for both COFs, with plenty of pores for adsorption applications. By varying the concentration of calixarene units in the solution, the stacking orientation in the COFs can be altered, meaning researchers can create both interpenetrated (meaning catenated) and noninterpenetrated frameworks. The resulting COFs featured wavy layers containing the calixarene cavities, making them attractive candidates for adsorbing small molecules. The researchers validated the materials ability by using them for selective removal of cationic-dyes from aqueous mixtures. Importantly, creating a structure with organized pores increases the number of molecular interactions between pollutant molecules and adsorbent. Interestingly, the COFs developed by the research team were exceptionally selective for the cationic dyes in the test mixtures without depending on the size of the molecules. The COFs also demonstrated a highly negative surface charge, allowing charge-selective removal of the dye molecules. “With the inherently hydrophobic cavity, anionic surface, and possibility to develop these COFs in a membrane, our work has the potential to bring calixarene chemistry to an exciting materials science horizon,” said Dr. Shetty. 13 KU TIMES
INNOVATION FORWARD
Four Books Published on the Role of Internet Protocols
A researcher from the Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC), a joint research and innovation center established by Khalifa University, Etisalat and BT and based at Khalifa University, has penned four books in the last two years that shed light on the foundations and inner workings of Internet Protocol (IP) networking. IP networking is the packet routing technology at the core of today’s information and communication infrastructure and central to emerging technologies such as 5G. Dr. James Aweya, Chief Researcher at EBTIC, is the sole author of the four books. The latest books, titled “IP Routing Protocols: Fundamentals and DistanceVector Routing Protocols” and “IP Routing Protocols: Link-State and Path-Vector Routing Protocols” were published this year by CRC Press, one of the world’s leading science and technology publishers. KU TIMES 14
The two earlier titles include “Switch/ Router Architectures: Systems with Crossbar Switch Fabrics,” published in 2019 also by CRC Press, and “Switch/ Router Architectures: Shared-Bus and Shared-Memory Based Systems,” published in 2018 by Wiley.
Dr. James Aweya
Before and during his time at EBTIC, Dr. Aweya has developed a number of patented, industry-first technologies that are helping to accelerate the transition from circuit-based timedivision multiplexing (TDM) networks to packet-based networks. This, in turn, has supported the deployment of newer mobile networks and services. One of the technical challenges preventing the deployment of packetbased networks for mobile services is the need for very accurate clock synchronization in the network between source and destination – an essential capability for delivering present day and emerging mobile services. Traditionally, this has been delivered over time-division multiplexing (TDM). Understanding such mechanisms is critical for understanding the design and deployment of newer and emerging services and applications, which now are all based on IP. The books aim to present the fundamentals behind IP routing protocols. Internet Protocols, or IPs, are the set of rules for routing and addressing packets of data so that they can travel across networks and arrive at the correct destination. Each packet is routed hop-by-hop through a series of routers, and across multiple networks from source to destination. Each hop in this case represents a routing device (or router). IP routing protocols are the set of procedures and rules that govern how routers communicate with each other to exchange routing information about how destinations can be reached.
INNOVATION FORWARD
The IP routing protocols serve as the brains behind the routers and provide information about how paths can be constructed between networks from a packet’s source to its destination. The inspiration for his books came during the 13 years when Dr. Aweya worked as a Senior Systems Architect with the global telecom company Nortel, based in Ottawa, Canada. During his time there, Dr. Aweya worked on communication networks, protocols and algorithms, router and switch design, and other telecom and IT equipment design. The first book, “IP Routing Protocols: Fundamentals and DistanceVector Routing Protocols,” covers the fundamentals of networking and routing protocols as well as the design and application of the two main distance-vector routing protocols in use today, RIPv2 and EIGRP. These routing protocols are suitable for small to medium size networks ,such as those used in companies, universities, hospitals and airports. The second book, “IP Routing Protocols: Link-State and PathVector Routing Protocols,” covers the design of the link-state routing protocols (OSPF and IS-IS) and pathvector routing protocol (BGP). These link-state routing protocols are mostly used in large-scale networks such as those used by service providers and telecom companies. BGP is the main protocol used to interconnect all the different and separate enterprise and service
provider networks to create the global Internet as we know it.
in 2007 as one of Nortel’s top 15 innovators.
The books are presented from a practicing engineer’s perspective, linking theory and fundamental concepts to common industry practices using real-world examples. They target practicing engineers and researchers and can also be used as senior undergraduate and graduate level textbooks. Each book contains many illustrations and each chapter ends with review questions and references.
Today, Dr. Aweya is a Chief Researcher at EBTIC. Established by Etisalat, BT, and Khalifa University, and supported by the UAE’s ICT Fund, EBTIC aims to advance intelligent systems technologies for the Next Generation Networks (NGNs) and NGN-enabled ICT applications and services. The books written by Dr. Aweya contribute significantly to the ongoing work in EBTIC.
The third and fourth books, “Switch/ Router Architectures: Systems with Crossbar Switch Fabrics” and “Switch/ Router Architectures: Shared-Bus and Shared-Memory Based Systems,” describe the design of the routing devices that run the IP routing protocols described in the IP Routing Protocol books. Dr. Aweya received his BSc (Hon) degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, an MSc in electrical engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, and a PhD in computer engineering from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He has authored approximately 54 international journal papers, 40 conference papers, 43 technical reports, and has been awarded 68 US patents, with several patents pending. He was awarded the 2007 Nortel Technology Award of Excellence (TAE), Nortel’s highest technology award, for his pioneering and innovative research on “Timing and Synchronization across Packet and TDM Networks.” He was also recognized
Dr. Aweya and the Smart Infrastructure team at EBTIC are working towards creating a start-up company that will offer a highly competitive offering in the field of network synchronization, that would be applicable to such sectors as finance, energy, industry 4.0, smart city and telecommunications. LINKS TO PURCHASE BOOKS: IP Routing Protocols: Fundamentals and Distance-Vector Routing Protocols CLICK TO OPEN LINK
IP Routing Protocols: Link-State and Path-Vector Routing Protocols CLICK TO OPEN LINK
Switch/Router Architectures: Systems with Crossbar Switch Fabrics CLICK TO OPEN LINK
Switch/Router Architectures: SharedBus and Shared-Memory Based Systems CLICK TO OPEN LINK
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INNOVATION FORWARD
A Step Closer to Brain Like AI with Hyperdimensional Computing THE ORIGINAL COMPUTERS WERE DESIGNED AROUND A HUMAN BRAIN MODEL. SINCE THEN, DEVELOPMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND COMPUTER SCIENCE CONTINUE TO TAKE INSPIRATION FROM THE BRAIN.
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The human brain has always been under study for inspiration of computing systems. Although there’s a very long way to go until we can achieve a computing system that matches the efficiency of the human brain for cognitive tasks, several brain-inspired computing paradigms are being researched. Convolutional neural networks are a widely used machine learning approach for AI-related applications due to their significant performance relative to rules-based or symbolic approaches. Nonetheless, for many tasks machine learning requires vast amounts of data and training to converge to an acceptable level of performance.
INNOVATION FORWARD
A PhD student from Khalifa University, Eman Hasan, is investigating another AI computation methodology called ‘hyperdimensional computing’, which can possibly take AI systems a step closer toward human-like cognition. The work is supervised by Dr. Baker Mohammad, Associate Professor and Director of the System on Chip Center (SOCC), and Dr. Yasmin Halawani, Postdoctoral Fellow. Hasan’s work, which was published recently in the journal IEEE Access, analyses different models of hyperdimensional computing and highlights the advantages of this computing paradigm.
points,” explained Hasan. “Therefore, we can reconstruct the vector’s meaning as long as we have 60% of its content.” The structure of the vectors leads to one of the strongest advantages of the HDC approach, which is that it can tolerate errors and therefore is a great option for approximate computing applications. This arises from the representation of the hyper vectors, where a bit value is independent of its location in the bit sequence.
Hyperdimensional computing, or HDC, is a relatively new paradigm for computing using large vectors (like 10000 bits each) and is inspired by patterns of neural activity in the human brain. The means by which can allow AI-based computing systems to retain memory can reduce their computing and power demands.
HDC is also powerful in that it is memory-centric, which makes it capable of performing complex calculations while requiring less computing power. This type of computing is particularly useful for ‘edge’ computing, which refers to computing that’s done at or near the source of data. In a growing number of devices, including in autonomous vehicles, computations must be carried out immediately and at the point of the data collection, instead of relying on computing done in the cloud at a data center.
HDC vectors, by nature, are also extremely robust against noise, much like the human’s central nervous system. Intelligence requires detecting, storing, binding and unbinding noisy patterns, and HDC is well-suited to handling noisy patterns. Inspired by an abstract representation of neuronal circuits in the human brain, developing an HDC architecture involves encoding, training, and comparison stages.
“Hyperdimensional computing is a promising model for edge devices as it does not include the computationally demanding training step found in the widely used convolutional neural network,” explained Hasan. “However, hyperdimensional computing comes with its own challenges as encoding alone takes about 80 percent of the execution time of its training and some encoding algorithms result in the encoded data growing to twenty times its original size.”
The human brain is excellent at recognizing patterns and using those patterns to infer information about other things. For example, humans generally understand that just because a chair is missing a leg, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer a chair. An AI system may look at this three-legged chair and decide it is a completely new object that needs a new classification. HDC vectors, however, offer some margin for error. With HDC, recognizing certain features will generate a vector that is similar enough to a chair that the computer can infer the object is a chair from its memory of what a chair looks like. Hence, the three-legged chair will remain a chair in hyperdimensional computing while in traditional object recognition this is a difficult task.
Hasan studied the HDC paradigm and its main algorithms in one-dimensional and two-dimensional applications. Research has shown that HDC outperforms digital neural networks in one dimensional data set applications, such as speech recognition, but the complexity increases once it is expanded to 2D applications.
“In a HD vector, we can represent data holistically, meaning that the value of an object is distributed among many data
Hasan concluded that HDC is still considered a new paradigm and faces challenges requiring further analysis.
“HDC has shown promising results for one dimensional applications, using less power, and with lower latency than state-of-the-art simple deep neural networks,” explained Hasan. “But in 2D applications, convolutional neural networks still achieve higher classification accuracy, but at the expense of more computations.”
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Challenging the Scientific Understanding of Broca’s Aphasia
NEW RESEARCH SHOWS THAT LONG-TERM SPEECH PROBLEMS FOLLOWING A STROKE ARE CAUSED BY CO-OCCURRING DAMAGE TO WHITE MATTER, NOT BY DAMAGE IN BROCA’S AREA ALONE
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There are several areas of the brain understood to play a critical role in speech and language. One of these is Broca’s area, which is located in the left hemisphere and is associated with speech production and articulation. The human ability to articulate ideas, as well as use words accurately in spoken and written language, has been attributed to Broca’s area, which is named after the French physician who discovered it in 1861 – Pierre Paul Broca. His work on the left frontal lobe of the brain revealed that the brains of people suffering from aphasia – a loss of language affecting a person’s ability to speak, read and write, which is brought about by neurological damage caused by a stroke – contained legions in a particular part of the cortex, now named Broca’s area. This was the first anatomical proof of localization of brain function.
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Given the importance of Broca’s area for language processing abilities, it was widely accepted that damage to this area impairs speech production. However, an international team that included researchers from University College London (UK), Universidad del Desarrollo (Chile), and Dr. Mohamed Seghier, Professor in KU’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, have challenged the long-held assumption that damage to Broca’s area contributes to long-term speech production impairments after a stroke. Through their investigation, they discovered that longterm aphasia is not caused by damage to Broca’s area but to damage to neighboring regions, due to the large functional connectivity of this area with adjacent frontal and subcortical areas. They published their work in the journal Brain. “For over 150 years, clinical aphasiology and behavioral neurology have been influenced by Broca’s finding that stroke survivors with severe and persistent speech impairments had damage to Broca’s area,” explained Dr. Seghier. “Broca was not able to define the exact extent of the lesions in his patients because, being aware of their historical relevance, he decided not to dissect the specimens but preserve them for future research. His descriptions, therefore, focused on the parts of the lesions that were visible to him, without evaluating the potential contribution of neighboring damage, for example, to the underlying white matter and surrounding cortical areas. It was not until 2007 that the full extent of the lesions incurred by Broca’s two famous cases was revealed in an MRI study showing damage to multiple subcortical grey and white matter regions.” The research team’s findings confirm that the degree of damage in the surrounding brain tissue – the white and grey matter regions – rather than damage to Broca’s area, is associated with long term aphasia. White matter is the tissue through which messages pass between different areas of the central nervous system, including the brain. Grey matter contains most of the brain’s neuronal cell bodies and is involved in muscle control and
sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, speech and decision making. The research team investigated their hypothesis by examining whether speech production impediments were worse in stroke survivors who had damage to Broca’s area but not surrounding regions, or who had damage to both Broca’s area and surrounding regions. Prior research has found that the overwhelming majority of Broca’s aphasia patients present extended brain damage, significantly exceeding the Broca’s area, leading researchers to conclude that lesions restricted to Broca’s area are associated with just mild language production defects. A stroke will typically damage multiple neighboring brain regions to the Broca’s area, and in all cases of stroke it is difficult to determine which part of the lesion site is driving the observed behavioral deficits. To tackle this problem, the research team studied a large number of stroke survivors who all had left frontal lobe damage but differed in the degree of damage to Broca’s area and surrounding areas. Their selection of brain areas was based on a combination of anatomical and functional evidence and the white matter linking the different areas of the brain responsible for speech. “Unlike previous studies, our analyses were aimed at disentangling how speech production abilities, months after a stroke on the left frontal lobe, were affected by damage to Broca’s area and the degree to which such effects were influenced by damage also occurring to a specific set of neighboring regions,” explained Dr. Seghier. “The team wanted to test whether damage to Broca’s area contributes to speech production impairments that persist for at least three months after a left frontal lobe stroke.” The team’s work found that evidence in favor of damage to Broca’s area not explaining variance in speech production abilities was eight times stronger than the alternative. The researchers concluded this is positive evidence for the absence of a unique long-lasting effect of Broca’s area damage on speech production abilities. The absence of evidence became evidence of absence, showing that the prior association between Broca’s area damage and long-lasting speech impairments can be attributed to co-occurring damage to white matter.
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As with most technologies, the more people invested in solar power, the cheaper it became. The Middle East has emerged as a global leader in photovoltaic deployment and pricing, with large utility-scale projects launched across the region.
What is Going on With Middle Eastern Solar Prices and What Does It Mean for the Rest of Us? FOR THE THIRD TIME IN A DECADE, SOLAR ENERGY PRICES ARE TUMBLING IN THE ARABIAN GULF. AS DEMAND FOR SOLAR INSTALLATIONS PICKS UP DRAMATICALLY, SO FALLS THE COST OF SOLAR ENERGY, PARTICULARLY IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
When it comes to the cost of energy from new power plants, onshore wind and utility-scale solar are now the cheapest sources, costing less than gas, geothermal, coal or nuclear. Ten years ago, solAar was the most expensive option for building a new power plant. In a paper published in Progress in Photovoltaics, KU researchers Dr. Harry Apostoleris, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dr. Amal Al Ghaferi, Associate Professor, and Prof. Matteo Chiesa, Professor, show how local conditions and global macroeconomic factors have conspired to bring solar energy into a new realm of extreme affordability in the Middle East. They argue that the Gulf market, especially the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, represents the leading edge of the global learning curve and offers a window into the likely near future of large-scale photovoltaics around the world. KU TIMES 20
In a previous study, the KU research team found that rapidly declining hardware prices, local business conditions, and access to generous financing packages were the major factors contributing to the low prices, with the market validating that assessment. Global average prices in comparable climates around the world have declined to nearly match the prices observed in the Gulf region, but now, countries in the GCC are seeing a new drop in prices. It is at this point that the researchers believe solar energy has solidified itself as the economically favorable energy source, continuing impressive price drops that began in 2016. “If pricing at this level spreads around the world, simple business sense would suggest a rapid decarbonization of electricity generation, where coal and gas plants are retired as quickly as possible and replaced with photovoltaics, simply to save money,” explained Dr. Apostoleris. “The target of deep decarbonization by 2030 being held up by many climate scientists and advocates would suddenly enter the realm of feasibility with far less disruptive interventions than were previously believed necessary.” Global learning curves are part of the cause of these price drops. The more that solar panels were produced, the more the technologies improved and economies of scale came into play. Fossil fuels in comparison can’t compete with this pace. Additionally, sunshine is free and in the Middle East, practically guaranteed every day. The costs of tapping into this solar power was bound to decline sharply as technology improved and the industry grew.
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“The UAE leadership also deserves credit for recognizing the potential of solar energy and investing in it when many countries and entities were still sceptical,” said Dr. Apostoleris. “This is one of the main reasons why the UAE is ahead of the global curve in solar energy adoption.” Often, the low prices are also secured as part of tenders for projects only implemented a couple years later, which further drives down prices for the projects to come after. “Auction bids have been characterized by forward-looking cost projections—developers will tend to bid not based on the market price of hardware at the time of bidding, but on the prices they expect to pay a year or more in the future when the hardware is actually being ordered,” explained Dr. Apostoleris. “As strong downward pricing trends continue, this pattern of aggressive forward-bidding can be expected to hold.” Additionally, the prominence of major international players in the Gulf’s solar development is helping to realize belowmarket costs. Large firms with an established presence in the region have relatively lower costs of doing business and are able to set their prices for large orders of hardware to a significant degree, and even factor in reputational elements— the ‘bragging rights’—of landing a large contract and gaining market share. Coupled with generous financing packages and a consistent solar resource, the low cost of solar energy in the Gulf begins to make sense. “It is possible that developers accept lower margins in exchange for a benefit that larger projects provide for their overall business model,” explained Dr. Apostoleris. “The developer has its own learning curve, and building larger projects allows it to move faster down this learning curve and reduce its costs for future projects.” For the KU researchers, the solar energy economics in the Gulf follow the same general patterns as global trends, but at a substantially advanced pace. They regard this as evidence that trends in the Gulf are best viewed not as an aberration but as an indicator of the how the global market is likely to evolve in the future. “As the future increasingly appears to be one of previously unimaginably cheap energy, the future trajectory of this industry is exceptionally promising,” said Dr. Apostoleris. “This would herald a revolution in not only solar energy but in the energy sector generally, with a new age of ultra-cheap electricity transforming our lives, economies and environment. With such dramatic change on the horizon, it makes sense to
consider the next steps to take full advantage of the coming energy transformation.” In any energy revolution, there will be opportunities as well as challenges. Renewable energies are notoriously inconsistent throughout the day and the year, although less so in regions blessed with almost constant sunshine, such as the Middle East. The existing power grids don’t have the ability to distribute power from renewables over long distances, and storing power for use during the nights when power generation from solar is impossible is another major concern. These challenges of intermittency and geography are not insurmountable, but they do require investment to develop and build the necessary infrastructure. “There are myriad ways to modify our energy systems to enhance the value of this low-cost solar electricity,” said Dr. Apostoleris. “This is before considering the potential of demand-side management strategies that aim to shift the energy demand curve to match the solar generation curve, minimizing the need for storage. However, this is a challenge that must be met not only from a technical perspective but also from that of society more broadly.” It is clear that the Gulf solar market can offer a window into the likely future trajectory of photovoltaics globally. While the KU researchers point to a future of immense benefit, they also point out the challenges the market will face along the way. Thankfully, the region’s solar energy pioneers are rising to the challenge. “Interestingly, in recent months, solar panel prices have actually risen for the first time in a decade,” added Dr. Apostoleris. “This seems to be caused by a bottleneck in the supply of polysilicon, the raw material for solar cells, as global demand increases. This might be an opportunity for the UAE to move into polysilicon production, leveraging cheap clean energy and the country’s central location to become a supplier, not just a consumer, of the solar industry.” Researchers at Khalifa University are supporting the UAE in its advancement of regional knowledge and leadership in renewable energy, as the country announces ambitious and defined renewable energy targets. Innovative research taking place at Khalifa University is driving down costs and increasing the efficiency of solar cells, investigating the effects of climate change on renewable energy production, and even demonstrating the ability to provide solar energy 24/7. 21 KU TIMES
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Biomedical Computing in the Arab World: Unlocking the Potential of a Growing Research Community
BY DR. AHSAN H. KHANDOKER
HEALTH CHALLENGES REMAIN ONE OF THE LONGSTANDING ISSUES IN THE ARAB REGION BUT BIOMEDICAL COMPUTING RESEARCH IS ONE WAY TO TACKLE THESE CHALLENGES.
A combination of factors is driving the growth in demand for healthcare in the Middle East, including aging populations, longer life expectancies, and sedentary lifestyles that lead to an increase in obesity, cancer, and diabetes. Thanks to recent advances in computing technology, biomedical computing has become one of the most influential research areas worldwide. There has been an explosion in the volume of biomedical data generated by the technologies involved in modern healthcare, but these volumes of data pose great analytical challenges in the quest to infer the knowledge buried within.
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Researchers across the Arab region have successfully advanced a diverse spectrum of biomedical computing applications, as well as stimulating commercial interest. In an article published in Communications of the ACM, a journal for the Association of Computing Machinery, my colleagues and I shed light on these notable research efforts and demonstrate how this research addresses healthcare issues in the region. We focus on three main areas of biomedical computing: biomedical imaging, biomedical signal analysis, and bioinformatics. Biomedical image analysis has been used extensively in the Arab world due to the region’s strong prevalence of diseases that rely on imaging techniques for accurate diagnosis. Across the region, numerous research groups have published work in this area, using various machine learning techniques. Research includes localization of cardiac structures using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer-aided diagnosis for understanding tumor behavior, and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease using diffusion tensor images. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, many researchers have also proposed methods for fast and accurate CT image segmentation, which is crucial to the diagnosis of Covid-19. Biomedical signal analysis is another area that is key, given the advances in the technology of recording different physiological signals from the human body. These signals can be used in diagnosing various diseases as well as modulating the function of different organs. The Khalifa University Biomedical Signal Processing research group is developing non-invasive fetal phonocardiogram, as well as adult electrocardiogram (ECG) signal processing techniques to prevent stillbirths and sudden cardiac deaths. Cardiovascular disease represents a leading cause of death in the Arab region, as well as worldwide, and the KU team is proud to contribute to the global research efforts to diagnose and predict cardiac arrhythmia complications. The team has developed a new device presenting a novel algorithm to predict a heart attack long before its onset, and successfully developed the first proof-of-concept, low-cost phonocardiogram sensor that can detect fetal heart sounds and give a reliable estimation of the fetal heart rate and its variability. Brain signal analysis is another notable research direction pursued in biomedical computing applications. Researchers have identified and characterized the brain networks associated with cognitive deficits in patients,
with neurological pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease understood to be caused by alterations in these brain networks. This research could complement current Alzheimer’s Disease diagnostic metrics, especially at early stages of the disease. Another study has proposed a technique to assess the mental capacity to preserve attention for long durations, with the technique able to monitor changes in the communication patterns among different brain regions with reduced attention. Biomedical signal analysis research in the region has resulted in influential and diverse contributions that aim to resolve multiple technical challenges in the field and address several population health issues. Researchers in the field of bioinformatics have leveraged high-performance computational methods to tackle hereditary diseases prevalent in the region. There have been multiple efforts to develop national genome programs, with the projects focusing on unravelling the mutations responsible for inherited disorders in the population. The Emirati project, for example, has characterized 1,000 individual genomes with aspirations to eventually cover the entire population of the country. This bioinformatics research has the potential to dramatically enhance the quality of life of millions of people around the Arab region. Built upon the success demonstrated in different biomedical computing tracks, the Arab region has witnessed a strong momentum for entrepreneurial activities in many sectors, for example, the work of the KU Biomedical Signal Processing research group that resulted in a UAEbased start-up company licensed to commercialize their phonogram technology for fetal wellbeing at home, called Medical Advanced Research Project (MARP ). Research in biomedical computing is stimulating the budding culture of entrepreneurship and new ventures across the region, opening avenues of development that could magnify the outcomes of the biomedical computing research community in the region. Much of this work is being undertaken by Khalifa University’s Healthcare Engineering Innovation Center (HEIC) and Biotechnology Center (BTC). Dr. Ahsan H. Khandoker is an Associate Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Khalifa University. 23 KU TIMES
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Research into the Atmospheric Aerosols over the UAE Shows Dust Levels Decreasing
By analyzing the atmospheric conditions over the United Arab Emirates using data from satellites and a groundbased robotic network, researchers at Khalifa University have determined the composition and variability of the atmospheric aerosols over the UAE.
A NEW STUDY FROM KHALIFA UNIVERSITY HIGHLIGHTS JUST HOW MUCH DUST CONTRIBUTES TO THE TOTAL AEROSOL LOAD OVER THE UAE, AND HOW THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN CHANGING SINCE 2009.
Dr. Narendra Nelli, Postdoctoral Fellow, Samson Fissehaye, Graduate Student, Dr. Diana Francis, Senior Research Scientist and Head of the Environmental and Geophysical Sciences (ENGEOS) Lab, Dr. Ricardo Fonseca, Postdoctoral Fellow, Michael Weston, Research Engineer, Dr. Rachid Abida, Research Scientist, and Dr. Oleksander Nesterov, Postdoctoral Fellow, published their research in the Earth and Space Science Journal.
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Chief among their insights is the large contribution of dust aerosols to the total aerosol load over the UAE and the need to account for these dust particles in weather and air quality forecasts. While the UAE is famed for its year-round sunshine, it’s also well known that the air across the country tends to be dusty, thanks to the country’s desert geography. Particles in the atmosphere, including dust and pollution, can block the sunlight by absorbing or scattering light, preventing it from reaching the ground. This is known as aerosol optical depth. “On a climatological time scale, we found that the aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the UAE has been decreasing since 2009, possibly due to the increasing trend in precipitation and changes in land use,” explained Dr. Francis. “Atmospheric aerosols have a wide range of impacts on the climate system but quantifying these effects is a challenge, primarily due to their sporadic nature. There’s still considerable uncertainty as to their net effect on the climate.” Given that the areas needing to be investigated are so large, researchers use satellite-based observations to determine the variability of atmospheric aerosols over large regions. The KU researchers used data from the Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite (CALIPSO) collected over a 14-year period. “Long-term and global aerosol measurements with spaceborne instruments are crucial for a better understanding of aerosol distribution and their effects on the environment,” said Dr. Francis. “But we also need to evaluate the accuracy of satellite observations against ground-based measurements, especially near source regions.” The Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) is a collection of sun photometers distributed across the planet and used in a number of studies to validate satellite observations of atmospheric aerosols. The team compared the data from a seven-year period collected by AERONET against the data from CALIPSO. “While there are aerosol-related studies in the UAE, they generally focus on individual events,” explained Dr. Francis. “We wanted to investigate the characteristics of the aerosols in the Arab region over a longer term and look at variability
across the seasons and years.” Understandably, dust is the predominant aerosol subtype in the region, in particular in the summer season when dust storms occur more frequently in the UAE. Combined with the dust particles in the atmosphere are what is known as “polluted dust”, which is a mixture of dust with particles from biomass burning and urban pollution, and “polluted continental”, which refers to aerosols that have originated from industrialized countries from both human and natural sources. Polluted continental is only seen in the colder months of the year due to the background northwesterly winds and weather systems that affect the region during the winter, blowing these fine aerosol particles in from other industrialized nations. Over the longer term, the researchers noticed a “clear, albeit small, decreasing trend from 2009 onwards” in the AOD, particularly during the day time, indicating that there is a decreasing amount of dust in the atmosphere during the day now as compared to the years before 2009. “A possible explanation is the increasing trend in precipitation in the same period, as rainfall is known to wash out aerosols leaving the atmosphere cleaner,” explained Dr. Francis. “Cloud seeding plays a potential role in this increase in precipitation as these operations have been conducted in the UAE since 2010. In addition, changes in land use and land cover in the UAE can also explain this decreasing trend in AOD. While urbanization may lead to an increase in pollution, it will also reduce the potential for dust emission, so providing the increase in AOD from pollution does not outweigh the decrease in amounts of dust, we’ll see a decrease in AOD overall.” The researchers found that dust is a quasi-permanent component of the atmosphere over the UAE and so its presence needs to be accounted for in climate projections as well as in meteorological and air-quality forecasts. The team plans to continue their research by extending the geographic area in question to cover the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Iran, to assess the regional atmospheric composition and links to patterns in atmospheric circulation. 25 KU TIMES
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Khalifa University PhD Student Reviews Material Aspects in Developing Novel Photocatalysts that Could Clean Air More Efficiently with the organic molecules in the atmosphere around them.
THE INSIGHTS FROM A PAPER PUBLISHED BY MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PHD STUDENT XUAN LI COULD GUIDE THE MATERIAL DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF DIRECT Z-SCHEME SYSTEMS AND LEAD TO INCREASED INTEREST IN THE FIELD
A paper by Khalifa University Engineering PhD student Xuan Li has been published in Materials Today, providing a comprehensive and timely review on the mechanisms, material systems, and optimizing strategies of a type of photocatalyst, which is a catalyst that generates a chemical reaction using light. “The rapid economic development and massive use of fossil fuels has caused the environmental problems we’re seeing today,” explained Li. “Air pollution has already become the fourth leading risk factor for human mortality and contributes to around five million deaths per year around the world. Even at low concentrations, the pollutants released from solvents, paints, building materials and furnishings can cause illness, underscoring how the need to produce clean fuels and protect the environment is also crucial for human health.” KU TIMES 26
Photocatalysis, Li says, is one way these pollutants could be removed from the atmosphere sustainably. With Dr. Lianxi Zheng, Professor, Dr. Corrado Garlisi, Postdoctoral Fellow, Qiangshun Guan, Graduate Student, Dr. Shoaib Anwer, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Khalid Al-Ali, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Giovanni Palmisano, Associate Professor, Li provides an extensive review and discussion of the design process of direct Z-schemes, a type of photocatalyst inspired by natural processes, to combat atmospheric pollution. What are Photocatalysts? Photocatalysts are often made with semiconductors and use solar energy to generate electron-hole pairs on the surface of the catalyst. When exposed to sunlight, the ground-state electrons in the semiconductors become excited and “jump” to a higher energy level, leaving behind positively-charged holes. These electrons and holes then interact
Two simultaneous reactions occur during photocatalysis: oxidation (when a molecule loses an electron) from the photogenerated holes and reduction (when a molecule gains an electron) from the photogenerated electrons. As the photocatalyst reduces and oxidizes the water and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere around it, several reactive species are created that can break organic pollutants down into clean endproducts. However, there are some fundamental shortcomings in conventional photocatalysts that are preventing them from being used at an industrial scale, which Li believes Direct Z-scheme photocatalysts can overcome. These shortcomings stem from the semiconductors needed, with only a few materials such as titanium oxide and zinc oxide meeting the requirements for producing the necessary reactive radicals with energy efficiency. What are Direct Z-Scheme Photocatalysts? Direct Z-scheme photocatalysts are inspired by natural plant photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, plants use two photosystems to separate electrons and holes for efficient reactions in converting carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen. The Z-scheme is a photosystem coupling layout for electron transfer in the light reactions of photosynthesis, where plants transform light energy into chemical energy.
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Direct Z-scheme catalysts attempt to mimic the same charge-transfer pathways that plants follow during photosynthesis by using twosemiconductor structures. They are designed in a way that the pathway travelled by electrons and holes follows a ‘Z-scheme’ pathway. This special pathway enhances the photocatalyst’s redox potential (its ability to carry out the oxidation and reduction reactions) and extends the lifetime of electron-hole pairs, making it more efficient. While there are three types of Z-scheme photocatalysts, direct Z-schemes can maximize the solar energy harvested and can also be used in both the liquid and gas environments. However, constructing a direct Z-scheme catalyst remains challenging. Various approaches and numerous materials have been proposed in the hope of achieving a highly efficient photocatalyst with broad practical applications. Li’s work focuses on the driving forces of charge transfer to guide the material design.
will affect the adsorption and selectivity of the reactant molecules.” Because there are so many potential materials for developing these photocatalysts, and because their properties influence their performances so greatly, there is no systematic comparison of all developed materials. In her paper, Li offers universal guidelines on material design of direct Z-schemes, by identifying the main formation mechanisms, considering emerging materials, and noting modification strategies for performance improvement. “Considering the fact that new materials and new material properties always play fundamental and promoting roles in technology development, it is vital to provide a materials-focused review for direct Z-scheme photocatalysts,” said Li.
Reviewing Direct Z-Scheme Photocatalyst Designs “The core idea of direct Z-schemes is to leverage the synergistic effects that occur between the two semiconductors of a photocatalyst by regulating the charge transfer direction,” explained Li.
Among all available material systems, wide band-gap semiconductors remain the most popular in building reliable direct Z-schemes. Their high potentials on both reductive and oxidative reactions allow use in a wide range of applications from carbon dioxide reduction to organic pollutant degradation, but they generally show a low efficiency in solar light utilization.
“The formation mechanisms, suitable applications, and their performance are strongly dependent on the properties of the two semiconductors and their interactions. For example, the surface nature of the photocatalysts
In contrast, some visible-light semiconductors show a much higher energy efficiency but suffer from issues with photocorrosion. The researchers indicate that coupling a wide band-gap
semiconductor and a narrow bandgap semiconductor could possibly lead to maximizing the light spectrum and notable photocatalytic efficiency. Organic materials offer great flexibility in building Z-schemes due to being able to tune their morphology and physiochemical properties. Metal-organic frameworks could boost the effectiveness of the material system by modifying the metal and organic crosslinkers, boosting their surface area and extended light absorbance. “Direct Z-scheme systems are extremely promising and present unique advantages, but the field is still in its early stages with the main emphasis on concept demonstration and efficient light utilization,” said Li. “Considering the enormous variety of known and unknown pollutants in the environment, future studies should focus more on developing direct Z-scheme catalyst systems with high redox capabilities that can degrade a broad range of organic pollutants.” The insights discussed in this work could help guide engineers to design better photocatalysts with optimized materials and improved performance. Improved photocatalysts can in turn contribute significantly to global efforts to produce clean energy and clean the air. Another advantage of Li’s review is that it could attract more material scientists to work in and contribute to this area, so that the maximum potential of direct Z-schemes can be achieved in multiple applications. 27 KU TIMES
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Harnessing Capillary Action and Solar Energy to Improve Evaporation and Produce Clean Water
KHALIFA UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS FOUND A WAY TO OPTIMIZE CAPILLARY ACTION – A PROCESS THAT MOVES LIQUID PASSIVELY – IN THIN-FILM EVAPORATORS, WHICH ARE USED TO GENERATE STEAM AND PURIFY WATER WITH SOLAR ENERGY, COOL BUILDINGS AND ELECTRONICS, AND MUCH MORE.
Evaporation is a process fundamental to everyday life. It keeps our bodies cool and the air moist, and it plays a critical role in a number of industrial systems that drive our society today, from providing power and purifying water, to cooling buildings and electronics. Thin-film evaporation is an extremely effective and energy-efficient way to transfer heat. For thin-film evaporation to work, however, a stable liquid film needs to be maintained on the surface, which can be a challenge. Inspired by the same process used by plants to carry water up from their roots to their leaves, capillary-fed wicks offer an attractive means of moving liquid to the surface since it is a passive mechanism; it does not rely on an external power supply or a mechanical pump to deliver the fluid to the evaporator.
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Researchers and engineers are continuously exploring ways to improve the performance of passive liquid propagation, solar energy-driven evaporation and water distillation. “Using wicks to supply liquid to the evaporating surface via a process called capillarity may be the solution to providing a constant, stable liquid film for thin-film evaporation,” explained Dr. Tiejun Zhang, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. With funding support from a 2019 Abu Dhabi Award for Research Excellence (AARE), Dr. Zhang is leading a research team from Khalifa University to investigate how to improve wickability, or how efficiently liquid travels up through a wick, and in turn, the performance of thin-film evaporation. They recently published their work in the journal Advanced Engineering Materials. Co-authors include Dr. Hongxia Li, Postdoctoral Fellow, Afra Al Ketbi and Qiangshun Guan, Graduate Students, and Dr. Mohamed Alhosani and Ablimit Aili, PhD and MSc Graduates, all from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Wicking is the absorption of a liquid by a porous material, with the liquid then transferred through the process of evaporation. Daily examples of capillary action can be seen when dipping a paintbrush in water where the liquid is drawn up between the brush hairs against gravity, or in a paper towel dipped in spilled coffee as the liquid moves up the pores of the paper. Rather than an external energy supply causing capillary action, intermolecular forces cause the surface tension of the liquid and the adhesive forces between the liquid and solid to propel the liquid through the solid material. This is how the tallest trees can pull water through the roots to the highest branches.
Wickability can be enhanced by improving the intrinsic wettability of the wick surfaces to stop it from drying out during evaporation, and through designing a porous structure to maximize fluid flow. Dr. Zhang’s team developed a wick with excellent capillary pumping ability by creating nanostructures made of copper onto a water-loving, hydrophilic surface, also made of copper. This created a large, porous surface area for thinfilm evaporation. As an additional benefit, in solar-driven applications where the wicking porous material also acts as a solar absorber, these nano-structures can also help harvest the sunlight more efficiently. The KU team then used their prototype to create a model to predict how effective a material’s wickability would be based on a number of different factors, including pore sizes, shapes and orientations. The model can help researchers design effective wicks in the future. “We systematically characterized the water propagation dynamics from microscale to macroscale through experimental observation and theoretical modelling,” explained Dr. Li. “We fabricated a nanostructured porous wicking surface—essentially a copper micromesh attached to a flat copper substrate with a nanostructured surface. The micromesh improves wickability by acting as the wicking structure, providing capillary pressure with relatively high permeability, while the copper oxide nanostructures enhance the surface hydrophilicity.”
The crucial role of capillary pumping for thin-film evaporators has motivated KU researchers to explore ways to improve wickability.
The team then observed the water propagation behaviors under optical and infrared thermal cameras to develop a capillary pressure model and permeability model to predict how efficiently the capillary-pumped water travelled along the porous surfaces. They also conducted studies with varying pore sizes before optimizing pore dimension to achieve the maximum capillary pumping rate.
Many factors, like surface wettability and permeability, affect a material’s ability to propagate, or spread of liquid and can significantly reduce the rate at which the liquid is absorbed in the wick. Viscous pressure drop, surface roughness, blockages, and twists and turns can all slow the movement of the liquid through the material.
The KU team’s technology offers outstanding solardriven evaporation capability owing to their high liquid propagation rate and excellent light absorption. The proposed scalable nanostructured porous surfaces promise great potential in broad energy and sustainability applications. 29 KU TIMES
INNOVATION FORWARD
Bringing Increased Security and Transparency to Online Auctions with Blockchain Technology BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY CAN OFFER SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITIES TO ONLINE AUCTIONS VIA ENHANCED TRANSPARENCY, DATA INTEGRITY AND DATA TRACEABILITY.
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Online auctions bring customers from around the world to a seller and mitigate geographical barriers that would previously have stood in the way of an enterprising salesman. However, these online auctions typically require a third-party to act as an intermediary between buyer and seller to facilitate and maintain integrity of the transaction. As a result, online platforms rely on human interactions for data integrity, security, transparency and traceability with potential bidders having to trust an auction organizer with ensuring that bids are legitimate and transactions properly settled. To overcome this, a team of researchers from Khalifa University’s Industrial and Systems Engineering Department has investigated using blockchain technology—a distributed, immutable ledger of transactions organized as blocks and maintained by a community of users—to run online auctions. Ilhaam Omar, Research Associate, Haya Hasan, Research Associate, Dr. Raja Jayaraman, Associate Professor, Dr. Khaled Salah, Professor, and Dr. Mohammed Omar, Professor and Director of the KU Research Center for Digital Supply Chain and Operations Management (DSOM), published their research in Technological Forecasting and Social Change. “Our team is actively researching the most pressing challenges in supply chain and logistics,” said Dr. Jayaraman. “Our work on blockchain-based auctions was inspired by a real industry problem from a UAE-based company offering a heavy equipment rental service through a competitive bidding process. However, the existing auction process lacks trust and transparency with results that cannot be audited or verified In addition, the role of third-party intermediaries causes significant information delays and a results in a costly process. Our proposed solution has broad applications in ecommerce and related service industries.” The research team realized that Blockchain-based auctions can effectively remove intermediaries, thereby reducing transaction costs and ensuring trust
among stakeholders. Their solution uses programmable Ethereum smart contracts hosted on the blockchain. These “contracts” are actually simple programs that can be used to automatically exchange information under predetermined conditions. Blockchain technology offers an immutable and tamperproof ledger of transactions as a shared database, validated by a wide community. Each record created forms a block, and as each block is confirmed by the community, it is paired up with the previous entry in the chain, creating a chain of blocks. The platform is decentralized, trusted, and secure, with tamper-proof records, logs and transactions. The actions enabled by smart contracts take the digital place of a third party and inherit the immutable and distributed properties from the blockchain; tampering with them becomes almost impossible. Additionally, the blockchain-based solution would allow the seller to directly connect with many potential bidders without intermediaries, while the bidders would be able to monitor the auction process. The team’s solution was tested on one type of auction where the highest bid is known throughout the bidding process. However, their design allows the platform to be applied to other auctioning types simply by altering the structure of the smart contracts. They now plan to develop decentralized applications to fully automate the auctioning process. They also plan to develop more multipurpose smart contracts to cater to the broader needs and requirements of auctioneers and bidders. “Blockchain is an emerging, disruptive, and transformational technology with incredible growth potential and impact,” said Dr. Jayaraman. “Our work, which is at the heart of the UAE’s blockchain vision that is articulated through the Emirates Blockchain Strategy 2021, will help save time, effort and resources while improving competitiveness and providing transparency and trusted transactions.”
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Military Assistance as Political Gimmickry?
This work led to a 2021 peer-reviewed publication in the journal Diplomacy and Statecraft. Dr. Yates, and Dr. Ash Rossiter, Assistant Professor, Institute of International and Civil Security are co-authors of the paper, which identified the international and domestic contexts within which foreign policy is determined. They explain that political considerations at the domestic level can influence a state leader’s decision-making at the international level. In the 1971-75 UK-UAE case, Britain was not acting out of interest to the newly independent UAE, but rather its own short-term, domestic political interest.
THE MOTIVATION FOR BRITAIN’S MILITARY ASSISTANCE EFFORTS IN 1971 TO THE NEWLY FEDERATED UNITED ARAB EMIRATES STEMMED NOT FROM INTERNATIONAL INTEREST, BUT DOMESTIC POLITICAL IN-FIGHTING. Military assistance continues to be a mainstay feature of foreign and defence policy activity of many major world powers today, and can take many forms. Assistance could involve training, advising, mentoring or introducing equipment, as well as building permanent training hubs and accompanying foreign forces on operations. The goal is invariably the same: build the recipient nation’s military capability for enhanced stability. The effectiveness of this assistance has been examined but researchers have rarely investigated the motives for deploying advisors and trainers abroad beyond simply arguing it will have a beneficial outcome for the recipient nation and advance the national interest of the providing nation. In 2018, Dr Athol Yates, acting head of KU’s Institute of International and Civil Security was invited by the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) to present a paper on the UK’s military assistance to the UAE from 1971 to 1975. DSTL is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence, which seeks to maximise the impact of science and technology for defence and security. He presented this work at the 2018 Historical Analysis for Defence and Security Symposium. KU TIMES 32
“For centuries, various governments have sent their military personnel abroad to train, advise, and sometimes even lead the armed forces of foreign nations,” explained Dr. Yates. “This tool of statecraft is going through something of a renaissance today. But while traditional explanations naturally focus on the foreign policy and national security interests of the state that is sending their assistance, the case of the short-lived British Military Advisory Team (MAT) to the newly federated UAE after 1971 points to another possible motive.” In their paper, Drs. Yates and Rossiter detail the intraparty politics in the UK that led to the British Conservative government of the time providing a military assistance package to the UAE for largely short-term, symbolic, domestic political reasons. “In this case, intra-party politics in the United Kingdom also came into play”, said Dr Yates. “Although it is a single case, it points to the need for greater scholarly consideration being given to the domestic motives for policy decisions when it comes to the provision of military assistance.” Britain’s withdrawal from the Gulf was announced by the then Labour Government in the UK, headed by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1968. This decision was criticised by the then leader of the Conservative opposition, Edward Heath. He and other Conservatives. argued that withdrawal was wrong militarily, politically, and economically. Many in the Conservative Party also viewed it as ‘retreat from Britain’s world role.’ At the next general election in 1970, the Conservative Party was elected and senior advisors concluded that it was
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not in Britain’s interest to remain in the Middle East. Despite their vocal opposition to a Labour government decision, Heath’s government reversed its election pledge to stay in the Gulf. Senior diplomatic figures recommended ways for Britain to maintain influence in the future UAE after 1971, including continuing to second military personnel to UAE armed forces, and to establish a permanent non-combat military contingent (the MAT), which could advise, train and assist UAE armed forces. The defence secretary in particular understood that while there was little military utility in the MAT, it would be politically useful. It would be a ‘token of continuing British interest’, while the first British ambassador to the UAE was more frank describing it as ‘a political gimmick.’ “The decision to send the MAT to the UAE was, primarily, a means by which the British government could stave off sharp criticism from fellow Conservative politicians that Britain’s leadership was cutting and running from its overseas responsibilities,” explained Dr. Yates. “The decision staved off internal discontent from members of the Conservative imperialist faction, which would have undermined the Prime Minister’s authority.” Additionally, the United States was also encouraging Britain to maintain as much of its presence in the Gulf as it could, with the US seeing clear advantage in its ally’s influence in the Gulf. “In September 1971, the MAT idea was presented to the UAE’s future president, Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan and the future vice-present Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum. It became apparent, however, that the MAT had limited appeal to the rulers but they agreed to its presence.” British military personnel subsequently established what would become the 90-man MAT in December 1971. The initial expectation for the MAT was that it would facilitate a small number of military exercises over the winter each year, but by the end of 1972, it became clear that the MAT was over-sized and its personnel under-employed. However, due to at-
home politics, the size of the MAT remained at its original size as the Conservative government needed it to remain symbolically large. “Clearly, intra-party dynamics continued to drive decisions about the MAT,” said Dr. Yates. “The specific concern was that any reduction in the team’s size might attract criticism from certain members of Parliament, on the grounds that military presence in the Gulf was being eroded. However, by early 1973, the government accepted that MAT costs outweighed its benefits. Cutting its size needed to occur sensitively as the government was concerned by geopolitical and Conservative party member perceptions. The Foreign Office noted that a reduction needed to be achieved in “such a way as to avoid giving the impression that we are losing interest in the Gulf.” In 1973, the MAT was discretely reduced to 52 personnel. In 1974, another general election in the UK saw the re-election of the Wilson Labour government, while significant financial difficulties in Britain required all departments to make heavy budget reductions. MAT was an easy target: from a financial perspective, ending the MAT would save over £300,000 per year, and from a military perspective, its end would release personnel needed for duty in Northern Ireland. However, even for a Labour government, closing the MAT remained politically sensitive. To avoid criticism from the Conservative opposition and not to be seen as again abandoning Britain’s overseas responsibilities, the government simply decided to shut down the MAT without any public announcement. This ended Britain’s 25 years of having permanent land forces in the Emirates, something which started in 1951 with the formation of the Trucial Oman Scouts. “It’s clear that short-term political factors drove the rationale for Britain offering military assistance to the UAE, with national interest and military utility being of little relevance,” said Dr. Yates. “If anything, Britain pursued such assistance for symbolic, intra-party political reasons, rather than any real belief that its assistance would actually build British or UAE military capabilities. This case is important for scholars and policy-makers as it calls for caution in accepting the assumption that advancing national interests always drives foreign military assistance. Sufficient attention must be given to domestic political drivers.” 33 KU TIMES
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Leveraging AI to Detect Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer among men and women worldwide, and the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality. Most colorectal cancers are due to old age and lifestyle factors, with only a small number of cases due to underlying genetic disorders. It typically starts as a benign tumor, such as a polyp, which over time becomes cancerous. Like all forms of cancer, early diagnosis and differentiation of the tumor are crucial for a patient’s survival and wellbeing. Colorectal cancer may be diagnosed by obtaining a sample of the colon and using histopathology – the study of changes in tissues caused by diseases – to determine the characteristics of the tumour tissue at the microscopic level.
KHALIFA UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS FIND A WAY TO USE CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORKS TO IDENTIFY CANCER IN TISSUE SAMPLES, WHICH COULD SPEED UP DIAGNOSIS AND IMPROVE OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH COLORECTAL CANCER.
Histology is the study of the microanatomy of cells, tissues and organs as seen through a microscope. The structure of each tissue in the body is directly related to its function and diseases affect tissues in distinctive ways. Studying the histology of a tissue can be very useful in making a diagnosis and determining the severity and progress of a condition. Because of the great variety of tests that are available, and the high level of skill needed to carry out and interpret them, researchers are beginning to turn to computational pathology and artificial intelligence techniques to identify in tissue samples diseases like cancer. Dr. Sajid Javed, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Naoufel Werghi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, have collaborated with researchers from around the world to develop algorithms to identify samples of colorectal cancer tissue.
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A paper based on this research has been published in Medical Image Analysis. “Computational pathology is a fast-growing research area in cancer diagnosis and can play an instrumental role in helping medical professionals detect and classify tumors,” said Dr. Javed. Cancer histology reveals underlying molecular processes and disease progression and contains rich phenotypic information that is predictive of patient outcomes. The phenotype is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism or a tissue. Image-based phenotyping aims to develop the computer vision techniques and tools needed to recover quantitative data from a wide range of images. But phenotyping presents challenging problems, particularly in images from colorectal cancer tissues. Aided by advances in slide scanning microscopes and computing, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have emerged as an important image analysis tool. CNNs use a network of interconnected layers of filters that highlight important patterns in the images and can continue to learn from previous results. “Manual examination of tissue samples is time-consuming, highly subjective, and often affected by the observer,” explained Dr. Javed. “Meanwhile, algorithms analyzing digitized Whole Slide Images (WSIs) can examine hundreds of thousands of cells and billions of pixels to differentiate seven distinct tissue phenotypes.”
Deep learning methods require large amounts of annotated histology data for training, which may be tedious to obtain. Additionally, while these methods may be effective in determining tumor tissue, the tissues in colorectal cancer also contain a rich mix of several other types of tissue, including smooth muscle, inflammatory, necrotic, and benign tissue. Any algorithm must be taught to distinguish between these tissue types to be effective. Texture analysis is a commonly used approach for tissue phenotyping, where texture features are computed to train classifiers, which are then used to predict distinct tissue types. “Texture analysis may be attractive due to its simplicity but it does not fully capture the biological diversity of tissue components,” explained Dr. Javed. “Recent methods have proposed integrating cellular connectivity features, which are used as a proxy to cellular interaction features. The notion of cellular connectivity features is based on the fact that spatially adjacent cells have a higher probability of receiving inter-cellular signals from each other than from cells that are father away. It has also been shown that inter-cellular signals between various types of cells can influence the progression of cancer. However, a dynamic network of tumor growth cannot be adequately modelled by a single type of interaction. Our technique uses a multiplex network model to represent the intricate relationships between cell populations. We propose four different types of cellular networks
integrating a variety of features representing tissue characteristics at different levels.” In the researchers’ model, cells from a WSI are detected and classified into five distinct categories using a deep neural network. Then, four different types of cellular interaction features are computed and used to construct a four-layer multiplex graph. Since each slide contains thousands of cells, the slides are segmented into tiles or patches, which helps the algorithm determine the distribution of different types of tissues across the cells. “There are many directions in which this work can be further extended,” added Dr. Javed. “Further cellular types such as blood cells could improve performance and also reveal more micro-level tissue communities. Additionally, our framework could be adapted to WSIs of different types of cancer. Of course, in clinical practice, our work can help medical practitioners understand the contents of the WSI and make more accurate and timely diagnoses.” This work was funded by the Khalifa University of Science and Technology and the UK Medical Research Council. The collaborators were also supported by the PathLAKE digital pathology consortium, which is funded from the Data to Early Diagnosis and Precision Medicine strand of the UK government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, managed and delivered by UK Research and Innovation. 35 KU TIMES
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Sifting Through the Noise to Find the Nucleus with Artificial Intelligence
Pathologists use features of the cell nucleus to distinguish benign from malignant cells. They examine tissue samples for cells with increased nuclear size and irregularities in the nuclear membrane or abnormal distribution of chromatin, a substance within the chromosomes in the nucleus. Being able to automate nuclei detection could serve as a useful tool to make better decisions in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment Artificial intelligence techniques are being investigated to streamline the process of nuclei detection. However, these techniques struggle when the tissue samples are noisy or when nuclei appear crowded. Dr. Naoufel Werghi, Associate Professor, has collaborated with Dr. Sajid Javed, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Jorge Dias, Professor, to develop a machine learning solution that can sift through the background noise and more easily identify individual nuclei. Their results were published in Medical Image Analysis.
THE FEATURES OF A CELL NUCLEUS CAN REVEAL MUCH ABOUT THE HEALTH OF A CELL, BUT FINDING THE NUCLEUS AMONG THE BACKGROUND NOISE OF A TISSUE SAMPLE CAN BE LABORIOUS AND TIMECONSUMING WHEN DONE MANUALLY. KHALIFA UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS ARE EXPLORING HOW AI CAN BE LEVERAGED TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS OF DETECTING A CELL’S NUCLEUS.
Known as the cell’s ‘command center’, the nucleus is a large organelle that stores the cell’s DNA. The nucleus controls all of the cell’s activities, such as growth and metabolism, using the DNA’s genetic information.
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“In clinical practice, manually analyzing individual nuclei is a laborious task, which can be highly subjective,” explained Dr. Werghi. In an ideal world, a sample of tissue would contain only that tissue, but most samples contain a rich mix of several other types. Most normal epithelial cells have nuclei which are round to oval-shaped, most lymphoid cells have round nuclei, while stromal cells have ovoid to spindle-shaped nuclei. Any machine learning algorithm would need to be trained on the specific nucleus shape for the nucleus it is tasked to detect, adding a further layer of training required if the algorithm were to be used in other applications.
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“Nucleus detection is a challenging task because of the nuclear clutter and diverse shapes and sizes,” said Dr. Werghi. “Additionally, computation challenges arise because the images analyzed are multi-gigapixel images, and could contain billions of pixels and tens of thousands of cell nuclei.” A number of potential methods have been reported for automatic detection of cell nuclei, including deep learning methods to train a convolutional neural network (CNN) to generate probability maps of where the cell nuclei are present. Existing approaches are promising, but they require a significant amount of training data and expensive platforms to cater to the high computational requirements. The model proposed by the research team can be trained using much smaller training datasets that can be executed on a typical desktop computer. “Our solution uses correlation filters to sort through the data and identify nuclei,” explained Dr. Werghi. “Compared to endto-end deep learning in previous methods, correlation filters are computationally effective and require significantly less training data. The correlation filters are also flexible and can detect complex and
irregular-shaped nuclei without requiring handcrafted features.” These correlation filters help the algorithm to better discriminate different nuclear components from the non-nuclear regions and also to discern each nucleus from the remaining nuclei where they are clustered. Constraints are placed on the spatial structure of the nucleus and its local contextual information in the correlation filter framework to handle varying nuclei shapes, texture, and clutter.
The first considers the spatial structure of the nucleus, while the second discriminates between the nucleus and the non-nucleus region. Both of these help to reduce the noise in any given sample. The team plans to explore the strength of correlation filters in analysis classifying cell nuclei and tissue phenotyping problems, such as cancer detection. This research was funded by Khalifa University Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems (KUCARS).
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MY CAMPUS, MY COMMUNITY Dr. Daniel Choi Talks about the ‘Wonder’ Battery at the Innovation@UAE Majlis
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Student & faculty achievements, and campus activities
Dr. Daniel Choi, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was one of the invited speakers at the Innovation@UAE Majlis Research Talk Series on 29 March 2021. Organized by the Ministry of Education, this webinar focused on space-related research.
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Along with Dr. Choi, the other speakers at the event were Nour Abu Raad, Researcher at the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Space Research at the University of Dubai, and Aisha Al Owais, Research Assistant at the Sharjah Academy for Space, Astronomy, Science, and Technology at the University of Sharjah. The session was moderated by Dr. Hend Al Tair, Director of Department of Science, Technology and Scientific Research, Ministry of Education. During his talk, Dr. Choi introduced the ‘Wonder’ Flexible Battery, a thin battery intended primarily for space and aerospace applications but can also be used in wearable applications. Dr. Choi and his team were able to produce a battery that weighs less than 20 percent of the weight of a traditional battery. “You would expect a large trade-off in energy density, but for the same volume of a traditional battery, ours offers approximately 90 percent the same energy density,” Dr. Choi said. “Another advantage of our ‘flexible’ battery for space applications is that the flexibility of the nanocomposite material means it can be shaped to fit any odd or underutilized space inside and outside of the spacecraft instead of requiring a dedicated space to be built in, which can reduce the total weight of the spacecraft,” Dr. Choi explained. After each presentation, attendees were given an opportunity to ask questions, opening an engaging discussion on current and future space research in the UAE. This series of webinars are part of the Ministry’s mission of advancing and supporting academic research in the country by giving a platform to academic researchers leading innovative projects of relevance to the UAE. The interactions between academic researchers and the public increase science engagement and contribute to scientific literacy and public participation in science.
CMHS Simulation Specialist is the First from the UAE to Receive CHSOS-A™ Title
Abi Sayid Mohammed, Simulation Specialist of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, has earned the International Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist-Advanced (CHSOS-A) credential, given by the Society of Simulation in Healthcare, the largest healthcare simulation organization in the world with its purpose to serve a global community of practice enhancing the quality of healthcare. The comprehensive CHSOS-A™ credential is a portfolio-based certification for those in healthcare simulation operations. It covers the design, delivery, and technological and operational simulation principles. It also covers the leadership and demonstrated impact of simulation professionals on the field to meet the needs of healthcare learners at all levels. Mohammed submitted a portfolio that validated his advanced
performance as an operations specialist in the healthcare simulation field, which was peerreviewed against established standards of performance. Since March 2021, only 25 individuals from four countries have earned the CHSOS-A™ credential. Mohammed now joins this elite group as the first and only candidate from the United Arab Emirates to achieve the title. Mohammed said, “It is an honor to be recognized and to be in the company of other 24 distinguished simulation specialists from around the world.” Dr. John Rock, Founding Dean of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, commented, “I congratulate Abi Sayid Mohammed on his earning the Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist-Advanced (CHSOS-A) credential. This is an important recognition of excellence in simulation operations.” 39 KU TIMES
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Khalifa University Bolsters Online Learning Opportunities through Coursera Partnership
Khalifa University has partnered with Coursera to enhance online education for the KU community. Khalifa University becomes the first university in the Gulf Region to join Coursera’s 234 partners across 53 countries offering 6,966 courses. This strategic partnership is aligned to Khalifa University’s mission. This partnership means that Khalifa University faculty, students, and staff have access to the following: 1. COURSERA FOR CAMPUS- BASIC PLAN: Members of the KU community have access to the entire Coursera catalogue and can: • Access almost all courses (i.e. can look through the content of all courses) • Take one course – which is certificated – for free every year (In order to access this, KU learners should create a Coursera account linked to the Khalifa University email address.) 2. PARTNER CONSORTIUM: KU becomes a partner of the Coursera Partner Consortium which allows all participating Universities to share their content, hosted on Coursera, for free with other participating partners. Learners from university partners can earn an unlimited number of certificates for free from this content. This initiative is not live yet, an announcement will be made soon to inform the KU community. 3. COURSERA FOR PARTNERS: All KU learners have access to all Coursera content created by KU faculty and staff. Not only can learners access all of the content produced by KU for free, they can also get certificates on any of KU’s courses on the Coursera platform. With online learning now core to the student experience, universities need an effective way to create and curate high-quality online curricula. For instructors, teachers and lecturers, Coursera for Partners provides the opportunity to privately author courses using Coursera’s powerful authoring platform. They can efficiently build custom courses, hands-on projects, assessments, and even embed Zoom recordings with Live2Coursera. Strategies and resources for effective online teaching are also available on the Coursera Teaching Center.
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Khalifa University is the First University in the UAE to be a Global E3 Consortium Member
THE UNIVERSITY IS ALSO THE FIRST IN THE GULF REGION TO BE PART OF THE CONSORTIUM EXCHANGE PROGRAM FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS.
Khalifa University is now a member of the Global Engineering Education Exchange Program (Global E3 Consortium), a consortium-based exchange program established in 1995 that provides undergraduate engineering students an opportunity to study in leading universities from around the world while being able to pay tuition at their home university. As a top ranked university in the UAE and a regional leader in STEM education, Khalifa University joins the ranks of prestigious institutions such as Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Georgia Institute of Technology (USA), Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), and the University of Melbourne (Australia). By joining the E³ Consortium, KU would be the first member from the UAE and wider Gulf region. Education is not limited to the classroom and as a member of the consortium, Khalifa University will be able to provide our students with additional opportunities to broaden their horizons and enhance their international education experience, while at the same time welcoming students from other Global E3 members into our KU Community. Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi, Senior Vice-President of Academic and Student Services, commented: “The engagement of our students in international learning and research is critical to KU’s vision as a research-intensive university with a transformative student learning experience. KU’s commitment to internationalization is evident through our student exchange programs with top ranked universities around the world. Experiencing studying abroad equips our students with the strength and unique skills, immersing them in a variety of educational and cultural experiences that will help them face challenges beyond their home countries and classrooms. Becoming a member of the prestigious E3 Network is a leap forward in our internationalization efforts which will offer our students more options to explore and pursue.” Each year, the Global E3 Consortium exchanges 250300 students and with over 70 members across over 20 countries, students of consortium members can study at these international institutions for a single semester or for an academic year. The credits these students earn during their study abroad are transferred to their home institution following their successful completion of the term(s).
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Professor Named as Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry DR. KIN LIAO WAS AWARDED THE PRESTIGIOUS DISTINCTION FOR HIS LEADERSHIP AND RESEARCH WORK IN CHEMICAL SCIENCE.
Dr. Kin Liao, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, has been elected as Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Fellow. The RSC is a UK-based professional society founded in 1841 and is the largest organization in Europe whose mission is to advance excellence in chemical sciences. The designation Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is awarded to RSC members who have made significant contributions to the chemical sciences and hold positions of influence with their invaluable experience, expertise, and commitment to promoting the value of chemical science. Aside from being an RSC Fellow, Dr. Kin is also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS). Dr. Liao said: “I am very honored to be named a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) last year and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) this year. Again, I’d like to thank KU for its generous support for our research over the years. Also, credits and honors should first go to my former and current students, research associates/postdocs for their hard work. Without their contributions, this would not be possible. Being elected FRSC and FRAeS reflect an international recognition of the quality of research that we are doing here at KU, as well as KU’s commitment to becoming one of the top global research intensive universities.” For Dr. Liao, collaboration and interdisciplinary research are very important in the advancement of research work. “I’d like to take this opportunity to share my views on the importance of interdisciplinary research and collaboration. We have been working on twodimensional (2D) materials—materials that are one- or few-atoms thick (such as graphene)—in the past few years. In order to create and advance new knowledge, we need to step out of our comfort zone and look for new research directions and opportunities.
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For me, my comfort zone was solid mechanics—simply put, a discipline that deals with stress and deformation of solids. Thus, besides working in the area of mechanics, we also work on the chemistry side of nanomaterials, and how these materials apply to new technologies in energy (for example, in batteries), clean water treatment (for instance, making advanced filters), as well as healthcare. For instance, 2D materials may also be applied to develop functionalized coatings for high-performance filter materials to effectively trap pathogenic particles (such as a virus) in the air. Moreover, collaboration with colleagues in other disciplines is crucial. I have been collaborating with colleagues from my own department, as well as those from Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, and from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences.” Over the years, Dr. Kin and his group and other collaborators have published extensively papers related to the chemistry of nanomaterials (specifically in energy, water treatment, biomedical sciences, electromagnetic interference shielding, and sensors) in leading international journals such as Materials Chemistry, Advanced Materials, Biomaterials, Journal of Energy Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Journal, and Advanced Materials interface.
Professor Gives Keynote at Electric Power and Renewable Energy Conference To realize the efficacy of the Smart Grid, Dr. Al-Durra explained that the present distributed generations, with special consideration to renewable energy sources, should also function smartly.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Durra, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was invited to deliver a Keynote Speech at the 2nd Electric Power and Renewable Energy Conference (EPREC-2021), which was held virtually from 28-30 May 2021. His speech, titled “Renewable Energy Systems Control & Optimization” described how the power and energy sectors are going through a major transformation, as energy sustainability, efficiency, reliability, and environmental concerns are becoming significant concerns in the twenty-first century. He explained how the old power system is being re-structured and re-architected, creating a paradigm shift in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution systems, collectively termed the Smart Grid.
His presentation shed light on the integration of some of the most emerging renewable energies with the concept of Virtual Power Plants, which reveals enormous opportunity to make the upcoming energy transformation smoother without compromising grid stability and reliability along with offering many other techno-economic benefits. He also addressed issues on the control and optimization of storage elements, power converter technologies, synchronization, and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) energy trading. Finally, Dr. Al-Durra explained how many of these issues are being researched at KU’s Advanced Power & Energy Center (APEC), of which he is a member. The Electric Power and Renewable Energy Conference has been a premier forum for presenting recent advances in power systems, power electronics and drives and control application in power system areas. The EPREC-2021 was organized by the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur, India. 43 KU TIMES
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Reading Habits Survey Results Presented as Part of KU’s Reading Month Activities
In a webinar on 25 March 2021, Ms. Mouza Alahbabi presented the results of an online survey on news readership among the KU community in support of the UAE’s Reading Month activities. Underlining the commitment to student-faculty research collaboration, the survey was designed, executed, and analyzed by students in the MA in International and Civil Security under the supervision of Dr. Athol Yates and Dr. Li-Chen Sim. A recording of the event is available here: CLICK HERE TO VIEW
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KU Faculty Receives Royal United Services Institute Fellow Title
Dr. Ash Rossiter, Assistant Professor of International Security, Institute of International and Civil Security and the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, has been made a Fellow in International Security of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. Dr. Rossiter was made a fellow in recognition of his ongoing contribution to policy and scholarly discussion around emerging technologies and international security. “RUSI has been a global thoughtleader in critical matters related to international security for almost two centuries,” commented Dr. Rossiter.
KU Faculty Participates in UAE Victoria Research and Innovation Forum
Dr. Georg Petroianu, Professor of Pharmacology, participated in the UAE-Victoria Research and Innovation Forum, which was held on Wednesday, 16 June.
The forum connected leading universities and companies from the State of Victoria in Australia with researchers and innovators in the UAE with the aim of sharing success stories that showcase Victoria’s expertise in healthcare research and technology to business professionals, academics, business leaders and government officials in the UAE. As a member on the panel, “Developing real medical solutions to industry challenges through research excellence,” Dr. Petroianu provided a brief overview of KU’s history and the establishment of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, highlighting the College’s unique position in the Gulf and MENA region as the only Medical School based on the American Model of Bachelor + 4 years, which will result in a talented body of students with a solid science and engineering background, who are eager to engage in research, and will become the “physicioneers” -- the physicians and engineers -- envisaged by the UAE Leadership .
“It is thus a great honor to be made a Fellow of this venerable institution and shows again the strong international reputation of KU’s security studies program and of its faculty.” Founded in 1831, RUSI is the world’s oldest and the UK’s leading defense and security think tank. Its mission is to inform, influence, and enhance public debate on a safer and more stable world. RUSI is a research-led institute, producing independent, practical and innovative analysis to address today’s complex challenges. It is also the podium of choice for world leaders and senior policymakers.
Dr. Petroianu briefly discussed the status of research in the following phases: in vitro/in silica, in vivo (small animals), translational, and clinical. He pointed out the exemplary financial support such activities receive at KU and the prospect of soon having one of the most advanced interdisciplinary research platforms in the Gulf. He also highlighted KU’s continuous stream of scholarly PubMed listed publications, and the Cumulative Impact Factor of those publications, which have contributed to KU’s jump in academic ranking. The aim of the forum was to engage in relevant research for the country and to generate real world marketable solutions at the interface of Medicine and Engineering. An important outcome of the forum was the mutual understanding that academic institutions from Abu Dhabi will be significant participants in any future collaborative research activities. 45 KU TIMES
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Meet the KU Alumna Helping Businesses Modernize
Khalifa University Awarded ISO 50001 Energy Management Certificate Because of our commitment to sustainable development and to reduce the energy footprint of our campuses, Khalifa University is proud to announce that it has been awarded the ISO 50001 Energy Management System Certificate. This certificate was awarded by the British Standards Institution (BSI). The ISO 50001 Standard was developed by the International Organization for Standardization to guide organizations in decreasing their environmental impact, conserving resources, and reducing expenses through efficient energy management. With the adoption of ISO 50001, Khalifa University is working towards important and valuable goals. These include increasing energy efficiency and optimizing resources throughout our facilities. The standard offers guidance on benchmarking, measuring, documenting, and reporting energy improvements and projected greenhouse gas reductions. It also helps KU facilities evaluate, prioritize and implement new energy-efficient technologies, so that the University can continuously improve its energy performance. The ISO 50001 Energy Management System Certificate demonstrates KU’s commitment to ongoing improvement in energy management. It helps the University achieve important ecological goals, while also helping us save money on raw materials and energy. KU TIMES 46
WITH THE RIGHT SUPPORT TO KICK OFF HER JOURNEY, THIS ENTREPRENEUR TOOK HER RESEARCH TO MARKET. Salwa Alzahmi is the founder of the tech startup SPL Co. Ltd, award-winning research scientist and multiple patents holder. Having received her Master’s Degree in Computer and Electrical Engineering from Khalifa University in 2014, she is leading the software engineering research group at the Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC, established by Etisalat, British Telecom, and Khalifa University, and supported by the ICT Fund). Here, she shares her story of making the jump from researcher to entrepreneur and the challenges in taking her research work to the market. There is a fire inside that is fuelled by passion and a willingness to solve problems I have always been passionate about building my own products and addressing new trending market segments in technology, particularly software governance techniques, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing. I participated in a number of research projects during my studies and even won the UAE IT Challenge Award for Best Educational Application, the Best Master Student Award at Khalifa University and the Khalifa University Research Excellency Award. After my studies, I joined the workforce, starting as a software engineer for a start-up company, managing enterprise software. Working with smaller private companies that actually develop and deliver projects and with government companies leading the modernization agenda equipped me with vast and relevant hands-on experience.
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The journey often starts with unique insights acquired during the early career and an inspiration that keeps you motivated I had exposure to the struggle and limitations in IT processes and technologies when maintaining outsourced and legacy software systems. This gave me a unique advantage in understanding the gaps and opportunities in current IT systems. Hence, I was confident in my skills and the business opportunity for my research (SPL project). Based on this, I leveraged the output from my research at Khalifa University’s Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC) to build a successful product that became the foundation for my business. I was curious about business when I was a researcher because it aligns very well with my goal of supporting the UAE’s growing knowledge economy. The UAE’s futuristic vision of championing the creation of smart government services, artificial intelligence solutions, cutting-edge data analytics, and other futuristic technologies has inspired me to put great effort into building my company. Such home-grown innovation entrenched in technology is exactly aligned with the government’s economic development priorities.
THE MINDSET SHIFT THAT WAS NEEDED TO MOVE INTO ENTREPRENEURSHIP I faced a number of challenges as I entered the entrepreneur space. As a scientist, I used to make decisions based on complete data or information. In contrast, an entrepreneur must have the ability to make decisions—such as starting a company—on incomplete data, and that means taking a risk, particularly when introducing a new technology like SPL that essentially creates a new market segment. I had to get a basic understanding of the elementary financial aspects involved in business and legal topics such as contracts, liability and intellectual property. However, being a scientist, my research and learning skills helped me navigate the entrepreneurial pathway much faster. Coming from an engineering technology background, learning to put my thoughts into a business-oriented context was one of the most challenging parts. This was critical for enabling me to learn how to
explain my business to customers and investors, as well as learn how to define my product’s unique selling points and to position my product in the market.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES ADDRESSED THROUGH LOCAL TECHNOLOGICAL AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP The UAE is a global leader in digitalization. A huge part of this is related to supporti ng local corporations to move to the cloud, integrating new forms of technologies that speed up, automate, and improve business. Since these technologies require heavy computational power and storage space, cloud computing is the optimal solution. My start-up, SPL Co., was founded to speed up the process of migrating software systems to the cloud, as this can take a long time and require a lot of resources with the traditional manual approach. Upgrading company-wide software was a challenge due to a lack of documentation and expert guidance. Adding to the complexity, the companies I worked with often lacked the resources and skills to modernize enterprise applications. SPL’s solution can reduce the cost of migration to the cloud by up to 30 percent. It is one of the first tools of its kind that provides an AI model for automatically identifying and composing the part of the system code that should be lifted to the cloud, and assists with microservice implementation. SPL solution maps out the entire architecture of the software code within hours through the runtime and static code analysis powered by cutting edge artificial intelligence and automation technologies. It reduces the cost of rearchitecting the monolithic application by up to 30% and transforms it into a cloud-native architecture.
GETTING THE RIGHT LOCAL SUPPORT TO KICK-OFF THE JOURNEY Khalifa University, EBTIC and the Khalifa Innovation Center (KIC) helped me along the way. Khalifa University management realized at an early stage
the importance of bringing industry and academia together at the research level to realize and accelerate innovation in the UAE. A great example of this is EBTIC, where the SPL project was born. SPLCo is a product of this system, which has provided me with the right platform and infrastructure to build the research foundation of SPL, prototype my solution and productize it with leading industrial partners. After a successful trial with BT in the UK, and the great recognition we got from the local and international communities, I received further support from EBTIC to fund the SPL product development. Through this, I was able to form my great team, Dr. Corrado Mio, Ahmed Sulaiman, Dr. Sid Shakya, and Dr. Ivan Boyd, who have supported me in this journey, along with the support received from EBTIC management, especially Dr. Nawaf Almoosa. EBTIC helped tremendously in developing my entrepreneurial skills, giving me the opportunity to work very closely for three months with an international consultancy firm to build the SPL business case.
GETTING THE RIGHT LOCAL SUPPORT TO ACCELERATE THE STARTUP JOURNEY The Khalifa Innovation Center (KIC) is a one-of-a-kind center in the UAE, focusing on deep tech start-ups derived from successful research projects conducted in local universities and research centers. The center supports innovation and the knowledge economy of the country, and the incubation program clearly outlined the key steps to develop my business from different perspectives. Coming from an engineering background, learning to put my thoughts in a business-oriented context was a huge benefit. Early intervention by industry professionals through a mentoring program was also vital in supporting the initial development of my start-up. Digital transformation is a reality that a corporation cannot escape. SPL Co. is here to help overcome the challenges involved in upgrading legacy software and moving companies to the cloud. 47 KU TIMES
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EECS Faculty is Now an IEEE Senior Member
KU Students and Alumni Participate in MIT Innovation Leadership Bootcamp
PHOTO CREDIT: ABDULLA AL GHURAIR FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) helped KU students and alumni turn their dreams of entrepreneurship into reality by introducing them to the “MIT Innovation Leadership Bootcamp,” which was held recently in the UAE. Dr. Khaled Ali Al Jaafari, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is now an IEEE Senior Member in recognition for his significant work and technical contributions to the profession for the last 15 years. “I am very honored to be elevated to a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity and I’ve been active member of IEEE for 17 years (since 2004). Credits should also go to my former and current colleagues in ADNOC, KU, and Advanced Power & Energy Centre. Without their support, this would not be possible,” Dr. Al Jaafari commented. The IEEE Senior Membership is the highest grade of IEEE membership and are bestowed on members who have made significant contributions to the industry through the years. KU TIMES 48
During the 10-week intensive bootcamp, 120 Emirati and Arab youth, including 43 KU students and alumni, were supported by 15 MIT coaches. Participants created innovative and entrepreneurial solutions addressing the challenges of youth unemployment in the Arab region. On the final day of the Bootcamp, 22 participating teams presented their innovations to 12 judges across multiple panels. The four teams of finalists presented their solutions to a high-profile panel comprising of HE Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education; HE Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Cultural Advisor to the UAE President and the Chancellor of UAEU; and HE Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of AGFE. The first place winning team was Mehna, a team made up of six participants, three of which were KU students: Abdulla Almarzooqi (Electrical Engineering), Saif Alkhaaldi (Biomedical Engineering), and Maryam Altamimi (Engineering Systems and Management). The Menha team developed an online platform connecting STEM students in the UAE to companies in their field of study, with the aim of widening professional networks and curbing unemployment.
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The second place team was Saturn. They developed an interactive online platform aimed at supporting businesses in order to help them connect and establish relationships with each other. Saturn’s group consisted entirely of KU students, including: Fahad Nawar Alotaibi (PhD in Mechanical Engineering), Sara Alzaabi (Computer Engineering), Shama Almazrouei (Electrical Engineering), Maryam Khalfan Alkaabi (Applied Chemistry), and Ayesha AlTamimi (Water and Environmental Engineering).
22 Participants Complete Leadership Training Course Offered by CTL & Student Success
Sara Alzaabi said: “It was an enriching experience learning about different cultures, professions and fields.” The third-place project was created by SkillsFlare. Three participants of this team were KU students: Ahoud Al Dhaheri (Chemical Engineering), Zayed Mohammed Ali Albaiti (Biomedical Engineering) and Maryam Alshehhi (Aerospace Engineering). The focus of this project was to help qualified but unemployed 18-25 year old youth strengthen their employability skills. “It was an excellent environment to learn and work with diverse people from different backgrounds,” Maryam AlShehhi shared. The first of its kind in the region, the hybrid learning bootcamp was organized by the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education (AGFE), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), represented by its Science and Innovation Park (SIP). The CTL liaised with AGFE and UAEU to recruit KU’s brightest students and facilitated the interview process that was held in the HIVE prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. AGFE was instrumental in ensuring the success of this exciting and dynamic bootcamp. The first-place winning project, along with the second, third and fourth place solutions, will be incubated at UAEU Science and Innovation Park and showcased as part of UAEU’s pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. We are very proud of our KU student participants and we look forward to more exciting opportunities for all KU students to join.
Twenty-two current KU students and two alumni embarked on their leadership journey by completing successfully the “Leading with Passion and Knowledge” virtual training course this spring offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in collaboration with the Student Success Department. This is the 3rd semester in a row the training course has been offered to students. The course explores a range of topics, including personality types and their role in understanding self and others, multiple intelligences, cross-cultural leadership, conflict resolution and leading change, transformational leadership, and post-crisis management, a new module which was added this semester for post-pandemic readiness. Jamiu O. Eniola, PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, indicated that the course training was an eye-opener. Jaimiu found that the well-organized lectures, tasks, and projects to be particularly enjoyable. Emotional intelligence (EI) was one of the topics the students found essential to thrive in the post-COVID world. Students completed and presented a final team project on the last day of their training. Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi, SVP of Academic and Student Services attended the ceremony and praised the students for expanding their leadership skills. He also thanked the faculty who delivered this valuable training course. 49 KU TIMES
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Khalifa University Celebrates the Graduation of 885 Students from Bachelor, Master and PhD Programs in Science, Engineering and Arts at 2021 Commencement Ceremony THE CEREMONY WAS HELD UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH MOHAMED BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN
Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Khalifa University of Science and Technology has celebrated the graduation of 885 students from its Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs during the 2021 graduation ceremony, which was held virtually on Wednesday, 26 May 2021. During the ceremony, 51 students received their PhD degrees in biomedical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, aerospace engineering, civil and infrastructure engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, robotics engineering and interdisciplinary engineering. Another 168 students received their Master’s degrees in applied chemistry, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, computer and information science, electrical and computer engineering, engineering systems and management, information security, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, petroleum engineering, geo-petroleum engineering, sustainable critical infrastructure, international and civil security, health, safety and environmental engineering, and water and environmental engineering. While 666 students received their Bachelor’s degrees in KU TIMES 50
applied mathematics and statistics, petroleum engineering, industrial and systems engineering, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, communication engineering, aerospace engineering, and petroleum geosciences. The graduation ceremony coincides with the UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations of the country’s 50 years of progress and achievements. In his address, Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi and chairman of Khalifa University’s board of trustees, expressed great pride in the graduates’ outstanding achievements. He extended his greetings to His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed, the President of the UAE, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashed, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, and to all Emiratis and residents in the UAE, on this significant occasion, which marks the entry of a new cadre of talented graduates – who are now equipped with the robust knowledge and skills gained at the internationally recognized Khalifa University – into the UAE’s key science, engineering, technology and medical sectors.
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His Highness also expressed his gratitude to the parents of the graduates for this achievement, as they provided unconditional support to the graduates during their studies. He also congratulated the UAE’s leadership and people, while expressing his pride in the graduates’ and their achievements. He thanked them for their efforts, which will inspire current students of Khalifa University, and for all that they’ve done and will do in the future for the UAE.
Dr. Athol Yates Meets with UAE Cultural Adviser HE Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh
He also noted the important role KU graduates have played and will continue to play in enhancing the UAE’s international standing as a leader in research and innovation. Khalifa University graduates contribute to the country’s vital sectors, bringing with them advanced knowledge, expertise, critical skills, and a unique ability to analyze and find creative solutions to the country’s greatest challenges. Khalifa University has consistently contributed to the aerospace sector. It graduated the first-ever batch of students in Aerospace Engineering, while more recently Khalifa University students designed and developed MySAT-1 and DhabiSat, two mini satellites which were launched into space, and they are also helping students of other universities to design and develop CubeSats. Khalifa University’s virtual 2021 graduation celebration comes at a time when the University has achieved several milestones, especially with the most number of scientists from the UAE being included in the exclusive Stanford University List of 2% Most Cited Scientists in their fields for 2019, with a total of 45 faculty members, representing 25% of all faculty from the UAE, as well as the Stanford University List of 2% Most Cited Career-long Scientists in their field of research for 2019, with 36 faculty members, representing 31.5% of all faculty from the UAE. In global rankings, Khalifa University leapt 67 notches to be ranked 214th globally in the ‘Engineering and Technology’ category, top in the UAE and in six subjects, including Petroleum Engineering, in the most recent 2021 QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings by Subject. The University already ranks at #211 in the QS World University Rankings 2021, which features 1,029 of the most prestigious universities in the world. Moreover, Khalifa University is ranked top in the UAE and 114th globally in ‘Engineering’ in the US News & World Report’s 2020 Best Global Universities’ rankings published in November 2019. The University is ranked second in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and among the top 200 globally in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2020 by Subject: Engineering and Technology.
Dr. Athol Yates, acting head of the Institute of International and Civil Security (IICS) at Khalifa University met with His Excellency Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Cultural Adviser to the President of the UAE and Chancellor of UAE University (UAEU) on 25 May 2021. They discussed Dr. Yates’ books and His Excellency also received a copy of the book Evolution of the Armed Forces of the UAE written by Dr. Yates. Left to right: Mohammad Al Olama, graduated IICS student, Khalifa University; His Excellency Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Cultural Adviser to the President of the UAE and the Chancellor of UAE University; Dr. Athol Yates, acting head of the IICS, Khalifa University; Prof. Mohammed Qasimi, Dean and Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost, UAEU; Musabbeh Alghaithi, graduated IICS student, Khalifa University; Dr Ateeq Jakka Al Mansoori, Adviser to the Chancellor, UAEU; Dr Adriaan De Man, Chair of the Department of Tourism and Heritage, UAEU 51 KU TIMES
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visualizing single chromosomes and isolating specific subpopulations within the data.
BSc Math Alumni Participate in Women in Data Science 2021 In March 2021, IBM Dubai hosted the Women in Data Science (WiDS) UAE 2021, a regional event that gathered established and emerging data scientists from a variety of institutions such as universities, corporations, and startups to participate in panels, lightning talks, and tech talks relating to data science, new technologies, and the future of the industry. The event also brings into focus the role of women in data science. Three Khalifa University BSc in Applied Mathematics and Statistics alumni were invited to share their projects during the event. Amina Abood Mohammad Salem, Sarah AlBastaki, and Shahd Hardan each presented their senior project work during the lightning talks and participated in the following Q&A. KU TIMES 52
Amina talked about using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays to identify changes in gene expressions that are associated with disease phenotypes. SNPs can provide valuable insights about disease phenotypes, and Amina discussed the careful statistical adjustments necessary when extracting significant genes that may be associated with a complex disease. Sarah discussed implementing reinforcement learning in exploreexploit dilemmas to obtain the maximum possible reward from a set of actions. Her discussion included visualization and modeling of psychological data collected at the University of Arizona, USA. Shahd explained how to apply principal component analysis (PCA), a dimensionality reduction method, on the Human Genome Diversity Panel (HGDP-CEPH) data, to understand the population structure. Her work showcased a deeper look into this data than is typically done with PCA,
The three students were supervised by Dr. Samuel Feng, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. “You’re always pleased to see the right people get some welldeserved recognition. Amina, Sarah, Shahd—their quantitative/analytical talent is clear. But they are also much more than “STEM graduates”. They are truth-focused women who work with integrity, don’t cover up mistakes, and have impressive ambitions, exactly the type of people society needs more of. I’ve always thought of helping to produce people, not degrees. So students are the product, and the customer is society. Being in the UAE, this society clearly needs more people like these three—STEM graduates capable of independent thought and a work ethic based on trustworthiness. The same could be said for most of the rest of the world,” Dr. Feng commented. Khalifa University has a 60% female student body, a testament to its support of women to pursue advanced, specialized knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). WiDS UAE 2021 is an independent regional event organized by WiDS Ambassadors in the UAE as part of Stanford University’s annual WiDS Worldwide conference. The initiative aims to support women in data science, as well as inspire and educate other data scientists around the world, regardless of gender.
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Student-designed Robot Wows at MBZIRC Exhibition, Wins Emirates Award 2020 data, and then identifies corrosion spots in the tanks, helping ensure the safety and structural integrity of the tanks. “The idea came while we were discussing with Dr. Waleed Alameri (Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering) about MBZIRC 2020. He believed in us and his support, along with Dr. Hamad Karki, (Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering) who helped us reach this great achievement, which is winning the Emirates Award under the Best Innovative Student Project,” Anoud commented.
A robot designed to inspect storage tanks for the oil and gas industry was a hit at the Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotics Challenge (MBZIRC) Exhibition and was recognized as the winner of the Best Innovative University Project of the Emirates Award 2020. Team PetroPremium, composed of Petroleum Engineering students Alanood Alburaiki, Anoud Alshukaili, and Mariam Alkatheeri, developed a robot with sensors and a webcam to scan oil storage tanks. The robot scans the tanks using spiral movements, analyzes the
“As the demand for oil and gas is increasing, resources are diminishing. The oil and gas industry is looking for more advanced technologies to increase productivity in a cost-effective manner. Therefore, our role as petroleum engineers is to innovate and help in developing the oil and gas sector in achieving our country’s vision. Robotics has the potential to positively impact the oil and gas industry. We’re planning to keep working on this project and implementing new technologies that will increase its efficiency,” Alanood said. “Through our participation in the MBZIRC, we have seen that the United Arab Emirates, under its wise leadership, has always supported
vital projects that will help the country achieve its goals. We also received a great morale boost after we met His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who praised our role as Emirati students in advancing scientific progress and expanding the perceptions of creativity and innovation. He also praised us as an example to follow and encouraged us to continue working on scientific investment,” she said. “It is also not surprising that we have received the full support of the Khalifa University administration and the educational staff. The University provides their students with innovative courses, competitions, and most importantly, access to their laboratories where students can work on their projects,” remarked Alanood. Dr. Waleed also commented: “Thank you Anoud, Alanood, and Mariam for such an excellent achievement. We are always here to help, serve and support our students at Khalifa University and I’m sure that this is not the end. We will develop the idea of the designed robot and one day will apply it in real projects.” “The Petroleum Engineering Department at Khalifa University was the main reason for us to continue with the project. This achievement is also directed to our beloved country and our families as well. We as graduate students are proud to reach this level of achievement during this pandemic. This is proof that nothing is impossible nowadays and we can turn what is impossible to possible by our determination and persistence,” Anoud added. 53 KU TIMES
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Rising Global Interest in the History of UAE Armed Forces
History Symposium, taking place in Annapolis, Maryland, US from 2324 September 2021. This biennially held naval conference focuses on the latest research on naval and maritime history from academics and practitioners all over the globe. The symposium has been described as the “largest regular meeting of naval historians in the world” and as the US Navy’s “single most important interaction with [an] academic historical audience.” Dr. Yates will be presenting on the history of the UAE Navy. Dr. Yates recently authored the book “The Evolution of the Armed Forces of the UAE” and is a scholar focusing on the history of the UAE military and police forces.
Papers on the history of the UAE armed forces by a Khalifa University faculty member, Dr Athol Yates, Assistant Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences and Acting Head of the Institute of International and Civil Security, have been accepted by two of the world’s leading scholarly institutions focusing on military history. The first conference is the Royal Air Force Museum Conference, taking place in London from 16 - 17 September 2021. The conference will bring together academics and scholars to present air power research that challenges the accepted historical consensus. Dr. Yates will be presenting on the history of the UAE Air Force. The second conference is the US Naval Academy’s McMullen Naval KU TIMES 54
He said: “The acceptance of papers on the history of the UAE Armed Forces reflects a growing interest world-wide on how the UAE has become a regional power within such a short time. Foreign countries, their militaries and academics are increasingly studying the UAE as an example of how a country can build regional stability and security far in excess of its small physical and demographic size.” Dr. Yates also pointed out that scholarly journals are increasingly interested in UAE military history. For example, this month the International Journal of Maritime History accepted a paper on the history of Abu Dhabi’s navy, co-written with Khalifa University’s Dr Ash Rossiter, Assistant Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences.
KU Students Learn about UAE Energy Sector at Total and Institut Francais Youth Hackathon Six KU Master’s students participated in a Youth Hackathon hosted by TotalEnergies and the Institut Francais in the UAE focused on the evolution of the UAE energy sector. The Hackathon took place from 7 to 9 June 2021, and culminated with a final pitch ceremony that was held at Warehouse 421 in Abu Dhabi in the presence of His Excellency X. Chatel, Ambassador of France to the UAE, and Elias Kassis, TotalEnergies Country Chair in the UAE.
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A total of 18 students from three universities, including Khalifa University, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and United Arab Emirates University, participated in the Hackathon. They were divided into three teams of six students. Each team was made up of students from different universities, backgrounds, and degree programs, and was assigned to study and develop a solution for one of three different energy sources – gas and hydrogen, solar, and wind.
On the third day, each group presented their solution inperson to His Excellency X. Chatel and Elias Kassis.
The KU students who participated were Huda Mohamed Alhashmi, MSc in Petroleum Engineering; Ahmed Khalid Alzaabi, MSc in Petroleum Engineering; Brenda Hernandez Corona, MSc in Sustainable Critical Infrastructure; Lamiaa Elsherbiny, MSc in Mechanical Engineering; Waleed Khaled Elayan, MSc in Health, Safety and Environment Engineering; and Ahmed Mahdy Yassin, MSc in Electrical Engineering.
“I learned the importance of a proper and concise planning process and how to organize one’s thoughts. I really enjoyed taking the challenge of coming up with innovative ideas with renewable energy in mind. The organizers did an amazing job in breaking the ice and engaging everyone enrolled,” he shared.
The solar team, which included Huda and Brenda, won first place for their proposed solution to the current challenges the region is facing when it comes to solar power activities. Their idea was to develop a startup that converts solar waste to life by recycling solar panels into many different raw materials and substances that can be used in a wide variety of sectors. “I am extremely happy to be part of this amazing initiative. We had a great time exploring the opportunities and challenges associated with green/ renewable energy resources. We were lucky to be exposed to different scientific arguments, knowledge and discussions,” Huda shared. She also expressed gratitude to the KU faculty members who nominated the students to participate in this Hackathon. The three-day program began with general presentations about the future of energy from experts, followed by an ice breaking session to allow all participants to get to know each other. On the second day, teams were assigned an energy source and began developing ideas to address the challenges faced in each energy topic. They were guided by expert instructors who helped them plan, organize and coordinate their ideas into beneficial and practical solutions.
Ahmed, who was part of the wind energy team, said the experience forced him to think about how wind turbines would be placed in the UAE within the context of the country’s climate and environment, and what the necessary steps would be to maintain those turbines for a long period of time.
Waleed, who graduated with a BSc in Chemical Engineering from KU and is now pursuing his MSc in Health, Safety and Environment Engineering, developed a solution that would help the UAE adopt clean and sustainable energy by leveraging the UAE’s abundant supply of natural gas and splitting it into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen can be used as a sustainable fuel source, while the carbon dioxide would be sequestered using carbon capture and utilization (CCUS) technologies. The one-of-a-kind hackathon provided a unique opportunity for Khalifa University students to investigate the challenges and possible solutions facing the country’s energy transformation with experts in the energy field. Energy is a central thrust in KU’s research portfolio, with Masdar Institute focused on advancing solutions in renewable energy and Petroleum Institute focused on making traditional energy more efficient and sustainable. Providing students with opportunities to collaborate with industry experts can bring significant benefits, from providing them with new perspectives to expanding their professional networks. Khalifa University’s Student Services Office is committed to supporting opportunities like this in order to maximize students’ academic experience. 55 KU TIMES
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KU Students Win at EmiratesSkills Competition
The country’s largest skills competition, EmiratesSkills is a national event that challenges young people and introduces them to a huge variety of technical careers. Hundreds of students spent months learning their skills ahead of a threeday competition at ADNEC. More than 500 students from across the country competed in 30 skill categories ranging from electrical installations and robotics to programming and aviation. They were supported and judged by a team of over 200 experts and 40 judging panels. Seven students from Khalifa University participated in the KU TIMES 56
competition; all placing in the top three positions in the respective categories in which they competed. Khawla Mohamed Almarzooqi won Gold in Electrical Installations; Hanan Ahmed Alshamsi won Gold in CNC Turning; Noof Husamaldeen Alzaabi won Gold in Painting and Decoration; Abdulrahman Khalid Alshehhi won Silver in Electrical Installations; Meera Salem Alshoukari won Silver in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning; Mohammed Ayman Alsaeri won Bronze in Automobile Technology; and Sameeh Saeed Almaskari won Bronze in Electrical Installations.
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Khawla, BSc in Electrical Engineering, explains how the Electrical Installations skill category competition worked: “In this category, we were given a diagram of a complete electrical system. We had to mount the devices and the equipment on the walls based on the diagram. Afterwards, we needed to accurately mount all the equipment and all the devices in the correct places using the correct measurements. After mounting, we had to work on the wiring and the programming of the devices. We were expected to complete all the wiring for all the devices (outlets, light bulbs, and motors), the distribution board, and the control box within only 18 hours and 15 minutes. The grading was done based on a very rigorous marking scheme.”
Hanan receiving her certificate.
around an axis at high speed, and where cutting tools driven by computer software are moved to produce the expected part with the cutting or clamping tools most appropriate to the material being used. She then sent the finished part to the assembly line with all other parts.
and sweat to create an ideal setting from the ground up for us the train,” Noof shared.
Noof, a BSc in Cell and Molecular Biology student, won first place in the “Painting and Decorating” category. “I have been training for a year. It took us (my team and I) a long time to accomplish this magnificent result, which required not only painting abilities, but also carpeting, decor,
“It was a really long week because I was painting 8 hours a day for 3 days continuously . Throughout the year, I was able to accomplish and improve a great deal, particularly during the Covid-19 break. And now I’m training for the WorldSkills competition.”
Khawla making electrical installations.
Khawla, Hanan and Noof will now be eligible to apply for the 2022 WorldSkills competition in Shanghai, where they can test their abilities against the best of the best internationally. Hanan will also be competing in Euroskills, taking place in Austria this September.
Hanan, a BSc in Computer Science student, won first place in the “CNC Turning” category, which stands for Computer Numerical Control Turning. CNC Turning is used to produce the precise and interactive parts of complex products like a smartphone, airplane or automobile. Hanan was given a blueprint and had to program a computer using accurate inspection tools to fit the blueprint specification. She then set up the CNC lathe on which materials turn
She explained how the competition was divided into four sections: wallpaper, main design, free technique, and speed competition.
Noof installing wallpaper.
The EmiratesSkills National Competition is the UAE’s premier event celebrating the outstanding Emirati talents in technical and vocational skills and inspires the young generation to get passionate about new trades, as well as embrace technology-based career pathways. 57 KU TIMES
MY CAMPUS, MY COMMUNITY
Dr. Mecit Can Emre Simsekler Appointed as Editor of PloS Digital Health
Dr. Mecit Can Emre Simsekler, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been appointed as Editor at PloS Digital Health, a new open science journal dedicated to accelerating trusted, boundary-breaking research that uses digital tools, technology and data science to advance every aspect of healthcare. The Editorial Board is comprised of experts from all over the world with field experience that spans the breadth of the journal’s scope. The journal brings together research from engineers, clinicians, and researchers as well as social scientists and industry leaders to advance healthcare technologies and decisionmaking tools, or broaden accessible, effective care options for diverse communities around the world. The journal works alongside the community of leaders to shape how Open Science transforms the future of research communication in the field. Through practices like sharing preprints, open data and open code, PLOS Digital Health empowers researchers to ensure progress in this rapidly changing field is discoverable, reproducible and immediately accessible to all. KU TIMES 58
Khalifa University’s Society of Petroleum Engineers Student Chapter Receives Excellence Award
MY CAMPUS, MY COMMUNITY
Khalifa University’s very own Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Student Chapter was recognized with the SPE International Student Chapter Excellence Award. The Excellence Award is the second highest honor given by the SPE to the top 20% of their student chapters all over the world in acknowledgement of the chapters’ success in fulfilling the SPE’s mission through their programs and activities. This year’s award also highlights the resilience of the KU SPE Student Chapter during these challenging times, especially at the beginning of the school year. The chapter continued the mission of the SPE and promoted the exchange of technical knowledge about the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas resources. The KU SPE Chapter also took part in different SPE activities, such as the Energy4me event, Drillbotics, and SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). Though the SPE is known to be focused on petroleum engineering, the KU student chapter also organized activities that would reach out to a more diverse audience. Programs such as personal and professional development for students, skills enhancement, and discussions with alumni from different industries about their success stories demonstrate how the chapter works hard to engage its KU members in a range of skill-building and knowledge-sharing activities. Ahmed Khalid AlZaabi, KU SPE Student Chapter President, details his experiences through the year: “I became the student chapter president during a very difficult time. Aside from the impact of the pandemic, the chapter was facing challenges due to lack of members. It was difficult to adapt to new norms and regain the chapter’s status.” “Opportunities and doors are always there when you continuously work hard. The most important task is to remember that the effort and struggles you go through today will eventually pay off. The chapter was facing difficulties at the start of the academic year, but we saw this as an opportunity for growth and we created and implemented several plans to turn this around,” commented Marwa Mohamed AlBlooshi, KU SPE Student Chapter Vice President. “We approached this academic year differently. We took time to understand why the chapter was at risk and what is the best approach to recovery from it. Further, we wanted to clear the misconception that the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is limited to petroleum engineering,” Ahmed said.
Marwa added, “The amazing and incredible tasks the whole team carried out by pulling on each other’s strengths enabled us to innovate and create a platform that benefited across the spectrum. In return, this allowed us to excel as a team making us a candidate for this internationally recognizable award.” The honor of receiving the Chapter Excellence Award would not have been possible without the support of the Petroleum Engineering department and the exceptional efforts of the team behind the chapter. Dr. Hadi Belhaj, Petroleum Engineering Associate Professor and KU-SPE Faculty Advisor, has guided the chapter and shared his expertise with the students, said: “The KU-SPE Student Chapter is always one of the very active chapters around the world and the top of the region. Their success in recent years, including winning the 2021 SPE Student Chapter Award, is a testament for this leading role. I am very proud of our KU-SPE Student Chapter for their remarkable achievements. Their resilience, hard work, and dedication to the SPE despite the current unprecedented challenges of C-19 restrictions and impairment economy paid off. The KU-SPE Student Chapter paved the way for generations to come and showed how to turn challenges to opportunities. I am sure their best is yet to come!” Dr. Emad W. Al-Shalabi, Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering, who has continually supported the Student Chapter, commented: “This is one of the prestigious SPE awards which marks a great achievement for our KU SPE Student Chapter. I would like to commend all the members for their dedicated efforts, particularly during this challenging time of COVID-19. Indeed, hard work pays off!” Abdessamia Jebbouri, Lab Engineer for the Petroleum Engineering Department, also congratulated the Student Chapter saying, “The 2021 Student Chapter SPE International Excellence Award is not our first award in our wall of fame; it is evidence of the continuous outstanding performance and fabulous achievement since the establishment of our KUSPE student chapter on 1 August 2004. We believe that besides the excellent students’ curricular activities during the most challenging COVID-19 circumstances, our student chapter proved their remarkable efforts in a variety of fields such as industrial and academic engagement, community involvement, professional development, and innovations. We have a strong belief that our role as faculties and instructors with our young students goes beyond education -- we are leaders, coaches, advisors, and facilitators of nonstop positive growth, and this is what we sow in our students.” Khalifa University’s Petroleum Engineering department ranks 21st in the QS World University Subjects Rankings. 59 KU TIMES
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
More than 100 KU Students and Graduates Attend the University’s First Online Career Boot Camp Khalifa University’s Career and Alumni Department held the first Online Career Boot Camp which took place on the 22nd, 23rd & 24th of June. The purpose of the event is to equip KU potential graduates and students with the necessary employability skills through different sessions offered by senior business professionals from local and international firms and certified career coaches in order to support their transition from university to their dream job and to prepare a capable generation who can contribute and create the difference in the UAE’s knowledge economy. A total of five employers from international and public firms in addition to six speakers from Khalifa University conducted exciting sessions about different topics as follows: 1. Network for success offered by LinkedIn 2. Entrepreneurship and Freelancing offered by Injaz UAE 3. National self-employment platform for freelancers and Job Market Demand offered by MOHRE 4. Personal branding Offered by Schneider Electric Different sessions offered by KU staff such as: • Interviewing skills • Professional development opportunities through Coursera • Advantages of being on Graduway (Alumni platform) Around 113 students and graduates attended the Online Career Boot Camp and their overall satisfaction rate reached 97% from the conducted sessions. All students were granted community service hours and an opportunity to participate (Optionally) in an exciting competition called Connect In, the purpose of the competition is to encourage the students to create an attractive LinkedIn profile and utilize the power of a professional network to reach their dream job.
Khalifa University CMHS to Organize Summer Med-Camp 2021 to Provide Learning Opportunities for Emirati High School Students Khalifa University has announced that the College of Medicine and Health Sciences will organize the ‘Summer Med-Camp 2021’ to provide learning and growth opportunities for UAE National high school students with an interest in pursuing careers in medicine and health sciences. The week-long Khalifa University CMHS Summer Med-Camp 2021 will run from 1–5 August, targeting Emirati high school students to socially connect and get more information on medicine. The camp will include capstone projects in radiology, anatomy and genetics, during which students will engage and learn with Khalifa University faculty and medical professionals. Fun activities, quiz programs, and presentations from guest speakers are also part of the agenda. There will also be an activity focusing on Objective Structured Clinical Exams (OSCE) that is generally designed to prepare medical students for the clinical and communication aspects of becoming a doctor or a medical professional. Additionally, participants will be able to tour the state-ofthe-art facilities at Khalifa University CMHS, while taking part in health and wellness activities, presentations of projects, and awarding of the winners. Moreover, they will interact with current MD students at Khalifa University CMHS. Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, said: “The Summer Med-Camp 2021 by Khalifa University CMHS will help Emirati high school students learn many ways to competently apply professional skills and knowledge, thus providing a learning-pathway experience.
KU TIMES 60
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
CAMP INCLUDES SPECIAL ACTIVITIES AND CAPSTONE PROJECTS TO GENERATE INTEREST IN PURSUING CAREERS IN MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCES
This is part of our initiative to create an overall healthcare
as interviews, and scientific observations.”
ecosystem that inspires high school students to explore various options in the medicine and health sciences sector, and
The Khalifa University CMHS recently received approval
encourages them to develop special skills required for medical
from the UAE’s Commission for Academic Accreditation
professionals. We believe student participants will gain an
(CAA) for the implementation of the Clinical Phase of the
adequate understanding of this crucial sector.”
MD program. The milestone achievement demonstrates Khalifa University CMHS’ clinical educational experience,
Dr. John Rock, Founding Dean, Khalifa University CMHS, said:
which comprises the third and fourth years of the four-
“The Summer Med-Camp 2021 will include elements such as
year professional MD degree program.
the capstone projects that will help students improve their critical thinking capability, solve challenging issues, and develop
Since its launch, the Khalifa University CMHS has
skills such as oral communication, public speaking, research
published 45 research papers in respected international
skills, media literacy, teamwork, planning, and become results-
scientific and medical journals, covering a wide array
oriented. It will also encourage students to connect their
of biomedical topics, ranging from the Arab genome to
projects to community-specific challenges, and to integrate
diabetes, nanoparticles to cardiovascular and medical
outside-of-school learning experiences, through activities such
education. 61 KU TIMES
FROM THE NEWSROOM
Highlights of the latest important announcements, strategic initiatives, new partnerships, and VIP visits
Nearly 30 Government and Private Sector Entities Seek Talent at Khalifa University’s Virtual Internship Fair 2021
UAE’S TOP-RANKED UNIVERSITY EQUIPS STUDENTS WITH KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO LEAD UAE’S KNOWLEDGEECONOMY OF THE FUTURE
KU TIMES 62
Khalifa University announced that nearly 30 government institutions and private sector organizations participated in the virtual Internship Fair 2021 to attract and recruit qualified and talented students for internships. Students and organizations view internships as a major first step in the careers of young professionals, capable of contributing to the growth of the UAE’s knowledge economy.
FROM THE NEWSROOM
A total of 457 students attended the virtual Internship Fair
provide the participating corporate and government sector
that offered more than 120 Internship opportunities in a
entities with the talent they seek for their organizations.
wide range of industries such as healthcare, biotechnology,
Being part of Khalifa University provides the students with
clean energy, nuclear engineering, aerospace, oil and gas,
21st century knowledge and skills to prepare them for
as well as other advanced technology sectors such as
the jobs of the future. Our students are well-rounded in
robotics, artificial intelligence, supply chain logistics, and
personal and professional credentials. They are ambitious
infrastructure.
and bring fresh perspectives to help companies with innovative solutions and ideas. Our alumni have made
Some organizations that offered internships included
significant impacts in key industry sectors such as energy,
Etisalat, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), EDGE
sustainability, space and healthcare among others. We are
Group, Tawazun, du, Microsoft, GE, General Motors, PwC
confident that this new group of student interns will build
Middle East, Total, Schlumberger, Accenture, and Emirates
on that legacy by adding value to their host organizations.”
NBD Bank. Others included Schneider Electric, Lockheed Martin, Boston Consulting Group, Al Masaood Oil and Gas,
In order to foster relationship building with the industry
National Petroleum Construction Company, Strata, Noor
and maximize contribution of students and graduates
Abu Dhabi, National Marine Dredging, Det Norske Veritas
to the UAE economy and the world at large, Khalifa
(DNV) and Direct TT.
University’s Career and Alumni Services Office organizes a number of events such as the Annual Career Fair,
The virtual Internship Fair 2021 also included five
Internship Fair, Employer on-Campus Day and Majors Day.
workshops, CV clinics for 23 students, and a session on
The Career Services Office constantly works to build and
‘Build Your Network and Advance Your Career on LinkedIn’
maintain meaningful relationships with industry leaders
that received 47 participants. More than 100 students
who support Khalifa University students and graduates in
attended a session titled ‘An introduction to EDGE Group
their search for internships, job opportunities and other
and Trends that are Shaping the Workplace’.
possible types of student-company engagement.
In keeping with the prevailing extraordinary
According to the Career Services office, a significant
circumstances, students and alumni were offered a virtual
number of Khalifa University students have received
platform to interact with each organization, who had
employment, training or internship offers in the past
digital booths. Employers were able to meet students in
during such annual events. Every year, these events
virtual space via chat rooms, sometimes as groups as well
provide an opportunity for students to transition into
as in one-to-one interaction, during which interviews were
major corporate entities and government sectors as
conducted and internship details offered. Through videos
professionals. Moreover, some Khalifa University students
and digital brochures, companies provided virtual visitors
successfully secure international internship experiences
details on relevant training programs.
with multinational corporations and partners, contributing significantly while gaining exceptional practical
Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi, Senior Vice-President, Academic
experience beyond their comfort zone. Internships that
and Student Services, and Associate Professor, Khalifa
are conducted abroad, whether in-person or virtually,
University, said: “Khalifa University’s comprehensive
contribute to Khalifa University’s commitment towards
academic, research and outreach portfolios that are
internationalization and preparing the students to become
designed to equip the students with the right expertise,
global citizens.
63 KU TIMES
FROM THE NEWSROOM
UAE Chapter of IAEE Organized Webinar on Role of Hydrogen in a Global Context INTERNATIONAL ENERGY EXPERTS FROM JAPAN, SAUDI ARABIA AND UAE TO ANALYZE HYDROGEN MARKETS IN ASIA, EUROPE AND THE GCC REGION Khalifa University has announced the UAE Chapter of the International Association for Energy Economics (UAE-IAEE) will organize a webinar on the role of hydrogen in a global context to highlight the opportunities and challenges for hydrogen as a key energy sector in Asia, Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The webinar, titled ‘Hydrogen in a Global Context’, will be held on 21 April at 5pm in the UAE (9am EST), and will be moderated by Dr. Steve Griffiths, Senior Vice President for Research and Development, and Professor of Practice, Khalifa University. Panelists will include Professor Masakazu Toyoda, Chairman and CEO, The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan; Ahmad O. Al Khowaiter, Chief Technology Officer, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia; and Robin Mills, CEO, Qamar Energy, UAE. KU TIMES 64
Dr. Griffiths said: “Khalifa University is pleased to organize this webinar and highlight the immense potential for hydrogen in the local, regional and international markets. With government and private stakeholders committed to producing hydrogen through low-carbon sources, this platform will highlight some of the most recent advances in the commercial development of hydrogen as well as forward-looking challenges and opportunities.” Panelists will discuss wide-ranging issues including Japan’s hydrogen strategy and the opportunities and challenges for developing a hydrogen market from a hydrogen importer perspective, as well as Saudi Aramco’s hydrogen plans and its ambitions domestically and internationally from a hydrogen exporter perspective. Panelists will also share their perspectives on the developing hydrogen markets in Europe and the GCC region, as well as opportunities for GCC-Europe and GCC-Asia cooperation in hydrogen. As a leading research-intensive institution, Khalifa University is
already collaborating with the IEEJ and Kyushu University on concepts for the development of low-carbon hydrogen for domestic use and international export. . In addition, the Abu Dhabi Hydrogen Alliance, with stakeholders including Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), Mubadala Investment Company and the holding company ADQ, are planning to produce both green hydrogen and blue hydrogen – which is produced from natural gas – to export to emerging international markets. Aligned with this initiative, Khalifa University is currently working with ADNOC on designs for large-scale low-carbon hydrogen research to be jointly conducted in Abu Dhabi. According to estimates, the global hydrogen market could be worth as much as US$200 billion by the year 2030. Hydrogen could help countries globally achieve their ambitions to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, particularly through utilization in sectors such as chemicals, steel, refining, air travel, shipping, and heavy-duty road transport. Hydrogen use is expected to increase significantly in the near future as the world turns to cleaner sources of energy.
FROM THE NEWSROOM
Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences Receives Approval for Implementation of Clinical Phase of MD Program The Khalifa University CMHS is the first medical college in the UAE to be modeled after the American medical education system, offering a 4-year allopathic medical education program requiring a 4-year bachelor’s degree, prior to admission. With 20 academic departments, the Khalifa University CMHS, employs a variety of educational strategies, including problem-based learning and clinical experiences to enable students to gain all competencies needed for any physician. The program also prepares students for postgraduate study in any specialty, for licensure, and for future medical practice. Headed by Founding Dean Dr. John Rock, the Khalifa University CMHS is currently negotiating with several programs in Canada and the US to establish partnerships for residency training. Dr. John Rock said: “The CMHS is delighted to receive the accreditation from the CAA. Since establishment, we have published 45 research papers in respected international scientific and medical journals, covering a wide array of biomedical topics, ranging from the Arab genome to diabetes, nanoparticles to cardiovascular and medical education.” The UAE’s CAA is a recognized accrediting agency by both the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and The Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER).
Khalifa University’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) has now received approval from the UAE’s Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) for implementation of the Clinical Phase of the MD program. The CAA granted Initial Program Accreditation effective 19 December 2019. With this, Khalifa University CMHS has demonstrated that its clinical educational experience, which comprises the third and fourth years of the fouryear professional MD degree program, meets the rigorous accreditation standards of the CAA. The Khalifa University CNHS currently has a total of 60 medical students enrolled in its first two cohorts, with a third cohort matriculating in Fall 2021. The first cohort of 30 medical students began the Clinical Phase in March 2021 and will graduate in April/ May 2023. Re-accreditation will begin in December of 2024. Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, said: “The accreditation approval for the Clinical Phase of the MD Program at the Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences marks our status as a vital academic institution that contributes to strengthening the healthcare ecosystem in the UAE and the region. We believe the Khalifa University CMHS will continue to develop qualified and trained medical professionals through the MD program.”
65 KU TIMES
FROM THE NEWSROOM
Khalifa University Organizing Region’s First-Ever International Nuclear Congress ICAPP 2021 in Abu Dhabi
WORLD NUCLEAR COMMUNITY LEADERS TO REVIEW INDUSTRY’S CURRENT STATUS AND DISCUSS FUTURE DIRECTION Khalifa University has announced it will host leaders of the world nuclear community for the region’s first-ever International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (www.ICAPP2021.org) in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi to discuss the industry’s future direction. The Congress will be held from 16 – 20 October 2021 at the Khalifa University campus, and is co-sponsored by Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), the UAE Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), as well as the American, French, Korean and Japanese nuclear societies. ICAPP 2021 comes to Abu Dhabi as the first nuclear power project in the UAE and first in the Arab world – Unit 1 of Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant – has successfully begun commercial operations. ICAPP 2021 will provide a forum for leaders of the nuclear community to exchange information, present results from their work, review the status of the industry and discuss future directions and needs for the deployment of new nuclear power plant systems around the world. ICAAP 2021 proceedings will draw to a close with an ‘elevator pitch’ competition for students. Khalifa University continues to lead in developing and contributing human capital to UAE’s strategic sectors, including the nuclear industry. The university has so far graduated and trained over 380 Emirati and international nuclear engineering professionals, whose expertise, along with global experts, is set to become a game-changer in the country’s energy sector. KU TIMES 66
Khalifa University Ranks 183rd in 2022 QS World University Rankings Khalifa University of Science and Technology today announced that it has reached the 183rd place at the level of world universities for the first time in the history of the country, according to the 2022 QS World University Rankings, one of the world’s most widely used basis for comparing universities across the globe, in terms of the level of education and the quality of research output, and scientific and professional capabilities of graduates. With this, Khalifa University has become the first and only university from the UAE to be placed among the top 200 universities in the world.
FROM THE NEWSROOM
His Highness Sheikh Hamed emphasized the important His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and Chairman of Khalifa University Board of Trustees, said that Khalifa University’s latest milestone, to be ranked among the best 200 universities worldwide, is a global achievement and confirms the university’s continuing commitment to academic, research and scientific excellence in line with the UAE leadership’s vision and unlimited support. role Khalifa University plays in accelerating the UAE’s knowledge economy transformation by developing national cadres who are capable of leading the next stage of growth in vital sectors including science, technology, medicine and engineering, as they are the real valuable intellectual and human capital to the UAE. His Highness Sheikh Hamed added that Khalifa University’s ranking in the 2022 QS World University is also a reflection of the efforts made by the University’s world-class faculty, who inspire and guide talented students to contribute to the innovation process in scientific research and discovery, and pursue innovative research with real-world applications for the benefit of the country. Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President in Khalifa University, said: “We are proud of this new achievement and significant milestone in Khalifa University’s journey, especially because that university was ranked only five years ago within
the 451-460 range. Today, Khalifa University is the first from the UAE to be placed among the top 200 universities in the world. Khalifa University proved to be the fastest growing university under 50 globally. These achievements came as a result of support from the UAE’s wise leadership, who invest in the youth, as well as because of the efforts made by our distinguished faculty and researchers, who guide our students in academic and research excellence in multiple fields.” This ranking is the latest recognition that Khalifa University is successfully pursuing its founding mission to become a global leader among research-intensive universities of the 21st century that produces world-class research with local relevance and international impact. Khalifa University was ranked ‘very high’ in the ‘Research output’ category in the QS World University Rankings, which this year features 1,300 of the most prestigious universities in the world. The QS World University Rankings assess each academic institution on six metrics, including its reputation amongst academics and employers. The criteria include Academic Reputation (40%), Employer Reputation (10%), Faculty/ Student Ratio (20%), Citations per faculty (20%), and International faculty ratio/International student ratio (5% each).
67 KU TIMES
FROM THE NEWSROOM
Khalifa University Student Team Wins Top Spot in Verbal Presentation at 2021 SAE Collegiate Design Series Supermileage Competition
Khalifa University announced that a 21-member student team led by Sultan Al Hassanieh has won the top spot in verbal presentation for the first time during the Knowledge Event at the 42nd Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Collegiate Design Series Supermileage Competition for 2021. The team also retained 6th spot overall in the Design Event, the same position it won last year in Michigan, US. The verbal design report demonstrates the Khalifa University team’s understanding and application of the engineering principles that support their design of the one-person, singlecylinder engine vehicle, capable of achieving fantastic fuel economy during a 6-lap attempt around an approximately 1.6-mile-long, banked, oval track.
KU TIMES 68
FROM THE NEWSROOM
Since the traditional validation event at the 42nd SAE Collegiate Design Series Supermileage Competition was cancelled due to the pandemic this year, the organizers opted to score teams based on two major criteria – the submitted design report that details the design and fabrication of the vehicle, and a verbal presentation on Zoom in which team members present their design process and final outcome to a panel of judges. The student team was then critically questioned, and the Khalifa University students proved their mettle to reach the top spot. They were also assessed on team participation, program knowledge and technical knowledge. Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University, said: “Our faculty members and the students have once again demonstrated that Khalifa University remains the top-ranked, globally-acknowledged academic institution with unparalleled expertise. Winning an international competition of this stature not only brings honor to the university but also to the UAE. Congratulations to the student team and the faculty members who guided them through training and support.” The Khalifa University team achieved this remarkable feat even though it entirely consisted of only first-time participants, demonstrating the world-class faculty’s role in imparting knowledge, as well as the talented students’ capability in designing and presenting the project to the international judges. Also for the first time, this year’s team comprised students from all majors.
Dr. Bashar Khasawneh, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Reyad El-Khazali, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, advised the students on the project. In line with the healthcare protocols being implemented on campus at Khalifa University, team members were allowed to visit the campus and work on fabricating parts of the vehicle that they are responsible for, while complying with all necessary safety precautions. Team members used online video communications applications to ensure safety while discussing the general concept of the design, which was then developed into working theoretical models of the vehicle's subsystems. Dr. Khasawneh said: “Though the student team leaders were initially worried that the majority of the work would be held online, they achieved the top position because of team skills. What made the Khalifa University Supermileage team one of the best in the world was how every member ensured to constantly support and motivate each other, creating an inherently supportive atmosphere.” The SAE Collegiate Design Series Supermileage Competition challenges students to design and construct a single-person, fuel efficient vehicle that will run a specified course to obtain the highest combined km/L (mpg) rating. Teams generally spend 8-12 months designing, building, and preparing their vehicles for competition. 69 KU TIMES
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Prolific Professors
To view the link to the published article,
PLEASE CLICK HERE
Title
Low Carbon Energy in the Middle East and North Africa
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
KU Author
Li-Chen Sim, Assistant Professor of Humanities & Social Sciences
Title
Terahertz (THz), Mid Infrared (MIR) and Near Infrared (NIR) Technologies for Protection of Critical Infrastructures Against Explosives and CBRN
Publisher
Springer
KU Author
Dr. Mauro Fernandes Pereira, Professor of Physics
KU TIMES TIMES 70 70 KU
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Prolific Professors
Title
Intravital Imaging of Real-time Endogenous Actin Dysregulation in Proximal and Distal Tubules at the Onset of Severe Ischemia-reperfusion Injury
Journal
Scientific Reports
KU Author
Dr. Peter Corridon, Assistant Professor of Physiology and Immunology; Dr. Ali Kharaibi, Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology & Physiology; Anousha Khan, Chemical Engineering Student; Mohamed Alhashmi, College of Medicine and Health Sciences Student
Title
A Population-Specific Major Allele Reference Genome From The United Arab Emirates Population
Journal
Frontiers in Genetics
KU Author Dr. Gihan Daw Elbait, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Biotechnology; Dr. Andreas Henschel, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and BTC Faculty; Dr. Guan K. Tay, Center for Biotechnology Consultant; and Dr. Habiba Al Safar, Director of the Khalifa University Center for Biotechnology and Associate Professor of Genetics and Molecular Biology
Title
Estimating, Monitoring, and Forecasting the Covid-19 Epidemics: A Spatio-Temporal Approach Applied to NYC Data
Journal
Scientific Reports
KU Author Dr. Jorge P. Zubelli, Professor and Chair of the Mathematics Department
Title
Electrostatic Wave Breaking Limit in a Cold Electronegative Plasma with Non-Maxwellian Electrons
Journal
Scientific Reports
KU Author Dr. Ioannis Kourakis, Associate Professor of Mathematics
71 KU KU TIMES TIMES 71
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
Views of Community Pharmacists on Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Stewardship in Jordan: A Qualitative Study
Journal
Antibiotics
KU Author Dr. Eman Alefishat, Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Title
Atmospheric Extremes Caused High Oceanward Sea Surface Slope Triggering the Biggest Calving Event in More Than 50 Years at the Amery Ice Shelf
Journal
The Cryosphere
KU Author Dr. Diana Francis, Senior Research Scientist and Head of the ENGEOS Lab
Title
Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Reliability, and Validity of a Brazilian of Short Version of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale
Journal
Frontiers in Psychology
KU Author Dr. Ovidiu Constantin Baltatu, Professor of Pharmacology
Title
Combined Structural and Voltage Control of Giant Nonlinearities in Semiconductor Superlattices
Journal
Nanomaterials
KU Author Dr. Mauro Fernandes Pereira, Professor of Physics
Title
An Increased Posterior Slope of the Medial and Lateral Meniscus Posterior Horn is Associated With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries
Journal
Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery
KU Author Dr. Natalie Keough, Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology
KU TIMES 72
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
A Generalized Method for High Speed Fluorination of Metal Oxides by Spark Plasma Sintering Yields Ta3O7F and TaO2F with High Photocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Evolution from Water
Journal
Advanced Materials
KU Author Ahsan Ul Haq Qurashi, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Title
Formation of Noncovalent Complexes between Complex Mixtures of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Asphaltenes) and Substituted Aromatics Studied by Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Journal
Energy & Fuels
KU Author Dr. Sharmarke Mohamed, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Title
Detection and Removal of Waterborne Enteric Viruses from Wastewater: A Comprehensive Review
Journal
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering
KU Author Yazan Ibrahim, Center for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology (CMAT) Research Associate; Mariam Ouda, CMAT Research Engineer; Dana Kadadou, Chemical Engineering Graduate Student; Dr. Fawzi Banat, Professor and Chemical Engineering Department Chair; Dr. Habiba Alsafar, Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Associate Professor of Genetics and Molecular Biology; Dr. Ahmed Yousef, Assistant Professor of Chemistry; and Dr. Shadi Hasan, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Title
COVID-19 Disease Severity and Death in Relation to Vitamin D Status among SARS-CoV-2-Positive UAE Residents
Journal
Nutrients
KU Author Dr. Habiba Al Safar, Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Associate Professor of Genetics and Molecular Biology and Dr. Guan Tay, Consultant for the Center for Biotechnology
Title
To See or Not to See in Telemedicine? A Cross-Sectional Study on Physicians' Attitude Toward Video and Audio Consultation During The COVID-19 Times
Journal
Journal of Medical Internet Research
KU Author Dr. Noora AlHajri, Epidemiology and Population Health Instructor; Mohamed Alhashmi, College of Medicine and Health Sciences Student; and Dr. Ovidiu Baltatu, Professor of Pharmacology
73 KU TIMES
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
Sex Differences in the Antihypertensive Treatment and Risk of Uncontrolled Hypertension in 5308 Hypertensive Patients in the United Arab Emirates
Journal
Blood Pressure Monitoring
KU Author Dr. Noora AlHajri, Epidemiology and Population Health Instructor
Title
Evolution, Ecology, and Zoonotic Transmission of Betacoronaviruses: A Review
Journal
Frontiers in Veterinary Science
KU Author Dr. Herbert F. Jelinek, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Dr. Eman Alefishat, Associate Professor of Pharmacology; Dr. Wael Osman, Assistant Professor of Chemistry; Dr. Samuel Feng, Assistant Professor of Mathematics; Dr. Guan Tay, Consultant for the Center for Biotechnology; and Dr. Habiba Al Safar, Director of the Khalifa University Center for Biotechnology and Associate Professor of Genetics and Molecular Biology
Title
Hydraulic Fracturing Design Considerations and Optimal Usage of Water Resources for Middle Eastern Tight Gas Reservoirs
Journal
ACS Omega
KU Author Abhijith Suboyin, Petroleum Engineering Research Associate; Dr. MD Motiur Rahman, Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering; and Dr. Mohamed Haroun, Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering
Title
Local and Global Existence of Mild Solutions of Time-Fractional Navier–Stokes System Posed on the Heisenberg Group
Journal
Zeitschrift fur Angewandte Mathematik und Physik
KU Author Dr. Mokhtar Kirane, Professor of Mathematics
Title
On the Sub–Diffusion Fractional Initial Value Problem with Time Variable Order
Journal
Advances in Nonlinear Analysis
KU Author Dr. Mokhtar Kirane, Professor of Mathematics
KU TIMES 74
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
New Extraction of the Re+e− Elastic Scattering Cross-Section Ratio Based on a Simplified Phenomenological Hard TwoPhoton-Exchange Correction Approach
Journal
Physical Review C
KU Author Dr. Issam Qattan, Associate Professor of Physics
Title
Synthesis of Optically Tunable and Thermally Stable PMMA–PVA/CuO NPs Hybrid Nanocomposite Thin Films
Journal
Polymers
KU Author Dr. Issam Qattan, Associate Professor of Physics
Title
Intermittent Use of Biologic Agents for the Treatment of Psoriasis in Adults
Journal
Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
KU Author Dr. Zbigniew Ruszczak, Adjunct Clinical Professor, College of Medicine and Health Sciences
Title
Robust Structural Low-Rank Tracking
Journal
IEEE Transactions on Image Processing
KU Author Dr. Sajid Javed, Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems Postdoctoral Fellow; Dr. Jorge Dias, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Dr. Naoufel Werghi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Title
Multiplex Cellular Communities in Multi-Gigapixel Colorectal Cancer Histology Images for Tissue Phenotyping
Journal
IEEE Transactions on Image Processing
KU Author Dr. Sajid Javed, Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems Postdoctoral Fellow and Dr. Naoufel Werghi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
75 KU TIMES
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
Cellular Community Detection for Tissue Phenotyping in Colorectal Cancer Histology Images
Journal
Medical Image Analysis
KU Author Dr. Sajid Javed, Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems Postdoctoral Fellow
Title
Graph Moving Object Segmentation
Journal
IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence
KU Author Dr. Sajid Javed, Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems Postdoctoral Fellow
Title
Spatially Constrained Context-Aware Hierarchical Deep Correlation Filters for Nucleus Detection in Histology Images
Journal
Medical Image Analysis
KU Author Dr. Sajid Javed, Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems Postdoctoral Fellow and Dr. Naoufel Werghi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Title
Hierarchical Spatiotemporal Graph Regularized Discriminative Correlation Filters for Visual Object Tracking (Accepted)
Journal
IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics
KU Author Dr. Sajid Javed, Center for Autonomous Robotic Systems Postdoctoral Fellow; Dr. Jorge Dias, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; and Dr. Naoufel Werghi, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Title
“Can we take a picture with you?” The Realization of the Refusal Speech Act with Tourists by Emirati Speakers
Journal
Russian Journal of Linguistics
KU Author Dr. Tanju Deveci, Associate Professor of English and Dr. Jessica Midraj, Assistant Professor of English
KU TIMES 76
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
Convalescent Plasma Transfusion for the Treatment of COVID-19 in Adults: A Global Perspective
Journal
Viruses
KU Author Dr. Saly El Kanj, Academic Affairs Community Coordinator and Dr. Basem Al-Omari, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health
Title
Atmospheric Extremes Caused High Oceanward Sea Surface Slope Triggering the Biggest Calving Event in More than 50 years at the Amery Ice Shelf
Journal
The Cryosphere
KU Author Dr. Diana Francis, Senior Research Scientist and Head of the ENGEOS Lab
Title
Characteristics of Atmospheric Aerosols Over the UAE Inferred from CALIPSO and Sun Photometer Aerosol Optical Depth
Journal
Earth and Space Science
KU Author Dr. Narendra Nelli, ENGEOS Postdoctoral Fellow; Dr. Diana Francis, Senior Research Scientist and Head of the ENGEOS Lab; Dr. Ricardo Fonseca, ENGEOS Lab Research Scientist; Michael Weston, ENGEOS Lab Research Engineer; Dr. Rachid Abida, ENGEOS Lab Research Scientist; Dr. Oleksandr Nesterov, ENGEOS Lab Postdoctoral Fellow
Title
Photoassociation of Ultracold Long-Range Polyatomic Molecules
Journal
Physical Review Research
KU Author Dr. Marko Gacesa, Assistant Professor of Physics
Title
Plumbing the Depths of the Graphene Wetting Controversy
Journal
Chem
KU Author Dr. Matteo Chiesa, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
77 KU TIMES
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
Frontiers and Challenges in Electrochemical Corrosion Monitoring; Surface and Downhole Applications
Journal
Sensors
KU Author
Dr. Ahsan Ul Haq Qurashi, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Title
Recent Trends in Environmentally benign Sweet Corrosion Inhibitors: A Critical Review
Journal
Journal of Molecular Liquids
KU Author Dr. Ahsan Ul Haq Qurashi, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Title
Efficient Catalyst Development for Deep Aerobic Photocatalytic Oxidative Desulfurization: Recent Advances, Confines, and Outlooks
Journal
Catalysis Reviews
KU Author Dr. Ahsan Ul Haq Qurashi, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Title
Photocatalytic Degradation of Ethiofencarb by a Visible Light-Driven SnIn 4 S 8 Photocatalyst
Journal
Nanomaterials
KU Author Dr. Janah Shaya, Senior Instructor, Pre-Medicine Bridge Program and Dr. Kyriaki Polychronopoulou, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center of Catalysis and Separation
Title
Plumbing the Depths of the Graphene Wetting Controversy
Journal
Chem
KU Author
Dr. Matteo Chiesa, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
KU TIMES 78
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
Investigating the Ubiquitous Presence of Nanometric Water Films on Surfaces
Journal
Journal of Physical Chemistry C
KU Author Dr. Matteo Chiesa, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Title
Mechanosynthesis of Higher-Order Cocrystals: Tuning Order, Functionality and Size in Cocrystal Design
Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
KU Author Dr. Sharmarke Mohamed, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Title
Crystal Engineering of Binary Organic Eutectics: Significant Improvement in the Physicochemical Properties of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons via the Computational and Mechanochemical Discovery of Composite Materials
Journal
Crystal Growth & Design
KU Author Dr. Bhausaheb Dhokale, Postdoctoral Fellow of Chemistry; Abeer F. Shunnar, Lab Specialist, Department of Chemistry; Dr. Hector Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering; and Dr. Sharmarke Mohamed, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Title
Upscaling Strategy to Simulate Permeability in a Carbonate Sample Using Machine Learning and 3D Printing
Journal
IEEE Access
KU Author Dr. Mohamed Soufiane Jouini, Associate Professor of Mathematics; Dr. Moussa Tembely, Petroleum Engineering Postdoctoral Fellow; Ezdeen Raed Ibrahim, Petroleum Geosciences Graduate Student
Title
Impact of PEGDA Photopolymerization in Micro-Stereolithography on 3D Printed Hydrogel Structure and Swelling
Journal
Soft Matter
KU Author Afra S. Alketbi, Research Lab Support Officer; Dr. Hongxia Li, Mechanical Engineering Postdoctoral Fellow; and Dr. Tiejung Zhang, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
79 KU TIMES
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
Title
The Humeral Head: A Review of the Blood Supply and Possible Link to Osteonecrosis Following Rotator Cuff Repair
Journal
Journal of Anatomy
KU Author
Dr. Natalie Keough, Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Dr. Dietrich Lorke, Professor and Chair of the Anatomy and Cellular Biology Department
Title
Multiomic Analysis of the Arabian Camel (Camelus Dromedarius) Kidney Reveals a Role for Cholesterol in Water Conservation
Journal
Communications Biology
KU Author
Dr. Abdu Adem, Professor of Pharmacology
KU TIMES 80
PUBLISHED BOOKS & PAPERS
81 KU TIMES
College of Arts & Science College of Arts & Science
LEADER IN LEADER IN RESEARCH RESEARCH
College of Medicine & Health CollegeScience of Medicine & Health Science
The highly-ranked Khalifa University offers fully accredited degrees to all nationalities through its 3 academic colleges, 13 bachelor’s, 16 master’s and 2 PhD programs, offering plenty of opportunities for students to explore theirdegrees intereststoand learn from The highly-ranked Khalifa University offers fully accredited all nationalities award-winning teachers. through its 3 academic colleges, 13 bachelor’s, 16 master’s and 2 PhD programs, offering plenty of opportunities for students to explore their interests and learn from As Abu Dhabi’s research-intensive university, Khalifa University gives students a award-winning teachers. chance to study in-depth with expert faculty and researchers on the leading-edge of discovery in science, engineering, and medicine to solve real-world problems. As Abu Dhabi’s research-intensive university, Khalifa University gives students Our a students develop cleaner energy,faculty find new to produce sustainably,of chance tohelp study in-depth with expert andways researchers on water the leading-edge create smarter diagnostic tools, and better waysreal-world to use AI to make data discovery in science, engineering, anddiscover medicine to solve problems. Our insightful. students help develop cleaner energy, find new ways to produce water sustainably, create smarter diagnostic tools, and discover better ways to use AI to make data Study beside our award-winning faculty and help deliver real solutions, transform insightful. lives, and change the world. Study beside our award-winning faculty and help deliver real solutions, transform lives, and change the world.
Facebook: Khalifa University
Twitter: @KhalifaUni
Instagram: @khalifa_university
Facebook: Khalifa University
Twitter: @KhalifaUni
Instagram: @khalifa_university
KU TIMES 82
College of Engineering College of Engineering