January 14|25 2018
The future of blurred boundaries between humans and machines is a recurrent theme in science fiction. This future is today.
Join us for two weeks of discussions, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and cultural and recreational events that will inspire our shared vision for a brighter, human-machine future.
Is the future human?
Sensors monitor our state, health and behavior, relaying this data to configure a digital signature that is as much part of us as our biometric traits. Fed at petabyte levels, our digital signatures allow increasingly powerful machine learning algorithms to learn from the continuous data streams we generate and anticipate our needs and behaviors as consumers.
Machine learning algorithms can increasingly mimic the function of our brain and will soon establish a direct interface that allows for the seamless control of robots. Robots are endowed with powerful sensorial capacities in order to interact with other humans, as well as their robotic avatars, through virtual networks that may eventually replace much of our human-to-human interactions.
While this human-machine future offers to bring about unlimited potential, it also creates risks—of losing our privacy and the social traits inherent to our human nature. We live in a world where machines are increasingly embedded in our everyday lives. Machines shape our individual identities, social interactions, and society as a whole. During the 2018 Winter Enrichment Program (WEP), we invite you to immerse yourself in a diverse and stimulating program, touching on the opportunities and risks of a future where the boundaries between machines and humans will become even more diffuse.
Present your best research during this year’s WEP KAUST Poster Competition. *This event is open to graduate students and postdocs. Interested in sharing your research with the grea ... more
Cornell Entrepreneurship 11/14
Location: Building 19, Level 3, Conference Hall 1 & 2
KAUST Cornell Entrepreneurship Program KAUST is pleased to announce a partnership with Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management to offer a certificate program in entrepreneurship. Thi ... more
Make. Working with CNC Machines 1
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
At the heart of modern machine automation Computer Numerical Control (CNC), the execution of pre-programmed sequences of machine control commands, is the technology at the heart of modern machine aut ... more
Visualizing the Human Machine Future Exhibition - JAN 21
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
About this Exhibition This exhibition will focus on visualization from the viewer’s perspective and will showcase photographs and scientific illustrations. It will be dispalyed from& ... more
Knowing How to See Exhibition - JAN 21
Location: Al-Khawarizmi East (Bldg. 1), Entrance Hall
Photography is a Bridge Between Art and Mathematics The starting point of this exhibition is to translate the language and the insights of mathematics into photographic images and vice versa. ... more
KAUST is excited to present its annual International poster competition. Everyone is welcome to attend the exhibit as undergraduate students from around the world present their best research in a post ... more
Facebook On-Air Interview with Leslie Dewan
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
The KAUST Facebook On-Air Series with Leslie Dewan *Speaker to be confirmed Dr. Leslie Dewan wants to save the world with nuclear power using new, innovative nuclear technology. This #womaninsc ... more
Human Machine Past in the House of Wisdom
Location: Bldg. 9 Lecture Hall 2322 ≤ 154
Human Machine Past in the House of Wisdom: Learning for the Future A thousand years ago during Islamic civilisation, creative engineers imagined machines that both assisted and entertained ... more
VR Lounge is Saudi Arabia’s first virtual reality (VR) gaming hub and lounge. What is VR? Well it’s rather quite simple; it’s a simulated environment in which a user is immersed thro ... more
Interactive Virtual Reality Art Exhibit: Google Tilt Brush - JAN 21
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
Paint Inside a Virtual World with Google Tilt Brush Virtual reality is at the frontier of novel human machine interfaces. At this interactive exhibit you can paint inside a virtual world. By e ... more
Tilt Brush Instructor Workshop JAN 21
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
Paint Inside a Virtual World with Google Tilt Brush Virtual reality is at the frontier of novel human machine interfaces. At this interactive exhibit you can paint inside a virtual world. By e ... more
Save the World with Nuclear Power
Location: Bldg. 20 Auditorium
Save the World with Nuclear Power The world needs a cheap, carbon-free alternative to fossil fuels to feed its growing electricity demand. Nuclear power can be a good solution to the problem, ... more
The Iris Project Presentation
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
The Iris Project, a contemporary variant of a humanistic photography The Iris highlights the infinite beauty and diversity of people all around the world, as a human prism. Two ph ... more
Make Your Stuff Talk: Workshop & Hackathon 4/5
Location: University Library, Level 3, Computer Lab 3134 ≤ 33
Workshop & Hackathon The modern interface between humans and machines is rapidly changing with new developments such as voice control, conversational user interfaces, as well as networked haptic ... more
Measuring Online Behavioural Advertising
Location: Bldg. 9 Lecture Hall 2322 ≤ 154
Measuring Online Behavioural Advertising: The Tale of the Data Transparency Lab and Other Adventure In simple terms, behavioural targeting is segmentation based on customer behaviours. It provides th ... more
Cornell Entrepreneurship 12/14
Location: Building 19, Level 3, Conference Hall 1 & 2
KAUST Cornell Entrepreneurship Program KAUST is pleased to announce a partnership with Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management to offer a certificate program in entrepreneurship. Thi ... more
The Iris Project - JAN 21
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
The Iris Project, a contemporary variant of a humanistic photography The Iris highlights the infinite beauty and diversity of people all around the world, as a human prism. Two ph ... more
Facebook On-Air Interview with James Lyne
Location: WEP HUB (University Library)
The KAUST Facebook On-Air Series with James Lyne *Speaker to be confirmed James Lyne is currently Global Head of Security Research at Sophos. Facebook On-Air consists of a 20 minute live inter ... more
Golden Ratio and Art / M x M x M
Location: Bldg. 20 Auditorium
About this Lecture M x M x M- Music x Mathematics x Paintings: From Bach and Beethoven to the Golden Ratio and Fibonacci numbers visualized by contemporary Art M x M x M = Music x Mathematics x ... more
New insights to the fast paced world of hacking and cyber security James Lyne will deliver an accessible and lively keynote lecture reviewing the latest trends in cyber security. Learn what new ... more
About this event - four mandatory sessions plus a perfomance: This course will train a Festival Chorus for a short, on-campus performance during WEP 2018. The Festival Chorus will be prepared i ... more
About this Movie * This movie projection is offered exclusively to KAUST community members and is rated PG-13. A woman lands a dream job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, only to uncover ... more
