Speakers

Ahmed M. Eltawil is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Principal Investigator of the Communication and Computing Systems Lab (CCSL) at KAUST. His research focus lies in the area of efficient architectures for mobile computing and communications systems. His research philosophy is to employ a multidisciplinary approach to the design and development of mobile systems spanning algorithm, architecture and implementation.

Abdulaziz Y. Murtada 

Enrichment Program Manager

Office of Cultural, Enrichment and Engagement

Abdulhakim Qahtan is an assistant professor at the Data Intensive Systems (DIS) Group, Information and Computing Sciences Department. Before joining Utrecht University, he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar (2016-2019).

Dr. Qahtan earned his PhD degree from the Machine Intelligence & kNowledge Engineering (MINE) Lab at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) (2016). He completed his B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science at Cairo University, Egypt and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia, respectively. He worked as a teaching assistant at Taiz University, Yemen and a lecturer at KFUPM, Saudi Arabia.

His current research focuses on data cleaning, data stream mining, time series analysis, algorithmic fairness and explainable machine learning.

Dr. Abdulwahab A. Al-Ghamdi started his career with Saudi Aramco in 2001 where he completed several assignments in different organizations within EXPEC ARC include Advanced Technical Services Division (ATSD), Production Technology Division (PTD), and Strategic Technology Analysis Division (STAD) as well as Gas Reservoir Management Division (GRMD). He is currently heading KAUST Upstream Research Center. Al-Ghamdi has a Bachelor’s Chemical Engineering degree from KFUPM with honors. A M.Sc. and PhD degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University. A M.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University, with a graduate certificate in business from Mays business school at Texas A&M University. Abdulwahab published several technical and journal papers, and led the successful implementation of many analytical tools and business solution to manage organizational performance and strategy framework. Abdulwahab received a number of international honors and recognitions including the “2011 SPE Young Professional Paper Contest” in Denver for the best paper written by a Young Professional in the Well Stimulation discipline, the regional “2012 Oil & Gas awards for Young Engineer of the year”, recipient of the “2012 SPE Regional Outstanding Young Member Award”, and lead his team to win the SPE prestigious International award “The Outstanding Section Young Professionals Committee Award”, San Antonio 2012.

Dr Atif Shamim received his M.A.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering at Carleton University, Canada in 2004 and 2009 respectively. He was a NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Graduate scholar at Carleton University from 2007 till 2009 and  NSERC postdoctoral Fellow in 2009-2010 at Royal Military College Canada and KAUST. In August 2010, he joined the Electrical Engineering Program at KAUST, where he is currently an Associate Professor and principal investigator of IMPACT Lab.

Professor Shamim's research is focused on applications like personal area network, automotive radars, wearable and implantable wireless sensors, wireless powering and renewable energy.

KAUST Alumna Aubrie O’Rourke (PhD '15) performs both fundamental and application-based science at NASA as a member of Kennedy’s Space Crop Production team. She carries out her own research, and she supports other principal investigators working on experiments being launched to the International Space Station.

O’Rourke also leads a Polaris Project, funded by NASA’s Mars Campaign Office, that supports in-flight research conducted in the lab. The mission: to build and deploy an automated genomic sequencer that will allow NASA to monitor microbes that are important for water and food systems off planet. This innovative device will study a microbe living on the space station and determine how the environment of space affects its genome.

 O’Rourke grew up outside of Yosemite National Park in California’s Central Valley, as a lover of art, nature, and of course – science. After earning a bachelor’s degree in general biology from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and a master’s degree in quantitative and systems biology from the University of California, Merced, she ventured off the mainland to Hawaii for a year to fly small aircraft, a skill she had begun learning in her home state.

She then went to Saudi Arabia to earn a doctorate in marine biology at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Her Saudi Arabian experience included founding a horse-riding club titled “Kingdom Equestrians” for her university. There, O’Rourke taught women, children, and men to ride horses, promoting community service and fitness.

O’Rourke returned to California to work as a scientist researching infectious disease-causing bacteria while concurrently teaching microbiology at UCSD and general biology at Mesa Community College. While working at the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, California, she submitted a postdoctoral fellowship proposal, which was selected by NASA. That launched her Kennedy career in June 2020.

Ayad (Ed) Sleiman is the Head of Special Projects and former Head of Information Security at
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) with previous responsibility for
managing the university and city cybersecurity function as well as capacity building with focus on
diversity and inclusion in Cybersecurity. He has over 38 years of experience in the IT industry.
Prior to joining KAUST, Ed worked in security program management, executive management, and
deployment of country-scale security management systems at several companies, including Science
Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Informobiliy, Inc., The Orkand Corporation, and
CACI among others. Notable is his almost a decade as the Chief Information Security Officer of
KAUST.
He’s a frequent keynote speaker, panel moderator, panelist, and/or review board member at
numerous cybersecurity and risk management conferences and his claim to fame is The Human
Firewall Program™. In addition, he serves as an advisory board member for world leading
cybersecurity companies. He was recently honored with the “CISO of the Year Award” for his
contributions to the Cybersecurity field.
Ed received various degrees, the last out of which is a PhD ABD in Software Engineering from the
George Washington University in 2014. He is the recipient of 5 CISO awards and holds more
than a dozen professional certifications in the field.

Azhar Mashat is the General Administrator of Thya Technology. She received her bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management at King Abdulaziz university. Then, she completed her master degree in International Business at the University of Southampton. Prior to joining the Thya Technology team in August 2022, she worked at the startup company Scimagine for 4 years. Most of her career experience was involving HR management, accounting, taxes and dealing with different government institutions for legal business purposes. In addition to be a vital member of Thya Technology, she is spending some of her time in her family bakery as well as giving yoga classes.

Balachander Krishnamurthy is a lead inventive scientist at AT&T Labs--Research. He is one of 66 AT&T Technical Fellows in the company's 146 year history -- the highest honor given by the company to their technical employees. His focus of research is in the areas of fairness in Machine Learning, AI Governance, Internet privacy, and Internet measurements. He has authored and edited ten books, published over one hundred and thirty technical papers, holds eighty five patents, and has given invited talks in thirty five countries. He co-founded the successful ACM Internet Measurement Conference in 2000 and the Conference on Online Social Networks. He has been on the thesis committee of several PhD students, collaborated with over eighty researchers worldwide, and given tutorials at several industrial sites and conferences. His book "Internet Measurements: Infrastructure, Traffic and Applications" (525pp, Wiley, with Mark Crovella) is the first book focusing on Internet Measurement. His previous book with Jen Rexford, 'Web Protocols and Practice: HTTP/1.1, Networking Protocols, Caching, and Traffic Measurement' (672 pp, Addison-Wesley), is the first in-depth book on the technology underlying the World Wide Web, and has been translated into Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, and Chinese.

Basel Al-Naffouri, who hails from Saudi Arabia, has graduated from MIT with B.S. and M.S degrees in EECS. He currently is a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Google. Basel is an instructor at BATS Improv with over 15 years of experience studying, performing and teaching improvised acting. He currently performs with BATS Improv and Secret Improv Society. He has lead workouts with KAUST, BATS Improv School, Google, Aswat, Dubai improv festival, and Laban in Beirut, Lebanon.

Basel Al-Naffouri, who hails from Saudi Arabia, graduated from MIT with B.S. and M.S degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. He is currently a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Google.

Basel is a Company member at BATS Improv with over 17 years of experience studying, performing and teaching improvised acting. He currently performs with BATS Improv and Secret Improv Society. He has lead workouts with KAUST, BATS Improv School, Google, Aswat, Dubai Improv Festival, and Laban in Beirut, Lebanon.

Belal Ehsan Baaquie is an advisor to Helixtap Technologies, Singapore. He was a Professor of Physics at the National University of Singapore (1984-2016) and a Professor of Finance at INCEIF University, Malaysia (2016-2021). Belal Ehsan Baaquie has been trained as a theoretical physicist at Caltech (BS) and Cornell University (PhD), specializing in quantum field theory. He has pioneered the application of quantum mathematics to economics and finance and has written many books and research papers on quantum physics, finance, economics, and mathematics. He has also written books on science and physics for undergraduates. His latest book, published in 2023, is on quantum computers.

An architect and engineer by training, Professor Carlo Ratti teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he directs the Senseable City Lab, and is a founding partner of the international design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati. He graduated from the Politecnico di Torino and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, and later earned his MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK. A leading voice in the debate on new technologies' impact on urban life and design, Carlo has co-authored over 500 publications, including "The City of Tomorrow" (Yale University Press, with Matthew Claudel), and holds several technical patents. His articles and interviews have appeared on international media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Scientific American, BBC, Project Syndicate, Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 Ore, Domus. His work has been exhibited worldwide at venues such as the Venice Biennale, the Design Museum Barcelona, the Science Museum in London, MAXXI in Rome, and MoMA in New York City.

PhD, Regional Manager Middle East @ PASQAL

Prof. Cheng-Wei Qiu is appointed IEEE Photonics Society Distinguished Lecturer 2024. He is Fellow of APS, Optica, SPIE and The Electromagnetics Academy, US. He was the recipient of President’s Science Award 2023, the highest science accolade in Singapore. He was elected Fellow of ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology. He is well known for his research in structured light and interfaces. He has published over 480 peer-reviewed journal papers. He was the recipient of URSI Young Scientist Award in 2008, NUS Young Investigator Award in 2011, MIT TR35@Singapore Award in 2012, Young Scientist Award by Singapore National Academy of Science in 2013, Faculty Young Research Award in NUS 2013, SPIE Rising Researcher Award 2018, and Engineering Researcher Award 2021 in NUS, and World Scientific Medal 2021 by Institute of Physics, Singapore, Achievement in Asia Award (Robert T. Poe Prize) by International Organization of Chinese Physicists and Astronomers in 2022. He was Highly Cited Researchers in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 by Web of Science. He has been serving in Associate Editor for various journals such as JOSA B, PhotoniX, Photonics Research, and Editor-in-Chief for eLight. He also serves in Editorial Advisory Board for Laser and Photonics Review, Advanced Optical Materials, and ACS Photonics.

I am an Instructional Assistant Professor in CEMSE at KAUST, and an experienced research software engineer and data scientist. I am also currently directing the SDAIA-KAUST Center of Excellence in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA-KAUST AI) where I work to match applied AI problems of interest to SDAIA with AI solutions developed at KAUST. I have a deep knowledge of the core data science Python stack: NumPy, SciPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, NetworkX, Jupyter, Scikit-Learn, PyTorch

Ehsan Hoque is the Chief Scientist of the National Center for AI in Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), where he leads the research and development in AI. Dr. Hoque earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his dissertation of 'using computers to help with conversations' was highlighted by the MIT Museum as one of MIT's most unconventional inventions. Microsoft is currently using his patent to introduce "presenter coach" in Microsoft PowerPoint. His ideas and impact of developing health interventions have been recognized through MIT Technology Review Top Innovators Under 35 Award in 2016. In 2017, Science News named him one of the one of ten early- to mid-career scientists to watch, and in 2018, he received the Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (ECASE)-the highest honor bestowed by the US Army Research Office for young scientists and engineers. In 2020, Dr. Hoque was named an emerging leader in health and medicine by the US National Academy of Medicine. He is currently a board of the Health Sciences Policy of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Hoque is a Distinguished Member of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)-the world's largest computing society, and a senior member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI)-the largest scientific society for AI.

Dr. Franco Molteni was born in Cantù, Italy, and earned his medical degree in 1981 from the

University of Milan, where he completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in

1984. In the years immediately following, he began collaborating with several institutions, including the

Unione Italiana Lotta alla Distrofia Muscolare, Istituto Neurologico C. Besta, and Jefferson Moss-

Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia, USA.

Since 2004, Dr. Molteni has served as the Clinical Director of the Villa Beretta Rehabilitation

Center in Costa Masnaga (LC), a facility of the Ospedale Valduce in Como, and has played a crucial

role in establishing the Villa Beretta Rehabilitation Research Innovation Institute.

Dr. Molteni has forty years of experience in Rehabilitation Medicine, with a special interest

in instrumental movement analysis and the impact of innovative multimodal rehabilitation

treatments using advanced technologies such as robotics, deep brain stimulation, and functional

electrical stimulation. These treatments are combined with pharmacological and surgical procedures to

manage neuromodulation and stimulate neuroplasticity.

Under his supervision, the Villa Beretta Rehabilitation Center and Villa Beretta Rehabilitation Research

Innovation Institute have been conducting several significant research programs in collaboration

with national institutions such as Politecnico of Milan, the National Council of Research (CNR),

the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), and the BioRobotics Institute in Pisa, as well as

international institutions including EPFL in Lausanne, the University of Vienna, and Imperial College

in London.

Some of the research programs from the last three years include Transforming Health and Care

Systems - THCS (co-funded by the European Commission), Fit for Medical Robotics - Fit4MedRob

(funded by the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca), Incognito 2 (funded by CARIPLO and

Carigest Foundations), and ReHyb (funded by the European Commission).

Dr. Molteni is a member of several prestigious scientific institutions, such as the International

Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, the Royal Belgian Society of Physical Medicine and

Rehabilitation, the Italian Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the Italian Society of

Neurorehabilitation.

He is also an Associate Researcher at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and Co-Director of

the Master Politecnico of Milan Rehab Tech: Technologies for Innovation in Rehabilitation Medicine

and Assistance.

He currently serves as a Scientific Advisory Board Member for Hemera Pharma in Italy, Merz Pharma

in Germany, and several Hi-Tech Companies, including Dessintey in France and IUVO in Italy.

Prof. Setti is an internationally recognized scientist and Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Since 2019, he has been serving as the first non-US Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings of the IEEE, the flagship journal of the Institute. Setti has also held the IEEE Vice Presidency for Publication Services and Products for two terms, during which time he ensured ethics in using bibliometric indicators for evaluating the research impact of individual scientists. During these terms, he ensured that financial operations were sound and mission-aligned. He has also served on IEEE's board of directors, where he engaged in addressing the impact of open access mandates on the IEEE community. 

His research interests and approaches are multidisciplinary in nature and extremely relevant to KAUST and the Kingdom. They include nonlinear circuits, statistical signal processing, electromagnetic compatibility, compressive sensing, biomedical circuits and systems, power electronics, design and implementation of IoT nodes, as well as machine learning techniques for anomaly detection and predictive maintenance. He has published about 320 scientific articles in journals and conference proceedings, as well as four books. He has received best paper awards in three different IEEE Transactions, as well as six best paper awards or nominations at major conferences like ISCAS and DATE. He is also the recipient of the 2013 IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (CASS) Meritorious Service Award and has been an IEEE CASS Distinguished Lecturers in 2004-2005 and 2015-2016.

Prof. Setti is equally adept at engaging academic and industry collaborators and stakeholders, which will serve him very well in his role as KAUST Dean. He is currently with the Politecnico di Torino (Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy), where he serves as Professor of Electronics for Signal and Data Processing in the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications and the department's Associate Chair for Research. In addition to these roles, he is the Rector's Delegate on Research Quality Evaluation for the university. His PhD is in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Bologna. 

Prof. Setti has been appointed CEMSE Dean following a search led by Prof. Slim Alouini, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Associate Vice President for CEMSE Research. Members of the search committee also included KAUST Profs.Ying Sun, Diogo Gomes, Ivan Viola, Tareq Al-Naffouri, Bill Roberts, and Suzana Nunes. I would like to thank this group, who worked closely with KAUST leadership to undertake this rigorous global search.

H.R.H Prince Saud Bin Mishal Al Saud is the first chairman of the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation, the official governing body of the sport in the Kingdom that was founded in January 2022 and is headquartered in Riyadh. His leadership of the SACF has been integral in promoting the game among Saudis and expatriates throughout the country. He initiated several sports agreements to bring cricket to many Saudi provinces and hosted the Kingdom’s first National Cricket Championship that attracted 7,000 players and 360 teams. Prince Saud has been active in promoting sports in Saudi Arabia, aiming to engage as many young people as possible, and create a professional environment where locals can hone their skills.

Dr Haleema Alamri is a materials scientist whose work has contributed to the development of biodegradable plastics. With a background in chemistry and macromolecular engineering, her aim is to find sustainable solutions for the environmental problems posed by traditional plastic materials.

Born into a family of scientists, entrepreneurs, and engineers in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Alamri studied chemistry at Umm Al-Qura University. After a master’s in chemistry and nanoscience at the University of Waterloo, Canada, she returned to Saudi Arabia and completed her PhD in chemistry at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST.

Dr. Alamri was then hired by petroleum and natural gas company Saudi Aramco as a research scientist in its Research and Development Center (R&DC). She was promptly nominated to spend a year on a fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, working on cutting-edge research in chemistry and polymer science. She rejoined Saudi Aramco’s R&DC and held a number of senior roles, leading a team working on smart technologies for polymeric materials, including new techniques to help control their decomposition.

Over her career, Dr. Alamri has authored or co-authored multiple peer-reviewed papers on more sustainable alternatives to plastic. These have covered diverse subjects, including the safety of degradable polymers and the development of water-resistant materials inspired by lotus leaves. The aim of this research is to create the next generation of functional, cost-effective, and degradable materials which will never cause environmental harm by clogging up oceans or landfills.

In 2022, Dr. Alamri became director of the Innovation & Technology Observatory Department at the Saudi government’s Ministry of Energy.

Hands-on design specialist with 22-years of experience in machine design, reverse engineering, and product development, who helped develop the practical implementation plan to localize the manufacturing of mechanical spare parts in various industries; such as, Saudi ARAMCO, SEC, SWCC, NWC, SAR, and SABIC using the digital transformation strategy that enabled the adoption of industry 4.0 technologies, which helped maximize the utilization of physical assets in existing industries across the Kingdom, increase local content, and identify investment opportunities that would allow bridging the gap between where the kingdom is and where is aspires to be by working with the Ministry of Industry & Ministry of Energy.

Ian Campbell is  VP of Innovation & Economic Development and Executive Director of Special Projects- Office of the President. He collaborates with the University researchers and leadership to help accelerate the digital economy in the Kingdom. He also supports the University’s forward vision to leverage KAUST science and innovation to make an impact beyond the walls of the campus itself, and to create collaborations and identify opportunities where KAUST can contribute. The aim of the Special Projects is to convene minds and resources together to work on impactful projects and to deliver solutions to benefit the wider Kingdom and beyond.

Career before joining KAUST: Executive Chair of Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, in 2020. He also directed Health and Life Sciences. Led the initiative to secure Covid-19 response package from the British government in 2020, to support thousands of UK businesses to survive and thrive through the pandemic.

Dr. Campbell has extensive entrepreneurial and business experience in the healthcare sector. Before Innovate UK, he was CEO of Arquer Diagnostics, which focuses on bladder and prostate cancer diagnosis. Before this, he spent 15 years in a variety of executive management roles within the health and life science sector.

He was recognized in Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s New Year Honors List and was appointed officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to innovation.

Dr. Irfan Anjum joined the Student Counseling Services (SCS) at KAUST in April 2023. He is a clinical psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). He is a licensed practitioner with the Health Care and Professions Council (UK), the Psychology Board of Australia, and the New Zealand Psychologists Board. Dr Anjum holds a Doctor of Clinical Psychology from the University of Manchester (UK), as well as an MSc in Psychology and Counseling and a B.Sc. in Psychology. Since qualifying in clinical psychology in 2007, Dr Anjum has held various posts in clinical and academic settings. Dr Anjum has a keen interest in understanding and treating psychological distress and has expertise in various psychotherapy modalities, including cognitive behavioral therapy, brief psychodynamic psychotherapy, and counseling. He likes to promote positive psychology and reduce the stigma around mental health issues. He is also an advocate of recovery principles and living well with mental health issues. Dr Anjum has worked extensively in both the UK and KSA. He has a good understanding of transcultural issues affecting mental health, problems with self-identity, adjustment, anxiety, and depression. He has published research articles on generalized anxiety disorder and depression affecting adult student population.

Dr. Devdutt joined the Student Counselling Services at KAUST in July 2021.

She is a Clinical Psychologist, licensed by the Rehabilitation Council of India, with 7 years of experience working in Mental Health. Dr. Devdutt holds a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Psychology from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India. She completed her BA (Hons.) and MA in Psychology, and M.Phil. (Clinical Psychology) from the University of Delhi, India, before joining NIMHANS for her doctoral research. Dr. Devdutt is trained to carry out psychological assessments and psychotherapeutic interventions for various psychological disorders. She uses Cognitive Behavioral and Positive Psychological approaches in her therapy to help alleviate client distress. She also incorporates a Strengths-based approach in her work with clients to help them achieve their professional goals, foster personal growth and enhance psychological wellbeing. Dr. Devdutt has a keen interest in mental health promotion. She has conducted numerous workshops with college students and working adults to promote youth mental health and workplace wellbeing, respectively.

In the past, Dr. Devdutt has worked both in clinical as well as academic/research roles. She has been a Consultant with Tata Health, a primary healthcare service provider based in India, in addition to her own independent clinical practice. She was an Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Psychology, SRM University, Andhra Pradesh, India, before she came to KAUST. She has also worked as a Research Officer at NIMHANS before joining SRM University as a faculty.

In her free time, Dr. Devdutt enjoys yoga, reading, watching movies, and traveling.

Dr. Power's research focuses on cognitive and non-cognitive factors that impact performance within STEM learning environments. He has led multiple international research projects and has an extensive catalogue of research publications. He also regularly engages with national media on topics related to technology and the environment.

Mr. Jay New joined Ports Development Company in April 2021 as a Chief Executive Officer. As PDC’s Chief Executive Officer, Jay is responsible for accelerating King Abdullah Port’s growth and strengthening its role as the leading regional logistics hub, and enhancing its contributions to the national economy, in line with the Vision 2030 objectives. Mr. New is a seasoned professional with over 20 years’ of experience in the ports, shipping and logistics environment, having served in many leading positions at Director and “C” level with Hutchison Ports, Maersk Line, and Gulftainer. . Mr. New holds a B.Ed. from the University of Leeds and is an ADP graduate in Business from the London Business School.

TBC

Justine Braguy is the CEO of Thya Technology and wants to empower research and business with AI tools for automated analysis of images and videos. Prior that, Justine was a biologist, holding a master in Synthetic Biology and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology. With her team at Thya Technology, a Saudi spin-off, they aim to democratise the technology by drastically reducing the time of AI model generation and deployment for the analysis of large image dataset.

WEP 2021 Chair. Khaled Salama is professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and currently the Associate Dean at KAUST's Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering Division (CEMSE). Professor Salama's research interests cover a variety of interdisciplinary aspects of electronic circuit design and semiconductors' fabrication. He is engaged in developing devices, circuits, systems, and algorithms to enable inexpensive analytical platforms for a variety of industrial, environmental, and biomedical monitoring applications. Recently he has been working on neuromorphic circuits for brain emulation.

Liam began his academic career with an MA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, Trinity College. Here, he developed a foundation in pure and proof-based mathematics, whilst learning Python programming on the side. He then went on to perform a Masters in Computer Science at KAUST, with special focus in Algorithms and Theoretical Computer Science. His Master thesis is titled "A Faster Algorithm for Computing Straight Skeletons".

Liam transitioned from the MSc into a PhD at KAUST in the field of Computational Geometry, under the supervision of Professor Antoine Vigneron. He continued to research results concerning the Straight Skeleton, as part of the Visual Computing department.

In 2017, Liam took up a position as a Software Engineer, for Amazon in London, UK. Here, he used much of his past knowledge to specialise in the Data Science side of engineering. One of his flagship projects involved using customers' film preferences to generate automatic movie and TV recommendations, which was regarded as a successful addition to the Prime Video website.

In recent years, Liam has worked as a freelance programmer, which proved to be a more convenient role given the current global circumstances.

With more than 20 years in neurosurgery and healthcare administration, Dr Mahmoud Alyamany was previously King Fahad Medical City CEO. He also sits on the Saudi Ministry of Health board and has worked on governmental health transformation programs. He is an adjunct professor at McGill University.

Dr. Sarathy is currently Associate Director of the Clean Combustion Research Center at KAUST and Sr. Manager Technology & Innovation at NEOM Hydrogen and Green Fuels. He is also working with the Saudi Ministry of Energy to develop a Circular Carbon Economy National Program.

Dr. Sarathy employs engineering modeling tools to determine the net environmental, economic, and social impact of fuel engineering technologies and processes. Specific tools include engineering process modeling, life-cycle assessment, cost/benefits analysis, energy auditing, materials accounting, and environmental assessment to examine current engineering issues. A primary focus is using models to study greenhouse gas emissions from renewable energy systems, unconventional fuels, gas-to-liquid fuels, and biofuels.

Mardson McQuay is Associate General Counsel and Senior IP Attorney at KAUST. He is a former tenured professor of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University and Senior VP and Chief IP Counsel at CGG, France. He also spent four years as an Associate in a law firm and five years as a Senior IP attorney at GE. He has been an invited lecturer on the topic of IP all over the world.

Prof. Mark Gillan BEng PhD CEng FRAeS Director, KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative and Special Projects Mark has held various engineering leadership roles within industry, Formula One, academia and the public sector. In over a decade in F1 he ran both Jaguar/Red Bull and Williams race engineering teams. In academia he held the inaugural Sir George Edwards Chair in Aerospace Engineering, at the University of Surrey. As CTO of the UK’s Innovation Agency, Innovate UK, Mark ran both the Strategy and Impact and the Centres and Networks Governance Directorates, that included oversight of the UK’s extensive Catapult Network. He was also Chief Executive of Wave Power Ltd, Chief Operations Officer for Artemis Technologies Ltd and Belfast Digital Innovation Commissioner. Prior to joining KAUST, Mark was Head of R&D at the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS), leading on a variety of airspace projects including one of the UK’s largest funded AI projects, called BlueBird, aimed at delivering the world’s first AI system to work with air traffic controllers and control a section of airspace in live trials. Mark is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Visiting Professor of both Surrey and Ulster Universities.

Matteo Parsani is an Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics and computational Science and Mechanical Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in aeronautics and astronautics from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium). He trained as a postdoc at KAUST and, for four years, in the Computational AeroScience branch at NASA Langley Research Center (USA).

Matteo’s research interests are related to developing novel, robust, and scalable numerical methods on unstructured grids partial differential equations and their application to solving realistic problems in various natural science and engineering areas. The application domains currently driving Matteo’s research are compressible computational aerodynamics (e.g., highly separated turbulent flows, launch systems), computational aeroacoustics for noise reduction of vehicles, dense gas flow simulations for energy conversion (e.g., supercritical fluids), and molecular communication.

The high-performance computational solvers and libraries he develops are used to solve real problems with industry partners such as Boeing, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), McLaren F1 Racing Team, Airbus, and recently, E1 Series, Lucid Motors, and Philips Ultrasound.

Melissa joined KAUST in June 2021 as Manager of Student Counseling Services (SCS). She has 14 years of experience as a psychologist and holds a PhD centered in Sport Psychology, specifically focused on need-supportive leadership, motivation and psychological wellbeing.

Her fields of interest and specialization lie within the enhancement of individuals, by fostering their wellbeing, competencies and resilience through a solution focused approach. She also specialises in assisting groups in building successful relationships and driving positive change, in order to achieve excellence within their environments.

Additionally, Melissa chairs the Community Mental Health Committee (CMHC), which brings together mental health professionals from across University departments, and serves as a primary member of the Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) and the Clinical Crisis Team (CCT).

Prior to joining KAUST, she was the director of a student counseling and development centre at a South African university where, in addition to counselling students, she trained and supervised intern and junior psychologists and counsellors.

Melissa received her MA and PhD Degrees in Psychology from the University of the Free State, South Africa. She obtained her licence as a psychologist in 2007.

In her free time, she loves travelling, exploring, music and arts.

Mohamed K. Ujaimi – KAUST CISO

Mohamed ia dynamic and business-focused executive leader with over 16 years of experience. He is the Chief

Information Security Officer at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology). In this role, he

provides strategic and administrative leadership in all matters of KAUST Information Security and Data Governance

domains and executes KAUST’s Information Security transformation strategy. Previously Mohamed led complex

transformation programs and initiatives in the Information Security and Technology domains in Saudi government

authorities, the private sector, and Aramco. He has a record of implementing effective risk mitigation and cloud

migration strategies to optimize and enhance cyber maturity and digital hygiene while optimizing costs. He is

known for being an entrepreneurial, motivational, and open-minded professional who fosters cross functional

international partnerships that lead to lucrative opportunities and innovative product enhancements. Superior

educational qualifications include a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering from USC. He is committed to

ongoing process and communication improvements to ensure compliance while optimizing technical maturity for a

lowered enterprise risk.

Mohamed ia dynamic and business-focused executive leader with over 16 years of experience. He is the Chief Information Security Officer at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology). In this role, he provides strategic and administrative leadership in all matters of KAUST Information Security and Data Governance domains and executes KAUST’s Information Security transformation strategy. Previously Mohamed led complex transformation programs and initiatives in the Information Security and Technology domains in Saudi government authorities, the private sector, and Aramco. He has a record of implementing effective risk mitigation and cloud migration strategies to optimize and enhance cyber maturity and digital hygiene while optimizing costs. He is known for being an entrepreneurial, motivational, and open-minded professional who fosters cross functional international partnerships that lead to lucrative opportunities and innovative product enhancements. Superior educational qualifications include a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Engineering from USC. He is committed to ongoing process and communication improvements to ensure compliance while optimizing technical maturity for a lowered enterprise risk.

Mohamed-Slim Alouini received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA, in 1998. He served as a faculty member in the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, then in the Texas A & M University at Qatar, Education City, Doha, Qatar before joining King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia as a Professor of Electrical Engineering in 2009. His general research interests include the modeling, design, and performance analysis of wireless communication systems. He is currently actively working on addressing the uneven global distribution, access to, and use of information and communication technologies by studying and developing new generations of integrated terretrial, aerial, and space networks as a solution to provide global connectivity.

Dr. Mohammed Aldosari, Director and Consultant Pediatric Neurologist, Center for Pediatric Neurosciences, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio Dr. Aldosari has been a board-certified Pediatric Neurologist since 2003 and was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in 2002. He received his bachelor’s degree of Medicine and Surgery from King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and he completed his first Pediatric Residency Program at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh. He subsequently completed a Pediatric Residency Program and Adult Neurology Program at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Following completion of his residency training, Dr. Aldosari completed a Pediatric Neurology Fellowship Program at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Aldosari began his career with an appointment as a Consultant and Fellowship Program Director at the Section of Pediatric Neurology at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In 2007, he was promoted to Head of the Section of Pediatric Neurology at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center. In 2012, Dr. Aldosari accepted a Pediatric Neurologist position at Mercy Pediatric Neurology &Psychiatry Center in Des Moines, Iowa. In 2014, he accepted a position at the Cleveland Clinic where he is currently serving as the Director of the Center for Pediatric Neurosciences. Dr. Aldosari is a funded Autism researcher with multiple projects focused on developing Innovative Tools for Autism Spectrum Disorders including using computer vision and eye tracking for autism diagnosis, and Social Robotics for intervention. He is actively collaborating with the Cleveland Clinic Innovation and national and international collaborators. He is also collaborating with colleagues in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region to advance clinical and research programs in the region.

Dr. Mohammed Khider is a Technical Lead and Manager at Google's Android Location & Context team. Within Android, he is a member of a research team that works on improving positioning and navigation accuracy of mobile devices in challenging indoor and urban canyon environments. He received his PhD in Communication Engineering with focus on "Multisensor based Positioning for Pedestrian Navigation" from the University of Ulm, Germany. Prior to his role at Google, he was a Research Associate at the Institute of Communication and Navigation at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) where he worked on various research projects related to positioning, navigation and context aware computing. Mohammed has been actively involved in the field of location and context for over 14 years. His research interests are navigation, multi-sensor fusion, mobility models, signal processing and context-aware services.

Nasser Mohiuddin is a Research Data Storage Specialist working with Systems, Storage and Automation Team (SSAT) group at KAUST IT. He has vast experience in research engagement, automation systems, web technologies, database management and application development. At KAUST he is currently working with researchers and students with their data storage needs and to help them understand IT (information technology) better by organizing workshops, lunch & learn and other learning sessions.

Nazek El-Atab is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Principal investigator of the Smart, Advanced Memory devices and Applications lab (SAMA) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia. Her research interest focuses on the design and fabrication of smart memory and electronic devices and their applications.

Neel is the VP of Customer Success at Katonic AI and looks after the successful delivery of Generative AI projects for Katonic AI's global customer base. Katonic AI is an Australian AI company that combines the revolutionary capabilities of Generative AI and the power of traditional machine learning all in one place. The Katonic Generative AI Platform is loved by Enterprises for its power and intuitiveness, allowing them to rapidly build Enterprise-grade AI Applications in days. This no-code platform is powered by the highly awarded Katonic Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) that Enterprises use to manage the entire process of data preparation, model training, model deployment, model monitoring, and automation end-to-end with high accuracy, reliability, and efficiency.

Neil Ward is PacBio's VP and General Manager for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Neil is a veteran of the genomics industry and joined PacBio in 2021 from illumina where he was senior sales director for Northern Europe. Prior to his 13 years at Illumina, he held bioinformatics and sales roles at Agilent Technologies, Silicon Genetics, Oxford Biomedica, and Celltech.

Pete is the Director of Transformation Architecture at Automation Anywhere. He empowers organizations by providing the experience, knowledge, capabilities and resources to effectively implement and scale Intelligent Automation. An experienced technologist and global leader and speaker with extensive involvement in managing and influencing senior stakeholders. Proven delivery track record working with new technology in challenging environments. Led numerous large initiatives with multi-million dollar budgets and international delivery teams to deliver digital and innovative solutions into organisations. An advocate for agile and lean delivery. His expertise is focused on all aspect of automation, process mining, low code/no code solution delivery, AI/ML and integrating these concepts into HyperAutomation solutions to solve customer real world business problems. Pete is an ongoing student of the "Future of Work". He believes that you can only ever be a learner in this space as this is an ever-changing topic as technology and work evolves through innovation and understanding of the changing needs of the workplace and workers. Pete joined Automation Anywhere from AstraZeneca where he spent 3+ years driving Automation adoption globally in all business units as the technology leader in the Automation Center of Excellence. Prior to that he spent more than 25 years in solution architecture and development within financial services.

Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and Director of the CFAES Rattan Lal Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration at The Ohio State University (OSU). Dr Lal is Adjunct Professor of the University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland, and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), India; and a Visiting Professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV), Chile. Dr. Lal 's research has been focused on soil-centric agricultural management to improve food security globally and develop climate-resilient agriculture through soil carbon management and sequestration, sustainable management of soils, and soil health. Prof. Rattan. Lal served as President of the World Association of the Soil and Water Conservation (1987-1990), the International Soil Tillage Research Organization (1988-91), the Soil Science Society of America (2005-2007), and the International Union of Soil Sciences, Vienna, Austria (2017-18). He was a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on National Assessment of Climate Change-NCADAC (2010-2014); and SERDP Scientific Advisory Board of the Department of Defense (2011-2018) and Chair of SAB-SERDP for 2023-2024.. Dr. Lal was Chair of the Advisory Committee to UNU-FLORES, Dresden, Germany (2013-2019); member of the Science -Policy Interphase of UNCCD, Bonn, Germany (2018-2022), and member of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 for the Science Committee and Action Track 3. He is a member of the Coordination Hub of the U.N.Food System Committee(2023-). He is Chair in Soil Science and Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Issues of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Costa Rica, San José (2020-). Professor Lal is laureate of the World Food Prize (2020), Arrell Global Food Innovation Prize, University of Guelph, Canada (2020), Japan Prize, Tokyo, Japan (2019), , GCHERA World Agriculture Prize (2018), Glinka World Soil Prize, Rome, Italy (2018),and the Padma Shri Award of India ,New Delhi, India (2021).He has received 9 honorary degrees of Doctor of Science from countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.2023 Global Ranking by Research.com ranked Prof. Lal #1 in the world and in the U.S. in plant sciences and agronomy. Rattan Lal has mentored 120 graduate students, 170 visiting scholars, 60 postdoctoral researchers, and 25 research scientists and researchers. He has authored/coauthored more than 1100 peer reviewed articles and co-authored/co-edited more than 100 books.

Regina Saisi is a San Francisco-based actor and improviser.  She has taught at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, UC Santa Cruz and KAUST in Saudi Arabia and has performed internationally in Belgium, Holland, Italy, Finland, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. She is guest artist at TAM HS, teaching and directing for over 20 years.

Regina is a pioneer in the development of long-form improv and is a founding member of the improvisational theatre companies True Fiction Magazine, Pulp Playhouse, Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. As current Company member of BATS Improv she has served as Dean of the BATS School and Artistic Director.

Regina Saisi is a San Francisco-based actor and improviser. She has taught at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, UC Santa Cruz and KAUST in Saudi Arabia and has performed internationally in Belgium, Holland, Italy, Finland, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. She is guest artist at TAM HS, teaching and directing for over 20 years. Regina is a pioneer in the development of long-form improv and is a founding member of the improvisational theatre companies True Fiction Magazine, Pulp Playhouse, Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. As current Company member of BATS Improv she has served as Dean of the BATS School and Artistic Director.

Ricardo Henao, a quantitative scientist, is an Associate Professor in the Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division, member of the Smart Health Initiative (SHI), at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology). He is also currently an Associate Professor in the department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), member of the Information Initiative at Duke (iiD), Duke AI Health and the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), all at Duke University. The theme of his research is the development of novel statistical methods and machine learning algorithms primarily based on probabilistic modeling. His expertise covers several fields including applied statistics, signal processing, pattern recognition and machine learning. His methods research focuses on hierarchical or multilayer probabilistic models to describe complex data, such as that characterized by high-dimensions, multiple modalities, more variables than observations, noisy measurements, missing values, time-series, multiple modalities, etc., in terms of low-dimensional representations for the purposes of hypothesis generation and improved predictive modeling. Most of his applied work is dedicated to the analysis of biological data such as gene expression, medical imaging, clinical narrative, and electronic health records, with applications to predictive modeling for diverse clinical outcomes.

Rick Fox is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and three-time NBA champion. During his professional basketball career, Rick captained two of the NBA’s most storied franchises, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, Rick has brought championship-level leadership to the acting and business worlds. After retiring from the NBA, Rick pursued a career in television and entertainment. He has over 200 movie and TV episode credits to his name, either as an actor or producer, and has worked alongside Oscar & Emmy nominated producers, directors, and actors. In 2015, he became a pioneer in esports through his establishment of a gaming franchise that played a major role in shaping the industry. Earlier in his career, Rick worked with top Fortune 500 brands, including American Express, Walt Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, AT&T, Comcast, Pepsi, Ford, T-Mobile, and Verizon, to name a few, across their global growth initiatives. Currently an Ambassador at Large for The Bahamas, Rick has given his time and energy to creating The Bahamas Relief Foundation and bringing real-estate development opportunities to the region.

Robert is an Associate Professor in Computer Science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal where he is the PI of the Bio-Ontology Research Group (BORG). Prior to joining KAUST, Robert held research positions at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the European Bioinformatics Institute, University of Cambridge, and Aberystwyth University. He earned his PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of Leipzig. Robert's research focuses on the development and application of knowledge-based algorithms in biology and biomedicine.

Roberto Di Pietro (Fellow, IEEE; Distinguished Scientist, ACM; Member Academia Europaea; Fellow, AAIA) is a

Professor in Computer Science with the KAUST-CEMSE-RC3, KSA.

Previously, he was Professor in Cybersecurity and founder of the CRI-Lab at HBKU-CSE, Doha-Qatar. He also served

as Global Head for Security Research for Nokia Bell Labs.

He has been working in the cybersecurity field for more than 25 years, leading technology-oriented and research-

focused teams in the private sector,

government, and academia (MoD, United Nations HQ, EUROJUST, IAEA, and WIPO).

His main research interests include AI driven cybersecurity, security and privacy for distributed systems (e.g. UAVs,

Blockchain technology, Cloud, IoT, OSNs), applied cryptography, FinTech, Quantum Computing and data science.

He has contributed a few scientific articles to the cited topics, co-authored four books, and registered tens of

patents and patents applications. Other than being involved in M&A of start-ups —and having founded one

(exited)—

,

he is on the Board of research centers and start-ups. In 2011-2012 he was awarded a Chair of Excellence from

University Carlos III, Madrid. In 2020 he received the JeanClaude Laprie Award

for having significantly influenced the theory and practice of Dependable Computing. In 2022 he was awarded the

Individual Innovation Award from HBKU.

He is consistently ranked among the 2% top world scientists since this ranking existed.

His education accounts for an M.S. in Computer Science ('94) and an M.S. in informatics ('03) both from UniPi, and

a two-years post-MS Specialization Diploma

in Operations Research and Strategic Decisions ('03) and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science ('04), both from

UniSapienza.

I joined KAUST in 2009, as Director of Marketing Communications, moving to Director of Special Initiatives before taking up my current role. I work with a talented team to develop programs and initiatives that enrich and inspire. My hometown is Jeddah. I gained my MBA at Maastricht University and outside of work you can find me hiking, enjoying beach life or cooking.

Dr. Sangok Seok, CEO of NAVER LABS, is leading NAVER's next-generation technology platform research through the integration of robotics, AI, autonomous driving, digital twin, etc. Holding a bachelor's and master's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University and a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his research paper on the MIT Cheetah was selected as the best paper at IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics in 2016. After working in National Instruments and Samsung Electronics, Dr. Seok joined NAVER in 2015, spearheading NAVER's robotics field and filing over 60 robot-related patents. Since becoming the CEO of both NAVER LABS (in 2019) and NAVER LABS Europe (in 2020), he has been leading world-class researchers from 27 countries, focusing on preparing the future of NAVER, which will connect people, machines, spaces, and information through the most innovative and advanced technologies. In 2022, Dr. Seok received much attention from international corporations · media · research institutions for the "1784 Project," under which NAVER's second headquarters was constructed as the world's first robot-friendly building. With recognition for the first domestic installation of local 5G networks and his contribution to the advancement of smart building technologies, he was awarded the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit. In 2023, Dr. Seok was appointed as vice chair of the Business Executive Council at the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, leading the innovative research of engineers as well as business development.

TBC

Sidney Engelbrecht holds the Senior Research Compliance Specialist position at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sidney has been working in research administration and management for more than a decade, specifically focusing on research ethics, integrity, and compliance. He is a seasoned research ethics administrator in human (biomedical and clinical) research, animal research and biosafety, and research integrity. Throughout his career, he offered research training and advice on those subjects at various universities and Research Ethics Committees. Sidney obtained professional recognition as a Research Management Professional accredited by the International Professional Recognition Council. He is the recipient of the Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Research Management Profession from the South African Department of Science and Innovation. He authored two chapters in the student notebook on Jurisprudence for Laboratory Animal Technologists. He co-authored peer-reviewed papers on the Nagoya protocol. Sidney obtained undergraduate qualification in Law and postgraduate qualifications in Philosophy (Applied Ethics and Bioethics) from Stellenbosch University and Compliance Management and Copyright from the Law School at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He is a seasoned Bio-ethicist.

Subhrajit is the VP of Engineering at Katonic AI and looks after the development of the overall platform and heads research and development. Katonic AI is an Australian AI company that combines the revolutionary capabilities of Generative AI and the power of traditional machine learning all in one place. The Katonic Generative AI Platform is loved by Enterprises for its power and intuitiveness, allowing them to rapidly build Enterprise-grade AI Applications in days. This no-code platform is powered by the highly awarded Katonic Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) that Enterprises use to manage the entire process of data preparation, model training, model deployment, model monitoring, and automation end-to-end with high accuracy, reliability, and efficiency.

Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering Associate Dean, Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering website: npm.kaust.edu.sa Education PhD University of Campinas, Brazil, 1985 MS University of Campinas, Brazil, 1983 BS University of Campinas, Brazil, 1981 Research Interests Professor Nunes' research interests are New copolymers, functionalized nanofillers and organic-inorganic nanocomposites for membrane application. Thermodynamics and morphology control of supramolecular assembly of block copolymers in solution, functionalized nanoparticles and complexing agents, as tools for preparing nanostructured polymer films. Characterization of copolymer assembly in solution and membranes by advanced microscopy and (synchrotron) scattering methods. Membrane development for nanofiltration, forward osmosis, membrane distillation and integration of membrane and catalysis.

TBC

Tim has improvised since 1988 with many San Francisco and international groups, including BATS Improv, True Fiction Magazine, Awkward Dinner Party, and with the acclaimed troupe 3 For All.

In 2009, he founded Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. Tim has also appeared in numerous plays in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received critical acclaim for his leading roles in the improvised feature films, Suckerfish and Security. With Stephen Kearin, Tim co-wrote, and originated the role of Dirk Manly in, An Evening with Dirk & Blaine.

Nationally, Tim has performed and taught improvisation at the American Conservatory Theatre, BATS Improv, Stanford University, and many other venues (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Austin, Louisville, Atlanta, etc.). Internationally, he has performed and taught at numerous festivals and/or as an invited guest artist in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Beirut, Belgium, Berlin, Bucharest, Dubai, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Mallorca, Oslo, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Shanghai, Stockholm, and more.

Tim has consulted with numerous groups both nationally and internationally in their formation of improvisation groups and also the development of new improvisation formats.

Tim has improvised since 1988 with many San Francisco and international groups, including BATS Improv, True Fiction Magazine, Awkward Dinner Party, and with the acclaimed troupe 3 For All. In 2009, he founded Improv Playhouse of San Francisco. Tim has also appeared in numerous plays in the San Francisco Bay Area, and received critical acclaim for his leading roles in the improvised feature films, Suckerfish and Security. With Stephen Kearin, Tim co-wrote, and originated the role of Dirk Manly in, An Evening with Dirk & Blaine. Nationally, Tim has performed and taught improvisation at the American Conservatory Theatre, BATS Improv, Stanford University, and many other venues (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Austin, Louisville, Atlanta, etc.). Internationally, he has performed and taught at numerous festivals and/or as an invited guest artist in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Beirut, Belgium, Berlin, Bucharest, Dubai, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Lyon, Mallorca, Oslo, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Shanghai, Stockholm, and more. Tim has consulted with numerous groups both nationally and internationally in their formation of improvisation groups and also the development of new improvisation formats.

TBC

Tony Sheridan has been working in the field of marketing and communications for over a decade, primarily within the Higher Education sector, specializing in social media communications and digital marketing campaigns.

A former Director of Marketing and Communications for Limerick Mental Health Association, he also has worked extensively as a consultant across the non-profit, community, and charity sectors helping organizations set ambitious marketing and communications goals, develop effective strategies and deliver strategic results.

Tony joined KAUST in April 2021 and since then his work has been recognized with multiple international Marketing and Communications awards.

Xin Gao is a Professor of Computer Science, Acting Associate Director of the Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), and Lead of the Structural and Functional Bioinformatics Group at KAUST. 

Yousef Khalili manages TONOMUS’ global sales, pre-sales, and partnerships across the company’s portfolio. He also leads TONOMUS’ Professional Services, working closely with NEOM sectors, regions, departments and authorities to accelerate growth via cutting-edge, cognitive strategies, experiences, services and solutions.

Yousef Khalili manages TONOMUS' global sales, pre-sales, and partnerships across the company's portfolio. He also leads TONOMUS' Professional Services, working closely with NEOM sectors, regions, departments and authorities to accelerate growth via cutting-edge, cognitive strategies, experiences, services and solutions.

Zulfikhar Ali Mohammed is an experienced systems’ analyst with emphasis on Unix security. He has over 18 years’ experience in the IT industry, ensuring optimal functionality of systems while maintaining security standards. At KAUST, he is responsible for making sure our mission-critical systems (processing salaries, budgets, HR, GASC requests, etc) are compliant with CIS-CAT benchmarks, which is an industry-wide security standards body. He also keeps a close eye on security risks and threats as they appear and takes actions to remediate and eliminate them.