King Abdullah University of Science and Technology at Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

www.kaust.edu.sa

BEACONthe ة املنـار

June 2014 / Shaban 1435 Volume 4, Issue No. 9

KAUST GROUP’S SALIVA | Continued on p7

KAUST SOLAR CENTER| Continued on p2

NATURE-INSPIRED ADVANCES | Continued on p6

يقول البروفيسور محمد مصطفى حسين، أستاذ مشارك في قسم الهندسة الكهربائية بجامعة الملك عبداهلل للعلوم و التقنية،: "الماء النقي مصدر ضروري لتأمين مستقبل مستدام. ولكننا بصدد مواجهة أزمة مياه كبيرة نتيجة التزايد المضطرد لسكان العالم. كما أن تقنيات تنقية المياه الحالية تستهلك طاقة كبيرة جدًا مما سيشكل أزمة كبيرة في الطاقة مستقباًل خصوصًا في البلدان التي تواجه نقصًا كبيرًا في المياه". ويقوم فريق أبحاث مختبر تقنية النانو للبروفيسور حسين بالقيام بأبحاث فريدة لمواجهة مثل هذا التحدي عبر استخدام خاليا الوقود الحيوية )MFCs( ، وهي عبارة عن مولدات كهربائية صغيرة تحتوي على بكتيريا خاصة تتغذى على المواد أنه البروفيسور حسين يشرح و اإللكترونات. وتنتج والنفايات العضوية في حال تمكنهم من تطوير طريقة لجمع هذه اإللكترونات المنبعثة من البكتيريا بكفاءة عالية فسيمكنهم عندها جعل هذه الخاليا ذاتية الطاقة.

شهد الشهر الماضي حفل افتتاح مركز أبحاث هندسة الطاقة الشمسية والخاليا الضوئية في جامعة الملك عبداهلل. وتضمنت فعاليات االفتتاح العلماء رواد من نخبة وحضرها يومين لمدة استمرت علمية ندوة الجديد المركز مدير وألقى الشمسية. الطاقة مجال في والباحثين البروفيسور كارل ليو، كلمة بهذه المناسبة تحدث فيها عن أهمية الطاقة الشمسية للمملكة العربية السعودية ودور جامعة الملك عبداهلل ممثاًل دعم في الضوئية والخاليا الشمسية الطاقة هندسة أبحاث مركز في الصناعة عبر األبحاث األساسية وبالتالي اإلسهام في التنمية االقتصادية حيث قال: "ستكون جامعة الملك عبداهلل مركزًا رائدًا في مجال الطاقة

المتجددة والخاليا الضوئية في المملكة". تركزت موضوعات اليوم األول للندوة على األبحاث األساسية وبالتحديد على أبحاث وتطوير تقنية خاصة للخاليا الشمسية تدعى )CIGS(، وهي عبارة عن مركب أشباه موصالت مكونة من عناصر النحاس واألنديوم والغاليوم الرقيقة والسيلينيوم ويستخدم كمادة بديلة في تقنية األفالم الضوئية بحيث يشكل ركائز مرنة للغاية يمكن تصنيعها بصورة ألواح شمسية خفيفة الوزن. وتم تخصيص اليوم الثاني للندوة لموضوعات الصناعة حيث تم عقد اجتماعات بين ممثلي بعض الشركات الرائدة في العالم في مجال أبحاث الطاقة الشمسية تخللتها نقاشات حول التطوير الفعال لصناعات الطاقة

الشمسية في المملكة و دور الحكومة في تسريع هذه العملية. تتمه صفحة 2

تتمه صفحة 7

REPRESENTING 90% of the digital electronics market, silicon

electronics are instrumental in the development and the future

of consumer electronics and the digital world. As people have

become increasingly used to integrating advanced digital

devices into their everyday lives while on the go, the future

belongs to ultra-mobile and flexible computational devices.

In a paper recently published as the cover article in

Advanced Materials entitled “Flexible and Transparent

Silicon-on-Polymer Based Sub-20 nm Non-planar 3D

FinFET for Brain-Architecture Inspired Computation” (doi:

10.1002/adma.201305309), Associate Professor of Electrical

Engineering Dr. Muhammad Hussain and his team outlined

their groundbreaking research in silicon-based electronics

inspired by the human brain. “Our process sets a major step

towards the integration of state-of-the-art high performance

devices for ultra-mobile brain-inspired foldable computers or

ICs,” they explain.

Much like earlier scientists who were inspired by nature

to define their research, Prof. Hussain’s team carefully

observed the human brain. They mainly focused on the

brain’s surface, the cortex, and how its folded architecture

helps to compact its size. “The brain has billions of neurons.

And each neuron can be considered as the equivalent to

a state-of-the-art transistor,” said Prof. Hussain. By taking

the world’s most advanced transistors built at KAUST and

devising ultra-thin and flexible substrates to house them,

the research group was able to develop the world’s first

three-dimensional FinFET on a flexible platform without

losing the integration density or performance.

“CLEAN water is a necessity for a sustainable future,” says KAUST

Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Muhammad Mustafa

Hussain. “However, with the growing global population, the water

crisis is increasing. Current water purification technologies are energy-

intensive to use, and the countries that will face water shortages in the

future will also have to face a huge power requirement to obtain clean

water.” Prof. Hussain’s Integrated Nanotechnology Lab research group

has been investigating a complementary and unique solution to this

energy challenge: microbial fuel cells (MFCs).

MFCs are miniature power generators containing electrogenic

bacteria that consume waste and release electrons. “If these

electrons are collected properly, they make the cell self-powered or

“IT’S OBVIOUS that solar energy has a major potential for the

Kingdom,” said Professor Karl Leo, Director of the recently

inaugurated Solar & Photovoltaics Engineering Research Center

(SPERC). The April inauguration and two-day seminar brought

together some of the world’s top leaders in solar energy.

Underlying the importance of combining basic research with an

application-led industry focus, Prof. Leo expounded: “The message

I want to transmit with this inauguration is that the Solar Center is

about basic research, but it’s also closely working with Economic

Development. KAUST should become the hot spot in renewables

and photovoltaics in the country and the region.”

The first day was focused on basic research and concentrated

on one specific photovoltaic technology, Copper Indium Diselenide

(CIGS), which is a semiconductor material composed of copper,

indium, gallium, and selenium. CIGS is an alternate solar cell

material used in thin-film photovoltaic technology. It can

effectively be deposited onto highly flexible substrates, making it

possible to devise such things as lightweight solar panels.

On the second day, industry-focused meetings were held

Vol. 26 • No. 18 • May 14 • 2014

www.advmat.de

D10488

ADMA_26_18_cover.indd 1 21/04/14 8:40 PM

NATURE-INSPIRED ADVANCES IN SILICON ELECTRONICS

KAUST GROUP’S SALIVA-POWERED MICROBIAL FUEL CELL PROVIDES

NOVEL POWER GENERATION SOURCE

توليد الطاقة من خالل اللعاب البشري

KAUST SOLAR CENTER OFFICIALLY INAUGURATED

مركز أحباث الطاقة الشمسية يف جامعة امللك عبداهلل للعلوم والتقنية : حنو طاقة املستقبل

INSIDE: Research 6-7 Community 8News 1-5

From L-R: Solar Center Director Karl Leo, President Jean-Lou Chameau, Vice Chairman of Rawabi Holding Ali Abdulaziz AlTurki, Vice President for Research Jean Fréchet, and Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering Yves Gnanou.

Prof. Muhammad Mustafa Hussain and team’s saliva-powered microbial fuel cell is displayed for size next to a Saudi 50 halala coin.

Image credit: GA Torres Sevilla; JP Rojas; HM Fahad; AM Hussain; R Ghanem; CE Smith; MM Hussain: Flexible and Transparent Silicon-on-Polymer Based Sub-20 nm Non-planar 3D FinFET For Brain-Architecture Inspired Computation. Advanced Materials. 2014. 26. 2794-2799. Copyright Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Reproduced with permission.

NEO OPEN AFTERNOON SHOWCASES RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

THE KAUST New Energy Oasis

(NEO), part of the Technology

Application and Advancement

Group (TAAG), hosted an open

afternoon to showcase its

renewable energy technology

on May 7.

Held at the NEO site located

near the campus’s Innovation

Cluster buildings, the open

afternoon enabled the wider KAUST community to experience “up close” guided tours to learn

more about the site’s different types of renewable energy technologies.

The technologies on-site come from 11 different international technology providers, with the

unique environment of Saudi Arabia providing an excellent opportunity to test these technologies

in real-world conditions. Renewable energy is a key solution to the Kingdom’s growing energy

demands, and is an important area of research for the University.

NEO’s goal is to provide both quantitative and qualitative information, to a variety of providers

in the Renewable Energy value chain, which can enable them to select the most appropriate

technologies for instantiation in the Kingdom.

Technologies on-site include solar energy technologies, including photovoltaic (PV) and

concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies, and dust mitigation technologies designed to

address the problem of soiling (dust accumulation) on solar panels.

KAUST SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS STUDENT CHAPTER TO ATTEND PETROBOWL 2014

THE KAUST Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) student chapter successfully qualified for

PetroBowl, a prestigious competition which will take place at the Annual Technical Conference

& Exhibition (ATCE) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on October 27.

PetroBowl is a tournament where teams from different universities’ SPE student chapters are

matched against each other to answer a series of quiz questions related to petroleum engineering.

The KAUST team competed against more than 70 other teams from universities around the world

to qualify for the event. Teams came

from other schools such as Stanford

University, the Colorado School of

Mines, Texas A&M, and TU Delft.

The team members noted they

were excited to receive one of the

36 spots in the competition. “We

will be proud to represent KAUST

and Saudi Arabia at PetroBowl,”

they said. “We are happy to have

the opportunity to showcase the

capabilities of KAUST students, and

in particular to show our high level

of petroleum engineering knowledge

which is so critical to Saudi Arabia

and the world.”

News2 June 2014 The Beacon

IN CASE you’ve been busy with research, studies, and work, the end of the 2014 academic year

has been an exciting time. In April a stirring inauguration ceremony was held for the Solar

& Photovoltaics Engineering Research Center (SPERC). In May 185 KAUST employees were

formally recognized for five years of service to the university. A gala was also held in May to

celebrate the accomplishments of our university’s faculty and to formally welcome our newest

faculty members.

On pages 1 and 6-7, read about KAUST research that is making big headlines in Advanced

Materials and Nature Asia Materials. Research groups led by Prof. Muhammad Mustafa Hussain

are breaking ground in silicon-based electronics and microbial fuel cells.

This issue also covers an important milestone for the university community—the formation of

the first KAUST alumni chapter, which was announced by President Jean-Lou Chameau at an

event hosted by Saudi Aramco in April.

The Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 9, June 2014. Published by The Communications Department, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia. Contact Salah Sindi salah.sindi@kaust.edu.sa, or Michelle D'Antoni michelle.dantoni@kaust.edu.sa © King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Printed on partially recycled paper.

—THE BEACON Editorial

KAUST SOLAR CENTER| | Continued from p1 تتمة الصفحة األولى:جامعة الملك عبداهلل كمركز عالمي ألبحاث الطاقة الشمسية

كما شملت فعاليات افتتاح مركز أبحاث هندسة الطاقة الشمسية والخاليا الضوئية في جامعة الملك عبداهلل حدثًا مهمًا وهو توقيع مذكرة تفاهم بين جامعة الملك عبداهلل ومركز األبحاث األلماني للطاقة الشمسية والهيدروجين بادن فورتمبيرغ. وتنص هذه المذكرة على تفعيل شراكة الخاليا أفالم تقنية مجال في األلماني األبحاث مركز و عبداهلل الملك جامعة بين تعاونية الضوئية الرقيقة. وقام البروفيسور مايكل بواال بتمثيل مركز األبحاث األلماني للطاقة الشمسية الخاليا أفالم رفع كفاءة في مجال العاملين العلماء أحد وهو فورتمبيرغ، بادن والهيدروجين الضوئية الرقيقة حيث حققت أبحاثه معدل كفاءة قياسي وعالمي بلغ %20.8. وأشاد البروفيسور الشمسية الطاقة هندسة أبحاث مركز في األولى خطوتنا "ستكون بقوله: المعدل بهذا ليو

والخاليا الضوئية هي تأسيس هذه التقنية العالمية وتطويرها في جامعة الملك عبداهلل". ثم تحدث البروفيسور ليو عن دور المركز الجديد وكيف تطور بصورة كبيرة منذ البدء بإنشائه أول مرة في عام 2010. فأصبح يغطي اليوم 300 متر مربع من المرافق والمختبرات بما في ذلك عن فضاًل الليزر، تقنية ومختبر التجهيزات، بأحدث والمجهزة الكبير النظيفة الغرفة مختبر ثالثة منهم التدريس، هيئة أعضاء الرقيقة. كما يضم حاليًا سبعة من األفالم لطباعة مختبر في مجال الخاليا الضوئية. وهناك جهود تجري اآلن لزيادة عدد أعضاء هيئة التدريس والعلماء والخاليا الشمسية الطاقة هندسة أبحاث مركز وأصبح المركز. في الدكتوراه بعد ما وباحثي الطلبة من العديد ويجذب واسع عالمي باهتمام يحظى عبداهلل الملك جامعة في الضوئية المهتمين في هذا المجال نظرًا للموقع االستراتيجي للمملكة وتزايد االهتمام العالمي بمصادر

الطاقة المتجددة.

أهمية الطاقة الشمسية للمملكة الموارد وفرة بسبب السعودية العربية المملكة في كبير باهتمام الشمسية الطاقة تحَظ لم النفطية. ولكن وفقًا للبروفيسور ليو فإن هذا الوضع قد تغير بشكل جذري. واستشهد بمدينة حكومة التزام على واضحة كعالمة ،)K.A.Care( والمتجددة الذرية للطاقة عبداهلل الملك المملكة في المضي قدمًا نحو الطاقة المتجددة من أجل بناء مستقبل مستدام للمملكة. كما تطرق المتحدثون في الندوة إلى وفرة الطاقة الشمسية في المملكة وأنه إذا تم استغاللها بصورة كبيرة فيمكن عندها إنتاج الكهرباء من الطاقة الشمسية بداًل من حرق النفط والغاز، مما قد

يوفر الكثير من األموال و يعود بالنفع على االستثمارات في المملكة. مجال في والصناعة األبحاث في عقود لثالثة الممتدة الخبرة ذو ليو كارل البروفيسور وقال الطاقة الشمسية و الخاليا الضوئية، إنه أعجب كثيرًا بتطور ونمو تقنيات الطاقة الشمسية في المملكة حيث يوجد اهتمام كبير من قبل العديد من الشركات المحلية والقطاع الصناعي في هذا المجال مما يؤكد على الدور الكبير والقيادي لمركز جامعة الملك عبداهلل للطاقة الشمسية

في المملكة والمنطقة على المدى البعيد. وذكر البروفيسور كار ليو أن هدف المركز على المدى القريب هو التركيز على تطوير الخاليا الضوئية و توليد الكهرباء مباشرة من أشعة الشمس. أما هدف المركز على المدى البعيد فهو الخاليا أكبر عيوب "إن من بقوله: ليو البروفيسور الطاقة. وختم تخزين وحفظ تقنيات تطوير نحتاج لذلك الشمس. أشعة غياب في الشمسية الطاقة توليد على قدرتها عدم هو الضوئية

." لتطوير تقنيات فعالة جدًا لتخزين هذه الطاقة في المستقبل

amongst representatives of some of the world’s leading

companies in the field present at KAUST for the SPERC

inauguration. The topics of discussion focused on how the

solar energy manufacturing industry can be effectively

developed in Saudi Arabia and also how the government

can enact policies and intervene to speed up the process.

KAUST AS A GLOBAL HUB OF SOLAR RESEARCH

In addition to celebrating the opening of KAUST’s

world-class laboratory facilities, the inauguration also

resulted in a noteworthy memorandum of understanding

between the University and the Stuttgart-based Centre for

Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg

(ZSW) to develop thin-film photovoltaic technology.

ZSW, represented at the inauguration by Prof. Michael

Powalla, is the current world-record holder in thin-film

photovoltaics cells efficiency - recently achieving an

efficiency rate of 20.8%. “Our first step will be to establish

their world-record technology here at KAUST to be on par

with them, and then move in new directions such as cells

made from abundant materials” said Prof. Leo. Another

center collaboration is with Rawabi Holding, a leading

industrial player in the region for over thirty years, which

established the Rawabi Holding Research Chair in Solar

and Photovoltaics Engineering.

“When KAUST was founded, it was clear that the Solar

Center should be an important part of KAUST,” said Prof.

Leo. Since the decision was made in 2010 to start building

it, it has developed extensively. Today, the center boasts

300 square meters of laboratory facilities, including a

large and well-equipped clean room lab, a laser lab, and a

fine lab for thin film printing. “These labs were basically

completed and commissioned last summer or fall; so now

the Solar Center is picking up speed and we are also in

the process of expanding faculty,” Prof. Leo said.

SPERC currently has seven faculty members, with three

focusing mainly on photovoltaics. More faculty members

are in the process of joining, and active recruiting efforts

are also bringing in new postdocs and research scientists.

Given Saudi Arabia’s prime location for the study of solar

energy and the growing global interest in renewables,

KAUST’s Solar Center is attracting a lot of international

interest, including from potential students.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PHOTOVOLTAICS FOR THE KINGDOM

Due to the Kingdom’s rich resources in fossil fuels,

solar energy has not always been a central focus in

Saudi Arabia, but “this has drastically changed” as Prof.

Leo explained. He points to King Abdullah City for

Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A. CARE) as a clear

sign of the government’s commitment to push forward

with renewable energy and, as K.A. CARE's mission

states, to “build a sustainable future for Saudi Arabia.”

Speakers at the SPERC seminar demonstrated that

if Saudi Arabia would produce its electricity by solar

instead of burning oil and gas, the Kingdom would save

a significant amount of money even today. The return

on investment would be positive and very high.

With his three decades of experience in photovolataics

research and industry, Prof. Leo said he was “very much

impressed with how PV technology is taking off in the

Kingdom.” Many local companies are now preparing

activities and manufacturing in the sector. Prof. Leo

believes this places KAUST’s Solar Center at “the center

in the Kingdom and the region on this topic.”

Prof. Leo explained that SPERC's short-term goal is to

“concentrate on photovoltaics and all direct electricity

generation from the sun.” In the mid- to long-term

range, the plan is to expand the center’s topics –

mainly on energy storage and energy conservation.

As Prof. Leo explained, “The biggest disadvantage of

photovoltaics is that you can only generate energy as

long as the sun is shining; but if it doesn’t shine you

are limited. Therefore, in the long term, you need also

storage technologies.”

L-R: Klemens Katterbauer, Ayrat Abdullin, Dias Urozayev, Xiaolin Fan

The NEO Team

“A UNIVERSITY is as distinctive as its faculty,” said KAUST

President Jean-Lou Chameau at the 2014 Faculty Recognition

Dinner. The evening’s purpose was to celebrate the University’s

faculty, as well as to highlight faculty promotions and welcoming

new faculty members.

Remarking on the impressive amount of publications and

citations data generated from KAUST research output in just a few

years, President Chameau commended the faculty for placing the

University on par with some of the best science

and engineering-focused institutions in the world.

“You should be proud of the research and academic

contributions you are making,” said Dr. Chameau. He

added that it’s also exciting to see KAUST faculty

being advertised in the media in a variety of ways,

and referred to the back cover Apple advertisement

in the April edition of Time Magazine, which featured

Professor Michael Berumen demonstrating his much-

heralded iDive device in action.

While introducing a dozen new faculty members

who have joined KAUST in recent months, Dr.

Chameau encouraged the faculty to take advantage

of the dinner discussions to make new friends. “I encourage you

to spend some time talking to someone you don’t know very well

in another discipline. There should be new research ideas coming

out of this evening!” said Dr. Chameau.

The new faculty members included: Moussa Benhamed

(Assistant Professor, Bioscience), Carlo Liberale (Assistant

Professor, Bioscience), Andrea Falqui (Associate Professor,

Bioscience), Diogo Gomes (Associate Professor, Applied

Mathematics and Computational Sciences), Daniele Daffonchio

(Professor, Bioscience), Takashi Gojobori (Distinguished Professor

and Associate Director of the Computational Bioscience Research

Center), Wolfgang Heidrich (Professor and Director of the Visual

Computing Center), Heribert Hirt (Professor, Bioscience), Omar

Knio (Professor, Applied Mathematics and Computational

Sciences), TorOve Leiknes (Professor, Environmental Science and

Engineering), and Xixiang Zhang (Former Director of Core Labs,

now Professor, Materials Science and Engineering).

Later in the evening, the president invited the deans of

the three divisions to introduce recently promoted faculty

members: Michael Berumen (Associate Professor, Marine

Science), Markus Hadwiger (Associate Professor, Computer

Science), Samir Hamdan (Associate Professor, Bioscience),

Ibrahim Hoteit (Associate Professor, Earth Sciences and

Engineering), Andy Kuo-Wei Huang (Associate Professor,

Chemical Science), David Ketcheson (Associate Professor,

Applied Mathematics and Computational Science), Peng

Wang (Associate Professor, Environmental Science and

Engineering), and Udo Schwingenschlögl (Professor, Materials

Science and Engineering).

News 3June 2014www.kaust.edu.sa

May 2014 marked a milestone for 184 KAUST employees who

celebrated five years of service at the University. Combined, the

cohort represents over 60 departments or units and 925 years of

service. At a recognition ceremony honoring the individuals on

May 5, remarks were given by President Jean-Lou Chameau and

Human Resources Vice President Patricia Ann Hughes.

At the event, President Chameau encouraged all staff to take

pride in their many contributions to the mission of KAUST.

“Every day you contribute to our research and education

environment, and your work honors KAUST’s commitment to

discovery, learning, and excellence;” said President Chameau.

“Our standard of excellence is what we strive for in every task

we complete and every project we initiate — whether in the

laboratory, within the community, or in the office.”

The event also launched the inaugural KAUST Awards

for Excellence to recognize the dedication of employees.

Following a peer-nomination and final selection committee

process, three individuals were selected for upholding

the KAUST values of excellence, integrity, and passion.

The award winners were acknowledged by the selection

committee and the President for their exemplary service in

the following categories:

Outstanding Contribution: Mohammed A. Balamesh, Lab

Fit-Out Specialist, Engineering & Project Management

Service Excellence: Doreena Chen, Special Projects

Coordinator, Graduate Affairs

Community Spirit: Scott Herrington, MYP Humanities and

Accreditation Chair, The KAUST School

“As staff, we support our faculty, researchers, postdocs,

and students, and we do this day after day, often with few

accolades or praise of a ‘job well-done.’ In a university

environment, this is often the role of the unsung hero,” said

President Chameau. “We have heroes across the campus

and community who deserve our gratitude and appreciation

— from the staff who help support researchers in our

laboratories, to those who help support the community and

those who keep our days on track, to those who teach our

children and those who recruit new staff. I encourage each of

you to remember that every task you complete contributes to

our mission and our culture of excellence.”

Congratulations to the following members of the University

family celebrating five years of service:

2014 EMPLOYEE AWARDS

Abbas Alsaihati

Abdel Amwas

Abdul Kutty

Abdulaziz Alfaraj

Abdullah Zubair

Abdullah Aldossary

Abdullah Alabdullatif

Abdullah Al-Zahrani

Abdullah Almojel

Abdulrazaq Al-Morjan

Ahmed Abuzaid

Ahmed Khalaf

Aida Palero

Aleksandar Radovanovic

Ali Madi Idris

Ali Makki Idris

Ali Behzad

Alma Hobson

Andres Alarilla

Antonio Valenzuela

Antonios Dakas

Anwar Al Ghanmi

April Bailey

Aram Amassian

Arinnola Joseph

Asif Naqvi

Ayman Bajnaid

Badr Mesha

Bantwal Ahamed

Basem Shihada

Bashir Warsama

Belal Abdrabboh

Bienvenido Jr Yu Caparaz

Biju Reghuvaran

Boon Ooi

Brian Moran

Chao Zhao

Cherine Fayad

Christina Guindy

Chun Lu

Daniel Acevedo-Feliz

David Keyes

David Ketcheson

Deborah Stacey

Dina Garatly

Diya Al-Saihati

Dodie Dolorito

Dwight Valencerina

Emad Abdulghani

Emad Bakr

Eman Khankan

Enrik Jani

Fabrizio Bisetti

Faisal Alamoudi

Faisal Alzubi

Faisal Muhammed

Faraj Afana

Gary Amy

Gemma Aglanao

Georgiy Stenchikov

Gerard Schuster

Gerardo Valle

Giridharan Dharan

Gregory Wickham

Gowry Hodge

Guodong Li

Hamad Al Qahtani

Haris Siddiqui

Hedaya Bakhorji

Heikki Lehvaslaiho

Helmut Pottmann

Huoming Zhang

Husam Alshareef

Hussam Harakeh

Hussam Khatib

Ibrahim Hoteit

Iman Roqan

Imran Nasrullah

Imtiaz Ahmad

Ingo Pinnau

Inji Jaber

Ismail Al-Nizami

Jamshed Mian

Jasmeen Merzaban

Jatinkumar Shah

John Larson

Jurgen Kosel

Kevin Harrington

Khaled Salama

Khalid Al-Qurashi

Krishnaraja Kinialevoor

Krishni Reddy

Liming Xiong

Long Chen

Longqing Chen

Madathil Pindali

Madhusudhanan Srinivasan

Madonna Sanchez

Mahmoud Muati

Majed El Mir

Mani John

Mario, Jr. Ardiente Portallo

Masateru Takahashi

Meng Zhang

Michael Berumen

Mikhail Moshkov

Moawya Masry

Mohamed Sobhy

Mohamed Eddaoudi

Mohamed Abdel-Aal

Mohamed Al-Ali

Mohamed-Slim Alouini

Mohammad Alshawaf

Mohammad Akhtar

Mohammad Bakhdar

Mohammed AlFaifi

Mohammed Ahmed

Mohammed Alkubaish

Moin Khan

Moody Altamimi

Naif Al Sama

Nestor Tiongco Jr.

Nicholas Martin

Niveen Khashab

Norberto Inocencio

Nouf Alsaleh

Nover Ardiente

Oliver Balagtas

Omar Al-Harbi

Omar Al-Omar

Omar Bukhari

Osama Mandurah

Osman Bakr

Panagiotis Kalnis

Paul Mai

Pauline Nolan

Pervez Aibara

Philip Joseph

Qiang Zhang

Rachid Sougrat

Rainnier Lauguico

Rajesh Unnithan

Rajneesh Pandey

Ramzi Aljahdali

Raul Tempone

Reema Khashoggi

Rimantas Kodzius

Romeo Maputi

Saajida Ooni

Sadik Karolia

Saeed Bawazir

Saham Al-Husseini

Sahrawi Chaib

Salah Sindi

Saleh Abdulaziz

Sami Alqarawi

Samir Hamdan

Sharafuddin Muhammad

Sharfraz Shah

Sheik Basha

Shirley Cadiz

ShouDong Zhang

Sigurdur Thoroddsen

Sigurjon Jonsson

Somayah Algashgari

Sulaiman AlThunayan

Susan Hemp

Susanne Cunningham

Syed Ali

Syed Mahmud

Tanveer Shahid

Tariq Alkhalifa

Teresa Doxen

Thaslim Jakson

Udo Schwingenschloegl

Victor Calo

Vladimir Bajic

Wendy Keyes

Xianrong Guo

Xixiang Zhang

Yousef Ayyad

Yu Han

Yuqin Qiu

Zhihong Wang

FACULTY RECOGNITION DINNER

AS DR. JACQUELINE PHILLIPS, coordinator of the Teacher

Development Program (TDP) puts it, “rockstar Saudi interns”

train in The KAUST School (TKS) for several years to become top

teachers. When they finish, they’re qualified to work

as International Baccalaureate (IB) teachers. Better still,

they’re equipped to help train the next generation of

Saudi educators at an IB level as well.

This year, three women are completing the arduous,

two-year journey from intern to IB certified teacher. And

thanks to the success of the program, all three — Hadiah

Alghumayri, Alanud Alfaqir, and Marwah Ashrour —

will stay on as teachers in the fall.

“We do mentor teaching, constant observation, and

teacher assessments four times each semester. So our

teachers get the total support and feedback that is vital

to their development as professionals,” said Dr. Phillips.

It starts with daily mentor impressions—a mentor

watches the interns interact with students and then

rates their communication, delivery, pedagogy, and more. These

impressions are then compiled and put into a weekly mentor

reflection, which is given to the interns during a weekly meeting.

“We get really tough feedback,” said recent graduate Alanud

Alfaqir. “When I started out I thought I would do really well. But I

was shocked to find that I had so much room for improvement—it

motivated me to grow.”

On top of exhaustive training, the interns also get the opportunity

to attend an international Teacher Training Course. This year’s course

will be held in London, where all three of the interns will get to learn

from and share ideas with thousands of other IB teachers.

“We are so grateful for all of the opportunities we’ve been given.

We get to grow as people and as teachers,” said Alanud. “In truth,

the greatest joy for us is seeing an improvement in our students.”

The teachers all talked about their appreciation for the program,

the administrators, and even the students who made their training

possible. “They allow us to do what we want,” said Marwah Ashrour.

“They give us the feedback and support we need to fail, to learn, and

then to succeed.”

ON APRIL 2, Saudi Aramco hosted the KAUST

Alumni Celebration, honoring the achievements

of alumni living and working in the Kingdom.

Attendees from KAUST and throughout the

Kingdom participated in this unique celebration,

which featured a day of career development

and industry workshops, VIP tours of company

operations, and presentations by six alumni now

working at Saudi Aramco, SABIC, or pursuing

doctoral degrees at KAUST.

SHARED FUTUREMr. Amin Nasser, Senior Vice President of

Upstream Operations at Saudi Aramco and

Co-Chairman of the Saudi Aramco – KAUST

Collaboration Oversight Board, organized the event

in collaboration with KAUST, and described three

key goals of the celebration. First, it promoted and

strengthened the bond among alumni and enlisted

them as partners in a shared and promising future.

Second, it celebrated the unique education afforded

by KAUST and the University's crucial work in

producing key talent. Third, it demonstrated the

strategic partnership between KAUST and Saudi

Aramco.

Building on these themes, Mr. Nasser affirmed

Saudi Aramco’s commitment to talent development

as the largest employer of KAUST alumni in the

Kingdom. To those alumni already at Saudi Aramco,

he promised, “We aim to make the most of your

careers at our company.”

DREAM TO REALITY The partnership between Saudi Aramco and

KAUST began in 2006 when the University was still

a dream of King Abdullah. His ambitious vision was

the creation of a leading international university

that would provide the world with innovative

research, boost economic development within the

Kingdom, and enhance global connectivity.

“The dream is a reality today, manifested by

you,” Mr. Khalid Al-Falih, President and CEO of

Saudi Aramco, told the alumni. “And you are just

at the beginning. The best of ‘you’ is still ahead.

The dream is already a reality — not only in terms

of numbers, not only in terms of the geographic

representation within the Kingdom, but really in

terms of the quality, the energy, the can-do attitude

we are seeing and the ability to deliver results in

an incredibly short period of time.” Mr. Al-Falih

then urged the alumni to “keep on dreaming and

stay bold.”

LEADING CHANGEDr. Jean-Lou Chameau, President of KAUST,

emphasized the importance of educating students

and engaging them in an environment that

promotes a culture of excellence, curiosity, integrity,

and a passion for contributing to society through

cutting-edge research and innovation.

“I encourage you as KAUST alumni to make

contributions that showcase our culture of

cross-disciplinary problem-solving as well as

curiosity-driven research,” said Dr. Chameau. He

encouraged alumni as leaders in science and

technology to become change agents, inventors, and

entrepreneurs, advancing KAUST as a “beacon of

attraction for the Kingdom.” In this way, alumni are

shaping the future of KAUST and its reputation as

a great university and an “active hub of education,

discovery, innovation, and entrepreneurship.”

FIRST ALUMNI CHAPTER In a timely complement to the celebration’s

closing session, Dr. Chameau announced the

formation of KAUST’s first alumni chapter in

Saudi Arabia. “As the birthplace of KAUST, it is

fitting that the first alumni chapter be established

here in the Kingdom, where so many of you are

contributing to the future of the country,” he said.

Dr. Chameau added that alumni would

be engaged in forming the chapter, which

would represent the growing alumni body

in the Kingdom. The inaugural chapter will

facilitate alumni communication, build

future partnerships within the Kingdom, and

support alumni as they go on to accomplish

advancements in their fields.

The BeaconResearch4 June 2014

استضافت شركة أرامكو السعودية في الثاني من أبريل الماضي حفاًل لتكريم خريجي جامعة الملك المملكة في ويعملون يعيشون الذين عبداهلل ورش على الحفل واشتمل السعودية. العربية عمل للتطوير الوظيفي والصناعة ، وجوالت لكبار عروض إلى إضافة الشركة، داخل الشخصيات الذين الموهوبين الخريجين من لستة تقديمية وشركة ، السعودية أرامكو شركة في يعملون جامعة في الدكتوراه درجة حملة أو سابك، الملك عبداهلل للعلوم والتقنية. وقد شهد الحفل

حضورًا من الجامعة ومن خارجها.

مستقبل واحداألعلى النائب الناصر، حسن أمين وقام للرئيس لالستكشاف واإلنتاج في شركة أرامكو التعاون لمجلس المشارك والرئيس السعودية بين أرامكو السعودية وجامعة الملك عبداهلل،

بتنظيم هذا الحدث بالتنسيق مع الجامعة. يسعى التكريم هذا أن الناصر أمين وقال لتحقيق أهداف رئيسية ثالثة هي : أواًل: دعم باعتبارهم وتعزيزها الخريجين بين الروابط االحتفاء ثانيًا: واحد. مستقبل في شركاء جامعة توفره الذي والعالمي المتميز بالتعليم تخريج في الكبير ودورها عبداهلل، الملك الشراكة تأكيد ثالثًا: المواهب. من العديد االستراتيجية بين جامعة الملك عبداهلل وشركة

أرامكو السعودية.وانطالقًا من هذه األهداف، أكد الناصر التزام أرامكو السعودية بمواصلة تطوير هذه المواهب بكونها أكبر شركة تعمل على توظيف خريجي وجه ثم المملكة. في عبداهلل الملك جامعة رسالة لجميع الخريجين الذين يعملون اآلن في بأنكم نعدكم ": قال حيث السعودية أرامكو ستجدون في شركتنا بيئة تطويرية مثالية تحقق

طموحاتكم الوظيفية ".

تحقيق الحلمالسعودية أرامكو شركة بين الشراكة بدأت عندما ،2006 عام في عبداهلل الملك وجامعة الملك الجامعة مجرد حلم طموح لدى كانت عبداهلل ، بإنشاء جامعة أبحاث دولية رائدة تدعم االقتصادية التنمية وتعزز العالم في االبتكار

والمكانة العالمية للمملكة العربية السعودية. وكبير رئيس الفالح العزيز بن عبد وألقى خالد السعودية أرامكو لشركة التنفيذيين اإلداريين كلمة بهذه المناسبة خاطب فيها الخريجين بقوله : "بوجودكم أصبح الحلم واقعًا اليوم، ليس فقط داخل الجغرافي التمثيل أو األرقام؛ حيث من والعزيمة، الجودة، حيث من ولكن المملكة، والمثابرة والقدرة على تحقيق النتائج في فترة زمنية قصيرة، إننا نتوقع منكم أن تقدموا أفضل

ما لديكم وأنتم في بداية حياتكم المهنية ".

قيادة التغييرجامعة رئيس شامو، جان-لو الدكتور وتحدث الطلبة تثقيف أهمية عن اهلل، عبد الملك والفضول، التميز، ثقافة تعزز بيئة وإشراكهم في تنمية في المساهمة شغف عن فضاًل والنزاهة، والهادفة، المتطورة األبحاث خالل من المجتمع والتقنية العلوم قيادة على الخريجين شجع كما وأن أعمال ورواد ومخترعين علماء يصبحوا وأن

يسهموا بتقدم جامعة الملك عبداهلل لتصبح منارة للتعليم واالكتشاف واالبتكار وروح المبادرة تشع

من خاللها المملكة العربية السعودية.

أول فرع محلي لخريجي الجامعةوفي ختام الحفل أعلن الدكتور شامو عن تشكيل أول فرع محلي لخريجي جامعة الملك عبداهلل في من "إنه : قال حيث السعودية. العربية المملكة لخريجي محلي فرع أول تشكيل يتم أن البديهي السعودية كونها هي العربية المملكة الجامعة في وأضاف عبداهلل". الملك لجامعة المنشأ أرض لخريجي المحلي الفرع هذا أن شامو الدكتور في المتنامية الخريجين هيئة سيمثل الجامعة بين التواصل عملية يسهل وسوف المملكة داخل المستقبلية الشراكات وبناء الخريجين،

المملكة، ودعم األبحاث الرائدة.

نبذة عن االحتفالشركة مع بالتعاون السعودية المبادرات قامت عبداهلل الملك جامعة وقيادة السعودية أرامكو وشؤون الدراسات العليا فضاًل عن مكتب الخريجين االحتفال هذا برعاية عبداهلل، الملك جامعة في المملكة في الموهوبين الخريجين يكرم الذي في وفاعلة كبيرة إسهامات لهم ستكون والذين بتحويل تسهم كي عبداهلل الملك جامعة تقدم

اقتصاد المملكة إلى اقتصاد قائم على المعرفة.للعلوم عبداهلل الملك جامعة خريجي عدد وبلغ خريجًا 148 االحتفال هذا الذين حضروا والتقنية في عدة مدن في ويعملون مختلفة جنسيات من المملكة مثل جدة، والظهران، والرياض، والجبيل، الممثلة: الشركات والمؤسسات الهفوف. وشملت عبداهلل الملك مركز سابك، السعودية، أرامكو للدراسات والبحوث البترولية، وزارة التعليم العالي، الجوية الخطوط الوطنية، الموانئ خدمات شركة اآللية، للحاسبات السعودية الشركة السعودية، ومدينة الملك عبداهلل للطاقة الذرية والمتجددة.

الملك جامعة قيادات من عدد الحفل وحضر عبداهلل وهم المهندس نظمي النصر، نائب الرئيس الدكتورة والمالية، اإلدارية للشؤون التنفيذي السعودية، للمبادرات الرئيس نائب عشري، نجاح البروفيسور جيمس كالفين، نائب الرئيس للشؤون شؤون عميد موران، براين البروفسور األكاديمية، العليا األكاديمية والقيادة العليا الدراسات

.ومشرفي كراسي البرنامج في الجامعة

DR. CHAMEAU ANNOUNCES FIRST ALUMNI CHAPTER AT CELEBRATION HOSTED BY SAUDI ARAMCO

يف احتفال برعاية شركة أرامكو السعودية :الدكتور شامو يعلن عن أول فرع حملي خلرجيي جامعة

امللك عبداهلل

FROM INTERN TO IB-CERTIFIED TEACHER

(From left to right) Jacqueline Phillips, Alanud Alfaqir, Hadiah Alghumayri, and Marwah Ashrour.

Alumni in Dhahran

THE SPRING 2014 VentureLab showcase, hosted recently by

the New Ventures & Entrepreneurship team, featured finalists

from six teams who presented their business ideas to a high-

profile panel of judges. Comprised of a diverse group of KAUST

researchers, Jeddah-based entrepreneurs, and professionals from

Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, the presentations were the result of the

eight-week VentureLab, KAUST's competitive business accelerator

program, which began on March 1.

Through the program, which provides real world, hands-on

learning experience on how to successfully start a company, the

teams were encouraged by a team of entrepreneurship coaches

and mentors to test their business ideas with real potential

customers. Collectively, the teams interviewed 522 people about

their startup idea and went trough 1,500 hours of training.

The teams who presented at the Spring 2014 VentureLab

showcase were:

• Burtoga – An online platform designed to help graphic

designers visualize their flat design work into a photo-

realistic mock-up. Their tool allows the designs to be viewed

from different angles and against multiple backgrounds and

settings. The team interviewed over 70 designers from seven

countries, and 83% of participants said they would be willing

to pay for the service.

• Trochet – As their name’s formulation indicates (Trochet

= Trash + Crochet), Trochet is a social enterprise that sells

products made of repurposed plastic bags crocheted by Saudi

women. Tackling the huge problems of wasted plastic bags

and women’s unemployment in the Kingdom, Trochet collects

thousands of discarded plastic bags and offers employment

to underprivileged women, who then knit or crochet them as

stylish bean bags, cushions, stress balls, bags and more. The

project started in 2013 with two women who were able to

produce 288 prototypes, and today they work with around 75

women to produce over 1,000 prototypes, all of which sold.

• Tilez – A mobile application to assist users purchasing tiles

for their homes or businesses. The tool lets them select tile

patterns, design, material (ceramic, porcelain, or marble) and

the optimal amount they need to purchase to avoid waste.

The team, comprised of an architect, IT specialist, systems

programmer, and marketing MBA, pooled their collective

talents to devise this mobile application. Their goal is to

simplify the process of design and implementation.

• SaudiMLS – Saudi Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is

an online real-estate platform devised to improve and

standardize the traditional process of buying and selling

homes in Saudi Arabia. The service aims to certify

realtors, offer a subscription platform for sellers to list

their properties and agents, and provide transparency and

convenience for buyers. They have interviewed over 100

customers and have already garnered interest from King

Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).

• Nations Bazaar – A social and cultural e-commerce website

aiming to act as a bridge between local Saudi Artisans, the

non-profit organizations representing them, and online

buyers looking for authentic Saudi traditional arts and crafts

products (such as baskets and pottery). The team has begun

working with both the Saudi Commission of Tourism and

Antiquities and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce to help

establish contacts with social organizations in Saudi Arabia.

• 3enDmeD – An augmented reality system allowing

neurosurgeons to use 3D visualization medical technology

with the use of special goggles to visualize the structure of the

brain directly and track the position of surgical probes inside

a patient’s head. This could greatly improve medical science

by helping surgeons to be more precise and productive.

As VentureLab instructor Mark Searle, Senior Fellow at the

Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley, explained:

“We challenge the teams to get out and challenge their own

hypotheses.” They accomplish this by interviewing potential

customers, people they’ve never talked to before, and ask

them about problems they are facing and if their startup idea

can offer a viable solution. “This can be very uncomfortable

because entrepreneurs are by nature passionate people,” adds

Searle. “People get really upset when they go out there to

present their idea, their baby, and the market says that their

baby is really ugly.”

It’s particularly noteworthy, as Searle also points out, that half

of the above teams had a completely different business idea just

eight weeks prior when they began the program. “They discovered

that by turning hypotheses into facts they found new business

opportunities that are real and that actually have some chance of

success,” said Searle.

The teams competed for three awards as part of the showcase

event: the People’s Choice Award (as voted by member of the

audience), the Intel Nomination (awarded by Intel Corporation),

and the Most Promising Startup Award (as determined by the

panel’s judges). The panel of judges included:

• Mohammad Al-Suwaileh - Chairman of Oqal Jeddah Chapter

• Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel - Intel Saudi Arabia Corporate Affairs

Group Manager responsible for the national strategy of

Intel's Corporate Affairs

• Karl Leo - Director of KAUST’s Solar & Photovoltaics

Engineering Research Center (SPERC)

• Mark Searle - VentureLab Instructor, Senior Fellow at

the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley,

and an award-winning international serial entrepreneur

and instructor

• Khalid Suleimani - A Saudi serial entrepreneur, IT consultant,

and public speaker

• Tuba Terekli - Cofounder and CEO of Qotuf Al Riyadah

Development Company. She is considered among the top five

female CEOs of her generation in Saudi Arabia.

While the People’s Choice Award went to Nations Bazaar and

the Intel Nomination was awarded to 3dnDmeD, the above panel

of judges selected Trochet for the Most Promising Startup Award.

Trochet also previously won first prize at Harvard University as

the best social impact project – allowing them to win a scholarship

to spend five weeks in Silicon Valley where they were able to

prominently display their products in the offices of leading tech

companies such as Google and Yahoo.

5Newswww.kaust.edu.sa June 2014

THE KAUST Gifted Student Program (KGSP) has seen a record number of admissions offers from top

universities in the United States for its 2014 Foundation Year students. Countless hours over the last year

were dedicated to TOFEL and SAT preparation and coursework in math, writing, and STEM labs, resulting

in admissions offers for 100 percent of students at top institutions in the US.

This fall, these KGSP students will join the Class of 2018 at 43 prestigious universities including

Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, the Universities of California,

Berkeley, and Los Angeles, and many more.

In addition to the record number of new university

placements, KGSP students have secured internships

at a range of leading institutions around the world.

Notable offers include General Electric, NASA’s

Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, CERN, and

Schlumberger, among others.

As the next academic year approaches, KAUST

would like to thank the KGSP Academic Oversight

Committee for the vital role it has played and will

continue to play in student selection, engagement,

and development. The Committee is chaired by Dr.

Najah Ashry, Vice President of Saudi Initiatives, which

administers the program. Members include academic

division Deans Mootaz Elnozahy, Yves Gnanou, and

Pierre Magistretti, as well as Associate Deans Mohamed-Slim Alouini, Udo Schwingenschlögl, and Suzana

Nunes, and KGSP Director Saham Alhusseini.

KGSP is a scholarship dedicated to cultivating the next generation of scientists and researchers in

Saudi Arabia. It supports high-achieving Saudi students pursuing baccalaureate degrees in science and

engineering at top-tier universities in the United States and prepares them for eventual post-graduate

study at KAUST.

KAUST congratulates all KGSP students on this year’s many successes and looks forward to supporting

them in their academic journeys.

THE SPRING 2014 VENTURELAB SHOWCASE

KGSP STUDENTS RECEIVE RECORD NUMBER OF ADMISSIONS OFFERS AND SECURE TOP INTERNSHIPS

“THIS INVENTION can really shape the future of medical testing

and diagnosis,” said Professor Aamir Farooq, speaking to The

Beacon about his team’s research on an advanced breath sensor.

Dr. Farooq is Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

and Principal Investigator of the Chemical Kinetics and Laser

Sensors Laboratory at KAUST. His paper in Applied Physics B

(doi: 10.1007/s00340-013-5701-1), published with co-author Kyle

Owen, a KAUST MS student, outlines a novel approach to sensing

the presence of chemical compounds in human breath using a

quantum cascade laser and wavelength-modulation spectroscopy.

“We have developed a portable, accurate, non-invasive

sensor for the detection of ammonia in human breath,” Prof.

Farooq said.

From that initial prototype, the team believes a “lab-on-a-

chip” can be brought to market. “Electronics, nanotechnology,

and sensors are converging to enable early clinical diagnoses,

accurate treatment, and monitoring of patients in intensive care,

under anesthesia, and in other scenarios,” Prof. Farooq said.

The team chose to focus on ammonia in exhaled breath, partly

because it was such an important avenue of research, and partly

because they were able to partner with the International Medical

Center in Jeddah to test dialysis patients.

According to the International Society for Nephrology,

around 600 million people worldwide suffer from some form

of kidney disease—a number expected to increase by 17% over

the next decade.

Prof. Farooq’s team analyzed breath samples of patients

diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. Baseline readings showed

elevated ammonia concentrations in the range of 1 – 5 ppm. The

sensor was then used to monitor the decrease in breath ammonia

as these patients underwent dialysis treatment.

“The reduction in breath ammonia correlated almost perfectly

with the urea reduction measured by blood samples,” Prof.

Farooq said.

The ammonia sensor designed at KAUST is based on the concept

of laser absorption spectroscopy. Breath samples are collected in

a custom-designed breath bag, which is then connected to an

optical cell. A quantum-cascade laser beam is passed through

the cell, and the resulting decrease in laser intensity indicates the

concentration of ammonia in the breath sample.

Human breath contains several biomarkers, such as ammonia,

acetone, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, nitric

oxide, and water vapor. “These biomarkers are clear signatures

for a range of conditions including asthma, liver disease, kidney

disease, peptic ulcer, diabetes, nephritis, and heart disease,” said

Prof. Farooq.

The implications are exciting and potentially far-reaching.

At the bedside, breath sensors could help patients avoid

more invasive testing, and clinical teams could gain access

to real-time information while reducing their dependence on

lab-based testing.

Research6 The Beacon

Since announcing preliminary research into flexible and

transparent computing last year, Prof. Hussain’s research group has

been able to demonstrate every step and components required to

make this a reality. “I’m pretty much sure that by the end of this year

that we will be able to demonstrate the world’s first fully flexible

silicon-based computer. That will be the big news,” he expounded.

A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH INVOLVING STUDENTSAs made evident by the composition of his group, Prof. Hussain is

a strong believer in the value of involving and developing students

through his research efforts. “My group is built of really only

the students,” said Prof. Hussain. In fact, the recently published

Advanced Materials paper not only involved KAUST graduate

students, but also included a TKS (The KAUST School) student,

17-year-old Rawan Ghanem.

Unlike many other universities that routinely engage

undergraduate students as a great resource to assist in research,

KAUST doesn’t have an undergraduate program. But Prof. Hussain

has been taking the opportunity to engage TKS students for the past

few years. “We opened the door and we integrated them like senior

students, PhD students, so some of them were really energetic. They

showed their enthusiasm,” he explained. Through those outreach

efforts, Rawan contributed to the project by collecting important

electrical measurements which were used to determine the optimal

devices with which to pursue further research.

“As an academic, I see that KAUST can play a role in developing

the community. As a long-term goal, a good, strong school system

will one day ensure that my kids go to a good college. If we give

TKS students the opportunity, they will come work with us and gain

valuable experience,” said Prof. Hussain.

EXPANDED FUTURE APPLICATIONSThis innovative and collaborative approach to research has enabled

Prof. Hussain’s group to become the first academic group unassisted

by external research foundries or collaborators to develop these

types of advanced devices. In addition to maintaining integration

density, performance, and energy efficiency, they’ve been able to do

this at an additional cost of only $0.45 per square centimeter.

Beyond traditional electronics, Prof. Hussain is also enthusiastic

about the biomedical applications of this research. As he explained:

“Today when you look at muscle pain, there's a population of

50 million people in the US who have arthritis, and 300,000 of

them are children.” The conventional remedy has been thermal

therapy. Sufferers routinely purchase pain-relieving patches

which they place on the affected areas. But these products have

a limited range as they’re one-time use, are often not suitable for

kids, and are only effective for three to four hours. Moreover, if

a patch is required for finger joints, the same patch can’t be used

on the kneecaps.

In new research which Prof. Hussain in planning to publish

soon, his group, through the use of the same technology, devised

a thermal heater integrated with a thermal sensor. The new patch

is stretchable to fit onto various body parts. What’s more, it can

be controlled with a cell phone. “Basically you have an inflamed

area, then you set the temperature, say at 45 degrees Celsius.

Through the sensor, it is continuously taking the temperature

and it’s heating up accordingly, even when the user falls asleep.

So when the inflammation goes away it’s lessening and then it

will be turned off. And it’s reusable and it costs only $1.50,” Prof.

Hussain explained.

June 2014

NATURE-INSPIRED ADVANCES | Continued from p1 تتمة الصفحة األولى:

AMMONIA BREATH SENSOR PROMISES MEDICAL BENEFITS

Left panel: Graduate student, Ehson Nasir, is exhaling his breath in the breath bag. Right panel: Professor Farooq is aligning the laser cavity to analyze the breath sample.

Research 7www.kaust.edu.sa

WHEN you ask most grade 11 students but what they did over the summer,

you don’t expect to hear that they spent it in a lab testing devices under a

microscope. But that’s exactly what Rawan Ghanem did.

“It was a great experience and something I had never done before. It was

something I had wanted to do, but getting the chance to do it in an area that I

may be interested in working in the future made me want to do it even more,”

said Rawan.

Rawan is a high school student at The KAUST School (TKS). She says that

even though the work was during her summer vacation, she still enjoyed

getting up and going to the lab each day. For about seven weeks she would

come in from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., depending on how

much work she had to do.

“At first I was nervous because I didn’t want to mess up,” she said. “But

the PhD students made me feel like I was in my school lab. They made it

feel normal.”

Rawan found out about the chance to work in the lab from her science

teacher, who recommended it for any student thinking about a career in science.

Because Rawan is considering studying chemical engineering in university, it

worked out perfect for her. But she wasn’t the only TKS student there.

“There were other students from my class in the group, but they were working

with other PhD students,” she said.

Much of the work Rawan did in the lab was checking to see if the devices the

group were developing worked or not, but she says the best part of the summer was

seeing science in action.

“My PhD student, Mohamed Ghoneim, told me they were going to make the

devices flexible. That was something I didn’t know was possible. I wondered how

they were going to do that. Then when they were able to do it, I thought, ‘Wow!’,”

she said.

Rawan’s hard work over the summer paid off. The group’s research on flexible

and transparent silicon polymer was published in Advanced Materials.

June 2014

KAUST GROUP’S SALIVA | Continued from p1

A SUMMER SPENT UNDER A MICROSCOPE

self-sustained,” Prof. Hussain explains. “However, the challenge

of these devices is that they are still lab-based, and it can take

many months to get a performance analysis of the incremental

improvement of the device. Using a micro-version of the MFCs

which uses a readily available fuel source provides an interesting

opportunity to expedite these analyses.”

In a paper recently published in NPG Asia Materials (doi: 10.1038/

am.2014.1), Prof. Hussain’s group, including former PhD student

Justine Mink (class of 2013), showed power generation from human

saliva using a micro-MFC.

The 25-μl MFC was produced using graphene as an anode to

produce efficient current generation and with an air cathode to make

the entire device freely mobile.

“Power generation from our MFC is significant because such

small-scale power generation devices can be easily integrated into

lab-on-chip or portable point-of-care diagnostic devices to power

them,” explains Prof. Hussain. “Such simple devices fueled by the

organic material in saliva or other waste liquids provide a novel and

amazing way to serve humanity by enabling the rapid dissemination

of advanced healthcare technologies to dangerous or difficult to

reach areas.”

The researchers were surprised to discover that the use of saliva

could generate a large amount of power. The MFC produced

higher current densities (1190 A m-3) when compared to any

previously produced air-cathode micro-MFC, and the graphene

anode produced 40 times more power than through the use of

a carbon cloth anode. The group found that the high power

generation was produced by the large amount of organic material

in saliva, demonstrating a linear relationship between the organic

loading and current.

“We hope that our study will cause the scientific community

to think ‘outside the box’ for different uses of MFCs,” says

Prof. Hussain. “In the past, MFCs have been explored only as

possible options for alternative and energy-efficient water

purification technologies, but in the past three years, my group

has established that other interesting opportunities and uses exist

for these devices.”

Prof. Hussain’s group is currently investigating the use of MFCs

for dialysis applications and as sensors and illness detection devices

for advanced healthcare. “Our work is a wonderful step towards a

sustainable future through the use of a multidisciplinary approach

involving the semiconductor industry’s state-of-the-art technology,

environmental science and engineering, and biochemistry,” he

says. “It shows that, once again, engineering can help overcome

fundamental scientific challenges and provide important solutions

to issues affecting the global community.”

التقنية حيث التحدي يكمن في طبيعة هذه أن إال أنها ال تزال محصورة في حيز المختبر فقط وتحتاج بعض عمل أجل من أدائها لتحليل شهور عدة التحسينات. ولكن بتطوير نوع دقيق جدًا من خاليا الوقود الحيوية التي تستخدم مصدر وقود جاهز قد

نتمكن من تسريع نتائج هذه التحليالت. NPG Asia وفي ورقة بحثية نشرت مؤخرا في مجلةMaterials قامت مجموعة البروفيسور حسين، بما السابقة د.جوستين منك الدكتوراه في ذلك طالبة )من خريجي عام 2013(، بتوليد الطاقة من اللعاب الدقيقة. الحيوية الوقود خاليا باستخدام البشري توليد ": بقوله ذلك حسين البروفيسور ويشرح نظرًا جدًا مهم الحيوية الوقود خاليا من الطاقة الرقاقات على دمجها يتيح الذي الصغير لحجمها الكهربائية أو األجهزة المحمولة واستخدامها مواد عضوية متوفرة كاللعاب لتوليد الطاقة. وبالرغم من بساطتها فإنها تعتبر طريقة جديدة ومدهشة لخدمة الرعاية أجهزة تشغيل عبرها يمكن إذ اإلنسانية، الصحية المتقدمة واستخدامها في المناطق الخطرة

أو التي يصعب الوصول إليها". وقد تفاجأ الباحثون من قدرة اللعاب على توليد كمية كبيرة من الطاقة والذي تبين أن سببه احتواء اللعاب البشري على كمية كبيرة من المواد العضوية مما يدل المواد العضوية على وجود عالقة خطية بين كمية

وتوليد التيار الكهربائي. وأضاف البروفيسور حسين: "نأمل أن تساعد دراستنا اإلبداعي التفكير على العلمي المجتمع حث على لالستخدامات المختلفة لخاليا الوقود الحيوية . حيث خاليا على الماضي في تجرى التي األبحاث كانت الوقود الحيوية موجهة الستخداماتها كخيارات بديلة لتقنيات تنقية الماء الموفرة للطاقة. ولكن أكد فريق إمكانية الماضية، الثالث سنوات على مدى أبحاثنا استخدام خاليا الوقود الحيوية ألغراض أخرى مهمة

ومفيدة". ويجري فريق البروفيسور حسين حاليًا أبحاثُا الستخدام أجهزة تطبيقات في الدقيقة الحيوية الوقود خاليا والكشف على االستشعار وأجهزة الكلوي، الغسيل ويقول المتقدمة. الصحية الرعاية األمراض وأجهزة نحو رائعة نخطو خطوات "إننا البروفيسور حسين: مستقبل مستدام من خالل استخدام منهج متعدد التخصصات يشمل أحدث تقنيات أشباه الموصالت والكيميائية البيئية والهندسة والعلوم الصناعية، الهندسة قدرة مدى أيضًا يظهر وهذا والحيوية. العلمية التحديات على التغلب في مساعدتنا على التي للمشكالت المهمة الحلول وتوفير األساسية

."تواجه العالم

تتمة الصفحة األولى:

THUWAL SCHOOLKIT FUNDRAISER

THIRD ANNUAL

What:KAUST is collecting donations to purchase school supplies for Thuwal schoolchildren. This year, we hope to beat last year’s record and raise funds to benefit 606 children in 9 schools.

When:June 15 to August 15, 2014

More information:This project is administered by the Social Responsibility department of KAUST’s Saudi Initiatives organization.For more information, please contact 808-3432.

Where and How to Help:Visit any Tamimi store, the campus diner, or the Matjar gift shop, and purchase a voucher from the cashier. Simply place it in the donation box at the checkout counter, and we are one step closer to reaching this year’s goal!

Rawan Ghanem

Community8 The Beacon

AKRAM EL ASHYAKRAM El Ashy, Budgeting and Planning Analyst in Saudi

Initiatives, feels his three years at KAUST have made him part

of “one big KAUST family.” Originally from Palestine, but

born in Kuwait and raised in Canada, Akram came to KAUST

with his wife and daughter and hoped for a “new adventure”

in his career. “KAUST has great potential with a clear vision,”

he says, “and I wanted to be a part of it. Here I am learning every day and

working with amazing professionals.”

As a Canadian, Akram says he is used to diversity, but was not expecting

to find such an international community at KAUST. “Our community and its

different cultures and backgrounds is remarkable,” he says. “Saudi Initiatives

alone has around 15 different nationalities, and this has enabled me and my

family to learn more about different cultures. I believe one of the key success

factors for KAUST is its great diversity.”

Akram advises new KAUST residents to take time to get to know the nearby

communities of Thuwal and Qadimah while at the University. “Opening up

to these communities will enable you to not only experience the diversity of

KAUST, but also the diversity around us,” he says.

SCOTT HERRINGTON“IT’S AS though I’m the final runner in a winning relay team,”

Scott Herrington said of his work to gain IB accreditation for

The KAUST School (TKS). “Helping the school achieve this goal

has been such a great honor both personally and professionally.”

2014 saw TKS sprint across the finish line, thanks in part to

Scott’s tireless efforts. He was involved throughout the entire

process and took a leadership role in 2013.

Scott moved his family to KAUST in 2009 to work as a Curriculum Coordinator in

the secondary school, and has since returned to the classroom to teach humanities.

He loves to travel and enjoys doing so with his family of five. His most

adventurous trek to date is a trip to Antarctica. He visited as part of a sustainability

curriculum development team. “It is the coldest, driest, and windiest place on

earth and it’s jaw-dropping in its beauty,” Scott said.

Scott brought Ultimate Frisbee to KAUST by setting up a self-directed group

(SDG). He is also very active with the Boy Scout troop, supporting a range

of activities around campus including the Winter Enrichment Program (WEP),

Flavors, the World Health Expo, and other events.

Scott’s work on behalf of the community has not gone unnoticed. This year he

was asked to chair the President’s Task Force on community, arts, and cultural life.

He also collected two awards at the employee awards ceremony on May 5 — one for

his fifth work anniversary and one for his exceptional service to the community.

“I love collaborating on big projects,” said Scott. “I love playing and

coaching sports, and I love teaching. To be honest, I can’t imagine what else

I’d rather do.”

AMAL HYADI“I’m so glad I decided to come to KAUST,” says Amal Hyadi,

PhD student in Applied Mathematics & Computational Science.

“I thought about going to Europe or America for my studies,

but I wanted to come to a ‘newborn’ university to be part of

something new. And KAUST is already proving its presence and

research excellence worldwide.”

Amal works with her supervisor, Dr. Slim Alouini, Professor of Electrical

Engineering, on two main projects. The first, she explains, covers relay selection

techniques and performance analysis, and the second involves physical layer

security from an information theoretical perspective. So far, Amal has made three

contributions to renowned international conferences, and has also published one

high-impact journal publication.

“Becoming a successful researcher is one of my main goals,” she says, “and my

experience at KAUST is helping me to evolve and move forward in this direction.”

She cites the assistance and guidance of her supervisor as contributing factors to

her success, and also acknowledges the great help and advice from other researchers

and professors. “The friendly environment at KAUST and the excellent facilities

we have here are extra elements that help you do well and focus on your research

work,” she notes.

“I’m so proud a university of this level exists in the region,” Amal says. “From the

facilities to the international mix of students and faculty and the different activities

taking place in the community, studying and living in KAUST is certainly a once-

in-a-lifetime experience.”

MY UNIVERSITY

ON MAY 13, The KAUST School (TKS) Elementary

Choir held their annual Spring Concert, which was

organized by Elementary Performing Arts Teacher

Gulnara Takizhbayeva.

The audience was treated to a performance

comprised of songs about friendship, the joy of

music, and songs from other countries, showcasing

the children’s confident singing, harmony, and

accuracy. The Little Musicians from Grade 1

were especially enthusiastic and the entire TKS

Elementary Choir was well organized and created

a wonderful atmosphere, with the appreciative

audience participating in one of the songs.

NORANI Nordin, Planning & Program Analyst of the Technology Application and Advancement

Group, recently captured a flamboyance of flamingos along the Jeddah Corniche. Norani has been

an avid photographer since 2005 when she bought her first DSLR camera, and has been a member of

KAUST’s Photography self-directed group (SDG) for four years. “The Photography SDG often plans

photo excursions within the Kingdom, and when I heard about a trip to capture the annual migration

of flamingos through Jeddah, I knew I wouldn’t want to miss this rare opportunity," she said.

Have a photo to be considered for Photo of the Month? Send your photo to

thebeacon@kaust.edu.sa.

PHOTO

OF THE

MONTH

June 2014

TKS ELEMENTARY SPRING CONCERT