Abdelaziz Saeed Mohamed Alzaabi Selected to Attend for Outstanding Academic Performance and Leadership Skills

Khalifa University MSc in Mechanical Engineering alumnus Abdelaziz Saeed Mohamed Alzaabi was among four Emirati graduates selected to represent the UAE at the Nobel Awards Ceremony 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden, where awardees received their Nobel Medals and Diploma from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

The graduates were given this unprecedented honor through the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), which also organized the trip and their collaboration with Nobel Prize Foundation in Sweden. Al Zaabi was selected based on his outstanding academic performance and leadership skills within the university and the broader UAE community.

The four were greeted by H.E. Sultan Al Kaitoob, UAE Ambassador to Sweden, as well as MBRF’s Chief Executive Officer Jamal bin Huwaireb.

“His excellency Al Kaitoob reiterated the government’s support for research and science as well as the goal of having an Emirati win a Nobel prize in the coming years,” Al Zaabi shared, referencing a quote from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minster of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who said: “We work today to develop a generation of UAE scientists able to compete for Nobel Prize in the next decades”.

The trip aimed to inspire promising young Emirati towards achieving their personal and professional goals in science, towards ultimately receiving the Nobel Prize.

In addition to the ceremony and prize distribution on 10 December, the UAE graduate group also attended the Nobel Week Dialogue where previous laureates discussed “Water matters”, the main topic for the year. The event also had sessions on the importance of water and scientific topics about water, as well as the possible existence of life and water on Mars.

Alzaabi and the three other Emiratis – two from UAE University, one from Zayed University – were hosted by the Nobel Foundation in the Nobel Museum in Stockholm and were given a tour on the laureates’ achievements and their artifacts that they provided to represent their achievements at the museum.

Alzaabi was selected to attend the Nobel event for his outstanding academic performance and leadership skills within Khalifa University and the broader UAE community. He won his place to represent Khalifa University and the UAE after an extensive interview in April 2018.

Earlier this year, Alzaabi was selected as a member of the UAE Youth Science Council. He also presented a paper at the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC 2018) in Miyazaki, Japan, since his research focuses on new robotics (underwater) technologies. Moreover, in his role as a teaching assistant he supports and equips freshmen engineering students with the skills needed to innovate and reach beyond their imagination and enhance traditional engineering by building and solving real engineering problems.

Abdelaziz also has several scientific contributions and has co-authored several journal papers since his final year in the undergraduate program at Khalifa University. Some of the education excellence awards he has received include H.H Sheikh Khalifa Award for Excellence in academic Achievements, H.H Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Award for Excellence in Academic Achievements, Sharjah Award, and gold medals of the Chemistry and Physics National Olympics which were awarded by the Emirates Association for the Gifted and Ministry of Education.

The Nobel award ceremony is attended by prominent academics, scientists and previous Nobel laureates. This year’s ceremony marked the first time students from the Arab world were selected to attend. The UAE was the first country to secure a place for four students to attend the ceremony following a collaboration between Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) and the Nobel Prize Foundation in Sweden.

Clarence Michael
News Writer
3 January 2019

The post Alumnus Represents KU at 2018 Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies in Stockholm appeared first on Khalifa University.

Mohamed Al Harbi First Emirati to Join FANR with Nuclear Engineering Master’s Degree

Khalifa University (KU) alumnus and Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) Specialist in Resident Inspection Mohamed Al Harbi has won the fifth cycle of the Mohamed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award.

He was among the first batch of Master’s graduates in Nuclear Engineering from the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) in 2013, which merged with two other universities to become KU in 2017, and went on to become the first Emirati with a Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering to join FANR.

“The Mohamed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award would not have been possible for me without the kind of quality education I received from Khalifa University. During my studies, I gained knowledge, skills and the right attitude that have helped me to become the man I am today. For this, I thank my beloved Khalifa University,” Al Harbi proudly shared.

Having won the FANR Director-General Medal for the ‘Best Field Employee’ in 2018, Al Harbi was nominated from FANR for the fifth cycle of Mohamed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award. After a rigorous process of selection, assessments and interviews, he was selected for the award from among 40 other competitors across various UAE federal entities.

He said: “Reaching the final stage of nomination and winning the medal required courage, huge effort, creativity, passion and agility, and you only succeed if you sustain till the last moment. By winning this award I have achieved a significant milestone in my personal and career life, and I am sure I still have more to achieve and contribute to the UAE’s vision to become among the best countries in the world.”

Al Harbi joined FANR in 2012 as Nuclear Security Engineer and was promoted in 2017 to Specialist Resident Inspector at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant. He has successfully played his role in the implementation of nuclear safety-related inspections including construction inspection and test plan (CITP), serving as subject matter expert in special inspections, and implementing FANR’s Emergency Response Organization (FERO) Nuclear Assessment Team procedures and processes.

As a Master’s student, Al Harbi has published three scientific papers in respected scientific journals on his thesis ‘Quantitative Evaluation of Operator’s Situation Awareness during Nuclear Power Plant Transients using Eye Tracking System’. He also presented his study results to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, during his visit to the Khalifa University Campus.

Al Harbi wants to pursue his PhD in Nuclear Engineering, probably by 2020, but only after gaining practical and hands-on experience from his residency at Barakah.

He added: “My research area is related to the human factor in a nuclear power plant’s main control room. Clearly, research in this area will help the UAE project and the country in the advanced main control room research areas, similar to advanced nuclear countries.”

Al Harbi completed the Gulf Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Institute (GENII) course at Khalifa University back in 2013, and was invited as a speaker at the University for the NUCE614 and IICS691 classes.

From a personal perspective, he would like to join the ‘UAE National Experts Program. “This will help me achieve all of my future goals by developing a new set of leadership skills which in return would enable FANR to achieve its core values, vision and mission,” remarked Al Harbi.

Clarence Michael
News Writer
21 January 2019

The post Alumnus Wins Mohamed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award appeared first on Khalifa University.