Khalifa University proudly took home 3rd place at the latest American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Imperial Barrel Award Program-Middle East Region. The program is an annual competition for geoscience graduate students from universities around the world. Winners are awarded scholarship funds for their schools.ĢżĢż

Ģż

The KU Team was composed of Earth Sciences graduate students Abdulquadri O. Dauda, Abdulwaris Ramoni Ajagunjeun, Ahmed Khaled Eleslambouly, Andreas Fernandez Moncada, and Omar Aldhanhani under the guidance of their team advisor Dr. Mohammad Alsuwaidi, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences.

Ģż

Dr. Alsuwaidi explained, ā€œThe team went through a rigorous two-month program where they analyzed a large dataset and assessed whether to invest in a particular petroleum play or not. They examined data in geology, geophysics, petrophysics, and petroleum volumetric estimations, which usually requires teamwork from experts such as geologists, petrophysicists, geophysicists, and petroleum engineers.ā€

Ģż

The team was able to identify 13 different leads within the area that covered aspects such as environmental risks, reserves estimation, etc. They then delivered the results of their analysis to a panel of industry experts. Winners were selected based on their presentationā€™s technical quality, clarity, and originality.

Ģż

ā€œIn oil companies, projects like these are conducted for at least a year, but the students were able to complete the analysis and assessment in two months. Participants of these competitions usually make excellent hydrocarbon explorationists,ā€ Dr. Alsuwaidi added.

Ģż

Team captain Ahmed K. Eleslambouly said, ā€œIt has been a great experience for me and the team as we accomplished work that usually takes a year or more within a very narrow time schedule. I am very proud that we were able to tackle most of the problems and come up with creative ideas and multiple leads within the study area.ā€

Ģż

ā€œThe competition was challenging, time consuming, and required much critical thinking. Although it was tough, the outcome for me and my time was worth it and amazing in terms of learning new technical and academic skills, gaining valuable industry knowledge, and getting familiar with the workflow of petroleum and geoscience projects for well-known companies in the oil and gas industry,ā€ Omar Aldhanhani added.

Ģż

ā€œIt was hard to balance time working on the competition, our own research, semester projects and other school requirements but working with a team of enthusiastic colleagues and the constant encouragement of our faculty advisor, Dr. Mohammed Alsuwaidi, made the experience more pleasant and worthwhile. Our appreciation goes to the Earth Science Department, faculty, and Khalifa University for their support all through the preparation until the delivery of our presentation,ā€ commented Abdulquadri Alabere.

Ara Maj Cruz
Creative Writer
18 May 2022

The post Khalifa University Takes 3rd Place Win at the AAPG Imperial Barrel Award Program appeared first on Khalifa University.

EBTIC and BT Team Win International Awards Based on Innovation, Relevance and Evidence of Success, for their SPL Solution and Trial Ģż

The SPL team led by Salwa Alzahmi, a senior researcher at KUā€™s Emirates ICT Innovation Center (EBTIC), has won two awards in two categories at the prestigious 2021 Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning Awards in the UK.Ģż

EBTIC is a research and innovation center focused on driving research and innovation in intelligent systems and applications founded by Khalifa University, Etisalat and BT (British Telecom), and supported by the Telecommunication and Digital Government Authorityā€™s (TDRA) ICT Fund. It is based at the Khalifa University campus in Abu Dhabi.Ģż

The Computing magazineā€™s AI and Machine Learning Awards recognise the best companies, individuals, and projects in artificial intelligence. The judging process covers several industry segments such as security, ethics, data analysis, and innovation, while showcasing the movers and shakers including the technology heroes and projects that deserve industry-wide praise.Ģż

The awards won by EBTICā€™s SPL were in the categories of Best Cloud Automation Tool and Best Use of Automation. An elite panel of 12 judges selected the SPL entries as winners based on the evidence of three factors ā€“ innovation, relevance, and achieved success. More specifically, the Best Cloud Automation Tool award was given to EBTIC and BT for the toolā€™s innovative and fully featured automation solution that is designed to ease the burden of application migration to the Cloud. In their citation, the judges mentioned that the SPL Tool ā€˜has the opportunity to hugely reduce code complexity, thus improving security and reducing the cost of cloud migrationā€™.Ģż

In the Best Use of Automation award category, the SPL tool was highly recommended for the automation of migrating legacy software systems to cloud-native architecture using artificial intelligence, hence, addressing the challenges of complexity and high associated costs. The judgesā€™ citation mentioned that the SPL team is highly recommended for this category for its ā€˜SPL project that has a strong topical story and told it wellā€™.Ģż

Dr. Nawaf I. Almoosa, Acting Director, Head of Smart Infrastructure Research, EBTIC, and Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Khalifa University, said: ā€œAchieving this success in the 2021 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Awards across two categories strongly indicates the extent of cutting-edge technological innovation being produced by the EBTICā€™s SPL team productive partnership with BT to accurately target the future requirements of the industry in these areas. Our team members have demonstrated their talent in another prestigious international competition, and we hope to continue exploring innovation through working on new projects in AI and ML-related areas.ā€

SPL is a platform developed at EBTIC and uses intelligent methods to simplify and streamline software governance, development, and migration to the Cloud. The technology is currently undergoing commercialisation as a start-up in collaboration with Khalifa Innovation Center (KIC). Salwa Alzahmi, an Emirati researcher and tech entrepreneur, is leading the SPL platform development and commercialization, and has been instrumental in driving the technology, its commercialisation and the collaboration with BT Applied Research to evaluate the toolā€™s business value. As part of the drive for commercialisation, Alzahmi has set up a UAE-based tech start-up in the Khalifa Innovation Center ā€“ KIC khalifainnovation.ac.ae that is registered at Abu Dhabi Global Market. The EBTIC-SPL research team also includes Ahmed Suliman, Corrado Mio and Sid Shakya.

At the Computing AI and Machine Learning Awards 2021 in London, one of the UKā€™s leading business technology information resource, EBTICs SPL won awards for ā€œBest Cloud or Networking Automation Toolā€ and was highly commended in the category of ā€œBest Use of Automationā€

The judges commented that SPL, in winning the ā€œBest Cloud or Networking Automation Toolā€ category ā€œhas the opportunity to hugely reduce code complexity, thus improving security and reducing the cost of cloud migration.ā€

Alzahmi, Senior Research at EBTIC who leads the SPL team, said ā€œIā€™m so proud of my team to be recognised in such a fantastic way. It is testament to all the hard work that has been put in to make the SPL tool such a compelling solution.ā€

Dr. Nawaf Almoosa, Acting Director of EBTIC, said: ā€œEBTIC has a history of innovating practical AI solutions and have been a leader in intellectual property generation in UAE for the past 10 years. These awards are a further testament to EBTICā€™s expertise of applying AI techniques to the operations of its partner organizations, and to their effort to promote Intelligent Systems research in the UAE and the region. We are immensely proud for the SPL team to be winning such prestigious awards, and we have high hopes for the future of SPL. Iā€™d like to thank the SPL Team: Salwa Alzahmi, Corrado Mio, Ahmad Suliman, and Sid Shakya for this great achievement.ā€

Computingā€™s AI & Machine Learning Awards recognise the best companies, individuals, and projects in the AI space today. The judging process covers every corner of the industry: security, ethics, data analysis, innovation and more, as well as showcasing the movers and shakers: the technology heroes and projects that deserve industry-wide praise. With judges from prestigious organisations, such as Expedia Group, Network Rail, MET Office, London Stock Exchange and Computing itself, the winning of these awards proves that SPL demonstrates an outstanding, innovative approach in the field of AI.

EBTIC spun-out SPL.Co Ltd as a start-up in its own right, incorporated in 2019 and registered at Abu Dhabi Global Market. It came about following the success of SPL as a research project in 2015. SPL.Co provides corporations with an intelligent software modernization solution to accelerate and reduce the high costs associated with upgrading software systems into a cloud infrastructure.

EBTIC has a very successful history with Computing awards. In 2019, EBTICā€™s spares optimization project Inuitu, won two awards for ā€˜Outstanding AI/Machine Learning Projectā€™ and ā€˜Most Innovative use of AI/Machine Learningā€™.

EBTIC has produced more than 500 scientific publications, developed more than 75 inventions, resulting in 60 granted patents, with more pending, and has trained more than 350 students,Ģż and 250 professionals. It has also organized 10 international technical workshops and developed numerous technologies and worked on many projects in collaboration with its partners and stakeholders.

Clarence Michael
English Editor Specialist
10 August 2021

The post EBTICā€™s SPL Team Wins Two Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Awards in UK appeared first on Khalifa University.

A team of students from Khalifa University has won third place, beating out five other teams, at the Middle East Imperial Barrel Award Program 2021, a joint program of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the AAPG Foundation. It is an annual prospective basin evaluation competition for geoscience and engineering students from different universities around the world.Ģż

This year, five KU students participated in the competition, including:

• Noura Naji Alzaabi, BSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from the UAE
• Omar Al Attas, BSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from the UAE
• Ali Al Sabbagh, BSc in Petroleum Engineering studentĢż from the UAE
• Sara Abd El-Samad Salem, MSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from Egypt
• Alejandro Diaz Acosta, MSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from Mexico

The team faculty advisor was Dr. Mohammad Alsuwaidi, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences.

The students underwent an eight-week intensive program where they worked as exploration geologists and analyzed a large dataset — including geology, geophysics, land, production infrastructure, and other relevant materials —Ģż in order to evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of a prospective sedimentary basin.Ģż

ā€œThe Imperial Barrel Award organized by the AAPG is a great opportunity for our students to use their skills in Petroleum Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering to work on an actual hydrocarbon exploration project. They were provided with geosciences data including seismic, well logs, production data, and other data related to a hydrocarbon prospect. They spent eight weeks studying, analyzing, and integrating all data to present their recommendations to a panel of judges (who acted like investors) to develop the prospect. Such projects usually are conducted by experts in exploration teams in oil and gas companies over many months/years. This is a great opportunity for students to learn and understand how to evaluate and assess petroleum prospects,ā€ explained Dr. Alsuwaidi.

Alejandro Diaz Acosta reflected on his experience: “The AAPG Imperial Barrel Award competition was a tremendous amount of work that allowed me to broaden my industry network, develop my geological evaluation skills and collaborate with great people. I appreciate the ambition of everyone involved in this wonderful experience.”

Ali Al Sabbagh expressed a similar sentiment: ā€œIt was a great experience working with a diverse team, with different backgrounds, majors and academic levels to achieve a single common goal. This competition helps students apply the theoretical knowledge into real life practical projects. Also, I believe it is important for students to not restrict themselves to a certain major or discipline, and this competition gave us an opportunity to learn a broader range of knowledge and skills.ā€

More information about the competition is available at

Erica Solomon
Senior Publication Specialist
5 April 2021

The post KU Team Wins 3rd Place in Imperial Barrel Award appeared first on Khalifa University.

A team of Industrial and Systems Engineering students at Khalifa University has won first place in the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) Senior Design Project Competition. The team, who beat out over 100 other student projects, won for their innovative project that describes a streamlined waste collection system.

The team includes Shamma Al-Ali, Khadija Alhmoudi, Rawdha Alawadhi and Khalid Alhosani, and was supervised by Dr. Ali Bouabid, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Dr. Andrei Sleptchenko, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Their paper, titled ā€œImproving Waste Collection & Transportation System,ā€ describes their Senior Design Project, which is an innovative system they designed to improve the waste collection and transportation system in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with Tadweer (Abu Dhabi Waste Managementā€‹ ā€‹Center).Ģż

ā€œLeveraging industrial and systems engineering principles, the students proposed a simulation-based approach to streamline the waste collection process as part of the future strategic vision for waste management in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,ā€ explained Dr. Bouabid.Ģż

Team member Khalid Alhosani said, ā€œAs industrial & systems engineers, we are committed to delivering our expertise in a way that will help our society. Directly aligned with the UAEā€™s 2021 vision, our proposed solutions express a genuine desire to deliver positive, real-world change in the UAE. We hope that our work will contribute to the success of the UAE in increasing the percentage of treated waste.ā€

The KU team successfully demonstrated problem solving, creative thinking, innovation, project planning, and teamwork through a challenging design and build project. They presented their poster and paper at the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), and were awarded at the 2021 IEOM 11th Annual Conference Awards Ceremony on 11 March 2021.

ā€œOur Senior Design Project series have been purposefully designed to showcase our students abilities and skills in real-world applications and industries, with direct benefits to the local community of service providers and supply chain enterprises. This is the second year in a row that our SDP students are recognized in international awards, which is testament to their workā€™s international impact as well,ā€ said Dr. Mohammed Omar, Professor and Department Chair of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

The IEOM Society International is a non-profit organization that provides academics, researchers, scientists, and practitioners a platform and forum to exchange ideas and provide insights on the latest developments and advancements in the fields of Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. The IEOM conference was held in Singapore this year and welcomed competitors from more than 60 different nationalities.

With a number of waste management projects underway like this one at Masdar Institute, Khalifa Universityā€™s sustainability focused research institute, KU is helping to drive the technological and industrial innovation required to meet the UAEā€™s strategic sustainability goals.

Erica Solomon
Publication Senior Specialist
29 March 2021

The post Innovative Waste Collection System Wins KU Students First Place at 2021 IEOM Conference appeared first on Khalifa University.

Khalifa University recognized several of its outstanding faculty by awarding three faculty members ā€“ one from each of the Universityā€™s three colleges ā€“ with the ā€œFaculty Teaching Excellence Awards.ā€ The recipients have been recognized for their excellence in teaching.

The Khalifa University Teaching Awards is an annual event that recognizes faculty, laboratory teaching staff, and teaching assistants who had a profound impact on studentsā€™ learning through their exemplary teaching.

ĢżKU students played a vital role in this year’s nominations. The top nominees from each category were requested to submit an electronic portfolio of teaching evidence. ĢżThrough a rigorous selection process, the finalists for the year 2020 have been announced on World Teachersā€™ Day by the Provostā€™s Office. Ģż

The focus for this yearā€™s awards was on teachers who had a profound impact on students during the transitioning to online learning which coincides with the World Teachersā€™ theme of ā€œTeachers: Leading in Crisis, ReimaginingĢżthe Futureā€.

The three awardees are:

• Nadia Nwayhed, Lecturer of Mathematics
• Faisal Al Marzooqi, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering
• Lujain Aloum, Lecturer of Pharmacology

Following is a brief bio of each of the winners.

Ms. Nadia Nwayhed, Lecturer of Mathematics. College of Arts and Sciences

Nadia Abdel Baki Nwayhed is a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics. She received her BA in Mathematics from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, in 2004 with high distinction and an award for Academic Excellence. She was then awarded a full scholarship to complete her Masters in Mathematics at the same institution.

Previously, Nadia worked at SABISĀ® Educational Services as a Mathematics Subject Analyst, a Mathematics and Work Skills Teacher in the Work Readiness Program at the Higher ²ŻŻ®ŹÓʵ of Technology (HCT) in Madinat Zayed ā€“ Western Region, and a Math faculty member at the HCT Menā€™s College in Abu Dhabi. She joined the Petroleum Institute as a Math Lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences in 2015.

Dr. Faisal Al Marzooqi, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering

Dr. Faisal Al Marzooqi is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering of the Chemical Engineering Department at Khalifa University. He received his PhD degree in Interdisciplinary Engineering from the joint program of Masdar Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2015, with a focus in the application of membrane fabrication and nanotechnology in seawater desalination. Dr. Al Marzooqi obtained his Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London in 2009. His M.Sc. research focused on the use of ionic liquids in the determination of surface energies, which led him to receive the Lonza award in 2009.

He is a member of the Center of Membrane and Advanced Water Technology (CMAT) at Khalifa University and his research interests are in nano-transport phenomena in general with a focus on water applications.

Ms. Lujain Aloum, Lecturer of Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences

Lujain Aloum is a lecturer in the pharmacology department and coordinator of the learning communities at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a pharmacy graduate and HAAD licensed pharmacist. She completed her Masterā€™s degree in experimental pharmacology and therapeutics at University College London. Previously she worked as a clinical instructor at University of Sharjah.

Aloum has always been very passionate about teaching and she is dedicated to finding innovative ways to deliver information to students. She has diverse experience in molecular, biochemical, pharmacy practice, and drug discovery and development research. Aloum has won several regional research awards such as Think Science competition and Sharjah science festival.

Erica Solomon
Publication Senior Specialist
5 October 2020

The post Faculty Teaching Excellence Award Winners Recognized appeared first on Khalifa University.

Club Wins Aoun Award for Community Service 2020

Khalifa Universityā€™s Red Crescent University Club created a portfolio of ten humanitarian initiatives around the theme “Using technology we learn from the safety of our homes.” The initiatives developed were specifically geared toward helping underprivileged students access resources to optimize their learning experience.ĢżĢż

As a result, the Club was named this year’s recipient of the illustrious Aoun Award for Community Service – Higher Education Category. This award is a program of the Emirates Red Crescent to encourage the Emirati youth to help the community and instill in them the culture of volunteerism.Ģż

Following is a list of the 10 projects the club developed:

• Launching a Learning Platform for Students Around the World
  

The Club developed and launched a ā€œlearningā€ platform that is open for all students around the world. This site offers different learning tools and resources such as tutorials, online courses and workshops, study guides and resources for different subjects, and even an online chat room where students can meet other students who have the same majors or interests.Ģż

• Setting Up Distance Learning at a Refugee Center
  

One of the remarkable achievements of the Club was helping a refugee center in Abu Dhabi set up their distance learning program. The club searched and selected the best tools and equipment for distance learning that the academic and administrative staff can use for the center.Ģż

They built a website for the center and created official email accounts for the students and administrators. They also assisted in training the centerā€™s administrative and academic staff on how to use the different distance learning platforms.

The club volunteers also worked on setting up virtual classrooms for the students in the refugee center to make it easier for them to attend their online classes.Ģż

• Donating Tablets to Students of the Refugee Center
  

The Club, in cooperation with the Emirates Red Crescent Authority and other donors, was able to provide 19 new tablets to the students in the refugee center.Ģż

• Preparing the Donated Tablets

Before distributing the tablets, the Club members formatted and programmed the devices to ensure that they were ready to be used by the students for their studies.Ģż

• Activating the Remote Volunteering System for the Club

This system allows students to volunteer remotely for tasks that do not require the actual presence of the individual. These tasks may include conducting research, designing websites, preparing marketing materials, online tutoring, and conducting remote lectures and workshops.

• Conducting e-Lectures for KU Students
  

Club members shared their knowledge with their fellow students and conducted a lecture entitled ā€œStrategies for Studying Differential and Integration Coursesā€ to help other students excel in challenging subjects. The students who conduct these lectures have been trained by KU for them to correctly and effectively share what they know to their fellow students.Ģż

• Providing Online Workshops on Distance Learning
  

The Club also conducted two workshops, “Effective Tools to Improve Your Studies and Achieve Success” and “Digital Aids to Enhance Your Study Experience”, to enhance studentsā€™ study experience.Ģż

The Club continues to provide online lectures and training courses for students and teachers as well to introduce the most effective tools and applications to support distance learning.Ģż

• Creating an Online Depository of Educational References and Electronic Tools

To accompany the workshops they conducted, club members also developed comprehensive digital guides that students can easily refer back to whenever they need. These resources are easily accessible on the Red Crescent Club website.Ģż

• Creating the “Your Guide to Academic Excellence” Resource

This guide summarizes all the strategies and methods used by students to help with their studies and excel academically.

• Launching an Online Store to Feature Student Crafts and Products

The site was developed as a place for students to showcase things they have made that they want to sell. This initiative encourages students to invest their spare time in learning new skills and hone these skills to become future business endeavors.Ģż

Majed Abdullah Abbod Bin Saad, President of the Red Crescent University Club, said:Ģż

ā€œDespite the challenges imposed on the Red Crescent Club of Khalifa University by these exceptional circumstances, the club managed to receive the first place of the Aoun Award. This is, if anything, proof of the membersā€™ determination and their willingness to invest their time and efforts to create a better tomorrow for a better society.Ģż

ā€œI am proud to say that in our first participation weā€™ve achieved more than 40 different accomplishments and completed more than 800 volunteering hours to ensure that our initiatives serve the target group enduringly.

ā€œIā€™d like to thank the Red Crescent for their unfailing efforts to instill the values of volunteering in the hearts of our youth through the Aoun Award. I would also like to thank Khalifa University for supporting our initiatives, inspiring the studentsā€™ sense of social responsibility, and encouraging them to invest both energy and time to serve the society.

ā€œOur club will continue launching its innovative initiatives and programs thanks to our distinguished members and university who always strive to achieve more.ā€

Majedā€™s dedication to the club is admirable as he leads and inspires his fellow club members to imbibe the value of volunteerism. Majed is also one of the recipients of the Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work 2020 for his volunteer efforts.ĢżĢżĢż

To learn more about the Red Crescent University Club or if you want to participate in their activities, you can visit their website: .Ģż

Ara Cruz
Creative Writer
25 August 2020

The post KU’s Red Crescent Club Develops 10 Humanitarian Initiatives to Support Smooth Transition to Distance Learning for the Underprivileged appeared first on Khalifa University.

A team of students from Khalifa University have won two of the ten challenges at this yearā€™s competition. The students won the Grand Challenge and the WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) Challenge for their innovative solution called ā€œHaflaā€ ā€“ a type of professional bus aimed at transporting professionals to work in a comfortable and efficient way, while also letting them login to work as soon as they get on.
The innovative ride-sharing solution aims to reduce road congestion and traffic, and in turn increase happiness and wellbeing. As a winner, the team will now undergo three months of a training camp, provided by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), where they will further develop their winning idea. The team will also represent the UAE in Expo 2020 as well as in the World Summit at Switzerland.
ā€œTraffic congestion is one of the most prevalent problems in our country, which negatively affects many areas, including the happiness index. This is confirmed by what His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum stated at the World Government Summit 2019, that the average time taken by an employee from home to the workplace ranges between 60 – 120 minutes, which in turn causes a low level of happiness and productivity of employees,ā€ explained Fatima Alhammadi, recent BSc in Industrial and Systems Engineering graduate.
Alhammadiā€™s team members include rising seniors Salama Almansoori and Zamzam Alhammadi, also from the Industrial and Systems Engineering program, and Maitha Alhajeri and Alyazyah Alhefeti, from the Biomedical Engineering program.
The ‘professional bus’ addresses the issue of increasing road congestion by reducing the number of cars on the road in a way that focuses on professionalism and on raising the happiness of employees at the same time.
ā€œOur idea is based on the employers providing innovative, customized, integrated and qualified buses with all the needs to transport their employees from their homes to the workplace. This will contribute to reducing the area of ā€‹ā€‹parking spaces designated for this category in the country, which constitutes a large part of the area that can be used for more investments and greater sustainability, such as construction, farms, factories and many others, and this bus will help to reduce carbon emissions by a large percentage,ā€ Alhammadi shared.
When designing their professional bus, the KU team surveyed over ten employees, asking them why they donā€™t use buses. Using this data, they then investigated the best characteristics that they believed would make buses more appealing to employees. Considerations like a higher level of privacy and a greater feeling of luxury were found to be important.
ā€œOur bus will embrace innovative features that allow the employee to register his fingerprint as he enters the bus and start his morning work on the professional bus. On the bus, employees will sit in the most luxurious seats with a moving desk in front of them, allowing them to work comfortably. The bus will be equipped with internet, coffee and other treats to make the ride enjoyable,ā€ Alhammadi said.
Now, the team will undergo three months of training camp, where they will further refine their professional bus idea into a commercially-viable product with the support and guidance from TRA and its UAE Hackathon partners. The training will conclude with a final meeting in which the team will pitch their project to a committee of investors, entrepreneurs, and business incubators.
ĢżA second team of students from KU, Team Shams, also won first place in the Abu Dhabi competition of the UAE Hackathon 3.0 event, for an app they developed that monitors and tracks a fleet of solar smart cars that users can book.
Khalifa University students are encouraged to seek creative solutions to complex, 21st century problems. With two student teams from KU among the winners of this yearā€™s UAE Hackathon ā€“ which saw a total of 350 teams compete across the county ā€“Ģż Khalifa University is supporting the development of young professionals capable of furnishing the innovative solutions and smart ideas needed to raise happiness levels of the many communities within the UAE, and achieve the countryā€™s knowledge-economy transformation goals.
Erica Solomon
Senior Editor
20 July 2020

The post Khalifa University Student Team win UAE Hackathon Grand Challenge for Professional Bus Idea Ģż appeared first on Khalifa University.

6th and 10th Ranks in ā€˜Overallā€™ Category and 3rd Place in ā€˜Verbal Design Reportā€™ Category in 2020 Society of Automotive Engineers Supermileage Competition Keep Khalifa University Ahead of Any Institution from Arab World

Khalifa University of Science and Technology today announced that two of its student teams have achieved the distinction of being among the Top 10 globally in the prestigious 2020 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Supermileage Competition, pitting against teams from top international universities and becoming the only teams from the Arab world to showcase such a stellar performance.

The first Khalifa University team achieved 6th rank in the Overall category and was among the Top 3 in the Verbal Design Report; category, while the other team won the 10th place in the Overall category. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Collegiate Design Series had shifted the 2020 SAE Supermileage event onto a virtual platform.

The engineering design goal for SAE Supermileage is to conceive, design, and fabricate a single-person, three-wheel, extremely high fuel-economy vehicle with a single cylinder engine that complies with the Supermileage specifications. On a specified route, the vehicle obtaining the highest combined kilometers-per-gallon rating, in addition to ā€˜design segmentā€™ points, wins the competition.

Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, said: ā€œIt is truly an honor for Khalifa University to take part in the SAE Supermileage international competition, a tough international challenge in which most of the highly-ranked international universities participate with their teams every year. It is also a privilege for our university that the two teams have remained ahead of any other academic institution from the Arab world in engineering excellence. Such top performance in an international competition was possible only because of our faculty experts who steered the students, continuously honing their innovation skills, and encouraging them. Congratulations to members of both the teams and all who supported them for this proud moment.ā€

The first team included Abdulla A. Alameri, Abdulla F. Alrahma, Fares H. Alawwa, Karim Ahmad Younes, Khadeeja K. Aljaberi, Maryam A. Naqi, Mohammed A. Albastaki, Nawar F. Allabban, Shama Almazrouei, Suhail A. Alamri, and Sultan Al Hassanieh.
The second team members include Abdulla Alhammadi, Adonay Iker, Dhabia Alhammadi, Fatema Alzaabi, Kenan Al-Aqeel, Maryam Anuaimi, Natnael Haile, Saif El-Khasawneh, and Sumaya Alhebsi.

Both teams were assisted by Dr. Bashar El-Khasawneh, Associate Professor, and Dr. Andreas Schiffer, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Reyad El-Khazali, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Dr. Ramzy Obaid, Adjunct Professor from King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia.

Halcon System, part of advanced technology group EDGE, has been the sole sponsor of Khalifa University SAE Supermileage team for the last three years.Ģż

Team members admitted that the most challenging part of the virtual event was the fact that they had to convince the judges with their work and the functionality of the vehicle, without exhibiting an actual prototype. Yet, the team did a good job in presenting the validity of their models through demonstrating their deep understanding of all the aspects of the project and showing different kinds of analyses and simulations, starting from the fundamental ones right up to the more advanced.

Abdulla A. Alameri said: ā€œThe team was ecstatic when we realized that Khalifa University is the only Arab university among the Top 10. We worked very long and very hard for this, and in the end, our hard work paid off. Knowing that our efforts placed Khalifa University’s and the UAE’s name amongst some of the best, highest ranked universities in the world is a huge honor to every single team member, and we couldn’t be prouder of our achievement.ā€

Saif said: ā€œAs a team making it into the top 10, communication was key, and most importantly, we valued each opinion and idea from all team members equally. This allowed us to progress as a team with fluidity.ā€

Last year, the Khalifa University student team had won 8th place in the SAE Supermileage Competition. The SAE Competition rules stipulate that the vehicle must be fabricated by the team members without direct involvement from professional engineers, faculty and technical staff in the college/school or professionals in the automotive/motorsports community.

Clarence Michael
News Writer
8 July 2020

The post Two Student Teams from Khalifa University Among ā€˜Top 10ā€™ in Prestigious International Engineering Competition appeared first on Khalifa University.

Dr. Ehab El-Saadany, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director of the Advanced Power and Energy Center (APEC) at Khalifa University, has been named as one of the Mission Innovation (MI) Champions for 2020. A virtual awards ceremony for the 2nd cohort of MI Champions was held on 12 June as part of the webinar on “Promoting Clean Energy Innovation in a Post-COVID World.” Dr. El-Saadany is also a researcher in KU’s flagship research institute, Masdar Institute.

Mission Innovation is a global initiative of 24 member countries and the European Commission (on behalf of the European Union) that was launched during the Paris Climate Conference in 2015. It aims to accelerate global clean energy with the objective of making clean energy widely affordable. The MI Champions program celebrates and supports exceptional researchers and innovators from member countries who are developing ways of making energy cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable. This year, 21 leaders in clean energy innovation were recognized as MI Champions.Ģż

“Being chosen as one of the Mission Innovation Champions is a privilege and honor that comes as a reward to more than 420 international publications, 50 graduate student supervisions and over 19,000 citations. This award not only rewards my previous 25 years of research and innovation work, but also it will give me the opportunity to further boost my findings and research contributions to better serve the profession and the community at large,” Dr. El-Saadany commented.Ģż

Dr. El-Saadanyā€™s work is focused on two different areas. The first is directed on the investigation on how to create seamless protocols and controllers to integrate more renewable energy to the modern smart grids while minimizing the impacts on the grid operation practices and efficiency. The second direction is to develop new mechanisms that can ensure that our smart grids are more resilient and immune to cyber-physical attacks that can hinder their safe, resilient and efficient operation.

Within those two areas, Dr. El-Saadany is currently working on several projects that deal with the different operational issues focusing on renewable intermittency, system stability enhancement, hybrid AC/DC system development self-healing and restoration protocols among other important projects. Aside from these, he is also working to develop innovative AI-based techniques that assure the capability of identifying and mitigating different cyber-physical intrusion directed to several key system components such as protection systems, automatic generation control (AGC), and voltage regulators.ĢżĢżĢżĢż

ā€œIn an energy-hungry society, the dream that we all have is to develop sustainable, clean and affordable communities where everyone can have access to cheap electricity. This ultimate goal can only be attained through devotion and collaboration of different individuals, utilities, and governmental entities,ā€ Dr. El-Saadany commented.Ģż

ā€œBeing the Director of APEC at Khalifa University is already a privilege and a great recognition that is set to address the current and future energy needs. Being a Mission Innovation Champion, Iā€™ll have a continued obligation to make this dream a reality. Starting by the continuation of my current research direction that is focusing on facilitating renewable resources integration, passing through the collaboration with different utilities and energy-centered bodies, and ending up with providing informative recommendations to governmental entities, these goals can be achieved. I will be utilizing my networking capabilities along with my advisory assignment (Iā€™m currently the Chair of the Engineering Advisory Board for Mohamed Bin Rashid Academy of Scientist) to achieve these set of goals.Ģż

ā€œThis award will add another domain to my work allowing me to capture more interest on the vital role that renewable energy plays in shaping the future of energy systems worldwide. Also, this recognition will facilitate more international collaborations that will enrich the research environment at APEC, Khalifa University and the UAE at large.ā€Ģż

Ara Cruz
News Writer
7 July 2020

The post KU APEC Director Honored as One of the 2020 Mission Innovation ChampionsĢż appeared first on Khalifa University.

A team of KU Mechanical Engineering students has won this yearā€™s Hackathon 3.0 ā€“ Abu Dhabi. Hackathon 3.0 is a series of events/hackathons that took place in the seven emirates of the UAE from February to March 2020. This event was organized and sponsored by the Dubai Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) with the goal to spread the culture of digital transformation in the country. It provides an opportunity for different sectors of the community, such as universities, entrepreneurs, and IT experts, to use open data to come up with solutions based on specific themes and challenges.Ģż

Team Shams of Khalifa University won 1st place during the Abu Dhabi leg of the Hackathon. The team is composed of Muhammad Taha Ansari, Mariam Saeed Aljneibi, and Sham Mousa Antakieh and they were supervised by Dr. Firas Salah Jarrar, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering.ĢżĢż

The team developed an app that monitors and tracks a fleet of solar smart cars that users can book, much like how you book a taxi. The smart cars are designed to be used by university faculty, students, and employees, and stationed in different areas within campuses.Ģż

The app shows all the smart cars available near the userā€™s location and the user can then book the car nearest to them. Users will be able to access the vehicle through an auto-generated QR code or using their university ID cards. After completing the ride, users must park the cars at the designated parking spots.

The app provides a convenient online booking system for users. The concept also meets the UAE Green Agenda 2030 of providing a safe and sustainable alternative mode of transportation. Since the cars are solar powered, they are both environmentally friendly and economical, and would offer users a more affordable transportation alternative. The fleet of cars would need to beĢż recharged less frequently because they run on 100% solar energy.Ģż

The winners of Hackathon 3.0 were announced at a digital ceremony on 4 March 2020, wherein H.E. Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing and the Director General of the Prime Ministerā€™s Office and H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General participated in the event.Ģż

Ara Cruz
News Writer
5 July 2020

The post Solar Smart Car Fleet System Wins 1st Prize in Hackathon 3.0 ā€“ Abu Dhabi 2020 appeared first on Khalifa University.

A team of 20 Aerospace and Mechanical engineering undergraduate students from Khalifa University took 9th place in this yearā€™s DBF Competition after successfully designing, fabricating, and demonstrating the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric powered, radio controlled aircraft.

ā€œWe believe that our students have achieved a great feat by securing 9th place out of 101 participating teams worldwide. This was an extremely tough competition where top ranked schools in the world were participating. We are very thrilled and proud of the achievement made by our students and hope we will continue to improve our ranking in coming competitions,ā€ shared Dr. Rehan Umer, Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering. Dr. Umer and Dr. Rafic Ajaj, Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering, supervised the team of 20 students.

The Design/Build/Fly (DBF) competition is a partnership between the AIAA Foundation, Cessna Aircraft Company, and Raytheon Missile Systems. This competition provides students an opportunity to design and build a radio controlled aircraft to perform specific missions.Ģż

Khalifa University has been participating in the DBF Competition since 2012. KU faculty encourage senior students to participate each year, as it gives the engineering students a real-world aircraft design experience and an opportunity to validate the analytic skills they develop in the classroom.

Traditionally, participants who complete an entry form and submit a report on time are invited to bring their plane to a central location for a flyoff, with winners determined by a combination of their report score and their flight score. This year, however, the fly-off was cancelled to safeguard the health of the national and international teams due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thus, the winners were selected based on the formal submitted report alone.

The KU team built a total of three planes. The first plane was built to test their design to ensure the plane could fly properly. Using the lessons learned from this plane, they then built two more planes which address some of the issues they found in the first plane.
Their report detailing the steps they went through to design and test the aircraft landed them in 9th place.Ģż

ā€œAll the planes we built were part of a process of refinement to optimize the design, and if the competition were to continue as normal, we would have built a final plane that would have been optimized for the fly-off,ā€ explained BSc in Aerospace Engineering student and team member Omar Alhashmi.

“This has been a wonderful experience where we got to design and build an aircraft using the knowledge we have been acquiring. This journey will surly help shape us into the engineers we will be in the future, and we are glad to see students receiving support for such projects. I encourage all students to get involved in such activities as the knowledge and experience they reward are invaluable,” Alhashmi shared.

Congratulations to the team!

The 2020 KU DBF team members include:

• Mohamed Alhosani
• Hayat F. Ali
• Salem Alzaabi
• Omar Alhashmi
• Noora Alzaabi
• Hassan Elsheikh
• Ahmed Alhantoobi
• Reem Almheiri
• Khaled Alhammadi
• Maha Almarzooqi
• Mohamed Alblooshi
• Alhanouf Eshtairy
• Mohamed Almazrouei
• Hussein Ali
• Sultan Al Hassanieh
• Maryam A. Naqi
• Abdulqader Aljaberi
• Sara N. Alsabeeha
• Filmon Tsegay
• Suhail Alfalasi

The post Khalifa University Places 9th in 2020 Design, Build, Fly Competition appeared first on Khalifa University.

A paper by senior students from the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Khalifa University has won first place in the IEOM Capstone Student Design Project Competition that was part of the 2020 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM).

The team was represented by Maha Al Dhaheri, Mariam Ramadan, Afra Al Mheiri, and Maryam Al Shehhi, and was supervised by Dr. Mecit Can Emre Simsekler, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Dr. Saed Amer, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Their paper, titled “Improving Patient Discharge Process,” showcases their design project, which aims to improve the patient discharge process for an inpatient clinic of a local hospital in Abu Dhabi. Leveraging industrial and systems engineering principles, the students proposed a simulation-based approach to streamline the patient discharge process and consequently improve the patientsā€™ experience.

The IEOM Society International is a non-profit organization that provides academics, researchers, scientists, and practitioners a platform and forum to exchange ideas and provide insights on the latest developments and advancements in the fields of Industrial Engineering and Operations Management.

Ara Cruz
News Writer
9 April 2020

The post Khalifa University Wins Senior Design Competition Organized by IEOM Society International appeared first on Khalifa University.