Khalifa University Graduate Teaching Assistant and PhD candidate, Jawaher AlYammahi, has been awarded an Excellence in Research award from the Second Forum for Women in Research hosted by University of Sharjah. 

Quwa: Empowering Women in Research and Innovation categories address the most important issues, topics and priority research challenges in different fields, including health sciences, medicine, engineering, and computing and informatics. Coinciding with Emirati Women’s Day, the Quwa forum was held on 26 August with the 7th International Conference on Arab Women in Computing event.

AlYammahi won the award for engineering for her paper on water-based extraction of sugar from dates. With Rambabu Krishnamoorthy, Post-doctoral Fellow, and Dr. Fawzi Banat, Professor of Chemical Engineering, AlYammahi used a novel technique to extract sugars and micronutrients from dates for use in sugar-alternative products.

“Recently, consumers have been preferring natural fruit sugar products, rather than commercial refined sugar, thanks to growing awareness of the various health risks and diseases related to white sugar,” AlYammahi said. “Date palm fruit is an excellent – and green – source for the glucose and fructose sugars that are a great alternative to the sucrose of refined sugar. However, dates have a gummy consistency, tough skin and rigid cell membrane, hindering the extraction of these alternative sugars, and current techniques just aren’t good enough. We used sub-critical water extraction to get 81 percent of the sugar from the dates, compared to the very low amounts seen using standard techniques.”

Sub-critical water extraction is a new and powerful technique that uses hot water and high pressure to extract different compounds from natural sources, like sugars from dates. It is recognized as a safe, cost-effective and more environmentally-friendly method as it uses water rather than other solvents in the process.

AlYammahi and her team were joined in the competition by other female researchers and students from Khalifa University.

Dr. Ameena Al Sumaiti, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, designed a multi-strategy planning support tool for electricity supply management.

With Dr. Mahmoud Meribout, Professor of Electrical Engineering, MSc students Asma Baobaid developed an artificial intelligence platform for face recognition and Budoor Alblooshi developed an autopilot system for autonomous vehicles.

PhD candidate Lamees Al Qassem created a framework for managing cloud workloads with Dr. Ibrahim Elfadel, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Dr. Ernesto Damiani, Professor and Senior Director of the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Institute, and Dr. Thanos Stouraitis, Professor and Department Chair of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Dr. Maisam Wahbah, Post-doctoral Fellow, developed an algorithm to capture ECG signals from babies still in the womb in the early stages of pregnancy with Dr. Ahsan Khandoker, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Mohammad Zitouni, Post-doctoral Fellow.

Maryam Alhasmi and Dr. Balasubramanian Vaithilingam, Principal Research Scientist, created a porous material from carbon to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

PhD candidate Fahmi Anwar and Dr. Georgios Karanikolos, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, developed a novel material for separating ethylene from ethane in the petrochemical industry.

Dr. Saeed Alkhazraji, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Senior Director of Petroleum Institute, and Anjali Goyal, Research Assistant, collaborated with researchers from Higher ��ݮ��Ƶ of Technology in Abu Dhabi to develop natural particles to remove oil from water after an oil spill.

PhD candidate Amani Alhammadi and Dr. Daniel Choi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, analyzed the performance of lithium ion batteries in low-temperature space applications.

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
28 October 2021

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A team of students and researchers from Khalifa University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been awarded the 2020 Premium Award for Best Paper in IET Networks for their paper Monetization of IoT data using smart contracts.

According to the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Premium Awards recognize the best research papers published during the last two years. Ahmed Suliman, Zainab Husain, Menatallah Abououf, and Mansoor Alblooshi worked on the paper under the supervision of Dr. Khaled Salah, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

“This paper came out of research conducted during a graduate course on blockchain and the Internet of Things,” explained Dr. Salah. “In the era of the Internet of Things, smart connected devices have the ability to generate data that could be of interest to the public. This paves the way for an emerging market for monetized data exchanges, where IoT device owners can sell access to live data generated by their connected devices to interested users. Implementing a trusted, cost-efficient, automatic monetization solution of IoT data can be a challenging problem that blockchain and smart contracts could answer. Our paper presented a blockchain solution for monetizing IoT data on a secure and trusted platform.”

“The IET Premium Award is a highly prestigious acknowledgement by the Institute of Engineering and Technology, making this achievement a true reflection of the researchers’ excellent contribution to the field,” said Dr. Bayan Sharif, Acting Provost of Khalifa University.

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
9 February 2021

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Shama Almazrouei will spend a day with an executive of an established company in the UAE and personally experience the company’s activities. 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the CEO of an established company? KU’s Electrical Engineering undergraduate Shama Almazrouei was one of the few chosen to shadow a successful CEO in the UAE and experience first-hand what it could be like to lead a company. 

The CEOx1Day is a program of management and consultancy company Odgers Berndtson that matches 3rd- and 4th-year undergraduates with a regional Chief Executive Officer and their executive team and shadow them for one full day to see how they work and do business. Program finalists will be able to learn about possible career paths, how team members create value in their organization, and the details of how a company functions. 

The Career Services Office introduced and facilitated applications for this initiative to KU students, among others, as part of their career guidance program to prepare students for the job market.

The CEOx1DAY program was first launched in Odgers Berndtson’s office in Germany and has now grown to 12 other countries, including Brazil, Denmark, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, and the UK. To date, the program has received around 17,000 applications from all over the world, and over 400 CEOs from prominent companies such as Google, Twitter, Adidas, and Ikea have participated in the initiative. 

The program is designed to allow promising future leaders to experience and see first-hand what it is like to be a successful CEO. For the CEOs, the program gives them an opportunity to connect with the next generation of leaders, providing them a better understanding of today’s youth, what drives them, and their work ethics. 

Aside from the invaluable opportunity to work with top business leaders, students chosen to participate in the program also have a chance to meet with the Odgers Berndtson team and learn more about the recruitment process, providing them additional skills that they can use during their job search after they graduate. They’ll learn presentation skills and team building skills, as well as strengthen their interview techniques as they undergo one-on-one interview exercises. The student finalists will also receive a Hogan leadership assessment report that evaluates seven well-known characteristics that influence a person’s occupational success. 

Much like any job application, applying to be part of the CEOx1DAY was a process. 

“An email was sent by KU and I applied. I went through application and transcript screening, online leadership assessments, telephone interviews, and a half day of virtual group assessment with semi-finalists from other universities,” Shama explained. 

When asked why she applied to the program, Shama said she wanted to “gain leadership skills and communication skills, get insight on workplaces and how things work, and learn from a successful CEO.”

“KU has always encouraged me to always look for opportunities to gain more knowledge and more experience, and I try to always set myself apart from others by taking part in different competitions and programs,” she said. 

After the program, she explained that she “wants to have an insight on how things work in an actual workplace and learn more about the role of the CEO and what it takes to be a great leader, how they reached this position, and what skills are needed to be a good CEO.”  

Shama is partnered with Mr. Regis Schultz, President of Retail at Al-Futtaim Group, and is scheduled to spend the day in the company next year.  

Ara Maj Cruz
Creative Writer
14 December 2020

The post KU Student Chosen as CEOx1DAY Finalist appeared first on Khalifa University.

Nearly 50% of Total 120 Papers for GSRC 2019 Came from Khalifa University Students and Faculty

Khalifa University students and faculty have won five out of 11 Best Paper Awards at the fifth UAE Graduate Students Research Conference (GSRC 2019) that concluded recently.A total of 120 papers were presented at GSRC 2019, of which nearly 50% came from Khalifa University graduate students across various engineering disciplines.

In the ‘Information Technology, Computer Science, And Information Systems Track’, Khalifa University won both the first and second places, while in the Engineering And Physical Sciences Track, the university won the first and third places. The other second place award came in the Business And Management Track.

Khalifa University won first place in the Information Technology, Computer Science, And Information Systems Track for the paper titled ‘Automatic Arabic Text Summarization Based on Fuzzy Logic’ submitted by Lamees Al Qassem, Di Wang and Dr. Hassan Barada, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The other first place award came in the Engineering And Physical Sciences Track for the paper titled ‘Lipoic Acid and Ascorbic Acid as Inhibitors of Human Amylin Aggregation and Cellular Toxicity’ submitted by Sarah Azzam, Suryani Lukman and Dr. Sung Mun Lee, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering.

The paper titled ‘Cryptomining Detection in Container Clouds Using System Calls and Explainable Machine Learning’ submitted by Rupesh Karn and Dr Ibrahim Elfadel, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, won the second place in the ‘Information Technology, Computer Science, And Information Systems Track’. The other second place award came in the Business And Management Track for the paper titled ‘Utilizing System Modelling Techniques in Lean Healthcare Applications’ submitted by Maitha Alkaabi, Dr. Raja Jayaraman, Associate Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Dr. Mecit Can Emre Simsekler, Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

A paper titled ‘Engineering an Artificial Biomimetic Lymph Node’ submitted by Aya Shanti, Dr.Cesare Stefanini, Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University, Bisan Samara, Amal Abdallah, Dr. Jeremy Teo, and Dr. Jiranuwat Sapudom won the third place in the Engineering And Physical Sciences Track.

Khalifa University continues to be a frontrunner in producing cutting-edge research. The University had earlier won five Best Paper Awards at the 2018 GSRC, an exciting interdisciplinary academic platform to share the research being conducted at universities across the UAE.

The GSRC aims to provide opportunities for graduate students to share their research work,receive scholarly feedback and network professionally.

News Writer
22 April 2019

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K-Drive Once Again Becomes Only Team from MENA Region to be Shortlisted among Top 10 Finalists

Khalifa University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) students Maryam Abbas Sajwani, Reem AlNuaimi, Khadeeja Khaled Hashem Mohamed Aljaberi, and Sumaya AlZubaidi of the ‘K-Drive’ design team have entered the final round of the IEEE International Future Energy Challenge (IFEC) 2019 competition that will be held during the last week of July 2019 at the University of Wisconsin, US.

The Khalifa University team has once again become the only one from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to be among the top 10 selected for the finals. An international student competition for innovation, conservation, and effective use of electrical energy, the IFEC is open to college and university student teams from recognized undergraduate engineering programs.

The K-Drive team crossed the second stage when it was shortlisted out of a total of 16 teams, after confidently presenting the progress report about their prototype to the judges’ panel during the IEEE-IFEC 2019 workshop at Anaheim, US. The challenge ‘electric drive for bicycles’ (E-Drive for a Bicycle), consists of designing and developing the prototype of a battery-three phase output drive, including the motor control and user interface design.

Sajwani said: “We are extremely happy to be the one of the 10 teams to be shortlisted for the final phase of the IFEC competition. We were quite surprised when we received this amazing news about our selection, as the level of expertise and technical designs of the others teams were equal to ours.”

Faculty adviser Associate Professor Dr. Balanthi Beig said: “Our senior design team’s work is on par with the other teams and our students confidently answered all technical questions clearly.”

Aljaberi, who could not be present with the team at Anaheim, congratulated other members, and said: “Working on this project has been a great experience. This competition is challenging us in a very fruitful way and is putting our engineering knowledge and skills to the test. We are truly motivated and excited about the final phase.” Aljaberi intends to join the team for the finals at Wisconsin.

Sajwani added: “Currently, our main focus is testing of our overall system. We have been vigorously testing multiple parameters individually and coupling it with other aspects to see the response of the system. We believe we would be able to resolve any issue within the actual competition timeline.”

The students attributed their second stage success to Dr. Beig, and technical support from the ECE Lab engineers Suma Ramamurthy Rao, Saikrishna Kanukollu and Malik Abdul Haleem. The top 10 teams apart from Khalifa University include Delhi Technological University, DHBW-Stuttgart, Drexel University, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, National Ilan University, Tsinghua University, University of Belgrade, Utah State University and Virginia Tech.

The IEEE-IFEC 2019 competition is sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power Electronics Society (PELS), Power & Energy Society (PES), Industry Application Society (IAS) and Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA).

News Writer

11 April 2019

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• Award in ‘University – Energy, Environment, and Applied Sciences’
• Category Reflects Students’ Technical Skills and Ability to Demonstrate Original Ideas and Inventions

A team of five Khalifa University students have won the ‘First Place – Abu Dhabi’ award for their project “The Design of a Cooling Suit” in the ‘University – Energy, Environment, and Applied Sciences’ category at the Think Science 2019 competition.

The top award was won by undergraduate Mechanical Engineering students Shaima Al Hashemi, Nema Nadhem Asaad Asaad Taher, Latifah Omar Mohamed Abdulla Alseiari, Aryam Ahmed Saleh Rashed Almaamari, and Alyaziya Sulayem Saleh Saad Alsheebani. Assistant Professor Dr. Samuel Cubero, Department of Mechanical Engineering, was their faculty adviser.

The main goal of this project is to design and build a ‘tether-less’ motor-powered cooling suit that an average adult user can wear. Similar in appearance to a biohazard protection suit or astronaut’s space suit, this cooling suit keeps the internal temperature of the user at an adjustable level between 15 and 30 degrees C. The operating time, between recharges, can be at least three hours of constant usage. It will have an ‘SOS’ button and automatic signals in case of emergencies, as well as a smart system to check body temperature.

The project proposed by the students helps the user remain comfortable and avoid sweating, even during extremely hot outdoor temperatures. Most outdoor workers can continue working and remain productive when wearing the suit since the dangers of heat exhaustion and heat stroke are minimized. Moreover, the suit helps workers at construction or building sites to remain comfortable, enabling greater productivity and requiring shorter rest hours.

Al Maamari identified the reasons for the team to win the challenge against more than 20 other projects. She said: “We didn't have to face that many challenges, except the normal stress and nervousness. But we stood together, guarded each other’s back, and we were confident about the details of our design, in addition to the booth organization.”

She added: “Also, our design process works with 100% safety for the worker, since safety is our main objective and incorporating that is one of the hardest parts.”

After considering several different designs, some of which involved refrigeration units or air-conditioning systems, the students concluded that the lowest-cost, most lightweight, and most effective solution for this project would be to use special PCMs (Phase Change Materials) that can absorb the Sun's energy and prevent any significant rise in body temperature. The PCM is located in several pockets around the suit, and it basically absorbs external or ambient heat energy from the environment, which converts it from a solid to liquid, without raising the skin temperature.

However, once the PCM has turned into pure liquid, it is no longer able to prevent the user’s skin temperature from increasing. Therefore, to ‘recharge’ it, or make it an effective heat absorber again, each PCM bag needs to be placed in a refrigerator (or freezer) so it can turn solid again for future reuse.

Dr. Cubero said: “It is nice to hear about our students being recognized for their technical skills and their ability to demonstrate new and original ideas and inventions that could make a positive impact in the community.”

“From the very beginning, all students working on this project showed great enthusiasm and interest. They believe that a cooling suit like this will make life much more comfortable for outdoor workers, who currently suffer intense summer temperatures with a debilitating effect on their ability to work efficiently and productively,” he added.

In addition, the students have also designed and implemented effective insulation materials for the suit to enhance the performance of the PCM material. For example, electronic sensors are added to the suit with an onboard programmable microcontroller and an LCD display panel that can monitor important operating variables, such as temperatures at different areas on the suit and expected operating time or the remaining cooling time for the PCMs.

The suit also offers options to add more sensors, including a pulse-rate sensor, blood pressure sensor, or a breathing rate sensor. Data from these sensors can even be transmitted via a wireless network to a remote laptop, for monitoring the status of the user. Such advance features may raise the commercialization potential of this innovation.

Clarence Michael
English Editor Specialist
6 May 2019

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Student-Built Unmanned, Electric-Powered, Radio-Controlled Aircraft
Successfully Completes AIAA’s All Three Mandatory Missions

A Khalifa University team of 12 students was ranked ninth overall out of 104 universities when their unmanned, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft successfully completed all three mandatory missions in the Design Build Fly (DBF) 2019 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Competition in Tucson, Arizona.

The team, whose design report was ranked third, not only represented the UAE, but the entire Middle east and North Africa (MENA) region, and was placed among the top 10 teams.Moreover, for Khalifa University, this is the eighth successive year of participation in the DBF challenge.

A total team of 20 undergraduate students from Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering worked together throughout the year to design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of the unmanned aircraft, readying it for the competition. The aircraft’s three missions included successful flight over a predefined 2000-foot path, carrying a rotating
‘radome’ as a payload and perform three laps followed by a successful landing, and carrying of at least four attack stores, each weighing around 0.187 pounds and drop one in every lap.

This year, the faculty advisors included Assistant Professor Dr. Andreas Schiffer from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Assistant Professor Dr. Ki Sun Park from the Department of Aerospace Engineering. Additionally, the team was supported and advised by two graduate students – Adnan Salem and Abdelnasir Alnaqbi.

Two members from last year’s team – Ali Almusawa and Sara Nabeel – were also included in this year’s team. Moreover, throughout this year, the team received guidance and help from previous team leaders Lena Obaid, Anood Alkatheeri, Ghadeer Alkatheeri and Gianna Ramirez.The student team was accompanied to the US by Assistant Professor Dr. Asli Hassan,Department of English, and Dr. Schiffer.

Dr. Park felt the DBF mission this year was tough because of the design requirement for folding wings, and its size and operation. He said: “The whole aircraft including the nose of the aircraft and landing gears should fit into a space two-feet wide and two-feet high in the folded condition.

Additionally, the aircraft should transform from the folded condition to flight condition “remotely by command from the transmitter”.

Though the team was able to refer to the previous Khalifa University aircraft for most of parts, it still needed to design the entire wings part – the main components of the aircraft generating lift forces and key to its stability.
Dr. Park added: “Team members were proactive, and each member did their work properly, but most importantly, they enjoyed the participation in the competition.”

Ali said: “Our team managed to complete all missions successfully. The competition was a great experience and it was an opportunity for us to apply the theories that we have learned at the university to real-life innovative engineering challenges. It was also an opportunity to see how other universities or groups approach the same issue.”

For junior Mechanical Engineering student Hassan Elmuzamil Hassan Elsheikh, it was a unique experience that blended his passion in aviation with a great engineering challenge, and the outcome represented the culmination of the team’s hard work and over eight months of preparation.

Elsheikh said: “We learned a lot about aircraft design, manufacturing and testing. Travelling to Tucson and seeing designs from other universities was inspiring as it opened our eyes to different approaches and perspectives. We also learned how to work better as a unit and definitely created bonds that will last.”

Team member Omar Alhashmi felt the competition helped in gaining self-confidence and developing teamwork and technical skills.

Alhashmi said: “The design phase of the project was extremely hard, as we had to determine the optimum design to get a high score, but perhaps the hardest thing about this project was finding the balance between working on the project, my academic responsibilities and social life.”
News Writer
2 May 2019

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Common Design Project ‘KU Drone’ and Senior Design Project ‘High-Speed Positioning’ Win Competing Entries from Seven Universities

Two student teams from Khalifa University have won top honors for their Common Design Project (CDP) and Senior Design Project (Communications and Electronics) at the 14th IEEE UAE Student Day 2019 that was held on 27 April at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE.

Up to two teams from each of the seven participating universities competed in the Common Design Project, Engineering Design Project, Industrial Design Project, Software Engineering Project, and Community Service Compettion categories. However, Khalifa University participated only in the CDP and SDP categories and topped both!

The ‘KU Drone’ CDP student team that won first place included Abdulla Alsamri, Mohamed Alhaj, Ahmed Bafakih, Mohammed Alketbi, and Majid Salman Alakberi. They were required to design and implement a vision-based control algorithm for a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone, with a maximum volume of 0.7m x 0.7m x 0.7m. The drone had to autonomously detect and locate a specified landing zone with the red square marker, out of
three randomly placed landing zones with different markers.

Similarly, the ‘High Speed Positioning’ SDP team that won first place in the Communications and Electronics category included Alya Al Zaabi, Wafaa Ahemd AlYammahi, Ruba Nasser and Ahmed Mehdi. Their project aims at positioning and tracking fast moving objects using two sources – the slower but accurate GPS, and the inertia sensors whose accuracy decays over
time. This project achieves the concept of sensor fusion through the ‘Kalman filter’ – an algorithm that uses a series of measurements to get fast and accurate position.

Faculty advisors for the SDP team included Associate Professors Dr. Hani Saleh and Dr. Baker Mohammad, as well as Research Associate Dr. Temesghen Habte from Electronic and Computer Engineering Department. The CDP project was guided by Associate Professor Dr. Mahmoud Meribout, while Associate Professor Dr. Shihab Jimaa was the IEEE Students Counselor and the IEEE 2019 UAE Student Day Coordinator.

In the CDP category, the KU Drone had to be equipped with a camera for the detection of the landing zone, while the autonomous control system could use the images to detect the target, estimate its relative pose and suitably plan a navigation path to perform the landing maneuver.

The team felt that the image processing part for the ‘KU Drone’ was challenging as well as the speed of the drone and its rapid response. Another factor was stability, which was key to landing the drone close to the target.

For the SDP team, the project involved several electrical and computer engineering (ECE) multidisciplinary topics such as communication, electronics, programming, and control systems, which made this more challenging than other projects.

Team member Ahmed Mehdi said: “We were able to impress the judges when answering their questions. We definitely felt that a top three finish was inevitable after we preformed the presentation.”

Mehdi added: “Winning gives us a special kind of recognition to the efforts we have put in during the last few months and gives us a huge confidence boost. It is nice to be rewarded for our efforts.”

The CDP team felt that one of the key elements that gave them an edge over others was the guidance from their supervisor Associate Professor Dr. Mahmoud Meribout.

Abdulla Alsamri said: “With Dr. Meribout's guidance, we managed to choose the most suitable drone for such a challenge. Moreover, the decision was also based on our programing knowledge, as we chose a drone that matches our skills in C++. Moreover, our hard work and the huge amount of time we all put in this project eventually paid off.”

Alsamri added: “We feel proud after having this great opportunity to represent our university and win the top position – the rightful place for this university. We were determined to win and we have done it.”
News Writer
05 May 2019

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GenoMatch, Karbooj, and Thyroid on a ChiP Selected for Potential to Address Global Challenges

Three student teams from Khalifa University were among the 28 teams from 16 universities that secured funding and support through Expo 2020 University Innovation Program (UIP) Expo Live.

The teams – GenoMatch, Karbooj, and Thyroid on a ChiP – submitted their innovative ideas on Expo 2020’s subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability. Expo Live’s UIP seeks to incentivize creative thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration between university students to address important global challenges. It awards grants to promising concepts that are relevant to the UAE and region so they can be accelerated, validated and prototyped.

GenoMatch, which was developed by Hasan Alattas and Halima Alnaqbi under the mentorshp of KU faculty Dr. Habiba Alsafar, is focused on developing a method to more easily identify compatible organ donors for transplant patients in the UAE. Karbooj — which has among its members Hanin Abu Alrub, Shaza Karaman, and Wafa Alyammahi, and was guided by KU faculty Dr. Hadi Otrok and Dr. Rabeb Mizouni — is a mobile game designed to reduce childhood obesity. Thyroid on a ChiP is a test to help people make decisions that prevent and/or treat thyroid cancer, and was developed by Fatima Yousif Alshamsi, Sarah Ismail Alali, Tamader Omar Alhouqani, and Amna Nasser Ahli, with guidance by Dr. Habiba Alsafar.

The three KU teams, along with the other selected teams, will receive a receive grant of up to AED50,000 to advance their ideas after participating in the second cycle of the UIP, which was conducted by Expo Live with the support of the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. They will also receive guidance from Expo Live to advance research and development, create a business model, grow their team and potentially partner with other entities. Grantees may even have the chance to showcase their innovations to millions of people at Expo 2020 Dubai.

His Excellency Dr. Ahmad bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi, UAE Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills, said: “The creative solutions submitted to Expo Live as part of the University Innovation Program are a testament to the pioneering capabilities of UAE youth. It is young people with enterprising minds and an innovative outlook who will be responsible for leading the country’s transformation into a knowledge economy and in meeting the aspirations of the leadership towards UAE Vision 2021 and UAE Centennial 2071.

“The caliber of projects selected during the program’s second cycle reflects the high standard of tertiary education in the UAE and I sincerely congratulate each and every awardee for their hard work and achievements. My colleagues and I are extremely keen to see how their innovations will progress on the journey to Expo 2020 and beyond.”

Yousuf Caires, Vice President of Expo Live, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “This program epitomizes Expo 2020’s theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, and it is truly exciting to witness first-hand the levels of innovation that are being cultivated among university students here in the UAE. Young innovators who secured Expo Live’s support as part of the UIP’s first cycle are already advanced in developing creative solutions to global challenges that impact our region. We look forward to working closely with grantees from the second cycle as they take their projects to
the next level, and we cannot wait to see how they turn their ideas and prototypes into reality.”

More than 500 student groups from 57 universities across the UAE submitted applications as part of the UIP’s second cycle, with proposed solutions addressing at least one of Expo 2020’s three key subthemes: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability. Finalists pitched their projects to a panel of judges at the Expo 2020 Dubai Visitor Center.

The GenoMatch team said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive Expo Live’s support as it will help us bring our solution to life. It is so exciting to have an idea with the potential to save lives, and we have now secured the funding and guidance necessary to advance our vision.”

Applications were evaluated by a panel of judges from Expo 2020, its commercial partners and other stakeholders. Representatives from DP World, Emirates Airline, Emirates NBD, PepsiCo, SAP and Siemens offered feedback to each of the finalists on how they could improve and advance their proposed solutions.

The 28 projects selected join the 19 groups that secured support during the UIP’s first cycle, meaning that Expo Live has now committed grants, guidance and exposure to 47 student teams from across the UAE. Expo Live is a USD100 million innovation and partnership program launched by Expo 2020 Dubai to make a lasting social impact by funding, accelerating and promoting creative solutions that improve lives or preserve the
planet, or both.

Based on the belief that innovation can come from anywhere to everyone, Expo Live will continue to deploy a combination of grants, challenges, university programmes and knowledge-sharing events on the journey to 2020.

To learn more about the University Innovation Programme, or to find out about Expo Live’s other initiatives, visit expo2020dubai.com/expo-live.

20 December 2018

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Students Demonstrate Public Speaking Skills, Culinary Talent and Expertise in Jewelry Designing

Khalifa University Chemical Engineering student Hamda Ali Alblooshi, junior Electrical Engineering student Buthaina AlKhayat, another Electrical Engineering student Khadeeja Khaled Hashem Mohamed Aljaberi and Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISYE) student Ahoud Abdulrahman Mohamed A. Alhashmi, as well as Aamna Hasan Almansoori have successfully proved their talents and won honors for the university at the 11^th edition of Emirates Skills National Competition 2019.

Alblooshi won ‘Silver’ and AlKhayat received ‘Gold’ in Public Speaking, while Aljaberi bagged a ‘Bronze’ in ‘Electronics’ at the crowded Emirates Skills 2019 competition that gave each talented individual an opportunity to outshine their peers. ‘Bronze’ winner Alhashmi proved her skills by becoming one of only six competitors shortlisted from nearly 40 applicants after individual culinary skills were tested in a cook-off challenge prior to the national competition. Aamna Hasan Almansoori won ‘Silver’ in Creative Arts and Fashion – ‘Jewelry’ category in WorldSkills-Abu Dhabi.

Faculty played a major role in developing student skills. It was Assistant Professor Dr. Nader Ayish, Department of English, who introduced the competition to Alblooshi and encouraged her to participate.

Alblooshi viewed the opportunity as both a learning experience and a challenge as she was still working on her public speaking skills. She said: “I arrived at the competition not knowing what to expect but still excited to perform and tried my best.”

As the days of the competition went by, Alblooshi learned a lot from her peers and mentors. She added: “Winning ‘Silver’ helped me to become more confident about my skill but also showed me that I have room to grow and learn. However, it was a great experience and I recommend this to everyone.”

AlKhayat promised herself that she would be 100% committed and would give it all, even though she realized she would miss a couple of labs and exams. But she went ahead all the same.

She said: “I did not set any expectations as to how good the other contestants would be because, to me, I was challenging myself and experiencing something new.”

She added that the contestants were definitely skilled and that was when she understood she had to bring in some uniqueness to her speeches. “That got me my ‘Gold’ medal which is the first step to achieve higher levels of confidence to develop my public speaking skills even more,” remarked a cheerful AlKhayat.

AlKhayat was guided by Dr Ayish, Assistant Professor Dr. Asli Hassan, and Senior Lecturer Dr. John Langille, all from Department of English.

Participating in WorldsSkills at Emirates Skills 2019 was an eye-opener for Aljaberi, who won ‘Bronze’ as she learned to work under extreme stress, pushed herself hard, and never giving up. “In the ‘Electronics-WorldsSkills EmiratesSkills’ category, students were tested in their electrical design, hardware and software skills,” she said.

On the third day, she and her partner were programming a vending machine that has its own database of users and credit information. She added: “It was definitely a real challenge, but I am grateful for the experience and happy about the medal. I am looking forward to get trained more to qualify for the WorldSkills AsiaSkills-Electronics category.”

Winning over others in culinary skills calls for professionalism and tackling several factors. In Alhashmi’s case, she never had any professional culinary experience or training, while other contestants were extremely skilled and passionate about cooking. However, she found the challenge hard for a different reason – because her category was sponsored by Emaar Hospitality which has very high standards for judging performances and even accepting contestants.

Once she was shortlisted, it was different, Alhashmi said and added: “I found it pleasant mostly because the relationship with other contestants was based on fair competition, mutual respect and similar interests.”

“The National competition in itself was a fertile soil for networking and meeting other people with a large spectrum of skills and possible project partners,” she added.

Almansoori began planning about competing in WorldSkills EmiratesSkills ‘Jewelry’ category even during her vacation. She said: “Jewelry design requires precision and I would like to be precise and perfect in everything I do. I know I have won, but in all honesty, it would not have really mattered if I didn’t, because finishing the competition with the most satisfying results mattered more to me than winning.”

Explaining how the whole experience also taught her patience, Almansoori added: “Waiting for my work to finish and waiting for the results, was quite nerve-wracking at first but I eventually learned to wait patiently. Even though my teammates and I were competing together, it didn’t impact our relationship, and we have become friends.”

Overall, Khalifa University students Alkhayat and Alblooshi won in the ‘National’ category from Abu Dhabi, while Alhashmi, Aljaberi and Almansoori were acknowledged in the WorldsSkills EmiratesSkills category.

A total of 114 Emirati youths were honored with gold, silver and bronze medals after the event in which 402 Emiratis had the opportunity to highlight their capabilities in 49 engineering, technological, technical and industrial areas, such as Artificial Intelligence, drone design, AutoCAD drawing, web design, aircraft and car engine maintenance, computer-assisted manufacturing, welding, fashion technology, robots and garden design.

Clarence Michael
News Writer
29 April 2019

The post Five Khalifa University Students Win Honors at Emirates Skills 2019 appeared first on Khalifa University.

Two Computer Engineering Students Acknowledged for Developing Model on Image Processing and Machine Learning

A Khalifa University team comprising Computer Engineering student with Software Concentration Salma Mohamed Al Hashidi, and Computer Engineering student Mjalli Ahmed Moosa has won ‘Silver’ with a score of 84 in the artificial intelligence (AI) category at the Emirates Technology Innovation Competition (ETIC) 2019 that was organized during the 11 th edition of Emirates Skills National Competition 2019 in Abu Dhabi.

ETIC 2019 challenged student teams in eight categories including Computer Programming,Cyber Security, Mobile Application Programming, Game Development, Drones: Build and Fly,Renewable Energy, Electronics: Design and Build, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Each category had a set of challenges that students must fulfil during the three days of the competition. In
some categories, students were given tasks and in some others, they were asked to develop a project that will be evaluated on the last day.

The two Khalifa University students excelled during ETIC 2019 that was organized for the seventh successive year by Khalifa University, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.Students were judged by Khalifa University faculty in each category according to WorldSkills International criteria. A total of 96 students from Applied Technology High School (ATHS), UAE University, Higher ��ݮ��Ƶ of Technology (HCT) and Khalifa University participated in the event.

In the AI category, students were required to utilize machine learning algorithms to construct usable models in order to identify and classify objects from real image datasets and to appropriately train their constructed models. They were also expected to use and fine-tune existing machine learning algorithms, while judges looked for high classification accuracy, precision, recall, and sensitivity in the constructed model.

Al Hashidi and Moosa won ‘Silver’ for their work on image processing using MatLab – the multi-paradigm numerical computing environment and proprietary programming language. It was a machine learning process, where the team needed to train the computer to recognize specific objects.

The duo worked on different types of identification throughout the three-day course. Al Hashidi said: “Starting from familiarization with different algorithms, we had to learn how to classify images. Lastly, we had to train a model that would be used by cars to detect other vehicles and ‘stop’ signs. This model used a dataset provided to us and then the accuracy of this was tested
by the judges.”

Associate Professor Dr Hadi Otrok, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, said: “During the competition, Mjalli and Salama were among the enthusiastic teams who were actively attempting to solve all the tasks they were provided, even those which were new for them. They were also committed to identify training material to prepare them as much as
possible for the competition and sought only minor guidance.”

For the two students, the occasion proved to be immensely challenging in the beginning. Al Hashidi said they were hesitant at first as ETIC within the Emirates Skills National Competition 2019 was a huge event. But after the first day, they team became more involved in the competition.

“We motivated each other and thankfully remained steadfast in our efforts. We had no background in this field, so we took it upon ourselves to learn this new concept. We worked together to explain to each other whenever we found ambiguities. In addition, we received help from instructors who guided us as to what we should be aware of,” added Al Hashidi.

Moosa said “Our main goal at first was to participate and experience something new. It was a fun experience, new to us.”

But everything did not go smoothly for the team, especially on the last day of the competition,when the code they had developed was taking too long to execute. Al Hashidi felt that might affect their scoring. She said “It took so long that we overstayed even after the competition, waiting to know our score, until everyone had to leave the stand.”

She added: “Both of us left, not sure if we were among the top three. Nonetheless, we were only curious to know our ranking. On the day of announcement, however, we were overjoyed to learn that the Silver medal was ours.”

“It was also a proud moment since we were the only ones representing our university in AI category, while other teams were representing their high schools,” remarked Al Hashidi.

The categories of ETIC 2019 were specifically designed to test and hone the skills of UAE national students in science and technology.

News Writer
07 May 2019

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KU undergrad seniors win first, second and third place for innovative engineering projects at UAE’s premier national event for undergraduate research

Khalifa University students won first, second and third place at the 7th Undergraduate Research Competition (URC) hosted by Abu Dhabi University on 29 April, 2019, beating out over 260 teams that competed from 54 universities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

Senior students Noor Shahab Fikree, Wasiq Ahmed, Hiba Tariq, and Nida Rashid won first place in the Biomedical and Electrical Engineering Category for their Senior Design Project, ‘A Game-Based Exoskeleton Hand for Rehabilitation.’ The exoskeleton hand and game system provides engaging hand rehabilitation to individuals with diminished hand mobility and strength, such as stroke patients or people suffering from spinal cord injury.

The interactive game-based approach is intentionally designed to keep patients motivated so that they can be consistent in their rehabilitation training, which is key to regaining proper hand function.

The wearable exoskeleton employs a novel mechanism that allows for variable strength and mobility training. The interactive game aptly tracks the users’ capability to bend their fingers, simultaneously as the game is played, unlike clinical progress measurement techniques for rehabilitation. The system is also light weight and cheaper than existing systems on the market.

Another benefit to the system is that the user and his/her therapist can remotely access the patient’s progress over time. This implies that such a system has the potential to open the door for at-home therapy, which would further reduce cost and resources associated with traditional one-on-one therapy.

All three components – the exoskeleton, the game and the progress measurement – were developed by a multidisciplinary team of two mechanical engineering students, one electrical and electronics engineering student, and one computer engineering student, under the supervision of Dr. Shakti Singh, Assistant Professor of Electronic Engineering, and Dr. Dongming Gan, Assistant Professor of Robotics.

“As an interdisciplinary team, we learned a lot from each other. The nature of the project allowed each one of us to put our engineering knowledge to the test. We learned not only technical skills but also people skills through communication with advisors, suppliers, and each other. Undertaking this SDP, we learned how to learn, and we believe that it is the most important thing all of us can take away from this experience,” shared Fikree, Ahmed, Tariq and Rashid.

Another team earned second place in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Category. Fatima Abdulla, Meera Alqemzi, and Alya Alzaabi won for their Chemical Engineering Design Project, ‘Development of Secondary Phase in Various Zeolites Framework.’

The project builds on the novel zeolite research work of Dr. Yasser AlWahedi, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering. Dr. AlWahedi discovered a new phase that can adsorb, or capture, two times as much hydrogen sulfide from natural gas compared to a typical zeolite, which is a special kind of mineral that can trap water and other molecules inside of it.

The team developed a low-cost adsorbent out of Dr. AlWahedi’s unique phase that can efficiently adsorb (capture) hydrogen sulfide from natural gas and desorb it (release from the adsorbent’s surface somewhere else). The eco-friendly adsorbent is an important step towards helping gas processing industries remove toxic levels of hydrogen sulfide from a natural gas stream more efficiently.

The yearlong project was quite a journey, all team members remarked. They gained valuable skills throughout the year, including problem and design analysis, experimentation, communication, leadership and project management skills.

“The feeling of achievement means everything to us, which words simply cannot describe. This project was very meaningful for us in both personal and professional levels. We were excited about the opportunity to expand our understanding and knowledge in applying all the engineering principles we have learned over the past three years with the hopes of having the slightest meaningful impact on our community,” Abdulla, Alqemzi and Alzaabi said.

A third KU team, seniors Suhaila Fareed Al-Ali and Omar Ali Alhammadi, took third place in the Mechanical Engineering Category for their project, ‘Dicycle Motor’ – a self-driving electric vehicle with two side-by-side parallel wheels.

Al-Ali and Alhammadi spent two years designing and fabricating the Dicycle Motor, valued at AED30,000, under the supervision of Dr. Bashar El-Khasawneh, Graduate Program Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Federico Renda, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

The Dicycle Motor is controlled remotely using a laptop. The operator sets the desired location using a program developed by the team, and the dicycle will take the rider there automatically.

Measuring 1.8 meters by 0.71 meters, the dicycle weighs around 250 kg and should be able to carry passengers of any size and weight. It can reach speeds around 40 km/h. Another unique feature of the dicycle is its ability to be easily customized to meet the rider’s needs.

Al-Ali and Alhammadi see many potential applications of the Dicycle Motor, such as in malls and for delivery services, allowing security guards and delivery personnel to drive through crowds of people and traffic more effectively. They also see potential military and search and rescue applications, explaining that the Dicycle Motor can be transformed into an unmanned drone and sent across far distances, even into hostile or hazardous environments.

Held annually under the patronage of H.E. Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, the URC is the premier national event that targets undergraduate students from across all universities in the UAE. It aims to encourage universities to promote scientific research among undergraduate students, while directly supporting the UAE government’s drive toward fostering innovation. This year, the competition extended participation to the entire GCC region.

Erica Solomon
Senior Editor
 22 May 2019

The post Senior Design Projects Win Big at Undergraduate Research Competition appeared first on Khalifa University.