Quarterly Newsletter

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

DISCOVER KAUST Volume 2, Number 3

Five years ago, on September 5, 2009, KAUST welcomed a founding faculty of more than 60 accomplished scientists and engineers and an inaugural class of 350 graduate students to its brand new campus. Today, the University has grown to include 132 faculty (including several 2014 Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers) and 840 students, as well as over 2000 employees and 6000 community residents.

To celebrate this latest milestone in KAUST's journey, showcases and tours were hosted across campus to highlight the latest contributions of our students, scientists and staff. And on September 5, a special festival lit up the evening sky with a laser light show and entertainment for the entire community.

Read about some of KAUST's latest stories and recent highlights below. From research spanning marine science to solid state materials, and innovation from R&D to licensing technology, KAUST may be young but is well on its way to fulfilling its mission of inspiring a new age of scientific discovery.

September 29, 2014

NOMADD sets sights on solar energy future

A mechanical engineer by training, Eitelhuber was working as a physics teacher at The KAUST School when he started experimenting with Lego blocks and paper to find a solution to clean solar panels exposed to the rough dusty environment of Saudi Arabia. His innovation has since been recognized with 2014 Solar Pioneer Award and he has been working on further testing and developing the solution with world-leading companies in solar energy such as First Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp. A milestone was achieved last month when KAUST signed its first royalty-bearing license agreement for the NOMADD desert solar solution system.

September 21, 2014

Boeing opens R&D office at KAUST

KAUST has recently held the official inauguration of a new Boeing Research & Technology (BR&T) office. Located within KAUST's Research and Technology Park, the office will focus on conducting research and development in aerospace technologies. One of KAUST's strategic partners since March 2009 through the KAUST Industry Collaboration Program (KICP), this partnership solidifies an already strong and fruitful collaboration.

September 16, 2014

Join the 4th Annual KAUST Research Competition

In January 2015, King Abdullah Science and Technology University (KAUST) is hosting its fourth annual International Research Competition for undergraduate students around the world. This event is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for you to share and compare your work with peers from across the globe, win prizes and experience life in Saudi Arabia at a premier graduate-level research institution. The deadline to submit is October 19, 2014.

September 10, 2014

Achieving agricultural sustainability through seawater

The scarcity of fresh water supplies, surface water found in lakes and rivers as well as underground sources, poses a major challenge in the face of a growing world population set to plateau at 9 billion people by 2050. Prof. Mark Tester and his group, as well as other KAUST faculty members' groups, are actively conducting experimental research in the University's well-equipped greenhouse to find solutions to tackle our expanding food security challenges.

September 9, 2014

Prof. Hadjichristidis honored with 2015 ACS Award in Polymer Chemistry

Prof. Nikos Hadjichristidis was recently awarded the 2015 American Chemical Society (ACS) Award in Polymer Chemistry sponsored by ExxonMobil Chemical Company. He will be honored at an awards ceremony on March 24, 2015, in conjunction with the 249th ACS national meeting in Denver. ACS will also organize a symposium in honor of Prof. Hadjichristidis during the national meeting.

September 8, 2014

Fifth academic Convocation welcomes new students to 'adventure of learning'

Highlighting the adventure of learning, President Jean-Lou Chameau welcomed new students and faculty and staff to the University's fifth annual academic Convocation ceremony on August 19. This year, KAUST welcomed 284 new students from 38 different countries onto the campus. Of these, 112 students are master's degree students and 172 are doctoral candidates.

September 8, 2014

Looking back at KAUST's beginnings 5-years later

KAUST began as a vision, perceived across a great expanse of dry, unremarkable desert sand. Five years – and some key ingredients later – it is growing into a global force of academics, and is a proud pillar of light to its native nation. Of those key ingredients, none were more vital than the people who helped KAUST rise from the sands. They added water, and they added stone. They brought ideas, and they brought energy. They came to work, but they ended up bringing life. Life was all that the vision needed.

August 28, 2014

KAUST marine scientists document Red Sea 'nursery' area for young whale sharks

It's been five years since KAUST marine scientists first fitted the whale sharks aggregating in the Red Sea around Al-Lith with satellite tags. But it wasn't until now that Dr. Michael Berumen, Associate Professor of Marine Science at KAUST, and his team believed they had captured enough data to accurately tell the story of the movement of this Red Sea population. Their results were published in PLOS ONE in late July 2014.

August 25, 2014

Materials Beyond: KAUST scientists put solid state materials design myth to rest

"Solid-state materials that have been designed and constructed in a made-to-order manner may provide potential solutions to many present-day challenges in energy and environmental sustainability," explains Dr. Mohamed Eddaoudi, KAUST Professor of Chemical Science and Associate Director of the University's Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Research Center. "However, it is very difficult to design these materials, as their assembly is done in a one-step synthesis."

August 20, 2014

KGSP students conduct inspiring summer research at KAUST

For Jawaher Almutlaq, Abdulmohsen AlBelushi, Shahd Bawarith and Yousef Alowayed, conducting research at KAUST this summer as part of the KAUST Gifted Student Program (KGSP) has been an unparalleled opportunity for academic and personal growth.

August 11, 2014

KAUST Alumni Celebration in Beijing hosted by President Jean-Lou Chameau

In May 2014, President Jean-Lou Chameau, Vice President James Calvin, Dean Brian Moran and several professors led a KAUST delegation to China. A highlight of the trip was a special gathering, hosted by President Chameau, in Beijing of Alumni (graduates and former post-docs), as well as students from China who will be joining KAUST in August.

KAUST's 3D mapping technology helps preserve a landmark

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named "Historic Jeddah, the Gate to Makkah," a World Heritage Site on June 21, 2014. Jeddah is located in Saudi Arabia and it was a designation that took several decades to achieve, in part, because capturing and communicating the significance of Jeddah's unique historical landmarks proved a daunting task.

KAUST researchers recognized

Four KAUST members were recently noted on the highly select "Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers 2014." Congratulations to Jean M.J. Frechet (Chemistry), Victor M. Calo (Computer Science), Mohamed Eddaoudi (Chemistry), and Heribert Hirt (Plant & Animal Science).

Size makes a dramatic difference in tuning electron injection in quantum dot solar cells

Omar F. Mohammed, KAUST Assistant Professor of Chemical Science and the principal investigator of the ultrafast laser spectroscopy and four-dimensional electron imaging laboratory at KAUST's Solar and Photovoltaic Engineering Research Center, and a team of researchers from KAUST and the University of California at Berkeley published a paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society examining the properties essential for quantum dot (QD) solar cells.

Nature inspires advances in silicon electronics

In a paper recently published as cover article in Advanced Materials, KAUST Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Dr. Muhammad Hussain, and his team outlined their groundbreaking research in silicon-based electronics inspired by the human brain. "Our process sets a major step towards the integration of state-of-the-art high performance devices for ultra-mobile brain-inspired foldable computers or ICs," they explained.

A new perspective leads to discovery of simple self-assembly structure

Sometimes what it takes to discover something new is a team with a diversified vision…and a lot of patience. At least, this was the case with the latest biomimetic block copolymer particle research conducted by KAUST professors Dr. Klaus-Viktor Peinemann and Dr. Suzana Nunes, along with post-doctoral fellows Dr. Haizhou Yu and Dr. Xiaoyan Qiu.