ANNUAL REPORT 2016 -17 MILESTONES. ACHIEVEMENTS. THE CMU-Q YEAR IN REVIEW.
Acknowledgements Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar thanks His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, for his leadership and commitment to progress and education. As a proud partner of Qatar Foundation, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar thanks His Highness the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, and Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, for their vision and leadership.
Table of Contents Vision, Mission and Values
From Dean Ilker Baybars From Dean Michael Trick Highlights Achievement Admission and Enrollment Academics Outreach and Engagement Student Experience Research Appendices
04 06 08 10 14 22 28 44 56 64 72
For the last 70 years, students have been using The Fence on the main Carnegie Mellon University campus in Pittsburgh as the unofficial campus billboard, painting it with witty or poignant messages, upcoming events or recent accomplishments.
4 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Vision, Mission and Values Our Vision
Our Values
Carnegie Mellon University will have a transformative impact on society through continual innovation in education, research, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
Dedication: reflected in our distinctive work ethic and in our commitment to excellence.
Our Mission
Collaboration: reflected in our interdisciplinary approach, our focus on internal and external partnerships, and our capacity to create new fields of inquiry.
To create a transformative educational experience for students focused on deep disciplinary knowledge; problem solving; leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills; and personal health and well-being. To cultivate a transformative university community committed to (a) attracting and retaining diverse, world-class talent; (b) creating a collaborative environment open to the free exchange of ideas, where research, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship can flourish; and (c) ensuring individuals can achieve their full potential. To impact society in a transformative way— regionally, nationally, and globally—by engaging with partners outside the traditional borders of the university campus.
Impact: reflected in our commitment to address critical issues facing society regionally, nationally, and globally.
Creativity: reflected in our openness to new ideas and forms of expression, intellectual curiosity, willingness to take risks, and entrepreneurial spirit. Empathy and Compassion: reflected in our focus on improving the human condition and on the personal development of the members of our community. Inclusion: reflected in a culture and climate that seeks, welcomes, and advances talented minds from diverse backgrounds. Integrity: reflected in our adherence to the highest ethical standards in personal and professional behavior, and in our commitment to transparency and accountability in governance and everything we do Sustainability: reflected in our shared commitment to lead by example in preserving and protecting our natural resources, and in our approach to responsible financial planning.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 5
6 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
From Dean Ilker Baybars On May 1, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar held a landmark event: its tenth graduation ceremony. Throughout the years, I have seen this institution grow and mature, and the Class of 2017 is emblematic of how far CMU-Q has come.
I thank them, along with Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, and everyone at Qatar Foundation, for their support and encouragement as we continue to build and grow.
Our students are global citizens. There were 21 nationalities in the Class of 2017, and 40 in the student body as a whole. This diversity defines CMU-Q: on a daily basis, our students practice cooperation, teamwork and friendship across cultures.
In this Annual Report 2016-17, we reflect on the accomplishments of our students, alumni and faculty members. This has been a benchmark year of problem solving, innovating, creating and reaching out to the community, and we are proud to share it with you.
Our students are committed to community service. In the graduating class, 64% were involved in community outreach, and this extends throughout our student body. Thoughtfulness, generosity and a desire to contribute are distinguishing characteristics of our students.
Ilker Baybars Dean and CEO August 2011 to June 2017
Our students are thought leaders. This year’s graduates completed 195 research projects and compiled more than 58,000 hours of work experience. From the first semester of their Carnegie Mellon education, students are encouraged to identify real-world problems, and to find unique solutions that will make a difference. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar as an institution has likewise developed into an integral part of the Qatar landscape. It was the vision of His Highness the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser to provide greater choice in education, health and social progress in Qatar.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 7
8 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
From Dean Michael Trick I was appointed dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar on September 1, 2017, and it is my sincere pleasure to join this community. The success of CMU-Q is due in no small part to Ilker Baybars, who served as dean for six years. Dean Baybars’ leadership has established CMU-Q as an integral part of the Qatar educational landscape. On behalf of the CMU-Q community, I thank him for his dedication and service. I have spent nearly three decades at Carnegie Mellon University as an educator and researcher, and I see the fundamental values of CMU reflected in this campus. CMU-Q inspires creativity, problemsolving, and collaboration. It is a supportive, diverse community that sets high standards, and then encourages and nurtures each student along his or her individual path. CMU-Q is making a transformative impact on society, both within Qatar and globally.
The Qatar campus has done a remarkable job dovetailing the vision and mission of Carnegie Mellon with the vision of Education City of His Highness the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. The partnership with Qatar Foundation began in 2004 and continues to flourish. As I begin my journey as dean of CMU-Q, the support and encouragement of Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, and everyone at Qatar Foundation, is invaluable. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar has a bright future, and I look forward to guiding the campus through its second decade. Michael Trick Dean Appointed September 1, 2017
While CMU-Q embodies the vision, mission and values of Carnegie Mellon, the campus has a unique culture. I see a strong connection between the students and professors, a bond that is essential for students to learn, to find their passions and to challenge themselves. As well, the faculty, staff and students represent a vast spectrum of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In this diverse atmosphere, the community is accepting, empathetic and supportive. The CMU-Q community models for our students how people can come together with a common purpose. As they graduate and enter the workforce, I hope they use this experience to effect change wherever their careers take them.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 9
Highlights Dana Shell Smith, US ambassador to Qatar, welcomes Class of 2020
August 2016
Students earn perfect score in Harvard CS50x Coding Contest
September 2016
Tech Leaders Panel explores big data in Qatar
October 2016
10 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Qatar Central Bank governor discusses cyber resiliency
November 2016
Alumni startup is honored at QSTP Technovate
December 2016
Alumna Fatima Al-Emadi receives Education Excellence Award
January 2017
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 11
Highlights Dudley Reynolds leads summit on the future of teaching English
February 2017
Pi Day Competition inspires teachers and students to explore math
March 2017
Ramayya Krishnan, dean of CMU’s Heinz College, speaks on machine learning
March 2017
12 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Debating Society wins back-to-back regional tournaments
April 2017
Student cancer research takes top awards at Meeting of the Minds
April 2017
Tenth graduation is largest in CMU-Q history
May 2017
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 13
Maher Khan received two degrees: one in Information Systems and one in Computer Science.
14 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
ACHIEVEMENT WELL-ROUNDED GRADUATES. DEDICATED YOUNG PROFESSIONALS. OUR GROWING ALUMNI NETWORK. Carnegie Mellon students and graduates are talented young professionals who understand how to apply their academic studies in the workplace. They are known for problem-solving, teamwork and adaptability. At CMU-Q, students face real-world problem sets so when they are in the workplace, they have the skills to contribute in meaningful ways.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 15
Graduation 2017 You worked hard from the start, learning to use creativity, collaboration and tenacity to solve problems. You have developed the skills and discipline that will be the foundation of the rest of your career. Ilker Baybars Dean and CEO
The Class of 2017 represents 21 nations
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar celebrated its milestone tenth graduation with the largest class to date: 109 students were recognized in front of family, friends, faculty and alumni. The student speaker for the Class of 2017 was Ibrahim Soltan, an information systems graduate with a business administration minor.
Class of 2017 by the numbers
Graduates by program, Class of 2017
16 41 19
Total 109
•
53 percent earned University Honors for earning a 3.5 cumulative QPA after seven semesters of studies
•
members of the class completed 195 research projects
•
members of the graduating class represent 21 nations, with 44% Qatari nationals
Biological Sciences
•
58 percent of graduates have travelled abroad
Information Systems
•
64 percent have been involved in community outreach
16 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
33
Business Administration Computer Science
Class of 2017 Awards Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar recognizes graduating students for their outstanding academic performance, service and leadership.
Outstanding Academic Achievement •
Muhammad Yousuf Akhlaq Business Administration
•
Ettaib El-Marabti Biological Sciences
•
Ibrahim Soltan Information Systems
•
Sannan Tariq Computer Science
Qatar Campus Scholars •
Muhammad Yousuf Akhlaq Business Administration, Information Systems
•
Qasim Nadeem Computer Science
•
Safa Salim Biological Sciences
•
Ibrahim Soltan Information Systems
Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar Muhammad Yousuf Akhlaq was the 2017 Andrew Carnegie Scholar, selected to represent his class in service and leadership.
Senior Leadership Awards •
Muhammad Yousuf Akhlaq
•
Maryam Rashed Al-Sulaiti
•
Aliaa Essameldin
•
Sirat Farhin
•
Sharjeel Mahmood Khan
•
Shahan Ali Memon
•
Nawal Rizwan Mir
•
Sherif Atef Rizk
•
Sanjeet Singh Sahni
•
Farjana Salahuddin
•
Safa Salim
•
Mounir Assem Sheikh
•
Ibrahim Soltan
We are trained to look for society’s issues, to understand people’s real needs, to show compassion and to adapt until we find solutions that will make an impact. Ibrahim Soltan Student Speaker Class of 2017
Ibrahim Soltan, student speaker
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 17
Graduates at Work We look for soft skills in young graduates, such as problem solving, solving conflicts and communications skills. We’ve found that CMU-Q students have those skills, which are hard to find. Mohammed Shehada Bayt.com
Aya Abd Elaal, Hassan Al Mana, and Rayan Hashim are three alumni working at Sidra.
The graduates of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar are distinguished young men and women who have completed a rigorous, world-class education. In each program, CMU-Q exposes students to problem solving that builds teamwork, ingenuity and disciplined thought. They enter the workforce with an advantage: they have learned a goal-driven approach that produces quality work.
•
collaboration with HBKU to organize the Education City Career Fair, with more than 100 CMU-Q students attending
•
technology-focused networking event attended by 20 employers and 58 students
•
networking event attended by nearly 50 employers from sectors such as management consulting, food and drink, consumer goods, telecommunications, energy and finance
•
workshops in job search, resume writing, interview techniques and networking
•
more than 200 one-on-one career counseling engagements with students
•
a new system, Handshake, which provides personalized job recommendations, an easy way to register for career fairs and a look at career events and opportunities on campus
Employment and job placement To prepare students for the workplace, CMU-Q provided comprehensive career development in 2016-17: • 16 career information sessions with employers, including: Bain, Bayt Qatar, BRF, Careem, Davidson Consulting, Deloitte, General Electric, Hilti, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Nestle, Henkel, PricewaterhouseCoopers, QatarGas, Qatar National Bank and Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy
18 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
The Class of 2016
The Class of 2016 in graduate school
There were 89 graduates in the Class of 2016, with 92 percent employed or in graduate school as of March 2017.
Members of the Class of 2016 pursued graduate studies at the following institutions during the 2016-17 academic year:
Top recruiters of the Class of 2016
Cornell University • Georgetown University • Hamad Bin Khalifa University • Harvard University • Imperial College London • Leiden University • University College Dublin • University of Cincinnati • Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar
Where do alumni work? Al Faisal Holdings • BLJ • Commercial Bank • Ernst & Young • General Electric • Ministry of Transportation and Communications • Ooredoo • Qatar Airways • Qatar Development Bank • Qatar Foundation • QatarGas • Qatar National Bank • Qatar Petroleum • Qatar University • QCRI • RasGas • Sidra • Siemens • Vodafone
“CMU-Q students show a level of excellence that sets them apart. With a lot of CMU-Q students, we see that they are not scared to take risks and they welcome challenges.” Basanthi Nallepilly R Visvesw Nakilat
Employment status of graduates, by class 100
Number of Graduates
90 80 70 60 50 40 30
Employed
20
Grad School Not in Market
10 0
Not Reporting 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 2015
2016
Not Employed
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 19
Alumni Entering the working world, I realized that being a CMU-Q graduate has given me a competitive advantage over others. We have a reputation for being a different caliber of graduate. Nofe Al Suwaidi Business Administration Class of 2011
The Class of 2011 at their five-year reunion.
The Class of 2017 is CMU-Q’s tenth graduating class. There are now a total of 679 CMU-Q alumni, most of whom work in Qatar and the region. The alumni network is strong and active, engaging with current students and other alumni from both the Qatar campus and the global Carnegie Mellon community.
University events Alumni participate in student events throughout the year, including Tarnival, Hackathon, International Day, the Internal Case Competition, Sport Day and the Dean’s Lecture Series. Alumni are an important presence on campus, serving as role models, mentors and a living connection to the workplace.
Tartan Talks CMU-Q introduced a new lunch series called Tartan Talks that is based on a series at CMU’s main campus in Pittsburgh. Each talk features an alumnus who shares experiences after graduation. • Sara Abbas (BA 2012) • Rashid Al Kaabi (IS 2012) • Hassan Al-Mana (BS 2015) • Shahriar Haque (CS 2010) 20 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Alumni Events Alumni association elections In April 2017, alumni members elected new officers to lead the Qatar Chapter of the CMU-Q Alumni Association for a two-year term. • Saleh Al-Raisi (BA 2014), president • Jummana Al-Kahlout (BA 2011), vice president • Fatima Al-Emadi (BA 2016), communication director • Zuhair Syed (BA 2014), finance director
Class of 2011 five-year reunion The Class of 2011 celebrated its fiveyear reunion, with alumni joining faculty and senior leadership to reconnect and network.
Dubai reception The annual reception brings together CMU alumni in Dubai.
Alumni senior social Taking place just before graduation, the social introduces the graduating class to the alumni community. This year, 80 graduates and alumni attended the event.
Notable achievements Haya Alderham (IS 2015), Noura Aljurdi (BA 2015) and Mohammed Al-Matwi (BA 2015) launched the online business, Shnaita, that sells second-hand luxury items. Fatima Al-Emadi (BA 2016) received the Education Excellence Award.
Nada Arakji (BA 2016) competed at her second Olympic games. Rifki Bahri (BA 2011) placed top three at ideabox for his startup, Andalin. Sabih Bin Wasi (CS 2015), Rukhsar Neyaz Khan (CS 2015) and Jiyda Moussa (IS 2015) were accepted into Alchemist Accelerator, a startup training program in Silicon Valley.
Abdulla AlKhenji (IS 2015) and Haris Aghadi (IS 2015) won first place at SeedStars GCC, as well as Startup of the Year 2016, Entrepreneur Middle East, for Meddy. Asma Al-Kuwari (BA 2011) launched her new business, BazaarIt, an e-commerce company for local businesses. Maryam Al-Semaitt (BA 2011) set up Makery, a service design company. Hanan Alshikhabobakr (CS 2013) organized the Women in Data Science conference in Qatar.
Zaid Haque (IS 2012) and his research partner created a device that can calibrate a driver’s trust in autonomous vehicles. Salma Kayali (BA 2008) was appointed the regional adviser, youth development, for the Middle East and North Africa. Jassin Polin (IS 2014), Naassih Gopee (CS 2016) and Brian Jeon (TPR 2014) are blazing trails with their startup, Inpleo.
Being at CMU-Q taught me to work in a high-pressured environment and to tackle multiple tasks, which prepared me for the fast-pace of the oil and gas industry. Shahriar Haque Computer Science Class of 2010
Cumulative number of CMU-Q alumni 700
679
600
570 481
500
377
400
298
300
217
200
156
100
71
107
35 0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 21
22 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
ADMISSION AND ENROLLMENT SELECTIVE, CAREFUL ADMISSION. MOTIVATED, CURIOUS APPLICANTS. DYNAMIC, DIVERSE STUDENT BODY. Carnegie Mellon selects candidates who will be strong academically, as well as responsible citizens, engaged members of the community, and thoughtful, creative young professionals. This admission process considers the applicant as a whole person, and leads to a motivated, industrious student body.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 23
Admission Each of you was handpicked for your personal accomplishments: you are academically gifted, with many extracurricular interests, and you have big plans for your future. John O’Brien, associate dean, at Marhaba Tartans
Kemal Oflazer discusses CMU-Q Computer Science with the parent of an admitted student.
Student recruitment
Early Decision
Qatar is the primary geographic focus for student recruitment. The season began with Discover Education City, hosted by Hamad Bin Khalifa University, in which more than 1,000 people attended the twonight event. Following this, about 25 schools visited Education City and 12 were invited for special campus visits.
CMU-Q extended Early Decision acceptance to 16 students. The students and their parents were welcomed at a dinner where Sheikha Athba Al Thani, adviser to the CEO of Qatar Diar-Vinci Construction and mother of a firstyear CMU-Q student, delivered the keynote address.
The Gulf Cooperation Council region was a secondary recruitment market.
Dual enrollment with Academic Bridge Program During the 2016-17 academic year, five Qatari students participated in the Academic Bridge Program while taking some classes at CMU-Q. Upon successful completion of Academic Bridge, students are eligible to enroll in a degree program at CMU-Q.
24 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Marhaba Tartans At the Marhaba Tartans evening, CMU-Q welcomed newly-admitted students. New students learned about academic pathways, career options and student life.
Freshman Edge Summer Program CMU-Q introduced Freshman Edge in 2016, a program for incoming students to prepare them for the challenging academic environment. There were 21 students who completed Freshman Edge in the summer of 2016.
Qatar • Academic Bridge Program • Al Arqam Academy International • Al Eman Independent School • Al Jazeera Academy • Al Oruba International School, • Al Maha Academy Saudi Arabia • Al Wakra Secondary School for Girls • American International School, • Al-Bayan Girls School Pakistan • American School of Doha • American International School of • Amna Bint Wahab School Jeddah, Saudi Arabia • Birla Public School • American International School • The Cambridge School of Kuwait • Doha British School • Doha College • Amman Baccalaureate School, • DPS Modern Indian School Jordan • Egyptian Language School • Azzan Bin Qais Private School, Oman • English Modern School • Chinmaya International School, India • Ideal Indian School • College Preparatory Center, • International School of Saudi Arabia Choueifat - Doha • The Lebanese School • Excel High School, Canada • M.E.S Indian School • Karachi Grammar School, Pakistan • Mesaieed International School • The Kaust School, Saudi Arabia • Noor Al Khaleej School • Lahore Grammar School, Pakistan • Omar Bin Al Khattab School • Park House English School • Makassed Islamic School, Lebanon • Qatar Academy • Mehmet Akif College, Albania • Qatar Canadian School • Nanyang Junior College, China • Qatar Independent Secondary • Nazarbayev Intellectual School, School for Girls Kazakhstan • Qatar International School • Queen Elizabeth College, Mauritius • Stafford Sri Lankan School of Doha • Tariq Bin Ziyad Secondary School
Schools represented in the 2016 incoming class
I have seen the changes in my daughter, the way that she has developed her independence, and for that I thank Carnegie Mellon. I would like to reassure you that your kids are in the right hands. Sheikha Athba Al Thani, adviser to the CEO, Qatar Diar-Vinci Construction, at Early Decision Dinner
Student Recruitment (First-time, first-year)
* Factbook 2016-2017, Volume 31, Institutional Research and Analysis, Carnegie Mellon University
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 25
Enrollment There were 413 students enrolled at CMU-Q in 2016-17, including 100 firstyears.
Student enrollment by program 450 400
20
700
6
600
79
500
62 47
400
19
300
56
200 100 0
62
46
48 43 22 19 2004-05
46
71
2005-06 2006-07
107
131
121
2007-08 2008-09
2009-10
68
86
32 98
46
105
78
83
93
188
186
183
58
156
181
2010-11 2011-12
56
61
105
105
88
80
164
167
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Academic Year Biological Sciences
Computer Science
Business Administration
Information Systems
Financial aid There were six types of financial aid available to CMU-Q students in the 2016-17 academic year: •
Emiri scholarship, Qatar Ministry of Education and Higher Education
•
Sponsorship from a national company
•
Qatar Foundation financial aid
•
Qatar Foundation scholarship
•
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar scholarship
•
FAFSA loans for US citizens
There were 345 students who received financial aid, 26 of whom received funds from both Carnegie Mellon University and Qatar Foundation.
26 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Companies that sponsored CMU-Q students Alfardan Group • Ali Bin Ali Group • Amiri Diwan • Darwish Holding • ExxonMobil Qatar • Ministry of Education and Higher Education • Maersk Oil • Ministry of Economy and Commerce • Ministry of Transport and Communication • Omani Embassy in Doha • Ooredoo • Oryx GTL • Qatar Airways • Qatar Fertilizer Company • Qatar Foundation • QatarGas • Qatar National Bank • Qatar Olympic Committee • Qatar Petroleum • RasGas Company • Sidra Medical and Research Center • Woqod
Countries represented
In the 2016-17 academic year, students represented 40 nations, including the first-ever freshmen from Albania, Japan and Kazakhstan.
Albania
Iraq
Nepal
Sri Lanka
Bahrain
Japan
Nigeria
Sudan
Bangladesh
Jordan
Oman
Syria
Canada
Kazakhstan
Pakistan
Tunisia
China
Kenya
Palestine
United Kingdom
Egypt
Korea
Philippines
France
Lebanon
Qatar
United States of America
Georgia
Libya
Romania
India
Malaysia
Saudi Arabia
Indonesia
Mauritius
Singapore
Iran
Morocco
Somalia
Yemen
Student body composition
43%
38%
57%
62%
Male
Qatari
Female
Non-Qatari
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 27
28 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
ACADEMICS DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING. BREADTH OF KNOWLEDGE. PROBLEM SOLVING FOR THE REAL WORLD. The Carnegie Mellon education begins with a broad introduction to the liberal arts and sciences during the first semesters, a focus on major core classes in the middle semesters, and deepening and broadening of scope in the last semesters through advanced electives.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 29
Academics Carnegie Mellon University’s approach to undergraduate education combines training in practical disciplines with an emphasis on the arts and sciences, a combination that broadens the mind and builds character.
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar offers programs in biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems.
•
Students who attend CMU-Q have identical graduation requirements as those on the main campus. CMU-Q graduates have CMU degrees, conferred from the Pittsburgh campus.
Academic collaborations
CMU-Q offered 93 courses in fall 2016 and 110 in spring 2017, for a total of 203 courses.
•
Collaborative efforts within Education City Carnegie Mellon Qatar takes a leading role in developing programs, courses and activities that span Education City.
•
•
•
Cross registration •
56 students cross-registered at CMU-Q in the fall 2016 semester, while 33 cross-registered in the spring 2017 semester
Courses offered
35 20
14
12 12
30 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
•
28 CMU-Q students crossregistered within Education City in the fall 2016 semester, while 27 cross-registered in the spring 2017 semester
CMU-Q works with the Academic Bridge Program to prepare students for admission into degree programs The Biological Sciences Program is offered in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar Students may complete a self-defined minor in contemporary media studies by cross-registering in courses at Northwestern University in Qatar In the fall, 10 students from the HBKU Computer Engineering Undergraduate Degree enrolled in CMU-Q courses The Qatar Foundation Faculty Forum, an Education City-wide meeting held four times per year, originated at CMU-Q
Minors typically consist of six courses in a second academic discipline. In 2016-17, the following minors were offered: • Arabic and Islamic Studies (self-defined) • Architecture
• Biological Sciences • Business Administration
• Computational Biology • Computer Science
The CMU-Q Library team.
Library Highlights Diane Mizrachi discusses how students prefer print to electronic Diane Mizrachi, the social sciences and undergraduate instruction librarian at the University of California, Los Angeles, delivered a Gloriana St. Clair Distinguished Lecture in 21st Century Librarianship. During her talk, Mizrachi presented findings of global academic reading behaviors in students. CMU-Q’s senior librarian and information scientist, Alicia Salaz, has contributed to this body of work alongside researchers from Qatar University and Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.
Library hosts pop-up makerspaces The library hosted two pop-up makerspaces, a new trend in libraries to offer space, equipment, and materials for people to create, invent and learn new things in a tactile, do-it-yourself environment. The button-making sessions were hosted by Jill Chisnell, an IDeATe librarian visiting from CMU main campus.
Academic support
Keith Webster describes libraries of the future
The Academic Resource Center offers learning support and tutoring to help students improve their study skills and achieve their academic potential. Academic support is available to all students throughout their time at CMU-Q.
Keith Webster, the dean of Carnegie Mellon libraries, visited CMU-Q and outlined CMU’s plan to create a 21st century library in an age where digital is becoming the default format for information.
The Academic Resource Center offered the Freshman Edge Program in the summer of 2016. Freshman Edge is a program for incoming students to prepare them for the challenging academic environment.
• Contemporary Media (self-defined) • Economics
• English Studies • Ethics
• Global Systems and Management • History
• Information Systems • Mathematical Sciences • Psychology
• Professional Writing
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 31
Faculty Faculty members at CMU-Q are experts in their fields and dedicated to undergraduate education.
John Gasper receives the Meritorious Teaching Award, 2017.
Notable Awards and Achievements Chadi Aoun’s special interest group on sustainability (SIGGreen) within the Association for Information Systems, achieved an Outstanding SIG Award for 2016. Aoun founded SIGGreen and serves on the executive. Ilker Baybars was recognized for distinguished service as an executive committee member by ABEST21 (Alliance for Business Education and Scholarship for Tomorrow) in Tokyo, Japan. Christos Kapoutsis received the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata 2016. Kemal Oflazer was invited to join the editorial boards of Language Resources and Evaluation (Springer) and Natural Language Engineering (Cambridge).
Dan Phelps completed his master of education degree in measurement, evaluation, statistics, and assessment, and was awarded Graduate Statistician status by the American Statistical Association. Phelps was invited to join the Global Information Assurance Certification Advisory Committee. Dudley Reynolds served as the 51st president of TESOL International Association, attending nine international conferences to deliver the keynote address, opening plenary, featured talk or workshop. Ray Tsai received the Visionary Award at the 21st SAP Academic Conference in Germany. Tsai also won first place at Texas A&M’s Visualization Development Competition for his project on virtual reality and 3D animation in crime scene investigation.
Meritorious Teaching Award 2017 John Gasper received the Meritorious Teaching Award, 2017, at the graduation ceremony.
32 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Many faculty members teach in both Pittsburgh and Qatar, ensuring continuity and a living connection between the Carnegie Mellon campuses.
Chadi Aoun is a founding member of the AIS special interest group on sustainability.
New faculty members • •
•
• •
•
Serkan Akguc, visiting assistant teaching professor, finance Mustafa Akan, associate professor, operations management Nazli Bhatia, visiting assistant teaching professor, organizational behavior Serra Boranbay-Akan, visiting associate professor, economics Gianni Di Caro, associate teaching professor, computer science John Hooker, professor, operations research
•
•
Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, visiting associate professor, physics Giselle Reis, assistant teaching professor, computer science
Promotions •
• • •
Hasan Demirkoparan, associate teaching professor, mathematics Fuad Farooqi, associate teaching professor, finance John Gasper, associate teaching professor, economics Alicia Salaz, senior librarian
Faculty members by program 5
23
18
Total 63
Biological Sciences Business Administration Computer Science
7
10
Information Systems General Education
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 33
Biological Sciences The Biological Sciences Program sits within the Mellon College of Science, which has developed an integrative vision for science education.
The Biological Sciences Program opens new teaching and research laboratories.
The undergraduate degree in biological sciences provides students with rigorous training in biology, while building a strong foundation in all of the natural sciences. Students study biology at both the macro and micro scales.
Highlights New laboratory space complete New teaching and research laboratory spaces were completed, including a Biosafety Level 2 area. The main teaching space can accommodate 27 students, with audio visual capabilities for instruction at the bench or microscope.
Water safety awareness service trip The Biological Sciences Program led a service and educational trip to Indonesia. A multi-disciplinary group of CMU-Q students taught local high schoolers about contaminants and how to decontaminate water using Folia Water filters, a technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University.
34 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Student cancer research takes top awards at CMU-Q symposium A research project by senior Ettaib El-Marabti won two of the top awards at the 11th annual Meeting of the Minds. His research identified novel biomarkers that could lead to better diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. El-Marabti also presented his findings at the Keystone Symposium on mRNA Processing and Human Disease in New Mexico, USA, a highprofile meeting attended by the leading scientists in RNA biology.
Research grants awarded to biological sciences projects Annette Vincent was awarded a National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) grant for her study on water quality in Qatar; Ihab Younis was awarded an NPRP grant for his research on the molecular indicators of breast cancer. CMU-Q received a total of four NPRP grants in Cycle 10 of the Qatar National Research Fund program.
Students choose electives from within biological sciences, the humanities, social sciences and fine arts to shape their degree programs according to their unique interests and goals.
Biological Sciences students present 16 posters at Meeting of the Minds 2017.
Educational app for secondary students Biological sciences student Osaama Shehzad created an app to accompany CMU-Q’s research kit for secondary students. The project won third place at Meeting of the Minds and an award from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics.
Guest speakers •
•
•
Daniel J Brasier, assistant teaching professor, biological sciences, Neuroscience Program coordinator, Carnegie Mellon University, “Moonlighting in the nervous system: an innate immune gene regulates synaptic strength in Drosophila” Mohamed Elgendi, post doctoral fellow, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, University of British Columbia, “Basic tips and tricks for data visualization” Andy Schwartz, distinguished professor of neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, “A modern view of the motor cortex”
Senior honors theses •
Dana Abou Samhadaneh Expression, purification, and characterization of stem cell transcription factors Sox17 HMG domain, its mutant Sox17EK, and Brn2
•
Khawla Al-Darwish Assessing safe reuse of residential wastewater
•
Alya Al-Kurbi BCL2L11 as gene target of miR92a and miR-10a: Interaction evaluation and implication in type 2 diabetes and obesity
•
Abdulrahman Al-Subaiey The role of Lactate Dehydrogenase C (LDHC) in the aggressive behavior of triple negative breast cancer
•
Ettaib El-Marabti MAPK14 minor intron splicing as a novel biomarker for breast cancer
•
Safa Salim Crystallization and characterization of HMG domain of stem cell transcription factors Sox7, Sox17 and its mutant”
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 35
Business Administration Carnegie Mellon has earned global recognition for its management science approach to business education, which trains students to use analytical decisionmaking in complex environments.
Students explore responsible business in London.
The Business Administration Program emphasizes a quantitative, analytical approach, training students in accounting, finance, economics, marketing, operations, management information systems and business communications. Problem-solving is developed in a series of mathematics courses, including calculus, statistics and forecasting. At the same time, liberal arts electives provide a balanced, well-rounded education.
Highlights Students explore responsible business in London A group of 12 students from the business administration, computer science and information systems programs at CMU-Q travelled to London, U.K., to explore the growing sector of responsible business. Led by Fuad Farooqi and John O’Brien, students visited a variety of firms with business models built on concepts like responsibly sourced materials, charity-focused investments and environmentally sustainable practices.
36 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Quick Startup hosts record 80 participants This year, a record 80 students from nine universities attended Quick Startup, CMU-Q’s annual entrepreneurial competition. Qatar University fielded the winning team, with second place going to CMU-Q’s Mohammed Al-Hor, Andreea Nan, Sherif Rizk and Maryam Al Naemi.
CMU-Q team selected for Harvard case competition A CMU-Q team was one of only 24 teams selected for the Harvard International Consulting Competition. Mohammed Al-Hor, Farha Khan, Sanjeet Sahni, Awais Shamim and Mounir Sheikh were selected along with teams from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, NYU and MIT.
Q-SmartLab featured at Euromoney Qatar CMU-Q showcased its Securities Market Analysis Research and Training Lab (Q-SmartLab) at the Euromoney Qatar Conference for the second year in a row. Developed at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, Q-SmartLab is a tool to manage and visualize big data.
The Business Administration Program provides the foundation for motivated students to become leaders in the business arena and drive the economic growth of Qatar, the Middle East and the world.
The winning team strategizes at the Al Ruwad Regional Case Competition.
CMU-Q team wins Enterprise Challenge Qatar A total of 46 teams competed in the grand finale of Enterprise Challenge Qatar 2017. The students on the winning team were Mohammed Al-Hor, Wadha Al-Khori, Osama Qureshi, and Taimoor Zahid from the Business Administration Program, and Ibrahim Soltan from the Information Systems Program.
Guest speakers •
Sudeep Bhatia, assistant professor of psychology, University of Pennsylvania, “Knowledge representation in decision making”
•
Michael McMillan, director of ethics training, CFA Institute, “Ethical decision making”
•
Michael Trick, Harry B. and James H. Higgins Professor of Operations Research, Carnegie Mellon University, “Combining predictive and prescriptive analytics to have broad impact”
•
Daniel White, CEO, The Behaviouralist, “Behavioral economics and field experiments - the revolution will not be televised”
CMU-Q places first and third at Al Ruwad CMU-Q placed two teams in the annual Al Ruwad Regional Case Competition hosted by College of the North Atlantic Qatar. The winning team was Mohammad Al-Hor, Badis Glayed, Sampriti Jain and Mahnaz Jalali. The third place team was Farha Khan, Hammad Mahmood, Nawal Mir and Haris Syed.
Senior honors thesis •
Awais Shamim “Detecting stock manipulation in Qatar through machine learning techniques”
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 37
Computer Science Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science is known worldwide as an incubator of original ideas, spawning some of the most exciting advances in the field.
Andrew Moore, the dean of CMU’s School of Computer Science, at Bits & Bites.
The Computer Science Program provides students with a core set of skills: mathematical reasoning, algorithmic thinking, and the fundamentals of programming. The theoretical component of the curriculum gives students the formal tools to remain current as technologies change.
Highlights Andrew Moore meets CMU-Q computer science students Andrew Moore, dean of the School of Computer Science at CMU, visited the Qatar campus to share his view on the importance of computer science education. The lunchtime event was part of the Computer Science Program’s lunchtime Bits & Bites series.
Student named Women Techmakers Scholar for 2017 Aisha Mohamed, a rising senior in computer science, was awarded Google’s prestigious Women Techmakers Scholarship for 2017. Mohamed is one of only 20 scholars in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
38 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Research grants awarded to computer science projects Saquib Razak was awarded a National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) grant to expand the Alice Middle East computing curriculum. Gianni Di Caro was awarded an NPRP grant to develop aerial and surface robots for environmental marine monitoring.
CMU-Q welcomes freshman with world’s highest mark in IGCSE math Mohammed Nurul Hoque, who received the highest mark in the world on the IGCSE math exam, joined the Computer Science Program. The standardized exam is taken by an estimated 250,000 students each year in 140 countries.
Students place first in Harvard computing contest A team of sophomores was one of only 12 teams to place first in the CS50x Coding Contest hosted by Harvard University. Mohammed Abdullah Khan, Abubaker Omer, Mohammed Hashim Qusai and Julian Sam competed against 658 teams from 89 countries.
All computer science students complete a minor in a second subject. As computing is a discipline with strong links to many fields, this provides students with unparalleled flexibility to pursue their interests.
Aliaa Essameldin at the final round of the Hack Games competition.
Fifth Year Scholar launches Hack Games
Guest speakers
Aliaa Essameldin, who was selected as a Carnegie Mellon Fifth Year Scholar, organized the first Hack Games, a month-long event for computer science students to develop their skills in algorithms, debugging, embedded systems and cybersecurity. The event was co-sponsored by Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI).
•
Preslav Nakov, senior scientist, Qatar Computing Research Institute, “Intelligent question answering using the wisdom of the crowd”
•
Ryan Riley, associate professor of computer science, Qatar University, “Hardware managed isolated execution”
Student team wins QITCOM CodeCamp Computer science sophomores Shobiitaa Krishna, Samiha Sadeka, and Deeksha Singh, as well as information systems senior Ameera Tag, won top prize in the digital transformation category at QITCOM CodeCamp, a programming competition for students and industry professionals.
Computational offloading project takes second place at Meeting of the Minds Computer science student Sannan Tariq received second prize in the ‘Best Project’ category at Meeting of the Minds.
Senior honors theses •
Aliaa Essameldin Hive: An on-edge middleware for context and resource sharing in the Internet of Things
•
Shahan Memon Using Google trends for public health surveillance of noncommunicable diseases
•
Muhammad Ahmed Shah Sherlock: Inferring room semantics using crowdsourced multimedia sensing
•
Sannan Tariq An agile platform for distributed computation in smart IoT environments
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 39
Information Systems From programming to project management to creating new ventures, the field of information systems uses technology to generate, process and distribute information in an effective, efficient way.
Faculty members and senior students from the Information Systems Program.
The Information Systems Program is based on professional core courses that teach students to analyze, design, implement and test information systems using current and emerging organizational and technological practices.
Highlights Inaugural Tech Leaders Panel discusses big data analytics CMU-Q hosted the first Tech Leaders Panel, a forum to discuss emerging and transformative technological advancements. Moderated by Chadi Aoun, the inaugural panel featured Michael Johnston, senior director of information technology at Ooredoo Qatar, and Sanjay Chawla, principal scientist at QCRI.
CMU-Q students win QITCOM CodeCamp Information systems senior Ameera Tag and her team, including computer science sophomores Shobiitaa Krishna, Samiha Sadeka, and Deeksha Singh, took top
40 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
prize in the digital transformation category at QITCOM CodeCamp, a programming competition for students and industry professionals.
Qatar Cancer Society launches app developed by CMU-Q students Four information systems students designed ‘QCS Application’ for the Qatar Cancer Society as their junior project. Latifa Al-Thani, Noor Al-Athba Al-Marri, Manisha Dareddy and Avni Pherwani developed the application that aims to raise awareness of cancer prevention methods and promote the culture of early detection. QCS officially launched the app April 2017.
CMU-Q team places third in sustainability competition A team consisting of Kaltham Al-Khuzaei, Noor Al-Athba Al-Marri, Zanib Khalid and Ibrahim Soltan placed third in the InterCollege Environmental Public Speaking Competition organized by the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) in Dubai. This year’s competition attracted 56 teams from across the Arab world.
Students in the Information Systems program may specialize in:
SAP’s Chris Dorrow leads CMU-Q students in a design thinking workshop.
Students team up with Center for GIS Qatar
Lisa Kay Davis, social business manager, IBM Watson
•
Fethi Filali, head of technology development and applied research, Qatar Mobility Innovations Center, “Internet of things: benefits, barriers and beyond!”
CMU-Q reaches the finals at SAP DemoJam Barcelona
•
A CMU-Q team qualified for the SAP DemoJam finals in Barcelona. Noor El-Sakka, Mehak Manwani, Farjana Salahuddin, Ibrahim Soltan and Mohammed Zakaria competed in a field of 15 teams, many comprised of industry professionals, to secure a place in the top six.
Tariq Rafiq, director, project management office, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, “Agile project management using SCRUM”
Senior honors theses
Workshop introduces students to design thinking Chris Dorrow, customer innovation principal for German software firm SAP, held a workshop for information systems students in interactive design thinking. The workshop provided a comprehensive overview of how to better develop products that encompass user needs.
social and global aspects of technology
•
technology and applications development
•
applications of technology to business
•
user experience in design
Guest speakers •
Students studying geographic information systems visited the Ministry of Municipality and Environment’s Center for GIS Qatar to learn how professionals compile and analyze complex data. This is the first time CMU-Q has taught GIS.
•
•
Sara Al-Baloshi To read or to listen? A study of user engagement in a digital heritage artifact
•
Noor Al-Qaedi The use of human images in Arab e-commerce web sites
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 41
General Education All CMU-Q students complete General Education coursework, which includes mandatory and elective classes in a wide range of academic areas, including Arabic studies, chemistry, design, English, history, math and physics. Zelealem Yilma leads the final round of the Pi Day Mathematics Competition.
Highlights TESOL Summit discusses the future of teaching English TESOL International Association brought together thought leaders, policy makers and industry professionals for the Summit on the Future of the TESOL Profession in Athens. The summit was led by Dudley Reynolds.
Pi Day Math Contest adds Arabic translation The second annual Pi Day contest expanded its reach, drawing 400 students from Qatar secondary schools. This year, organizers Hasan Demirkoparan and Zelealem Yilma included an Arabic translation of the question paper to include more students from local schools.
Students complete language intensive training in Spain Erik Helin took 10 students to the University of Salamanca for intense language training and an immersion in the language and culture of Spain.
Historian speaks to Diplomatic Institute Lansiné Kaba spoke on the 2016 US presidential election at an event sponsored by the Diplomatic Institute and CMU-Q.
Guest speakers •
David Creswell, Director, Health and Human Performance Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon, “Mindfulness training, stress reduction pathways, and health”
•
Erik Thiessen, Director, Infant Language and Learning Lab, Carnegie Mellon, “Statistical learning: theory and implications for language learning”
•
James Wynn, associate professor, English rhetoric, Carnegie Mellon, “Closing the gender gap in math and opening up controversy over feminine ideals,”
Language Bridges completes 10th cycle Led by student volunteers, the Language Bridges program completed its 10th cycle of classes. Silvia Pessoa developed the basic English language course that is contextualized for service workers.
42 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Interdisciplinary Work The unique culture at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar encourages students and faculty members to work together, irrespective of traditional program boundaries. This fosters a spirit of intellectual curiosity and collaboration that defines the academic experience at CMU-Q. Students who attended the Sydney sustainability trip presented their findings to the CMU-Q campus.
Highlights Algorithmic Trading contest merges business and computing The Algorithmic Trading Competition brings together students from different disciplines to code a profitable trading program. The first place team was comprised of business administration seniors Faran Farooq and Awais Shamim, and computer science senior Muhammad Ahmed Shah. This year’s competition was sponsored by the Qatar Stock Exchange and Mazaya Qatar.
Qatar campus team wins CMU NeuroHackathon A multidisciplinary team from CMU-Q won Carnegie Mellon’s second annual NeuroHackathon. The team identified a characteristic in synapses that could point to a gene associated with autism in mice. Winning team members from the Computer Science Program included Malath Anaya, Qasim Nadeem, Muhammad Ahmed Shah, Sannan Tariq and Mounira Tlili. Team member Muhammad Nahin Khan is from biological sciences.
Students win INJAZ Best Social Impact award Amnah Ameen, a business administration senior, and Maryam Al-Sulaiti, a biological sciences senior, created Vitality, an app that informs about medication side effects and interactions. The team was awarded the Best Social Impact Award for the project.
Sydney trip explores sustainability Students from all four programs explored sustainable living on an academic trip to Sydney, Australia. Organized by information systems faculty members Chadi Aoun and Divakaran Liginlal, as well as biological sciences assistant professor Annette Vincent, students investigated the scientific, cultural, technological and engineering solutions within Sydney.
Students win audience choice award at regional hackathon Information systems senior Ibrahim Soltan and computer science senior Shahan Ali Memon won the audience choice award at the New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Hackathon for Social Good. Annual Report 2016 -17 | 43
Dan Phelps teaches data-driven security in an Executive Education seminar. .
44 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT SHARING KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE. INSPIRING YOUNG PEOPLE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE GROWTH OF QATAR. As part of Qatar Foundation, CMU-Q has a responsibility to reach out to the community and make tangible contributions toward transforming Qatar into a knowledge-based economy. Community engagement targets the key audiences of pre-college students and their parents, government and industry leaders, Education City, and the wider Qatar community.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 45
Dean’s Lecture Series The Dean’s Lecture Series is a forum that brings together prominent industry leaders, government officials and members of the business community to share their expertise on topical issues.
His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla Bin Saoud Al-Thani Governor Qatar Central Bank Cybersecurity and financial stability
Michael Frenkel Professor of Macroeconomics and International Economics, Associate Dean for International Relations and Diversity WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management Brexit: What effects can we expect
Ramayya Krishnan W. W. Cooper and Ruth F. Cooper Professor of Management Science and Information Systems Carnegie Mellon University Integrating machine learning and social science methods: Toward a data intensive social and decision science
46 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Ramesh Krishnamurti Professor of Computational Design, School of Architecture Carnegie Mellon University Finding computational design: The I’s have ‘IT’
Guy Blelloch Professor of Computer Science, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Carnegie Mellon University Parallel algorithms come of age
Terry Jones Founder, Travelocity.com, Founding Chairman, Kayak.com In collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Qatar Disruption off: What technologies are going to disrupt your market and how you can be the disruptor
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 47
New Partnerships Qatar Armed Forces
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar signs Memoranda of Understanding with its partners in industry and government to promote learning and research and to provide opportunities for students and graduates.
JANUARY 24, 2017 Brigadier General Abdulaziz Falah Aldosary, Commander of Emiri Signal Corps and Information Technology, and Dean Baybars.
Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji) P.Q.S.C. FEBRUARY 7, 2017 Mr. Fahad Abdulla Al Khalifa, Group Chief Executive Officer at al khaliji, and Dean Baybars.
Katara Cultural Village FEBRUARY 13, 2017 Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Katara General Manager, and Dean Baybars.
48 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Executive Education Carnegie Mellon Qatar enhances its ties with industry and government through a series of executive education courses delivered by faculty to its strategic partners.
Starling Hunter shares insights into dynamic organizational leadership.
For the fifth year, CMU-Q offered the Executive and Professional Education Program to its community partners, sharing faculty members’ world-class expertise in a variety of topical and relevant areas. More than 300 professionals from the public and private sector attended the sessions. Since its inception in 2012, CMU-Q has provided training to 2000 professionals from government and industry within Qatar. More than 30 courses have been held.
•
Dynamic organizational leadership, Nazli Bhatia and Tom Emerson
•
Organizational innovation and change management, Ray Tsai and George White
•
Organization design: Reconfigurable organization, Ludmila Hyman
•
Making change happen: Psychology of change for leaders, Ludmila Hyman
•
Business negotiation and conflict resolution, Nazli Bhatia and David Gray
•
Introduction to data-driven security, Dan Phelps
Courses offered •
Dynamic organizational leadership, Thomas Emerson and Starling Hunter
•
Introduction to business strategy and tactics, Stephen Vargo
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 49
Youth Programs CMU-Q runs a slate of workshops for secondary students in each of the four program areas. The workshops give students a deeper understanding of the majors at CMU-Q, as well as the careers that they can pursue.
Middle school children explore Alice Middle East at the Darb Al Saai festival.
Highlights Alice Middle East expands within Qatar In 2016-17, there were 12 schools that used Alice Middle East for their Information Communication Technology (ICT) courses. Alice Middle East is a 3-D interactive educational animation software that guides students through the basics of computer programming. In the spring, 125 of these students came together for a competition to showcase their skills. The Alice Middle East Programming Competition was sponsored by Qatar Electricity and Water Co. For 2017-18, CMU-Q and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education will roll out the program in all Qatar schools that teach ICT. Alice Middle East was also featured at the annual Darb Al-Saai event to celebrate Qatar National Day, as well as the first Educational Festival organized by Al Faisal Without Borders Foundation.
50 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Second annual Pi Day Mathematics Competition draws 400 students The second annual Pi Day Mathematics Competition drew a record number of students to the preliminary round. In the final round, a team from the DPS-Modern Indian School took top prize. Pi Day Mathematics Competition was sponsored by Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji) .
Mindcraft introduces computer science to 1,134 students in Qatar CMU-Q teamed up with Boeing to design and deliver day-long workshops to introduce secondary students to computer science through exploring disciplines like robotics, cryptography, and computational thinking. Mindcraft, which is led by Khaled Harras, held 13 workshops throughout the academic year.
Workshops for secondary students • Alice Middle East Programming Competition • Biotechnology Explorers Program • Botball • Ibtikar Qatar • Mindcraft • Pi Day Mathematics Competition CMU-Q students coach high schoolers at the inaugural Young Entrepreneurs.
Nearly half of freshman class attended an outreach workshop
Information Systems workshop for teachers and counselors
The Class of 2020 included 46 students who attended at least one CMU-Q workshop while in high school. Of those, 23 previously attended the Summer College Preview Program, CMU-Q’s flagship program that takes place over three weeks each summer.
CMU-Q held a half-day workshop for high school teachers and counselors who advise students on paths of post-secondary study. The workshop outlined the Information Systems Program and potential career opportunities. The workshop was organized and led by Divakaran Liginlal.
Lebanese School wins Botball The popular Botball programming competition for high school students resulted in a win for the Lebanese School. This year’s theme called for students to use robotics to assist a mock agricultural operation. Tariq bin Ziad Secondary School for Boys placed second.
Tajer investment workshop hones negotiation skills
• Summer College Preview Program • Tajer: Investment for Qatar • Winter Institute: Discovering Computer Science • Young Entrepreneurs
CMU-Q introduces Young Entrepreneurs workshop CMU-Q welcomed 42 high school students from 16 local schools to Young Entrepreneurs, a new outreach workshop for young people who are interested in starting businesses. Young Entrepreneurs was organized by faculty members George White and Tom Emerson.
The Tajer workshops this year focused on negotiation skills, as students engaged in a mock trading exercise to learn more about stock exchanges and financial markets. The event was sponsored by Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji). Annual Report 2016 -17 | 51
Pittsburgh Connection Inter-campus collaboration takes place throughout the year, reflecting the strong connection between the Qatar and Pittsburgh campuses of Carnegie Mellon.
The CMU Honors String Quartet performs at CMU-Q.
Exchange students explore opportunities on the Qatar campus
IMPAQT 2017 brings together Qatar and Pittsburgh campuses
In the fall 2016 semester, CMU-Q hosted Nicole Matamala, a biological sciences student who was inspired to change her major to computational biology. Abdusamed Sherif, an information systems junior, started the Young African Leaders Association at CMU-Q to share African culture with others.
This year’s IMPAQT program saw 15 CMU-Q students travel to Pittsburgh to experience the main campus culture. There were 10 students from CMU who visited the Qatar campus in return. IMPAQT stands for Initiating Meaningful Pittsburgh and Qatar Ties.
Dietrich College shares groundbreaking work in digital humanities Two members of CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences travelled to CMU-Q to share the Department of English’s groundbreaking work in digital humanities: Andreea Deciu Ritivoi, department head and professor of English, and James Wynn, director of undergraduate studies and associate professor of English.
52 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Former IMPAQT student creates Here is My CMU Olivia Roy, a mechanical engineering senior at CMU Pittsburgh, traveled to Doha in 2015 as part of the IMPAQT program. She was so inspired by the Diversity Diaries forum that she organized Here is My CMU, an event intended to strengthen Carnegie Mellon’s diverse community.
IMPAQT stands for Initiating Meaningful Pittsburgh and Qatar ties. The program has been running for more than a decade.
CMU students in Doha for IMPAQT 2017.
CMU quartet shares music with Qatar schools During a week-long visit to Qatar, the CMU Honors String Quartet visited three schools to share their love of music with local school children. This year’s quartet was comprised of Shu Liu and Alicia Venables on violin, Si Yu on viola and Eunsol Lee on cello. Denis Colwell, head of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Music, accompanied the quartet, who also gave two public performances at CMU-Q.
CMU-Q students reach Hack-A-Startup finals Sanjeet Sahni, a business administration senior, and Avni Pherwani, a junior in information systems, and their CMU team reached the finals of Hack-AStartup at Carnegie Mellon. Sahni and Pherwani spent the semester in Pittsburgh as part of the Campus Exchange Program. This year’s competition included 200 undergraduate and graduate students from all major disciplines across CMU.
Business case competitions Four business administration students travelled to the main campus to compete with Pittsburgh students at the Tepper Undergraduate Business Administration (UBA) Case Challenge. Farha Khan and CMU teammates Eugene Chung and Zeeshan Rizvi won the competition. The 2017 CMU-Q Internal Case Competition winning team was comprised of Cosette Esnes, a senior from CMU, and CMU-Q’s Mounir Sheikh, Mahnaz Jalali and Umair Qazi. Judges included more than a dozen CMU-Q alumni, as well as faculty members and Stephen Pajewski, undergraduate business program executive director at the Tepper School of Business.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 53
Public Relations To support admission and community engagement efforts, CMU-Q implements an extensive communication and public relations plan. CMU-Q works closely with Qatar Foundation and the Pittsburgh campus to promote the global brand within this unique regional setting.
News story coverage, by number of outlets
Media relations CMU-Q news stories promote the achievements of students, alumni, faculty and the institution as a whole, and are strategically placed to reach the appropriate audiences.
Website CMU-Q went live with its new public website, unveiling a fresh look for prospective students, their parents, and potential employers. The site was redesigned using the open source content management system WordPress, with a mobile-friendly, responsive design.
Advertising CMU-Q uses traditional forms of print advertising to reach prospective parents and potential employers. In 2016-17, CMU-Q targeted Qatar newspapers in English and Arabic, special supplements and regional magazines.
Digital Marketing CMU-Q prioritized digital platforms to boost organic social media posts and reach the target demographics of prospective students and their parents.
54 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Search campaigns were built around key programs, with a geographic focus on Qatar and the region. • 824,000 impressions • 33,000 ad clicks, with a clickthrough rate increase of 80% from the previous year • 672 admission leads Social media campaigns focused on two goals: brand awareness and lead generation. • 11.5 million unique people reached • 232 million ad impressions • 621,625 ad clicks • 1,154,473 unique ad engagements • 620 admission leads Twitter campaigns ran in the months before the March 1 application deadline. Twitter performed very well at increasing reach. • 816,230 ad impressions • 9,881 engagements • 14 admission leads
Social media 700000
2.
February 2017: Students from across the region compete in annual Carnegie Mellon Hackathon
3.
April 2017: Idea for kinetic batteries takes top spot at Quick Startup
4.
August 2016: US ambassador to Qatar welcomes CMU-Q Class of 2020
400000 300000 200000
2016-17
2015-16
2014-15
2013-14
2012-13
2011-12
2010-11
0
2009-10
100000
Twitter Followers
2016-17
2015-16
2014-15
2013-14
2012-13
2011-12
12000 11000 10000 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0
Twitter CMU-Q posted 165 original tweets, as well as 40 retweets. This activity generated solid engagement from followers through both likes and retweets.
December 2016: CMU-Q Hackathon goes regional
500000
2010-11
CMU-Q created 160 organic posts during the academic year, as well as several Facebook Live sessions. Facebook Live has proven to be a powerful tool to share select events with a wider audience; the Hackathon event was the most successful, with a reach of 445,900 followers.
1.
600000
CMU-Q strives for organic content that will inform and engage the main audiences.
Top four news stories:
800000
2008-09
The CMU-Q marketing and communications strategy emphasizes digital media as a primary method of engaging various audiences. Social media platforms are an important channel to reach prospective students, current students, the CMU-Q community and interested members of the public.
Facebook Likes
Organic YouTube Views 700000 600000 500000 400000 300000
YouTube
2016-17
2015-16
2014-15
2013-14
2012-13
Instagram Followers 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400
2016-17
0
2015-16
200 2014-15
With targeted digital marketing campaigns for select video content, YouTube continued its upward trend, with a 32% increase in shares, a 46% increase in likes.
2011-12
0
2010-11
100000
2013-14
CMU-Q’s Instagram activity showed strong engagement with followers, with 108 organic posts.
200000
2009-10
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 55
Students can unwind, practice and connect with others in the CMU-Q music room.
56 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
STUDENT EXPERIENCE BUILDING COMMUNITY. LEARNING TO LEAD AND SERVE. ENGAGING WITH THE WORLD. At CMU-Q, students are on an educational journey where learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom. Students are engaged, challenged and supported throughout their undergraduate journey, from the moment they enroll to the day they walk across the stage to receive their Carnegie Mellon degree.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 57
Building Community Cultural Clubs • Carnegie Mellon Desi Club • Korean Culture Club • Muslim Student Association • Qatar Student Association • Young African Leaders Association
Students, alumni, faculty and staff members came together at Tarnival 2016.
CMU-Q community CMU-Q students are encouraged to look beyond their program and cohort and make connections across the community. Clubs, organizations and events bring together the CMU-Q community for cultural celebrations, recreational activities and to share common interests.
Korean Culture Club
Tarnival
The annual talent show brings together students, staff, faculty and alumni to showcase their talent to the CMU-Q community.
Led by student government, the annual Tarnival draws students, alumni, faculty and staff for an evening of great food, games, entertainment and fun. Nearly 500 people attended Tarnival 2016.
International Day International Day is a showcase of the rich cultural diversity at CMU-Q. This annual celebration includes an international potluck dinner and cultural performances.
58 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
The Korean Culture Club hosted 40 students for CMU-Q’s first Running Man competition. Inspired by the popular Korean game show, the event was a celebration of Korean culture.
Tartans Got Talent
Cultural Coffeehouse Students, faculty and staff share personal narratives about their cultures and experiences and discuss common themes and connections.
Sports Clubs • Basketball Club • Cricket Club • Dance Club • Football Club • Equestrian Club • Table Tennis Club • Volleyball Club
The Qatar National Day celebration brought together the Education City community.
Education City community Every day, students at Carnegie Mellon live, eat, study and connect with their counterparts throughout Education City. CMU-Q students are active contributors to building the Education City community and helping it flourish.
Qatar National Day CMU-Q celebrated Qatar National Day in collaboration with Northwestern University in Qatar and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Sponsored by Qatar National Bank, the festivities took place on the Ceremonial Court.
Backyard Battle of the Bands Education City universities faced off in a spirited and enthusiastic musical competition, with about 500 people attending. A CMU-Q team placed second.
Debating Society CMU-Q is part of Qatar Debating League, with universities competing throughout the academic year. CMU-Q capped off a stellar debate season with a trip to the World University Debating Championship in the Netherlands and back-toback wins at two regional debate tournaments.
Stand Up, Speak Out Stand Up, Speak Out is a community-wide event for all Education City campus students, faculty and staff to increase awareness about domestic violence prevention.
A Night in Africa The Education City community came together at CMU-Q to celebrate African culture through different types of cuisine and music.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 59
Leading and Serving Special Interest Clubs • Andrew MUN Club • Arts and Crafts • Chefs Club • Chess Club • Debating Society • Gaming Club • Music Club • The Planetary Society • The Watcher’s Club
Orientation team members Sirat Farhin, Sharjeel Khan and Kholoud Nooh with student development coordinator Alicia Bates.
Leadership CMU-Q students are encouraged to build leadership skills by starting and leading clubs, organizing events and attending skill development programs.
New student orientation The freshman orientation is student-run, with Head Orientation Counselors planning, recruiting student volunteers, and leading the weeklong introduction to CMU-Q.
Student government The Student Majlis has an executive board comprised of seven students who are elected each year by their peers. This board helps to guide activities and represent the students in the university community.
Internship Showcase Internships are an important part of the student experience at CMU-Q. The annual showcase features presentations by students about their internship experiences, as well as a networking opportunity with potential employers.
60 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Diversity Diaries Featuring Pecha Kucha style presentations delivered by students, staff and faculty, Diversity Diaries helps the CMU-Q community become more culturally aware and competent in various spheres of life.
Andrew Model United Nations Andrew MUN is a club for CMU-Q students, and the club hosts the conference for high school students each year to promote knowledge and understanding of global issues. This year’s conference hosted a record 140 students from eight local schools.
Women’s Leadership Program Students explore gender, culture, leadership and the changing role of women in the workplace. This year’s program included a women-only trip to Singapore.
Service Clubs • Global Shelters • Helping Hands • Language Bridges • The Big Movement
Kevin D’Arco, director of student activities and first-year programs (left), with students and local residents in Vietnam.
Service Learning Service learning at CMU-Q embraces each one of the CMU values. Through activities both large and small, students learn how their thoughtful actions can improve the lives of those around them.
Service learning trip to Vietnam A group of 13 students spent two weeks in Vietnam volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. Service trips are an opportunity for students to travel to a new country, volunteer their talents and learn about a different culture.
Charity Week 2016 CMU-Q students raised nearly 20,000 QR for Charity Week 2016, the highest in Education City. Charity Week is an international campaign for the Islamic Relief WorldWide organization.
Project Rwanda Carnegie Mellon students from Pittsburgh and Qatar traveled to CMU Africa for Project Rwanda. The students led workshops for educators on teaching technology.
Language Bridges program In the fall semester, 34 students taught English to 57 Education City service workers. In the spring, 15 students taught 24 learners. Language Bridges is supported by Qatar Foundation’s Reach Out to Asia charity.
Tartans Without Borders Tartans Without Borders is an annual service trip created and organized by students. Student leaders select a team, plan the project, organize orientation sessions and lead the group throughout the experience. In May 2017, Tartans Without Borders traveled to China.
Hunger Banquet The Hunger Banquet is a presentation and discussion-based event to educate the community about global hunger and poverty. About 60 students, faculty and staff members attended, including 10 students from the Pittsburgh campus.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 61
Engaging and Learning Academic Clubs • Biological Sciences Club • CarnegieApps • Carnegie Mellon Business Association • Carnegie Mellon Finance Association • Computing Club • Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (WiSTEM)
A final presentation at Hackathon 2017.
Academic clubs Students from each program of study engage in discipline-specific clubs that build community and enrich the curriculum.
CarnegieApps Each year, the CarnegieApps Hackathon brings together students of all disciplines to create an app in 24 hours. A total of 55 students on 15 teams participated in Hackathon 2017, which was sponsored by Cosette Solutions, Education Above All and Qatar Computing Research Institute, who provided judges, mentors and prizes.
Biological Sciences play The Biological Sciences Club brings together students from different classes and majors to direct, produce, write, act and serve as crew members for the annual Bio Sci play. This year’s play was “Written in Stone,” and raised 3,000 QR for countries in need.
62 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
CS Talk Show The Computing Club introduced “CS Talk Show,” a rousing lunch-hour session where computer science students interview faculty members in a talk show format.
IS Spirit Day The AIS Student Chapter - Qatar organized the annual IS Spirit Day, with fun, community-building activities for information systems students, staff and faculty.
The Apprentice The Apprentice is an event organized by the Carnegie Mellon Business Association to promote entrepreneurship. Teams develop ideas in a contest of ingenuity and entrepreneurial acumen.
Women’s leadership dinner Hosted by Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (WiSTEM), female faculty members spoke about their professional journeys within STEM fields.
CMU-Q guides students toward balanced living, providing information, resources and programming to build the skills of physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Peer Health Advocates are student ambassadors for health and wellness.
Health and Wellness Peer Health Advocates Peer Health Advocates (PHAs) are students who are committed to enhancing the health and well-being of the CMU-Q community. In the last academic year, 12 students served as PHAs.
International Day of Happiness Students, faculty and staff celebrated International Day of Happiness with activities like a breakfast, selfie competitions, and card and button making.
Education City Health Fair
Diabetes awareness
The Education City Health Fair was held at CMU-Q to promote healthy living. The fair emphasized a holistic approach to health and well-being, featuring 22 organizations from a wide variety of health and wellness services in Qatar.
The Qatar Diabetic Association visited CMU to do risk assessments and prevention consultations. Students learned about the health implications of diabetes and ways to prevent the disease.
National Sport Day match To celebrate National Sport Day, CMU-Q faculty, staff, students and alumni participate in a football match. This year the students continued their winning streak.
Road safety fair CMU-Q, Northwestern University in Qatar, and other Education City universities, hosted a road safety fair to raise awareness of the importance of careful driving.
Step into Health Step into Health challenged CMU-Q to a friendly competition within Education City to walk and be active.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 63
John O’Brien and Hanbyul Joo are part of a collaborative Qatar and Pittsburgh research team exploring the behavior of successful negotiators.
64 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
RESEARCH DEFINING REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS. EXPLORING, TESTING, DISCOVERING. WORK THAT MATTERS. A research institute like no other, Carnegie Mellon is home to the world’s leading experts in a range of fields. In this tradition, Carnegie Mellon Qatar nurtures and develops opportunities for faculty members and students to build regionally relevant research programs in their areas of expertise.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 65
Faculty Research Most faculty members contribute to the CMU-Q body of work through studies funded by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and internal seed research funds.
New NPRP awards In May 2017, CMU-Q researchers were awarded four new National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) grants by the Qatar National Research Fund. CMU-Q has been awarded a total of 53 NPRP grants in 10 cycles of funding.
Gianni Di Caro seeks to develop swarms of unmanned aerial and surface robots that are equipped with GPS devices and sensors for marine environmental monitoring.
Saquib Razak will be expanding Alice Middle East by creating a three-year curriculum for local middle schools. Alice ME is an interactive software tool that teaches programming.
Annette Vincent will investigate using bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—as biomonitoring tools to provide a more accurate assessment of water quality. PI: Valentin Ilyin
Ihab Younis will study the molecular indicators of breast cancer, which is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Qatar.
66 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
The mobile opportunistic cloud computing team is led by Khaled Harras, left, and includes Hend Gedawy, Sannan Tariq and Abderrahmen Mtibaa.
Ongoing NPRP projects • Role of the PDZ and LIM containing protein Zasp in integrin-mediated cell adhesion Lead PI: Mohamed Bouaouina
• Arab author profiling for cybersecurity Lead PI: Anis Charfi
• New mathematical models for the
large stratin swelling response of biological tissues: Applications to edema, inflammation, and pregnancy Co-Lead PI: Hasan Demirkoparan Lead PI: Thomas Pence, Michigan State
• Scalable analytics engine for big
graphs on the cloud Lead PI: Mohammad Hammoud
• Towards mobile opportunistic
cloud computing: Enabling generic computation offloading to extreme heterogeneous entities Lead PI: Khaled Harras
Funded projects fall within the core disciplines of biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems, as well as complementary areas like mathematics, social sciences, languages, and environmental science.
• Testing English reading
comprehension through deep text analysis and question generation; Lead PI: Kemal Oflazer PI: Teruko Mitamura, Carnegie Mellon University
• SLATE-Q: Scaffolding literacy
in academic and tertiary environments: The case of communication in information systems Lead PI: Silvia Pessoa PI: Selma Limam Mansar PI: Divakaran Liginlal PI: Susan Hagan
• Automated verification of
properties of concurrent, distributed and parallel specifications with applications to computer security Co-Lead PI: Giselle Reis Lead PI: Iliano Cervesato, Carnegie Mellon University
• MADAR: Multi-Arabic dialect
applications and resources Co-Lead PI: Kemal Oflazer Lead PI: Nizar Habash, New York University Abu Dhabi Annual Report 2016 -17 | 67
Completed Projects The National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) is the main funding program of QNRF and the primary means by which QNRF seeks to support research that addresses Qatar’s needs.
Kemal Oflazer and Houda Bouamor
Completed NPRP projects Usable automated data inference for end-users
Learning4teaching study— Qatar
Lead PI: Iliano Cervesato Co-PI: Cleotilde Gonzalez, Carnegie Mellon University
Lead PI: Donald Freeman, University of Michigan Co-Lead PI: Dudley Reynolds Co-Investigator: Abdullah AbuTineh, Qatar University
Investigators established the feasibility of a relational reasoning tool for end-users based on the NEXCEL design and studied how people approach relational reasoning.
OPTDIAC: An optimal diacritization scheme for Arabic orthographic representation Lead PI: Mona Diab, George Washington University Co-Lead PI: Kemal Oflazer Co-Investigator: Houda Bouamor This project investigated the semantic disambiguation of Arabic text through optimal diacritization, resulting in several schemes with positive impact on readability.
68 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
This project advanced the understanding of how Qatar English language teachers experience professional development and its influences on their classroom teaching.
Alice in the Middle East Lead PI: Saquib Razak Co-Lead PI: Wanda Dann, Carnegie Mellon University This project localized the Alice tool for the Middle East and created a computing curriculum for K-12 that showed a marked increase in student problem solving skills and computational thinking.
Student Research Carnegie Mellon has been a leader in undergraduate research for decades. The Qatar Student Initiated Undergraduate Research Program supports studentinitiated research and encourages crossdisciplinary projects.
QSIURP The Qatar Student-Initiated Undergraduate Research Program (QSIURP) awards funding to undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar for summer research in any field of study. QSIURP projects are research, scholarly, or artistic activities that lead to one or more of the following:
•
the production of new knowledge
•
increased problem-solving capabilities
•
original, critical, or historical theory and interpretation
•
the production of art or artistic performance
There are two types of funding available:
•
Fellowships: students may apply for up to ten weeks of summer research in any field of study.
•
Grants: individuals or groups may apply for grants to assist with required supplies or equipment for research.
QSIURP Cycle 2016-17: Awarded and Completed Projects A distributed approach to multirobot collision-free vehicle routing in dynamic environments, Zan Naeem, Mohamed Zakzok Faculty advisor: Gianni Di Caro Effect of aspartame on human embryonic kidney cells, Fatema Abdul Salik, Reema Subeh Faculty advisor: Annette Vincent Identifying regulators of minor intron splicing in breast cancer cells, Nourhan ElKhatib, Reem Elasad Faculty advisor: Ihab Younis Minimizing cost to estimate accuracy of human labeling and automated classifiers, Sabit Hassan, Shaden Shaar Faculty advisor: Bhiksha Raj
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 69
Meeting of the Minds Meeting of the Minds is the annual undergraduate research symposium at CMU-Q.
Dr. Barak Yehya, center, is a long-time supporter of undergraduate research and Meeting of the Minds.
The Meeting of the Minds student research symposium is a celebration of the ingenuity, hard work, scientific exploration and intellectual curiosity that characterizes students in all disciplines at CMU-Q. Using posters, videos and other visual aids, students present their research and project work to a wide audience of faculty, fellow students, family members, industry representatives and the larger community. At Meeting of the Minds 2017, students presented 27 posters in the disciplines of biological sciences, computer science and information systems. There were two postgraduate posters. Student research is evaluated by a panel of internal and external judges. In 2017, judges represented Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Hamad Medical Corporation, Ministry of Development, Planning
70 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
and Statistics, Northwestern University in Qatar, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Qatar Computing Research Institute, Qatar Mobility Innovation Center, Qatar National Research Fund, Qatar Science and Technology Park and Weill-Cornell Medicine-Qatar. In addition to the CMU-Q awards, two organizations present special awards. Dr. Barak Yehya from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics presented five awards for research that has particular relevance to Qatar. The Qatar National Research Fund awarded two prizes, one for ‘Best Project’ and one for ‘Best Poster.’
Meeting of the Minds is inspired by the annual universitywide celebration of research on the main campus.
An information systems project investigates how Arabs engage with digital heritage artifacts.
Award winners Best Project 1. MAPK14 minor intron splicing as novel biomarker for breast cancer, Ettaib El-Marabti 2. An agile platform for distributed computation in smart IoT environments, Sannan Tariq 3. Application based learning to reinforce academic concepts in Qatar biology curriculum, Mohammad Osaama bin Shehzad
Best Poster • MAPK14 minor intron splicing as novel biomarker for breast cancer, Ettaib El-Marabti
QNRF • Best Project: The Hive: An on-edge middleware solution for context and resource sharing in the Internet of Things, Aliaa Essameldin • Best Poster: BCL2L11 as gene target of mir-92 and mir-10a: Gene expression, interaction evaluation and implication in type 2 diabetes and obesity, Alya Al-Kurbi
Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics • Potential food poison analysis of phage DNA collected from Al Khor, Raghid Bsat • Biofilm formation in water systems in Doha, Khawla Al-Darwish • Application based learning to reinforce academic concepts in Qatar biology curriculum, Mohammad Osaama bin Shehzad • The effect of culture on image appeal and social presence in Arab e-commerce websites, Noor AlQaedi • Arabic author profiling for cybersecurity, Wajdi Zaghouani, Anis Charfi (Post-graduate Poster)
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 71
72 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
APPENDICES JOINT ADVISORY BOARD DEAN’S ACADEMIC COUNCIL SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM SENIOR STAFF COUNCIL FACULTY MEMBERS MEETING OF THE MINDS POSTERS NPRP GRANTS PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS PRESS RELEASES FEATURE STORIES COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 73
Appendices Appendix A
Appendix B
Joint Advisory Board
Dean’s Academic Council
Qatar Foundation
Ilker Baybars
H.E. Sultan bin Rashid Al Khater
Dean and CEO
Undersecretary, Ministry of Economy and Commerce
John O’Brien
H.E. Dr. Hessa Sultan Al Jaber
Selma Limam Mansar
Chairperson The Qatar Satellite Company, Es’hailSat
Associate Dean, Education,
Kemal Oflazer
Ahmed Elmagarmid
Associate Dean, Research
Executive Director, Qatar Computing Research Institute
Marion Oliver
Ahmad Hasnah
Dudley Reynolds
President, Hamad Bin Khalifa University
Carnegie Mellon University Farnam Jahanian Provost
Associate Dean,
Teaching Professor, Mathematics Teaching Professor, English
Annette Vincent Assistant Teaching Professor, Biological Sciences
Mary Jo Dively
Appendix C
Vice President and General Counsel
Senior Management Team
William Scherlis Director, Institute for Software Research Professor, School of Computer Science
Duane Seppi The BNY Mellon Professor of Finance Tepper School of Business
Independent N. Balakrishnan Associate Director Indian Institute of Science
Gabriel Hawawini The Henry Grunfield Professor of Investment Banking INSEAD
Kurt Mehlhorn Director, Max Planck Institute for Informatics Saarland University
Ex officio Mounir Hamdi Dean, College of Science and Engineering Hamad Bin Khalifa University
Ilker Baybars Dean and CEO Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
74 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Ilker Baybars Dean and CEO
John O’Brien Associate Dean
Selma Limam Mansar Associate Dean, Education
Kemal Oflazer Associate Dean, Research
Richard Mundy Chief Operations Officer
Khalid Sarwar Warraich Chief Information Officer
Fadhel Al-Annan Assistant Dean, Government and Corporate Affairs
Edna Jackson Director, Dean’s Office
Kara Nesimiuk Executive Director, Marketing and Public Relations
Appendix D
Appendix E
Senior Staff Council
Faculty members
Ilker Baybars
Mustafa Akan
Hasan Demirkoparan
Associate Professor, Operations Management
Associate Teaching Professor, Mathematics
Serkan Akguc
Gianni Di Caro
Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor, Finance
Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Chadi Aoun
S. Thomas Emerson
Associate Teaching Professor, Information Systems
Distinguished Career Professor, Entrepreneurship
Ravichandra Bachu
Fuad Farooqi
Assistant Teaching Professor, Chemistry
Associate Teaching Professor, Finance
Ilker Baybars
John Gasper
Assistant Dean, Government and Corporate Affairs
Dean and CEO George Leland Bach Chair Professor, Operations Management
Associate Teaching Professor, Economics
Gloria Khoury
Nazli Bhatia
Assistant Teaching Professor, Philosophy
Dean and CEO
John O’Brien Associate Dean
Selma Limam Mansar Associate Dean, Education
Kemal Oflazer Associate Dean, Research
Richard Mundy Chief Operations Officer
Khalid Sarwar Warraich Chief Information Officer
Fadhel Al-Annan
Assistant Dean, Student Affairs
Kara Nesimiuk Executive Director, Marketing and Public Relations
Lisa Ciletti Director, Human Resources and Operations
Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor, Organizational Behavior
Serra Boranbay-Akan Visiting Associate Professor, Economics
Houda Bouamor
Elissar El-Akra Hajjar
Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Director of Facilities Management
Mohamed Bouaouina
Edna Jackson Director, Dean’s Office
Assistant Teaching Professor, Biological Sciences
Teresa MacGregor
Stephen Calabrese
Director, Library
Stephen McCarty Director, Safety and Security
Jarrod Mock Director, Admission
Meg Rogers Director, Research Office
Faten Al Ayache Employer Development and Career Consultant
Angela Ford Senior Editor
Mohammed Mirza
Visiting Associate Professor, Economics
Anis Charfi Associate Teaching Professor, Information Systems
Alexander Cheek Assistant Teaching Professor, Information Systems
Ben Collier Assistant Teaching Professor, Organizational Behavior
Crista Crittenden Assistant Teaching Professor, Psychology
David Gray
Susan Hagan Associate Teaching Professor, English
Maher Hakim Associate Teaching Professor, Entrepreneurship
Mohammad Hammoud Assistant Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Khaled Harras Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Erik Helin Special Lecturer, Spanish
Amal Helu Visiting Associate Professor, Statistics
Geoffrey Hitch Assistant Teaching Professor, Acting and Business Communication
Adam Hodges Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor, English
Career Development Specialist
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 75
Appendix E continued Selma Limam Mansar
History
Associate Dean, Education Teaching Professor, Information Systems
Giselle Reis
Associate Teaching Professor, Biological Sciences
Teresa MacGregor
Dudley Reynolds
Starling Hunter
Patrick McGinnis
John Hooker Professor, Operations Research
Kenneth Hovis
Director, Library
Visiting Associate Teaching Professor, Business Administration
Distinguished Career Professor, Business Communication
Ludmila Hyman
Thomas Mitchell
Assistant Teaching Professor, English
Assistant Teaching Professor, English
Zeinab Ibrahim
John O’Brien
Teaching Professor, Arabic Studies
Associate Dean, Associate Professor, Accounting
Valentin Ilyin
Joyce Oates
Associate Teaching Professor, Computational Biology
Assistant Teaching Professor, Psychology
LansinĂŠ Kaba
Kemal Oflazer
Thomas M. Kerr Distinguished Career Professor
Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos Visiting Associate Professor, Physics
Christos Kapoutsis Assistant Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Niraj Khare Assistant Teaching Professor, Mathematics
Ramesh Krishnamurti Professor, Architecture
Finn Kydland
Teaching Professor, English
Gordon Rule Professor, Biological Sciences
Alicia Salaz Senior Librarian and Information Scientist
Peter Stuettgen Assistant Teaching Professor, Marketing
Juiming Ray Tsai Professor of Practice, Information Systems
Associate Dean, Research Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Stephen Vargo
Marion Oliver
Annette Vincent
Teaching Professor, Mathematics
Silvia Pessoa Associate Teaching Professor, English
Daniel Phelps Associate Teaching Professor, Information Systems
Srinivas Prakhya Visiting Associate Professor, Marketing Management
Nobel Laureate (2004) The Richard P. Simmons Distinguished Professorship University Professor, Economics
Bhiksha Ramakrishnan
Divakaran Liginlal
Associate Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Teaching Professor, Information Systems
Assistant Teaching Professor, Computer Science
Associate Professor, Computer Science
Saquib Razak
Benjamin Reilly Associate Teaching Professor,
76 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Visiting Assistant Professor, Business Administration Assistant Teaching Professor, Biological Sciences
George White Distinguished Career Professor, Entrepreneurship
Zelealem Yilma Assistant Teaching Professor, Mathematics
Ihab Younis Assistant Teaching Professor, Biological Sciences
Appendix F Meeting of the Minds posters Biological Sciences Posters
Computer Science Posters
Alkaline phosphatase isozymes and their use in gastrointestinal therapy
Acoustic analysis of text (AAT): Extracting sound out of words
Potential food poison analysis of phage DNA collected from Al Khor
An agile platform for distributed computation in smart IoT environments
BCL2L11 as gene target of mir-92a and mir-10a: Gene expression, interaction evaluation and implication in type 2 diabetes and obesity
Lifestyle disease surveillance using spatio-temporal search intensity models
Biofilm formation in water systems in Doha
PolyHJ: A polymorphic main-memory hash join paradigm for multi-core machines
Developing CRISPR mutagenesis components for S. Cerevisiae
Sherlock: A crowdsourced system for automated semantic tagging of indoor floorplans
Caffeine as an inhibitor of calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase
The Hive: An on-edge middleware solution for context and resource sharing in the Internet of Things
MAPK14 minor intron splicing as a novel biomarker for breast cancer Effect of glucagon-like peptide-1 analog on modulating metabolic stress: Possible role of heat shock response Expression, purification, and characterization of stem cell transcription factors Brn2, Sox17 and its mutant Crystallization and characterization of HMG domain of stem cell transcription factors Sox7, Sox17 and its mutant Effect of hydrogen peroxide at 100 ÎźM on Calf Intestinal Alkaline Phosphatase (CIAP) enzyme kinetics Mechanisms of breast cancer escape from Natural Killer (NK) anti-tumor immunity
Information Systems Posters Optimizing electricity consumption in GEMTEC To read or to listen? A study of user engagement in a digital heritage artifact Trustmarks and trust in Qatar Influence of culture on social media advertisements through eye-tracking The effect of culture on image appeal and social presence in Arab e-commerce websites Postgraduate Posters Arabic author profiling for cyber-security Multi-Arabic dialect lexicon extraction
Oxidative stress in kidney cells – effects of aspartame The effects of Mg2+ and Zn2+ on human placental alkaline phosphatase (PALP) activity Study of the role of Lactate Dehydrogenase C (LDHC) in the aggressive behavior of triple negative breast cancer Application based learning to reinforce academic concepts in Qatar biology curriculum
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 77
Appendix G
Cycle 4
Cycle 3
Cycle 2
Cycle 1
National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) grants awarded to Carnegie Mellon faculty Lead PI in Qatar
NPRP
Title
Amal Al-Malki
NPRP 29-6-7-9
Images of Muslim women in translated Mideast media sources: A content and discourse analysis
Majd Sakr
NPRP 29-6-7-24
Human-robot interaction in an Arabic social and cultural setting
M. Bernardine Dias
NPRP 1-7-7-5
Automated tools for effective team coordination in emergency response
M. Bernardine Dias
NPRP 30-6-7-91
Enhanced education for the visually and aurally impaired using automated tutors and interactive computer games
Jonathan Caulkins
NPRP 20-6-7-6
Modeling control of infectious disease
Charles Thorpe
NPRP 29-6-7-43
Intelligent diabetes assistant: Predicting and optimizing blood glucose
Aziz Lookman
NPRP 30-6-7-28
Are banks better at managing their borrower’s risks than non-banks
Alex Rojas Pena
NPRP 08-643-1-112
Automated measurement of galaxy morphology
Brett Browning
NPRP 08-589-2-245
Non-destructive gas pipeline inspection using computer vision
Khaled Harras
NPRP 08-562-1-095
CameraNets: Coverage, networking, and storage problems in wireless multimedia sensor networks
Kemal Oflazer
NPRP 08-485-1-083
Improved Arabic natural language processing through semi supervised and cross-lingual learning
Silvia Pessoa
NPRP 09-857-5-123
Transnational labor migration in Qatar: An empirical sociological analysis
Kemal Oflazer
NPRP 09-1140-1-177
Learning from comparable corpora for improved English-Arabic statistical machine translation
Brett Browning
NPRP 09-980-2-380
Robust localization and mapping for autonomous gas inspection vehicles
Majd Sakr
NPRP 09-1116-1-172
Qloud: Towards a cloud computing infrastructure in Qatar to target regional scientific applications
Majd Sakr
NPRP 09-1113-1-171
Towards natural multi-cultural human-robot interaction
Kemal Oflazer
NPRP 09-1113-1-171
A natural language processing-based active and interactive platform for accessing English language content and advanced language learning
Iliano Cervesato
NPRP 09-1107-1-168
Formal reasoning about language for distributed computation
Iliano Cervesato
NPRP 09-667-1-100
Effective programming for large distributed ensembles
M. Bernardine Dias
NPRP 4-439-1-071
Innovative computing and mobile technology for improving English literacy skills for children and for adults
M. Bernardine Dias
NPRP 4-1330-1-213
Cooperative robotic boats for monitoring coastal and flooded areas
Andreas Karatsolis
NPRP 4-1538-6-048
Improving professional communication skills through an online tutorial
Iliano Cervesato
NPRP 4-341-1-059
Usable automated data inference for end-users
Dudley Reynolds
NPRP 4-1172-5-172
Improving reading skills in the middle school science classroom
Majd Sakr
NPRP 4-1058-1-168
Automatic correction of Standard Arabic text: Resource and system development
Hasan Demirkoparan
NPRP 4-1138-1-178
New mathematical models for the large strain swelling response of biological tissues
Hasan Demirkoparan NPRP 4-1333-1-214
Complex material response described by continuum mechanics with a deformation gradient product decomposition that has novel hyperelastic implications
Zeinab Ibrahim
Advancing Arabic language learning in Qatar
NPRP 4-1074-5-164
78 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Cycle 4 Cycle 5 Cycle 6 Cycle 7 Cycle 8 9 Cycle 10
Lead PI in Qatar
NPRP
Title
Vinay Kolar
NPRP 4-1620-1-266
Large-scale, personal and mobile sensor networks and their applications in Qatar
Krishnapuram Karthikeyan
NPRP 4-783-1-119
Plant uptake of pollutants of emerging concern during use of reclaimed water in greenhouse hydroponic systems
Krishnapuram Karthikeyan
NPRP 4-718-2-268
Use of novel water treatment methods for desalination of brackish groundwater in Qatar
Davide Fossati
NPRP 5-939-1-155
Intelligent learning environments for computer science undergraduate education
Divakaran Liginlal
NPRP 5-1393-6-044
Raising language effectiveness in Arabic ecommerce websites
Yonina Cooper
NPRP 5-1070-2-451
Alice for Middle East—Alice ME
Silvia Pessoa
NPRP 5-1320-6-040
Undergraduate discipline-specific writing: Expectations, demands, and development
Kemal Oflazer
NPRP 6-1020-1-199
OPTDIAC: An optimal diacritization scheme for Arabic orthographic representation
Jonathan Finkel
NPRP 6-1130-3-267
Adherence and biofilm formation of pathogenic yeast and yeast-like fungi from the Qatari clinical setting
Mohamed Bouaouina
NPRP 7-1872-1-331
Role of the PDZ and LIM containing protein Zasp in integrin-mediated cell adhesion
Iliano Cervasato
NPRP 7-988-1-178
Automated verification of properties of concurrent, distributed and parallel specifications with applications to computer security
Mohammad Hammoud
NPRP 7-1330-2-483
Scalable analytics engine for big graphs on the cloud
Dudley Reynolds
NPRP 7-1393-5-209
Learning4Teaching-Qatar: Examining Qatari teachers’ experiences of professional development in English language teaching
Snezhana Abarzhi
NPRP 7-1785-1-321
Numerical and theoretical modeling of complex fluid flows
Kemal Oflazer
NPRP 7-290-1-047
MADAR: Multi-Arabic dialect applications and resources
Kemal Oflazer
NPRP 8-1337-1-243
Testing English reading comprehension through deep text analysis and question generation
Khaled Harras
NPRP 8-1645-1-289
Towards mobile opportunistic cloud computing: Enabling generic computational offloading to extreme heterogeneous entities
Silvia Pessoa
NPRP 8-1815-5-293
SLATE-Q: Scaffolding Literacy in Academic and Tertiary Environments: The case of communication in information systems
Gordon Rule
NPRP 8-2225-1-439
Development of novel antibiotic, antiparasitic and anticancer agents
Hasan Demirkoparan
NPRP 8-2424-1-477
New mathematical models for the large strain swelling response of biological tissues: Applications to edema, inflammation, and pregnancy
Anis Charfi
NPRP 9-175-1-033
Arabic author profiling for cyber security
Ihab Younis
NPRP 10-0117-170178
Molecular profiling of breast cancer transcriptome and splicing aberrations
Annette Vincent
NPRP 10-0119-170197
Using bacteriophages as biomonitoring tools for water quality measurements
Saquib Razak
NPRP 10-0205-170345
Bringing computer science to secondary schools – Curriculum design and implementation
Gianni Di Caro
NPRP 10-0213-170458
Teams of aquatic/aerial robots for marine environmental monitoring (TARMEM)
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 79
Appendix H Publications and presentations by faculty members Serkan Akguc and N. AlRahahleh. “Shariah compliance and investment behavior: Evidence from GCC countries,” Midwest Finance Association 2017 Annual Meeting, Chicago, USA. Chadi Aoun and Savanid Vatanasakdakul. “Enabling community resilience: A context specific approach,” Pre-ICIS SIGGreen Workshop, Dublin, Ireland. Hasan Demirkoparan, A.Hadoush and T.J. Pence. “A constitutive model for an internally balanced compressible elastic material.” In Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, 22. Hasan Demirkoparan and J. Merodio. “Bulging bifurcation of inflated cylinders of doubly fiberreinforced hyperelastic material under axial loading and swelling.” In Mathematics and Mechanics of Solids, 22. Hasan Demirkoparan, H. Topol, T.J. Pence and A. Wineman. “Timeevolving collagen-like structural fibers in soft tissues: Biaxial loading and spherical inflation,” In Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials, 21. Hasan Demirkoparan. “MATLAB for computer graphics and MS Excel’s solver for optimization problems,” Technology for Mathematics Education T4M2017. Gianni Di Caro, A.Giusti, J. Guzzi, D.Ciresan, F.Lin, J.P. Rodriguez, F. Fontana, M. Faessler, C.Forster, J. Schmidhuber, D. Scaramuzza, and L. Gambardella. “A machine learning approach to visual perception of forest trails for mobile robots.” In IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 1(2): 661-667.
Gianni Di Caro, B. Gromov, and L. Gambardella. “Wearable multimodal interface for human multirobot interaction.” In Proceedings of the 14th IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security and Rescue Robotics (SSRR). Gianni Di Caro, E. Feo-Flushing, and L. Gambadella. “Robot rostering: Coalition formation for long-term missions with work shifts.” In Proceedings of the 14th IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR). Gianni Di Caro, E. Feo-Flushing, and L. Gambadella. “On using mobile robotic relays for supporting data communications in search and rescue missions.” In Proceedings of the 14th IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR). Gianni Di Caro and J.Guzzi. “From indoor GIS maps to path planning for autonomous wheelchairs.” In Proceedings of the 29th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). John Hooker and D. Bergman, A. Ciré and W.-J. van Hoeve. “Decision diagrams for optimization.” John Hooker. “Projection, consistency, and George Boole.” In Constraints 21, pp 59-76. John Hooker, D. Bergman, A.A. Ciré, and W.-J. van Hoeve. “Discrete optimization with decision diagrams.” In INFORMS Journal on Computing 28, pp 47-66. John Hooker, A. Ciré, J.N. Hooker and T. Yunes. “Modeling with metaconstraints and semantic typing of variables.” In INFORMS Journal on Computing 28, pp 1-13.
80 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
John Hooker and H.P. Williams. “Integer programming as projection.” In Discrete Optimization 22B, pp 291311. John Hooker and A. Heching. “Scheduling home hospice care with logic-based Benders decomposition.” In CPAIOR 2016 Proceedings, pp 187197. John Hooker, E. Çoban, A. Heching, and A. Scheller-Wolf. “Robust scheduling with logic-based Benders decomposition.” In OR 2014 Proceedings, Springer, pp 99-106. John Hooker and A. Ciré, E. Çoban. “Logic-based Benders decomposition for planning and scheduling: A computational analysis.” In Knowledge Engineering Review 31, pp 440-451. John Hooker. “Projection, inference and consistency.” In IJCAI 2016 Proceedings, pp 4175-4179. John Hooker. “Finding alternative musical scales.” In CP 2016 Proceedings, pp 753-768. John Hooker. “Cross-cultural ethics and sustainability.” Abu Dhabi University. John Hooker. “Sustainability around the world.” Professional workshop, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. John Hooker. “Scheduling home hospice care by logic-based Benders decomposition.” Distinguished lecture, Lehigh University. John Hooker. “Learning-based methods for large-scale optimization.” Whitney Symposium, GE Global Research Center. John Hooker. “Finding alternative musical scales.” Constraint Programming Conference.
John Hooker. “Projection, inference, and consistency.” International Joint Conference on AI. John Hooker. “Scheduling home hospice care by logic-based Benders decomposition.” European Conference on Operational Research. Zeinab Ibrahim. “Language variation, identity and planning.” In Arabe standard et variations régionales. Quelle(s) politique(s) linguistique(s) Quelle(s) didactique(s). Zeinab Ibrahim, P.M. Papadopoulos and A. Karatsolis. “Learning Arabic through play games on tabletop surface computers in early childhood.” In Computer Supported Education 2015, Communications in Computer and Information Science. Zeinab Ibrahim, H. Alshikhabobakr and P. Papadopoulos. “Teaching Arabic to native speakers Educational games in a new curriculum.” In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU). Zeinab Ibrahim, R. Muhr, K.E. Fonyuy and C. Miller. “Pluricentric languages and nondominant varieties worldwide: Pluricentric languages across continents - features and usage.” Zeinab Ibrahim. “Professional Arabic in action.” University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières, Canada. Zeinab Ibrahim. “Arabiyyatii” Roundtable, Georgetown University in Qatar. Christos Kapoutsis and Lamana Mulaffer. “A logical characterization of small 2NFAs.” In Proceedings of International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata 2016 (LNCS 9705), pp.163– 175.
Christos Kapoutsis and Lamana Mulaffer. “A logical characterization of small 2NFAs.” International Conference on Implementation and Application of Automata 2016, Seoul, South Korea. Niraj Khare, R. Lorentz and C. Yan. “Moments of matching statistics.” In Journal of Combinatorics Volume (8) Issue 1, 1 to 27. Niraj Khare. “Patterns in combinatorial structures and Fun.” Combinatorics Seminar at Ohio State University. Divakaran Liginlal, R. Ahmad, L. Torlakova, and R. Meeds. “Figurative language in Arabic e-commerce text.” In International Journal of Business Communication, 54(2), 2017. Divakaran Liginlal, Y. Deng, X. Yang, J.H. Hou, and X. Ma. “Applying the Cox Model to study online gambling behavior.” International Conference on Information Systems, Dublin, Ireland. Divakaran Liginlal and D. Al Muftah. “Web accessibility as a barrier to successful digital governance: A case study of the Arabian gulf region.” International Conference on Information Resources Management, Santiago Chile. Teresa MacGregor, Alicia Salaz, and P. Thomas. “Novice and expert information behavior: An eye tracking study from Qatar.” European Conference on Information Literacy. Prague, Czech Republic. Teresa MacGregor and J. Chisnell “Speed databasing: A matchmaking activity for students and library databases.” LOEX 2017. Carnegie Mellon University.
Joyce Oates and Z. Peynircioğlu. “Event-based prospective memory is resistant but not immune to proactive interference.” In American Journal of Psychology. John O’Brien and Fuad Farooqi. “A comparison of the impact of the Basel standards upon Islamic and conventional bank risks in the Gulf state region.” In Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research. John O’Brien and M. Fichman. “Investing in three point shooting: A strategic portfolio management approach.” In Journal of Sports Analytics. John O’Brien and M. Fichman. “Optimal shot selection strategies for the NBA.” MathSport International, Melbourne, Australia. Kemal Oflazer, R. Dekharghani, Y. Saygin, and B. Yanikoglu. “SentiTurkNet: a Turkish polarity lexicon for sentiment analysis.” In Language Resources and Evaluation. Kemal Oflazer, R. Dekharghani, Y. Saygin, and B. Yanikoglu. “Sentiment analysis in Turkish at different granularity levels.” In Natural Language Engineering. Kemal Oflazer, Wajdi Zaghouani, Houda Bouamor, M. Ghoneim, and M.Diab. “Using ambiguity detection to streamline linguistic annotation.” In Proceedings of Coling Workshop “Computational Linguistics for Linguistic Complexity” (CL4LC). Kemal Oflazer, Wajdi Zaghouani, Houda Bouamor, N. Habash, O. Obeid, and S. Alqahtani. “Filtering dialectal Arabic text in two large scale annotation projects.” In Proceedings of the Coling Workshop on Noisy Usergenerated Text (W-NUT).
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 81
Appendix H continued Silvia Pessoa. “How SFL and explicit language instruction can enhance the teaching of argumentation in the disciplines.” In Journal of Second Language Writing. Silvia Pessoa, Thomas D. Mitchell, and R.T. Miller. “Longitudinal changes in use of engagement in university history writing: A case study.” Conference Proceedings of the 2014 Free Linguistics Conference, Indonesia. Silvia Pessoa and R.T. Miller. “Role and genre expectations in undergraduate case analysis in information systems.” In Journal of English for Specific Purposes. Silvia Pessoa and R.T. Miller. “Where’s your thesis statement and what happened to your topic sentences? Identifying organizational challenges in undergraduate student argumentative writing.” In TESOL Journal. Silvia Pessoa Thomas D. Mitchell, and R.T. Miller. “Impact of source text genre and prompts on students’ genre uptake.” In Journal of Second Language Writing. Silvia Pessoa and R.T. Miller. “Implementing writing at an American branch campus in Qatar: Challenges, adaptations, & recommendations.” Book Chapter: Writing in the MENA Region. Silvia Pessoa and A. Gardner. “Migrants and justice in Qatar: Time, mobility, language and ethnography.” Book chapter: Lived experiences in a transnational world. Silvia Pessoa, A. Gardner, A. Diop, K. Alghanim, K. Le Trung and L. Harkness. “A portrait of migrant workers in contemporary Qatar.” Book chapter: Asianisation of migrant workers in the Gulf countries.
Silvia Pessoa and Thomas D. Mitchell. “Research-based scaffolding of university-level argumentative history writing.” Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association. Silvia Pessoa and Thomas D. Mitchell. “Emergent arguments: Applying the 3x3 to student history texts.” Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association. Silvia Pessoa, Thomas D. Mitchell, R.T. Miller, M.J. Schleppegrell, and R. Harman. “Using systemic functional linguistics & genrebased pedagogy to scaffold reading and writing in history.” American Association of Applied Linguistics. Silvia Pessoa, Thomas D. Mitchell, R.T. Miller and C. Nigel. “Argue, contend, exort: Teaching the language of argumentative writing.” Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Silvia Pessoa, Thomas D. Mitchell, R.T. Miller, A. Johns, and M.E. Brisk. “Empowering students through explicit instruction of genres and linguistic resources.” Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Saquib Razak, Nour Tabet, H. Gedawy, and H. Alshikhabobakr. “From Alice to Python. Introducing text-based programming in middle schools.” Giselle Reis, D. Cerna, A. Leitsch, S. Wolfsteiner. “Ceres in intuitionistic logic.” In Annals of Pure and Applied Logic. Giselle Reis, D. Cerna, A. Leitsch, and S. Wolfsteiner. “Ceres in intuitionistic logic.” Herbrand’s Theorem Revisited. Giselle Reis, D. Cerna, A. Leitsch, and S. Wolfsteiner. “Ceres in intuitionistic logic.” FISP Workshop.
82 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Giselle Reis and B. Woltzenlogel Paleo. “Translations from resolution to sequent calculus.” Women in Logic Workshop. Dudley Reynolds. “Helping content teachers move beyond language: Translanguaging in lesson study groups.” In M. A. Snow & D. M. Brinton (Eds.), The content-based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Dudley Reynolds, D. Freeman, W. Toledo, and A. Abu-Tineh. “Who provides professional development? A study of ELT professional development in Qatar.” In Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research. Dudley Reynolds, D. Freeman, K. Graves, C. Cameratti, and M. Epperson. “Development in EFL classroom teaching: Research from three countries.” Colloquium. TESOL 2017 International Convention and English Language Expo. Seattle, Washington. Dudley Reynolds. “Professional English language teachers in a 2.0 world,” and “Learning4Teaching project.” Invited talks. TESOL International Convention and Language Expo. Seattle, Washington. Dudley Reynolds. “Advancing as an ELT professional,” “Being strategic at strategic reading,” and “Advancing through research.” Invited talks. TESOL Arabia Conference. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dudley Reynolds “Teaching with an empty glass: Lesson designing from scratch,” and “Teaching organization for writing.” Invited talks. NEA English Language Fellow Mid-Year Conference: Planning for Success. Manama, Bahrain.
Dudley Reynolds. “Summit purpose welcoming session.” Invited talk. Summit on the Future of the TESOL Profession. Athens, Greece. Dudley Reynolds. “Through the teachers’ eyes: Understanding professional development uptake.” Paper presentation. 37th Thailand TESOL International Conference. Bangkok, Thailand. Dudley Reynolds. “The professional English language teacher’s pathway to excellence.” Invited talk. 37th Thailand TESOL International Conference. Bangkok, Thailand. Dudley Reynolds. Professional development agendas in the light of teacher experiences. TESOL Italy Conference. Rome, Italy. Dudley Reynolds. “Languaging, teaching, shaping in a changing world.” Invited talk. TESOL Italy Conference. Rome, Italy. Dudley Reynolds. “Qatar: A microcosm for operating globally.” Invited talk. National Geographic Leaning Educational Forum: Operating Globally. Doha, Qatar. Dudley Reynolds. “Expanding your horizons in ELT,” and “Innovative ways to teach strategic reading.” Invited talks. 32nd Annual Society of Pakistani English Language Teachers (SPELT) Conference. Karachi, Pakistan. Dudley Reynolds. “Multilingual writers’ challenge to research: Then, now, and in the future.” Invited talk. “College Writing”: From the 1966 Dartmouth Seminar to Tomorrow. Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Alicia M. Salaz, Teresa MacGregor, and P. Thomas. “Expert information behavior: An eye-tracking study from Qatar.” In Communications in Computer and Information Science, 676.
Alicia M. Salaz, K. Chang, M. Houlihan and S. Birch. “The future of U.S. university international branch campus libraries: Challenges and opportunities.” In College & Research Libraries News. Alicia M. Salaz. “Eye-tracking methodology for information literacy research” Information Literacy Network, Gulf Region Symposium. Alicia M. Salaz, V. Medina, L. Saunders, and A. Ross. “Information literacy and accountability: Accreditation, alignment, and assessment.” Special Libraries Association, Gulf Region Annual Conference.
Annette Vincent. “Microbial diversity in desalinated drinking water systems of Doha.” At Quality of Desalinated Water, Human Health Perspectives Workshop. Ihab Younis. “Splicing switches in breast cancer: Altered minor intron splicing and its effect on gene expression.” Biomedical Research Center Seminar Series. Ihab Younis. “Splicing switches: How minor introns determine the fate of gene expression.” Life sciences seminar series. Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
Alicia M. Salaz and N. Johnston. “Using phenomenography to bridge the gap between research and practice.” Research Applications, Information and Library Studies Conference. Alicia M. Salaz and M. Houlihan. “Threshold concepts: the good, the bad and the ugly.” Information Literacy Network, Gulf Region Professional Development. Alicia M. Salaz, L. Al Sabbagh, and N. Johnston. “Print and digital reading preferences and behaviors of university students in Qatar.” European Conference on Information Literacy. Annette Vincent and Valentin Ilyin. “Identification and characterization of Arthrobacter sp. infecting Bacillus bacteriophage– Shumi from sand sample.” IonWorld Qatar. Annette Vincent, C. Doonan, and E. Drill. “Enhancing laboratory education with student-created videos.” Association for Biology Laboratory Education 38th Annual Meeting Houston, USA.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 83
Appendix I Press releases August 2016 Summer College Preview Program a family tradition at CMU-Q US ambassador to Qatar welcomes CMU-Q Class of 2020 CMU-Q alumni honored at Bahrain Entrepreneurial Forum September 2016 CMU-Q students hail from 40 different nations Meddy healthcare site launches in Arabic October 2016 CMU-Q students place first in international computing contest CMU-Q students emphasize learning aspect of internships Health and Wellness Fair at CMU-Q encourages healthy choices CMU-Q admits freshman with the highest mark in the world in IGCSE math November 2016 CMU-Q Tech Leaders Panels event explores big data landscape in Qatar Carnegie Mellon in Qatar recognizes 152 students on Dean’s List CMU-Q professor delivers keynote address, moderates National Geographic panel on education December 2016 CMU-Q Hackathon goes regional for 2017 Qatar Central Bank Governor outlines plan to ensure cyber resiliency Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar hosts reunion for Class of 2011
84 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
February 2017 Economist outlines the ripple effect of Brexit Carnegie Mellon Qatar hosts welcome dinner for first students of Class of 2021 Students from across the region compete in annual Carnegie Mellon Hackathon CMU-Q aims to introduce computing to 1000 high schoolers New Geographic Information Systems course trains CMU-Q students in high-demand field March 2017 Local schools create, code and compete at CMU-Q programming contest April 2017 Idea for kinetic batteries takes top spot at Quick Startup CMU-Q Pi Day Mathematics Championship goes to DPS-Modern Indian School CMU-Q recognizes 148 students on Dean’s List May 2017 Tenth graduation is largest in CMU-Q history Student cancer research takes top awards at CMU-Q symposium
Appendix J Feature stories July 2016 Nada Arakji profile, Foundation Magazine Two QF students set to create Qatari history at Rio Olympics, QF Telegraph August 2016 Students experience campus life during CMU-Q summer program, QF Telegraph
CMU-Q professor emphasizes need for strong Arabic and English education, Foundation Magazine February 2017 QF vision empowers professional, Gulf Times, Al Arab, Al Sharq Coding the Future, Foundation Magazine
September 2016 CMU-Q team tops Harvard Coding Challenge, Foundation Magazine
March 2017 Quick Startup winners one year later: How the competition helped launch their careers, Gulf Times, Al Arab
October 2016 CMU-Q team wins Harvard University coding contest, QF Telegraph
Fatima Al Emadi Interview, The Peninsula, Al Sharq
CMU-Q presents The Interactive News, Foundation Magazine Connecting Healthcare, Foundation Magazine Internship Success, Campus Magazine The Coding Experts, Campus Magazine November 2016 CMU-Q holds first Internship Showcase, Foundation Magazine December 2016 Young Qatari brings service design to local market, Gulf Times
April 2017 45% of graduates of CMU-Q 2017 are Qatari, Al Sharq Nofe Al Suwaidi op-ed, QF Telegraph May 2017 Qatar project to leverage IoT, Network Middle East Magazine Highlighting new academic and career paths, Doha Today The inclusion of Alice’s program in computer science in secondary schools, Al Sharq
Arabic language is experiencing a boom, Al Arab New Horizons, Foundation Magazine January 2017 CMU-Q alumna believes a holistic approach to learning is key to success, Qatar Tribune Bayan Khaled op-ed, QF Telegraph
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 85
Community Partners 004 Arabia Abdulla Abdulghani Al Ahli Hospital Al Emadi Enterprises Al Faisal Holding AlFaisal Without Borders Foundation Alfardan Group Ali Bin Ali Group Al Jazeera Media Network Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al khaliji) Al Sawari Holding Amiri Diwan A.T. Kearney Bain Bayt.com Boeing BRF Canon Careem Center for GIS Qatar Chalhoub Group Commercial Bank of Qatar Cosette Solutions Council of Ministers DHL Darwish Holding Davidson Consulting Deloitte Education Above All Ernst & Young ExxonMobil Qatar Ezdan Holding General Electric Georgetown University in Qatar Girnaas Gulf Bridge International Gulf Business Machines Hamad Bin Khalifa University Hamad Medical Corporation Henkel Hilti Hochtief Vicon INJAZ Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) Katara Cultural Village KPMG Maersk Oil Qatar Malomatia Mazaya Qatar Microsoft Ministry of Administrative Development Labor and Social Affairs Ministry of Defence Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics Ministry of Economy and Commerce Ministry of Education and Higher Education Ministry of Finance
86 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Interior Ministry of Municipality and Environment Ministry of Transport and Communication Nakilat National Center for Cancer Care and Research NestlÊ Northwestern University in Qatar Omani Embassy in Doha, Qatar Ooredoo Oryx GTL PricewaterhouseCoopers Qatar Airways Qatar Armed Forces Qatar Biobank Qatar Biomedical Research Institute Qatar Cancer Society Qatar Central Bank Qatar Computing Research Institute Qatar Credit Bureau Qatar Electricity & Water Co. Qatar Fertilizer Company Qatar Finance and Business Academy Qatar Financial Center Qatar First Bank Qatar Foundation Qatar Foundation Research and Development QatarGas Qatar Investment Authority Qatar Investment Bank Qatar Mobility Innovation Center Qatar Museums Authority Qatar National Bank Qatar National Research Fund Qatar Olympic Committee Qatar Petroleum Qatar Robotics Surgery Center Qatar Science and Technology Park Qatar Shell Qatar Stock Exchange Qatar University RasGas Company SDK Marketing SAP Sidra Medical and Research Center Siemens Qatar Silatech Sports Corner Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy TESOL International Association Texas A&M University at Qatar TNO U.S. Embassy in Qatar Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar Vodafone Qatar Weill Cornell Medicine—Qatar Woqod
Carnegie Mellon has built relationships with companies and organizations across various sectors. Our partners work closely with us by speaking through our Career Development Office, providing internships and jobs, participating in Executive Education courses, judging at Meeting of the Minds, sponsoring students, sponsoring events and strengthening ties through Memoranda of Understanding.
Annual Report 2016 -17 | 87
About us For more than a century, Carnegie Mellon University has challenged the curious and passionate to imagine and deliver work that matters. A private, top-ranked and global university, Carnegie Mellon sets its own course with programs that inspire creativity and collaboration. In 2004, Carnegie Mellon and Qatar Foundation began a partnership to deliver select programs that will contribute to the long-term development of Qatar. Today, Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers undergraduate programs in biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems. Nearly 400 students from 35 countries call Carnegie Mellon Qatar home. Graduates from CMU-Q are highly sought-after. Most choose careers in top organizations in Qatar and around the world, and many have pursued graduate studies. With ten graduating classes, the total number of alumni is nearly 700. To learn more, visit www.qatar.cmu.edu and follow us on: Twitter: @CarnegieMellonQ Instagram: @carnegiemellonq Facebook: CarnegieMellonQ YouTube: CarnegieMellonQatar LinkedIn: Carnegie Mellon Qatar
Contact: Dean’s Office: deans-office@qatar.cmu.edu Research Office: cmuq-research@qatar.cmu.edu Admission Office: ug-admission@qatar.cmu.edu Media Inquiries: mpr@qatar.cmu.edu
88 | Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
ANNUAL REPORT 2016-17
P.O. Box 24866, Education City, Doha, Qatar Phone: +974 4454 8400 www.qatar.cmu.edu