November 2010

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

‫ اململكة العربية السعودية‬، ‫ثول‬

at Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BE the

November 2010 / Dhu’l Qa’ada 1431 Issue No. 3

CON www.kaust.edu.sa

Turn to p.8

3D rendition of the amino acid glycine

NEW PROVOST APPOINTED PROFESSOR Stefan Catsicas has recently been appointed the University's Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and will assume his position on January 1, 2011.

He received his Ph.D. in Neurosciences from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland in 1987, following which he did postdoctoral research at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, San Diego, USA. He was head of Neurobiology at the Glaxo Institute for Molecular Biology in Geneva before joining the University of Lausanne’s School of Medicine as Professor and Chairman of Cellular Biology. In 2000, Professor Catsicas was appointed Vice President, Research Director and Professor of Cellular Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institue of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL).

Professor Catsicas’ personal scientific interests were centered on neuronal development and cell death with a focus on protein biophysics.

His work has contributed to a better understanding of neuronal plasticity and of its possible role in neurodegenerative diseases.

Among Professor Catsicas’ many accomplishments in academic governance are merging three institutes at the University of Lausanne’s School of Medicine to focus on basic and clinically relevant neurosciences. At EPFL he was instrumental in the restructuring of EPFL into five schools and interdisciplinary centers. Professor Catsicas helped recruit the Deans for the schools as well as more than 60 senior and tenure track faculty. He also played a key role in designing EPFL’s new technology transfer policy.

Welcoming Professor Catsicas and family to the University, KAUST President Professor Choon Fong Shih said, "I am sure we all look forward to getting to know Professor Catsicas and working with him as he leads the academic sector towards realizing our collective aspirations for KAUST as a globally renowned research university." INSIDE:

News 2-3

ENTREPRENEURIAL

INNOVATIONS

The Seed Fund is one THE winning innovations in the second round of the KAUST Seed of a number of initiatives Fund Program are as diverse as their run by KAUST’s Economic proponents. Among the winning teams Development Department to nurture are a student, post doc, senior research prospective entrepreneurs at the scientist, staff member and assistant university and help them develop professor – each awarded grants new technologies and establish to further develop their discoveries businesses. Unique to KAUST, it and innovations into viable aims to reduce barriers experienced by other early-stage funds to invest. business ventures.

Through the commercialization The funding does not compete with of their start-up businesses, the five venture capital, but strives to act in a teams hope to impact the Kingdom synergistic manner to facilitate very and beyond. The Seed Fund Program early and early-stage developments helps to pave the way, awarding toward commercial uptake. budding entrepreneurs with funding The award panel is compromised along with critical of five distinguished Through the support services judges and university commercialization of authorities who and facilities.

The mission their start-up businesses, assess each case of the Seed Fund giving the five teams hope to individually, valuable feedback is to promote impact the Kingdom regardless of their the economic competitiveness win status. and beyond of Saudi Arabia Applications are through investment in technological presented anonymously to the innovations that lead to the judges and then critiqued, based establishment of enterprises. on: the maturity of technology Winners receive grants of up to or research; the strategic fit of the $250,000 to fund first steps towards proposal within KAUST’s mission; turning their concepts into viable the applicant’s business case commercial products. and model; possible intellectual The Seed Fund also co-invests property and technology transfer; with other types of funding vehicles the available entrepreneurial skills to complement the activities of and requirements; and the project’s privately and publicly funded economic impact on Saudi Arabia.

In this round, the panel selected incubators and technology transfer centers elsewhere. The program five winners among 30 applicants works in close collaboration with based on the following innovations: KAUST Industrial Partners (both within the Kingdom and globally), TRIPLE OUTPUT SOLAR the Intellectual Property and WATER TANK Technology Transfer department, – Nassar Al Madhoun, Dr. Raed Bkayrat the KAUST Research Park, Water, for which there are no and the entrepreneurship and incubation services of the KAUST substitutes, has always been one of mankind’s most precious resources.

Innovation Cluster.

Our Town 4-5

In Depth 6-7

This is especially true in the Middle East, where rising populations and economic development continually demand new water supplies.

Globally, the demand for water has more than tripled over the past half century, creating an urgent need for cost effective innovations utilizing wise and efficient use of water resources.

The Triple Output Solar Water Tank hopes to be part of the solution. Its technology is based on developing a solar water tank for residential application that is simple, low cost and offers multiple services to the household – including the use of both municipal water and brackish water. The inventor, Nassar Al Madhoun, was first inspired through his desire to see the Saudi desert bloom with agriculture. This led him to develop an innovative replacement to conventional tanks that offers more value and functionality providing output in three ways: clean, sterilized drinking water; hot water for residential use like cleaning and bathing; and service water for the bathroom and sinks.

Al Madhoun has been working on desert innovations for the past 30 years. He is collaborating with Dr. Raed Bkayrat (KAUST staff) to commercialize his water tank invention.

SERIES OF CATALYSTS FOR PRODUCING OPTICALLY ACTIVE ALPHA-AMINO ACID DERIVATIVES - Dr. Kuo-Wei Huang, Dr. Xiao-Yu Guan This is Dr. Huang’s second Seed Fund win. In this latest round, his winning innovation is a series of catalysts capable of catalyzing a wide variety of enantioselective Technology 7

reactions. Enantiomers are two mirror image stereoisomers and enantioselective synthesis is when only one of the enantiomers, and not the other, is formed. One of the applications of this series of catalysts allows the preparation of a wide variety of optically pure alpha-amino acids in an economic fashion.

Some of the industry applications of alpha-amino acids include the production of biodegradable plastics and pharmaceuticals. Dr. Huang and his team have devised a more economical synthetic process, which has significant commercial benefit.

AGENDAT WEB APPLICATION CALENDAR SOFTWARE - Reem Ibrahim Khojah With rapid developments of technology and increased channels of communication, productivity demands are rising and sophisticated time-management skills are vital. It’s no surprise that in this digital age and growing market for mobile software applications, time management tools are in high demand.

Agendat is a practical solution that efficiently integrates a social networking utility within a calendar template. Beyond managing tasks and appointments, users share their activities by various means of digital information exchange, including but not limited to, sharing images, videos, text files or digital documents. It provides a special website portal that can be further enhanced by adding other software applications suited to the user’s specific interests and needs.

(Continued on p.2)

Community 8

NEWS

November 2010

The Beacon

WRAPPING UP THE FALL SEMESTER With midterms and EID vacation upon us, let’s step back and consider something of what may lie behind discoveries and groundbreaking research. A good scientific & academic mentor helps place the young researcher in an enriching continuum

of discovery, scholarship and life experience. So it was for Professor Shih with his own mentor, Harvard’s John Hutchinson.

Eid Mubarak!

- THE BEACON Editorial

Write to us at thebeacon@kaust.edu.sa The Beacon, Issue 3, November 2010. Published by The Communications Department, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.

Contact Salah Sindi T +966 (2) 808-3221, email salah.sindi@kaust.edu.sa, or Christopher Sands at T +966 (2) 808-3228, email christopher.sands@kaust.edu.sa © King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Printed on partially recycled paper.

ENTREPRENEURIAL

INNOVATIONS

KCC Opening

In Brief

2

The KAUST Catalysis Center (KCC) is one of the nine research centers of KAUST and officially opens December 6, 2010. The objective of KCC is to achieve the best catalytic performance with a strategy purely based on “catalysis by design”. On December 7-8, there will be an inaugural KCC Symposium on Catalysis. Topics will cover all aspects of catalysis by design with some emphasis on new energy vectors, new polymers, environment, and sustainability. For details, visit the KAUST website at www.kaust.edu.sa. 

Employers Woo KAUST Graduates

(Continued from p. 1)

HIGH SURFACE AREA SILICA NANOSPHERES (KCC-1) – Dr. Vivek Polshettiwar, Dr. Dongkyu Cha, Dr. Aziz Fihri This discovery of a fibrous nano-silica material, KCC-1 was highlighted in the September 2010 issue of the Beacon, and since then, Dr. Vivek Polshettiwar and his team (who work under the direction of Dr. Jean Marie Basset) have received a Seed Fund grant to further their findings. Nano-spheres have wide applications in materials science as exceptional building blocks for fabrication of an assortment of valuable materials, and silica is one of the well-established examples.

Porous silica is commonly used in industrial catalysis, and silicas with large, easily accessible surface areas are in great demand. The KCC-1 silica nanospheres have never been seen before, and the combination of large, accessible surface area and fibrous surface morphology, due to the presence of a kind of dendrimeric silica fibers and their respective channels as opposed to pores will enhance the accessibility of available surface area.

This significant discovery furthers K AUST's economic development mission as it could bring significant commercial benefits to several industries including oil and gas.

Although the starting/seed template material for the production of KCC-1 is relatively expensive, the inventors

WEP Poster Session

believe that the overall process is not. Ideally the nano-silica would be produced in the Saudi Arabia, thus creating local employment opportunities.

The KAUST Office for Technology Transfer & Innovation has already filed Patent Corporation Treaty and US patent applications and soon will fill a GCC patent application on KCC-1. Several major companies are eager to examine and test the materials and license the patent rights from KAUST. WIRELESS VITAL SIGNS MONITORING PATCH – Dr. Atif Shamim, Dr. Muhammad Arsalan Heart disease and atherosclerosis are responsible for 30 percent of the causes of death in Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi Heart Association. Worldwide, heart attacks are the leading cause of death for both men and women.

Studies show that the best case for surviving myocardial infarction is in part due to immediate medical attention within the first moments following the onset of cardiac arrest.

In emergency medicine, the term “golden hour” refers to the first 60 minutes that follows a traumatic injury during which prompt medical treatment significantly increases the chance of preventing death.

Science with a significant social impact is what drives Dr. Atif

Following the completion of a successful inaugural year of academia at KAUST, favorable research progress is being made. In the spirit of celebrating and sharing the advancements, the Winter Enrichment Program (WEP) is hosting a KAUST Research Poster Contest for students and post docs.

Contest Details: The deadline for submitting a onepage abstract of your research poster is November 30. From these entries, the top 100 abstracts will be chosen and given five weeks to be created into posters. These posters will be on display in the library during the WEP session (January 15-31, 2011).

The top three posters will be chosen and awarded a cash prize. For inquiries regarding poster content, please contact niveen.khashab@kaust.edu.sa. For other details or to submit your abstract, please email contactwep@kaust.edu.sa. 

Seed Fund Winners Raed Bkayrat, Reem Khojah, Mohamed Samaha (SVP of Economic & Technology Dev.), Vivek Polshettiwar, Atif Shamim and Kuo-Wei Huang

Shamim. Together with Dr. Muhammad Arsalan (a NASA Research Associate who has just recently joined KAUST from Carleton University, Canada), Dr. Shamim has devised a wireless vital signs monitoring device which integrates non-invasive sensors for blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature, with a transmitter circuit. This wearable patch makes use of low-cost integrated circuit technology. The sensor’s electrical properties change according to variations in the human vital signs and an equivalent electrical signal is sent to a Bluetooth or wi-fi-enabled receiving device, such as a cell phone, that calls 911 in an emergency situation.

Due to its low cost, small size and simplicity, the proposed product has global market potential and can be used anywhere with a basic cell phone and communication infrastructure in place.

The demonstration of this single wireless sensor lab prototype won the national award at the Canadian Microelectronics Corporation (CMC) TEXPO in October 2007. In 2008, a lab prototype of the innovative 3D package for this sensor system was developed and its presentation won the international award in

Monitoring device alerts emergency services

Amsterdam. At present, with the funding and support of the Seed Fund Program, work is being done to develop a prototype with multiple vital sign monitoring sensors, with plans of developing a commercial product.

The deadline for the third round of the Seed Fund has already past, but applications are currently being accepted for round four. To find out more about the Seed Fund Program or the application process, please visit the KAUST portal or email seedfund@kaust.edu.sa. 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! The 2011 Winter Enrichment Program (WEP) will be held January 15 - 31, 2011 with a special opening ceremony January 14. WEP is designed with the aim to have our intellectual horizons enlarged and our collective imaginations stretched.

Through an expansive offering of courses, workshops, lectures and cultural and recreational activities, WEP is a time to discover new fields of interest and to be inspired.

Following last year’s successful WEP, the Provost’s Office is pleased to offer another stellar program this year.

Proposals were generated campus-wide and then selected by the WEP program committee.

Some of the 2011 WEP keynote speakers include: • •

The KAUST Career Fair, held November 3rd in the Conference Center, was a great success. Representatives of over twenty local and international companies made presentations on their organizations and then met and networked with graduate students. 

Rob Cook - physicist, Academy Award winner and founder of Pixar

Maria Zuber - geophysicist and principal investigator for NASA research missions Other highlights include an Entrepreneurship Certification Program, Women in Science and Engineering

workshop, distinguished In-Kingdom speakers and artistic performances.

Watch for more details as we approach January!

For more information please email contactwep@kaust.edu.sa. 

SEDCO Research Excellence Awards Call for Proposals University Development and Global Collaborative Research recently announced that SEDCO Holding Company, a private investment company based in Jeddah, has pledged SR7 million to KAUST. These funds will be used to create the SEDCO Research Excellence Awards (SREA), a new program that will fund one three-year, multidisciplinary research project at KAUST. The SREA will support both problem-oriented and basic research of special interest to the Kingdom. The research is to be undertaken by multidisciplinary teams of at least three investigators of whom, at least one member must be KAUST faculty and the Principle Investigator. The SREA encourages collaborative engagement with top researchers worldwide but all work must be done at KAUST. For details and deadlines, contact: blake.ashwell@kaust.edu.sa 

NEWS Valentin Rodionov

Christian Claudel

Prior to arriving at KAUST in October,

An Assistant Professor of Electrical

Valentin was a Postdoctoral Research

Engineering and Mechanical Engineering,

Fellow with Prof. Jean Fréchet at

Christian’s interests lie in the

Berkeley. A new Assistant Professor of

environmental applications of cyber-

Chemical Science, his research inter-

physical systems for monitoring and

ests are broadly focused on nano- and

participatory sensing.

mesoscale catalytic systems such as

“My advisor at Berkeley, Professor

micelles or colloidal particles, capable

Alexandre Bayen taught me things about

of emergent behavior.

Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering and also a member

(Continued on p.6)

Although he thought he was “fully formed” before he went to Berkeley,

Bayen’s team, “once you were in, he was demanding but you weren’t let

Valentin says “he made me a better chemist and scientist and showed

down and your path to contribute was clear”. Christian says he already

me what leadership is all about. Working in his group was a privilege”.

feels the transition from student to colleague and he is “happy to be

He says that his greatest lesson from Prof. Fréchet was his “efficient and

jumping from advised to advisor”.

rational organization of the lab – making sure things got done, holding

critical component of a successful mentor-mentee relationship.

He suggests that trust is the most

people accountable but also inspiring great team spirit”.

Xin Gao An Assistant Professor of Computer

Antoine Vigneron

Science, Xin’s research considers bio-

Antoine completed his Ph.D. in 2002 at Hong Kong University of

informatics and algorithms with a

Science and Technology and recently joined KAUST from the Applied

focus on designing highly efficient

Mathematics and Informatics research unit of the French National

algorithms and high quality systems

Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). He is Assistant Professor of

that work on real biological data and

Computer Science and his research focuses on the complexity of algo-

modelling complex biological systems.

rithms for motion planning, description of shape and proximity search Having had multiple advisors throughout his years as a graduate that “each one had some influence on me” but none he would characterize as mentors. His field “is one where students are expected to work independently”. In addition – he suggests that the cultural differences between graduate education in Europe and in North America or Asia may have had an influence on his experience. “There is much more sep-

“I feel very fortunate to have had Prof. Ming Li (University of Waterloo) as my supervisor”, Xin says.

“He was not only famous for his research accomplishments but also his kindness and devotion to family”. He taught me “how to balance between research, services and family” and, in order to manage that equilibrium, “that scheduling is everything”. He also gave Xin valuable introductions to his community and colleagues. “He built bridges for me to collaborate and find jobs”. He taught him how to treat his own students – “to take care of them, not only as mentor and collaborator but also a friend”.

aration between work and private life in Europe”, Antoine told The Beacon.

“In the U.S., faculty and students go out for dinner together” but this is rare in France.

Pascal Saikaly With his research focusing on microbial ecology of wastewater treat-

3

LIGHTS

ment, microbial fuel cells and membrane bioreactors; Pascal is Assistant

professionally)”. Although he says it was very difficult to get into Prof.

student and young faculty member in Hong Kong and France, he feels

GUIDING

IN Greek mythology, Odysseus entrusted the care and education of his son, Telemachus, to his loyal advisor and friend, Mentor. His integrity and trustworthiness was so inspiring the story goes, that whenever the Greek goddess, Athena, was in a position to advise mortals, she would assume his likeness. Hence, the widely used term today: mentor.

As the ancient Greeks understood – the ideal mentor is much more than an advisor – he/she provides wisdom and knowledge as well as support and empathy for all aspects of a graduate or young professor’s professional life. As many of us find it difficult to maintain distance between our career and our personal lives - a mentor can, in some instances, be a life-coach as well.

Not every person is endowed with all of the skills of the perfect mentor. The ideal can be a composite – two or even more individuals who fulfil different roles in a young graduate’s career.

Mentoring works two ways and a good relationship is by mutual consent of both mentor and mentee, and each party must be sensitive to the degree of independence wanted by the other. A strong connection can, ultimately, be conducive to the success of both.

Through today’s pressures of competition, tight deadlines and high professional demands, it can sometimes be easy to lose sight of the importance of people and relationships.

Science and Engineering Ethics Journal recently reported a study of scientific trainees who were caught fabricating data in their research results. The study found that, in three-quarters of the cases, their laboratory results were not sufficiently examined by their mentors. It also found that two-thirds of the trainees were not taught standards for maintaining lab notebooks. The study’s authors reported

myself – what my limits were and how to succeed (personally as well as

He told The Beacon that Jean Fréchet was a life-changing mentor.

with applications in biology, engineering and robotics.

November 2010

of the Water Desalination and Reuse Center team.

Atif Shamim

He has had mentors at each stage of his academic career. While

Kazuhiro Takanabe

earning his Master's at the American University of Beirut, his professor

A

Kazuhiro, an Assistant Professor of Chemical Science comes to KAUST

taught him the importance of being hands-on, making students feel

Professor of Electrical Engineering, Atif’s

from the University of Tokyo. His research interests include generation

that he was there to help when needed. “He would go to the lab and

interests are in System-on-Chip (SoC)

of completely renewable hydrogen from photocatalytic water splitting.

help us set up” – a trait that Pascal wishes to emulate with his own stu-

and 3D ceramic or organic System-

During his doctoral research at Tokyo Institute of Technology, he

dents. His Ph.D. supervisor gave him “the freedom to think about my

on-Package (SoP) designs to realize

spent two years in the Netherlands under Prof. Kulathuiyer Seshan at

own dissertation topic” and encouraged him to “read, read, read” – look-

highly miniaturized and smart wireless

the University of Twente. “Seshan was

ing for ideas from different disciplines.

components/devices for wearable and

like a father to me – he not only taught

“He wasn’t just a supervisor – he was

me science, but also life”. Although no

actually a friend”. While working as

His relationship with his Ph.D. advisor, Prof. Langis Roy at Carleton

longer working together in the same

a postdoc at North Carolina State,

University in Ottawa, was “amazing”, Atif says. He was “never judgemen-

institution, Kazuhiro feels that he is

Pascal had two mentors who not only

tal and shared equally my successes and failures”. No matter what the

still his teacher and he is pleased that

gave him the latitude to work on his

task, whether an engineering problem or technical writing he was there

now he is at KAUST, they are closer

own but supported him 100 percent.

to help. “He never let me feel alone”. Atif worked especially hard for him

geographically. “He calls occasionally

He feels that a good mentor “makes

because he “wanted to see him smile. I know that our relationship is

and I always ask his advice”.

students feel like colleagues”.

lifelong and we will continue to learn together”.

newly

appointed

Assistant

implantable biomedical sensors.

MENTORING A PRESIDENT ASK John Hutchinson to name the key factor in either faculty to faculty or faculty to student mentoring and he offers one word: quality. The renowned Harvard professor of solid mechanics emphasizes the importance of creating an environment that honors good research — not quantity of publications.

Just prior to the symposium held recently at KAUST in honor of his 50 year career (Future Directions in Mechanics and Materials Research), Prof. Hutchinson spoke to The Beacon about what it was like to mentor such luminaries in academia as our own President, Choon Fong Shih. He explained that the atmosphere in the department was very collegial and “we had a wonderfully interactive and friendly group of grad students”. “In those days”, he said, “funding was not as difficult to come by and the research problem was the grad student’s to determine”.

“At Harvard, in our department, an advisor would help with the research but students would publish under their own name”. Now funding organizations require the faculty member’s name on the paper and they, in turn, need the publications.

Professor Hutchinson stated in a recent interview for his institution’s website, however, that “any faculty advisor knows you cannot take credit for what your students achieve”. His students and collaborators arrived with “great things” already inside them.

Professor Shih has often told the story of meeting Prof. Hutchinson on his first day at Harvard, “expecting him to tell me what I should focus my research on”. Instead he was told to “go to the library, do some reading and figure out what interests you”. A product of Singapore’s structured education system, he was even more surprised when Prof. Hutchinson said he “looked forward to learning something new from his research”.

Professor Hutchinson told The Beacon that his message to young faculty would be that it isn’t the number of papers that they publish – “one top notch paper is worth twenty that are run-of-themill. Creating the right environment is important”, he said, “you are less likely to have problems when there is an emphasis on, and tradition of high standards”. Integrity in research was never an issue; he and his colleagues just took it for granted.

Faculty members “need to see Ph.D. students as the next generation in the field and want to create the best possible conditions for them to further their field and to succeed”.

It is apparent that Professor Shih thrived on his mentor’s philosophy. “John challenged me – and all of his students – to go beyond the tried and tested. He made me feel smarter than I thought I was. His enthusiasm spurred me to push myself to my utmost and not to set a limit

on what I sought to achieve”. He was, he said “ever the inspiring and encouraging mentor, who gave me freedom to explore my own imagination and scientific passions… he taught me that graduate teaching and research have both intellectual and social dimensions”. 

Professor John Hutchinson with Professor Choon Fong Shih

4

OUR TOWN

November 2010

The Beacon

OUR TOWN A community full of activities!

IN addition to being a cutting-edge research graduate university, KAUST is also a vibrant community. With over 80 nationalities and a diverse range of professional backgrounds, there is a wide spectrum of talents, skills and interests that stretch beyond science and technology. The KAUST community offers opportunities for learning, growth, and life enriching experiences for all ages.

Infant and Toddler Playgroup Three times a week, children ages 0-3 along with their parent (or caretaker), meet for a playgroup session in the Island Oasis Center (ECC1). This group meets every Saturday, Monday and Wednesday from 9:00 am -12:00 pm for a playful time of activities and socializing. It’s a great opportunity for meeting other adults with similarly aged children and engaging the little ones in creative and developmental play. To find out more about this group, please email Cortney at cortaliesa@gmail.com.

Professional & Graduate Associations There are several local chapters of international associations right here at KAUST! In addition to these associations, there are also graduate interest groups. To find out more about current groups or how to start a new one, please email paul.bennett@kaust.edu.sa.

AAEE – American Academy of Environmental Engineers is dedicated to excellence in the practice of environmental engineering to ensure the public health, safety and welfare to enable humankind to co-exist in harmony with nature. Contact: yu.hang@kaust.edu.sa AIESEC – Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales is present in over 107 countries and territories with over 50,000 members. It's a global, non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization interested in world issues, leadership and management.

Contact: ng.cheung@kaust.edu.sa ASME – American Society of Mechanical Engineers promotes the art, science, practice of mechanical and multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe. Contact: tarek.atallah@kaust.edu.sa AlChE – American Institute of Chemical Engineers is the world's leading organization for chemical engineering professionals, with over 40,000 members from over 90 countries. AIChE is a networking resource for core process industries or emerging areas, such as nanobiotechnology. Contact: ibrahim.sayed@kaust.edu.sa EAGE – European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers promotes: the development and application of geosciences and related engineering subjects. Contact: mohammad.gubair@kaust.edu.sa

Harbor Library An after school program for 3-10 year olds meets on Monday at the Harbor Library where they listen to stories and sing songs in both Arabic and English, winding down by watching an engaging movie together.

Weekend Story/Activity Time for 3-10 year olds occur on weekend evenings when the kids are often at the library with their parents. Stories and songs are followed by a thematic arts and craft activity.

Arabic Classes take place every day except Friday at the Harbor Library, taught by all native Arabic speakers. Beginners can always be accommodated and, indeed, one lab takes a weekly trip to improve their knowledge of the language of their host country!

Classes are a mixture of conversation, reading and writing. English classes for Saudi and Chinese speakers are held weekly on Sunday and Tuesday.

Tajweed, volunteer-led classes for Arabic speakers wishing to learn how to read the Qur'an and further explore its meaning, are held on Mondays and Tuesdays at the Harbor Library.

Reading the Qur’an in English classes are held weekly on Tuesdays for non-Arabic speakers.

Book Clubs will be started once there is sufficient community members interested. If enough interest is generated, there will be both a female and male club.

Details can be found on the Harbor Library website at http://recreation.kaust.edu.sa or by calling 808 6648 or 808 6649.

The KAUST School This year, there are over 600 children attending the K-12 KAUST School. This International Baccalaureate (IB) school is a vibrant community of inquisitive and analytical minds. In addition to high academic standards, various arts, music and athletics activities take place.

The school mascot is a shark and scholar-athletes participate in the Saudi Arabian Inter-Kingdom Activities Conference (SAIKAC) League. This league involves many schools from all over the Kingdom, all serving international communities. Past events have included both traveling to and hosting Riyadh and Dhahran schools. SAIKAC offers a variety of athletic, artistic and cultural events such as sports tournaments, spelling bees, and music festivals.

The next interscholastic competition is the U19 Boys’ Soccer on December 1-2 at the Harbor Sports Club. Games will run from morning to early evening.

Come support our home team and cheer on our next generation!

For more information about The KAUST School, please contact the school registrar Rania Judeh at 808 6361 or rania.judeh@kaust.edu.sa.

IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Contact: joanna.oommen@kaust.edu.sa IET – Institution of Engineering and Technology is one of the world’s leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community, with more than 150,000 members in 127 countries and offices in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

Contact: imran.ansari@kaust.edu.sa SIAM – Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics builds cooperation between mathematics and the worlds of science and technology through publications, research and community. Contact: andrew.yip@kaust.edu.sa Engineers Without Borders – is a non-profit humanitarian organization involving KAUST students, staff and faculty. The goal is to form partnerships between University Chapters, Professional Chapters, and local communities in the developing world to meet their needs. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.

Contact: kyle.owen@kaust.edu.sa Toastmasters – is a non-profit organization with nearly 260,000 members in over 12,500 clubs in 113 countries. It is the world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience, offering ways to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Contact: jawaher.burhan@kaust.edu.sa

www.thebeacon.kaust.edu.sa

OUR TOWN

November 2010

Off ice of the Arts The Office of the Arts, led by Wendy Keyes, has sponsored diverse programming in the past year, including a concert last spring highlighting the Indonesian Angklung Ensemble. In May, a Talent Show presented 13 finalists from nine different countries. This fall, many from our community have tuned instruments neglected for years or trained rusty voices to bring music to our campus. A Joint Concert on November 7 will feature the Chamber Strings Ensemble and the Community Chorus performing a special piece by Henry Purcell. On November 9, three vocalists, finalists in the 2010 Talent Show, will be showcased in a Vocal Gala. Both concerts will be held in the KAUST Auditorium at 7:30 pm. Be prepared for something very special! During Graduation Week, on December 14, smaller ensembles will present at a special “In-House” International Chamber Music Concert. All concerts are open to KAUST ID carrying community members.

Musicians and singers interested in joining a group should contact Wendy Keyes at wendy.keyes@kaust.edu.sa.

The Kaust Community Advisory Committee Members of this committee have been appointed in this initial phase from the various segments of the KAUST community to ensure balanced representation.

They meet regularly to discuss issues of common community interest and concern as collected by its members or sent in to the KCAC email at KCAC@kaust.edu.sa.

KAUST Band The name of KAUST’s first contemporary band, “Music, Sand and Stone” reflects its desert origin. Its members comprise a mix of students, academic and facilities staff and they focus on acoustic covers of popular contemporary songs going back to the mid 90's.

Explore the Red Sea and discover its wonders Under the Recreation Services, Coastline Marine Services offers boat trips throughout the week (scheduled and unscheduled) to KAUST members.

Anyone interested in being part of this Self Directed Group for Musicians should contact Bertrand Rioux at bertrand.rioux@kaust.edu.sa.

Scheduled trips occur Wednesday through Friday and include cruising trips on Wednesdays from 5-7 pm, snorkeling/scuba diving trips on Thursdays and Fridays from 9 am-3 pm, and fishing trips from 3-7 pm Wednesday through Friday.

Or you can arrange to take your family or a group of people out for an unscheduled boat trip, available Saturday through Tuesday. For prices, bookings or more information about other water sports and activities, please email marinebookings@kaust.edu.sa or call 808 6621 or 808 6634.

Harbor Sports Club The Harbor Sports Club (HSC) has something for everyone! It’s is one of the most popular facilities at KAUST and hosts a variety of programs and activities for all ages. From swimming to tennis to martial arts, there is always a fun way to help maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. Activities range from recreational sports to competitive leagues, as well as instructional classes. Check out the Facilities and Community website for more details at http://facilities.kaust.edu.sa

Self Directed Groups The purpose of Self Directed Groups (SDGs) is to encourage, promote and sponsor recreational and educational activities, special events and entertainment programs for the benefit of its members and the KAUST community. SDGs are a great way to meet other people with common interests or hobbies. Currently, KAUST SDGs include Photography, Cycle Club, Green Group, Cricket, Ultimate Frisbee, Art Club, Musicians Club, and Boy Scouts.

The KAUST Cycle Club members ride together 5 times weekly in the relative cool of early morning or early evening to make laps of the campus at various paces. The rides do leave promptly, but cyclists are encouraged to intercept the group at any point along their route. Recreation Services organized a very successful event last year in which 171 cyclists of all ages participated, and further races and rides are being planned for the winter months. With the first general meeting due to take place soon, the steering committee is looking for a volunteer from the community who has time to take on leadership of this dynamic SDG. To volunteer or find out more about this group, please email cecil.murray@kaust.edu.sa.

The KAUST Green Group (KGG) is a SelfDirected Group made up of students, faculty and other community members. Its mission is to promote and advocate for eco-friendly living at KAUST by fostering ecological responsibility. The group holds informative and engaging events and workshops which focus on advancing environmental wellness and sustainability. Recently members toured the KAUST Waste Transfer Center and an October meeting focused on a video lecture

by John Rockstrom about our dependence on the earth’s resources and changes necessary for the planet's survival, followed by lively discussion by KAUST scholars, researchers and community members.

For more information contact Rachel at rachelweitzmanyeh@gmail.com.

To read about other SDGs or to find out how to start your own visit the Facilities and Community website at http://facilities.kaust.edu.sa.

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IN DEPTH

November 2010

The Beacon

Cracking the

SURFACE Satellite radar interferometric image showing 10s-of-centimeter displacements of the surface above the magmatic intrusion in Harrat Lunayyir

EARLIER this year, Associate Professor of Geophysics, Sigurjón Jónsson and colleagues from the U.S. and Haiti sent a strong signal to the government of Haiti. They warned of possible further consequences of the Mw 7.0 earthquake that caused mass destruction and 200,000 deaths in the Port-au-Prince region.

In a study reported in the most recent issue of Nature Geoscience, the team found that there is a potential for a similar-sized earthquake to happen even closer to the capital.

Scientists initially thought that the quake had ruptured the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault which accommodates the movement between the Caribbean Plate to the south and the North American Plate to the north. However, using both GPS and radar interferometry measurements of ground motion, the team found that this assumption was incorrect. Their research determined that what had occurred was a combination of horizontal and contractional slip on a previously unmapped fault called the Léogâne fault. This fault lies subparallel to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault. It was named for the town of Léogâne which is situated right on top of the newly detected fault and sustained the most heavy damage in the earthquake (according to reports, 90% of the buildings were destroyed). Since the EnriquilloPlantain Garden fault has not broken (releasing

GUIDING LIGHTS

accumulated stress) since the middle of the 18th Century, it still remains a significant threat for the city.

Sigurjón signed his contract to join KAUST on April 14, 2009. That same week Saudi Arabia was hit with a swarm of 30,000 earthquakes caused by a volcanic intrusion that came just short of the surface - only 300km north of the campus.

Earth movements and seismic activity have fascinated Sigurjón since childhood when a volcano erupted nine times just 20km from his home in Iceland. Now, as a scientist he has been close on the heels of a number of events that have left destruction in their wake. Articles in various geoscience publications have heralded the work that he and his worldwide colleagues have done to better understand the cause of these tremors and help governments prepare for future tremors.

As the intrusion in the northwest of the Kingdom took place, the Saudi Geological Survey installed a network of broadbandenabled seismometers throughout the area to measure the activity. Although most quakes were relatively low magnitude and the highest was just 5.7 on the Richter scale, the damage to houses in the rural area of Al Ais prompted Saudi authorities to evacuate some 40,000 people from the vicinity. Most were moved to

safer ground in Yanbu and Medina until the site was determined to be stable some three months later.

While still in Zurich at the Institute of Geophysics, ETH, Sigurjón requested the European Space Agency to turn on radar satellites when above the area of the swarm.

At KAUST he used images acquired previous to the quakes and contrasted them with images bounced from earth to satellite after the event.

He then measured the ground deformation and produced a model of the activity and displacement that took place underground.

What he and his collaborators found was a rare occurrence – a thin sheet (or dyke) of molten lava that had risen to roughly two kilometers below the surface and fractured brittle crystalline rocks above the flowing magma.

The Saudi lava fields (called harrats) cover approximately 180,000 square kilometers but the specific field in question, Harrat Lunayyir, is a relatively small one. The formation of the rift that eventually led to the creation of the Red Sea started 30 million years ago with the splitting of Arabia from Africa.

The event provided valuable information on how magma ascends to the surface and may lead to improved predictive models of dyke intrusions and volcanic eruptions in the future.

In their September 2010 article published in Nature Geoscience, Sigurjón and his collaborators warn that “the harrat fields remain active and potentially hazardous” and report that, in response to their research, the Saudi Geological Survey is increasing its program of volcanic monitoring, hazard assessment and communication.

For the Haiti study, Sigurjón was not part of the on-the-ground team in Haiti. His contribution was the analysis and modelling of the InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) data as well as coseismic slip estimation and error analysis. However, in contrast to most KAUST scientists, this geophysicist’s laboratory is usually the open air. Sigurjón spends one to two weeks every summer with students surveying in his native Iceland – an intensely active volcanic area that provides he and his colleagues with baseline data for activity elsewhere in the world. He has also been involved in fieldwork in places like the Galapagos, Azores, and Hawaii.

An avid mountain climber, Sigurjón has climbed peaks in four continents. He jokes that the thin air at high altitudes gives him “a chance to think slowly”. Perhaps mounting peaks far above sea-level gives him inspiration for his study of the peaks and valleys below the surface of the earth. 

(Continued from p.3)

that “there was a troublingly high incidence of missing data or of no lab books at all (even in the laboratories of renowned scientists)”. They were surprised that “there appears to be no agreed-upon standards or best practices recommending that mentors or lab directors review trainee raw data at regular intervals”.

One of the study’s authors, Sandra Titus of the Office of Research Integrity of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, talked about the supervisory role of a mentor to pay attention to data and to opportunities that present themselves for misconduct in an article in The Physiologist. “Mentors”, she

said, “can define and enforce standards of integrity or they can be lax and not be involved. We must alter the position that ‘absentee mentoring’ is acceptable”.

Good mentors recognize and admit to their limitations as well as their strengths. A good protégé can accept imperfections in their mentors (while, at the same time, hoping their mentor will understand and forgive their own faults). Best practices may be suggested by leading institutions who have produced manuals for mentoring young faculty and/or students In recognition of the importance of the issue at KAUST, Acting Provost Jim Calvin explained to The Beacon that

identifying best practices in mentoring is part of the work of the Faculty Recruitment and Development Working Group, one of eight strategic committees of the university. The working group is charged with examining new models for attracting and retaining faculty, including programs (such as mentoring) to enhance the success of young faculty.

Although, in some cases, a mentor/mentee relationship does not continue past a short-term need for assistance and support, one that transitions and grows over a long period of time is reported by many as one of the joys of an academic career. 

www.thebeacon.kaust.edu.sa

IN DEPTH / TECHNOLOGY Jónsson on the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan, September 2010

LAB GEAR

ILLUSTRATION: CHRIS KENDALL

KAUST Postdoc, Olivier Cavalie (left) and Sigurjón Jónsson positioning GPS monitor in Iceland

November 2010

WATER DESALINATION & REUSE CENTER INAUGURATED utilization; thereby decreasing the impact upon our fragile environment. They are moving the desalination industry from energy-intensive thermal processes to membrane-based processes (for example – seawater reverse osmosis, forward osmosis and membrane distillation). They are also expanding wastewater reuse and moving from non-potable to indirect, potable reuse.

In his opening of the presentation session prior to ribbon-cutting, KAUST Vice President for Research, Professor Jean Fréchét, noted that the synergism between WDRC and other research centers at KAUST (especially the Advanced Membrane and Porous Materials and Red Sea Research Centers) will be a critical component in its success. Just as important are the Center’s industry partners (members of the Center Industrial Affiliates Program), in Kingdom government and academic partners, as well as Global Research Collaboration partners in universities around the world. These partners, coupled with a team of almost 40 faculty, scientists, staff and students create a robust and powerful alliance to tackle the challenges facing the industry in Saudi Arabia and around the world. 

TOP: Guests at the WDRC Inauguration (left to right): Dr. Adil Bushnak, President, Bushnak Academy; Dr. Mazen Bin Abdulrazaq Balilah, Member, Saudi Majlis Ash-Shura (Financial Affairs); Dr. Bakr Bin Hamza Khoshaim, Member, Saudi Majlis Ash-Shura (Security Affairs); Dr. Mohamed Al-Saud, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Water and Electricity BOTTOM: The WDRC team surround Center Director, Professor Gary Amy

LC-OCD Liquid Chromatography – Organic Carbon Detection

PHOTO BY SHEREEN BAWAZEER

KAUST’s Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC) opened October 16th with industry collaborators and government leaders heralding its strong potential to impact the water quality and supply of Saudi Arabia and the world.

Global climate change, rising population and increased demands from the agricultural sector are escalating the crisis for clean water worldwide. The World Health Organization has reported that as many as five million people die each year from water-borne diseases and lack of water – more lives than those claimed by war.

Considering that 97.5% of water on earth is found in our oceans – sea water is the ultimate renewable resource. However, first generation desalination technologies consumed huge amounts of energy, destroy marine life and foul the sea with waste products.

In industrialized countries, 60% of all water is consumed for industrial purposes. Therefore new and more efficient wastewater reuse technologies – which tackle water filtration and treating – are needed to counter the insatiability for clean water in manufacturing, food production, power plants, and more.

Scientists in the WDRC are working on solutions to tackle these challenges. They are developing greener desalination technologies which reduce energy consumption, lower emissions and chemical

THIS instrument is used by scientists in the Water Desalination & Reuse Center to analyze natural organic matter (NOM) in water samples. It separates NOM into about ten classes of compounds and then detects them with a customized Organic Carbon Detector (OCD). It is unique because it doesn’t require any sample pre-treatment and has a high level of sensitivity. Additional detectors can then provide researchers with even more detailed information about UV-absorbance and organic nitrogen.

Another unique feature of the LC-OCD is that it has the ability to clean the buffer solution (mobile phase) of all kinds of organic contaminants prior to adding the sample to it. This helps to reduce the detection limit.

After cleaning, the buffer solution is mixed with organic contaminated water (drinking, sea or waste water) and this dissolved organic compound (DOC) is passed through size excursion columns which separate the molecules.

OCD follows almost the scheme of classical TOC-analyzers: acidification, purging of “inorganic” carbon dioxide, oxidation of TOC (the organic mixture) to carbon dioxide, purging of “organic” carbon dioxide and finally, detection by NDIR (non-dispersive infrared detector).

In order to have all steps performed quantitatively and quickly – a thin-film technique based on the Gräntzel Thin-Film Reactor (TFR) is then used.

Researchers then have the unique ability to classify organic contamination with respect to the need of their application. 

The organic mixture (TOC) is separated by a liquid chromatography, followed

by UV-Detection (UVD), Organic Nitrogen Detector (OND) and finally Organic Carbon Detection (OCD)

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COMMUNITY

November 2010

The November photo of the month was taken by Ruogu Ding. A computer science first year Master’s student, Ruogu took this photo of the library in October. He was inspired to capture this image when he noticed how intent the students were studying and the way the sunlight filtered through the curtains and onto the floor.

Have a photo you want to share? Every month The Beacon showcases the work of one of the many talented photographers on campus. (Only original photos that are relevant to the university are accepted.) Send in your unique, imaginative take on whatever strikes you and see if it’s chosen for the photo of the month! 

Email your photos to thebeacon@kaust.edu.sa PHOTO TAKEN BY RUOGU DING

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

The Beacon

MY UNIVERSITY Asma Amir Asma was born in Taif and moved to Jeddah to attend Dar Al-Hekma College, the first private college for women in Saudi Arabia. Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Management of Information Systems, Asma immediately found her niche in the academic world. Before coming to KAUST she worked for two universities – both in their early start-up phases.

While assisting the President of a medical college and then the Dean of an engineering school, Asma saw the campus, labs and curriculum at both institutions come to life and enjoyed being involved in developing collaborations with

other universities.

She jumped at the opportunity to work at KAUST as one of the support staff team in the President’s Office, starting immediately following the inauguration. KAUST has exceeded her expectations. She told The Beacon that her job has helped develop her personality as well as her skills. It has also been an asset in her MBA studies. She looks forward to “seeing KAUST become #1 in the university rankings and to being part of its success”. 

Dr. Tariq Al-Khalifa Although born in Riyadh, Dr. Al-Khalifa spent a significant part of his childhood living in the U.S. Tariq received his Bachelor‘s degree from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) and his Master‘s and doctoral degrees from the Colorado School of Mines. Prior to joining KAUST in June 2009, Tariq was a Research Professor and Director of the Astronomy and Geophysics Research Institute at King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) in Riyadh.

Here at KAUST, in addition to being a Professor of Geophysics, Tariq is currently serving as co-chairman of the upcoming Winter Enrichment Program (WEP).

Tariq was first interested in joining KAUST to “try something new.” Specifically, he wanted to move away from the more administrative side and focus on the research aspect of geophysics, hoping KAUST would be the right place to do that. Not only has he found that KAUST is the right place, but he really enjoys the diversity of the students and the opportunities for research. In particular, Tariq has been very pleased with the balance that KAUST offers faculty to both teach and conduct research. “I love what I do and I’m allowed to do it here far more than anywhere else.” 

Priscila Gonzalez Barba Born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, Priscila came to KAUST from the Monterrey Institute of Technology. Her undergraduate program was Engineering in Mechatronics, a multidisciplinary program which encompasses concepts from mechanical and electronics engineering as well as computer science.

Priscila expects to receive her Master’s in Materials Science and Engineering in December and hopes to continue her studies at KAUST in the new year. Motivated by Prof.

Ghassan Jabbour in her M.Sc. classes, she plans to undertake research on inkjet printing of biosensors for her Ph.D. thesis.

KAUST’s multicultural environment has been an eye opener for her and added more fuel to her childhood dream of creating and directing a science and art institute in Mexico.

A true “Renaissance woman”, Priscila believes in the benefits of combining scientific with artistic skills. She feels that people are “now focusing too much on the details” and lack an overall view of nature that can take science to new levels. 