Winter Enrichment Program Draws Global Audience in Virtual Setting

KHALED NABIL SALAMA Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Associate Dean for Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering

CONNECTIVITY IS NOT ONLY ONE OF KAUST’S CORE PILLARS, IT IS ALSO A CENTRAL PART OF THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

Connectivity takes center stage

While KAUST’s annual Winter Enrichment Program (WEP) is traditionally held in a packed auditorium, social distancing and other health measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic made such an event impossible in 2021. The theme for this year’s WEP was connectivity, and ironically, the pandemic restrictions vastly expanded its reach. Around 7,000 participants from 10 countries signed in to watch 72 speakers from 15 countries, and 1,670 participated in networking sessions. The keynote addresses, seminars, podcasts, film screening, performances and other events held in conjunction with the program continued to grab attention after the closing session, with recorded events logging 540,000 combined views on KAUST’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

Participation is mandatory for students once during their studies, but WEP has proven to be a popular event in its own right as it allows students to take a step back from their daily activities and pursue creative approaches to issues beyond their typical areas of expertise. Themed discussions balanced technical and artistic components in an environment that welcomed participation from beyond the KAUST community. The university provided about one-third of the speakers at the event, while the others were from universities and non-academic institutions in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

WEP Faculty Chair for 2021, Khaled Nabil Salama, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Associate Dean for Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering at KAUST, led the opening remarks. Other KAUST speakers included Associate Professor of Computer Science Dr. Basem Shihada, whose work aims to bring the internet underwater via wireless technologies. Divers currently communicate with hand signals, but in the future connectivity could be possible with radio, acoustic or light signals. Dr. Shihada and his team realized that if there is a clear line of sight between

transmitters and receivers, light can travel far enough and carry sufficient data to provide the necessary connectivity. Sending data through light beams can not only help divers communicate with each other, but also transmit underwater footage to the surface. Dr. Shihada’s Aqua-Fi prototype uses green LEDs for short-distance communications – such as between divers – and laser beams, which require more energy, for longer-distance data delivery.

Another speaker was Dr. Paula Moraga, Assistant Professor of Statistics at KAUST, who is working on the surveillance of diseases such as malaria, dengue and COVID-19. Traditional surveillance systems rely on data that are often reported with a considerable delay from medical diagnosis. Moraga’s team works on the development of innovative analytical tools to integrate information from multiple sources – including climate, the environment, mobility and digital data – to complement epidemiological data and enable real-time surveillance. Moraga’s work enhances forecasts of where outbreaks are likely to occur and where medical resources should be allocated, and directly informs strategic policy to reduce the disease burden in several countries.

Outside speakers included Eng. Abdulrahman Addas, CEO of the Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites. Every year Saudi Arabia hosts one of the largest gatherings in the world when Muslims make a pilgrimage to the holy sites near Makkah. Addas shared plans for smart city solutions to help the city and its residents thrive in their unique role as hosts. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Saad Al Mojel, CEO of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, led a discussion on decision-making, covering what impacts decisions and what makes a good decision.

One of the keynote speakers was Professor Duncan Watts, a sociologist and computer scientist at the University of Pennsylvania and author of a best-selling book on human connectivity called Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. Other keynotes were delivered by H.E. Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications & Information Technology; Professor Gabriel Leung, Dean of Medicine at Hong Kong University; Professor Donald Ingber of Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; and Margo Deckard, the Chief Operating Officer of Lynk Global.

The program’s promotional poster was evidence of its creative and inclusive spirit. Organizers held a contest open to students at all universities in the Kingdom and over 60 entries were received. The winner – designed by Elham Mullah, a student at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah – emphasized connectivity with a blue Earth and glowing green continental outlines.

SAUDI INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND

“KAUST students are smart, engaging and driven by impact. The Winter Enrichment Program is a unique opportunity to connect with the leaders of tomorrow.”

Ibrahim Saad Al Mojel, CEO of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund

DUNCAN WATTS University of Pennsylvania

GABRIEL LEUNG University of Hong Kong

DONALD INGBER Harvard University