2015 June Beacon

June 2015/Shaban 1436 Volume 5, Issue No. 10 ‫جامعة الملك عبداهلل للعلوم والتقنية‬

‫ المملكة العربية السعودية‬،‫ثول‬

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

www.kaust.edu.sa

‫االحتفال بيوم النبات العالمي ألول مرة في‬ ‫المملكة العربية السعودية‬

Fascination of Plants Day debuts in Saudi Arabia Page 4

Teaching computers to see the world Page 8

Community shows off its talent Page 15

Cloth could hold the key to energy storage Page 10

A big hit on campus Page 16

From ideas to impact: the new Office of Sponsored Research Page 12 Researchers look to desert beetles for water Page 6

Exhibition puts artists’ work on display Page 14

Where do you read The Beacon?

Page 16

In brief The first Sci-Café was held on May 19 in the University Library. Marc Vermeersch, Omar Mohammed and Aram Amassian, all from KAUST’s Solar & Photovoltaics Engineering Research Center, led attendees in an interactive discussion on the innovation of solar cells. Subsequent Sci-Café’s are expected after the summer. Look for details at TheLens.kaust.edu.sa in the new academic year.

The Recent Trends in Predicting and Monitoring the Integrity of Composites conference was held June 1 and 2, 2015.

KAUST professors Gilles Lubineau and Raul Tempone, in collaboration with professor John Botsis of L'École Polytechnique Féderale De Lusanne and Marco Alfano of the University of Calabria, organized the event. Visit cohmas.kaust.edu.sa for more information.

On May 23, the KAUST community celebrated Fascination of Plants Day, a global observance designed to generate awareness about the importance of plants and plant science. Dr. Heribert Hirt and the Center for Desert Agriculture led the way with tours of the KAUST greenhouse, research demonstrations and a children’s drawing contest. See this month’s cover story for more information.

On Thursday, June 4, Nobel Laureate Shuji Nakamura will give a talk on the history and background of his invention of high-brightness, blue light-emitting LEDs. Nakamura’s invention has the potential to save up to 20% of global electricity consumption. This talk is part of the President’s Distinguished Visiting Speaker Series and will be held in Lecture Hall 1, Room 2322 in the Engineering Science Hall (bldg. 9).

The sixth annual KAUST School (TKS) graduation was held on May 27 in the Auditorium. A record 38 TKS seniors crossed the stage before turning tassels and throwing hats in this year’s celebration.

The holy month of Ramadan is set to begin on the evening of Wednesday, June 17.

Stay tuned to TheLens.kaust.edu.sa for complete details on Ramadan activities, observances and more.

On May 28 author, professor and entrepreneur Bill Aulet visited KAUST campus to give a talk about entrepreneurship. Aulet is managing director of the Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship at MIT and the author of Discipline Entrepreneurship.

The Beacon Volume 5, Issue 10 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Beacon Staff Managing Editors: Michelle D’Antoni, Salah Sindi Editor: Nicholas Demille Designer: Mahjubeh R. Mashhadi Arabic Editor: Saad Al-Husainan Writers: Caitlin Clark, David Murphy, Meres Weche Translator: Adel Alrefaie Photographer: Ginger Lisanti The Beacon is published monthly. © King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

Cover: Nectar-collecting bees act as pollen vectors that facilitate the reproduction of a wide range of plant species, including the vast majority of food crops.

Photo used courtesy of the European Plant Science Organization.

Cover Bottom Left: The Namib desert in southern Africa is an extreme, arid environment. Studying the few organisms that have learned to adapt, such as the Stenocara beetle, is helping researchers find new ways to harvest water. Read the story on page 6 to learn more.

1. A science-themed trading card featuring KAUST

Professor of Material Science and Engineering Enrico Traversa. Courtesy of the Electrochemical Society.

2. Marya Al-Kurdi 3. Noorah Al-Faddagh 4. Lulwah Al-Shiha

Accolades Historic moment for Saudi Arabia and KAUST-SRSI

1 Traversa featured in Electrochemical Society trading card The Electrochemical Society (ECS) has selected KAUST Professor of Material Science and Engineering Enrico Traversa, to be included in its first set of sciencethemed trading cards. The inaugural run of 50 electrochemical and solid state cards features some of the greatest scientists in ECS related domains, including battery, energy technology, fuel cells, sensors, electronics and more. The cards were introduced at the 227th ECS Meeting in Chicago.

The trading cards represent the ECS's continued effort to raise awareness and improve the general public's appreciation of electrochemical and solid-state sciences.

Through these trading cards, ECS continues to fulfill its mission of disseminating knowledge in an open and accessible way.

“It means a lot to me to carry on the legacy of Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta in electrochemistry. I think this is a wonderful avenue the ECS is using to make contributions in these fields relatable and fun,” Traversa said.

Traversa is the principle investigator in the Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage (MECS) lab. He joined ECS in 1997, where he served on several committees and was chair of the High Temperature Materials Division (2009-2011). He became an ECS Fellow in 2013 and currently he is chair of the ECS European Section.

“The scientists who have changed and are changing how we function in the world should be our heroes,” says ECS executive director Roque Calvo. “They have a role in almost everything in our world today, from making mobile phones work, to batterypowered cars, solar- and wind-powered cities and improving sanitation.”

KAUST-Saudi Research Science Initiative (SRSI) 2014 alumnus Abduljabbar Al-Hamood won several top prizes at the recent Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) competition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

His first prize, the Best of Category Award in Plant Sciences, provides a $5,000 award to the winner as well as his school and the fair he represents. His second prize, a first-place award in Plant Sciences, also carries with it a monetary prize.

This is a remarkable achievement both for Al-Hamood and the Kingdom; approximately 1,700 students from over 75 countries, regions, and territories participated in Intel ISEF, the world’s largest pre-college science competition.

Al-Hamood presented his work entitled “Efficient Viral-Mediated Genome Editing Technique In Nicotiana Tabacum and Arabidopsis Thaliana Model Plants Using CRISPR/Cas9.” Dr. Magdy M. Mahfouz, KAUST assistant professor of bioscience in BESE, mentored Al-Hamood.

Three SRSI alumnae honored at Intel ISEF

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Marya Al-Kurdi, a Saudi Research Science Institute (SRSI) 2014 participant, won a special award in water technology and sustainability. Dr. Pascal Saikaly, KAUST assistant professor of environmental science and engineering in the Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division, mentored Al-Kurdi.

Fellow SRSI 2014 participants Noorah Al-Faddagh and Lulwah Al-Shiha each took home fourth-place awards in their respective areas. Dr. Suzana Nunes, KAUST professor and associate dean of BESE, mentored Al-Faddagh. Dr. Fouad Lemtiri-Chlieh, research scientist in the Center for Desert Agriculture, mentored Al-Shiha.

www.kaust.edu.sa

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Fascination of Plants Day debuts in Saudi Arabia

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By Nicholas Demille Plants convert the solar rays that pummel our earth into the stuff we need to live—oxygen, food, cellulose and medicinal compounds. They sweeten our morning coffee, they make us smell better and they adorn our homes, offices and places of worship.

The over 315,000 species that make up the Plantae kingdom are staggeringly diverse, epically important and utterly fascinating.

"The importance of plants for providing food and feed is essential to every country in the world. However, a particularity of the Middle East is its extreme arid and hot climate conditions, which are major limiting factors for agricultural production," said Heribert Hirt, professor of bioscience and director of KAUST's Center for Desert Agriculture.

“Research on increasing our understanding of how plants work is central to the future of food security on the planet,” said Mark Tester, professor of bioscience and associate director of the Center for Desert Agriculture (CDA). “The importance of this is recognized by KAUST, with the research foci of food, water and environment all being of particular relevance to our work,”

Hirt is the former president of the EPSO, which gives him a unique perspective on bringing FOPD to the Middle East. "The EPSO started Fascination of Plants Day to raise awareness about the importance of plants in all facets of human life. In fact it's the first and only world initiative that focuses on the importance of plants for human life," said Hirt.

Thinking long term

We're not just talking about potted plants or trees along the street. We're talking about issues as diverse as medicines to cure illness to everyday items like comfortable cotton shirts.”

Maged Saad A debut in Saudi Arabia On Saturday, May 23, Saudi Arabia became the first country in the GCC to observe Fascination of Plants Day (FOPD). The CDA hosted a day of events at the university greenhouse where community members took part in research demonstrations, interactive sessions, tours of the facilities, games for children and much more.

FOPD is a global event created by the European Plant Science Organization (EPSO) to raise awareness about plants and plant science. In its third year, over 50 countries observed FOPD, 26 of which are outside of continental Europe.

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

"We're not just talking about potted plants or trees along the street. We're talking about issues as diverse as medicines to cure illness to everyday items like comfortable cotton shirts," said Maged Saad, national coordinator of FOPD for Saudi Arabia and CDA research scientist.

Saad's research interests include plant bacteria and desert rhizospheres. He's excited about helping to bring FOPD to his home country, and he talks openly about preserving the environment for his two daughters and the millions of Saudi children like them.

"It's easy to cut a tree—it only takes a minute. Sometimes we must wait a lifetime for a new one to grow," said Saad. "Getting rid of forests because we want a space for our amusement isn't a wise thing to do."

A unique resource “Researchers at the CDA are using the latest genetic and genomic techniques to focus on the challenges of growing plants under the extreme environmental conditions found in the Middle East, such as limited access to water, heat and high salinity,” said Hirt.

The CDA greenhouse is part laboratory and part classroom.

Around 1600 square meters in size, the facility has 18 temperature and humidity controlled growth rooms that are fed with filtered seawater. Researchers have everything they need on hand:

‫االحتفال بيوم النبات‬ ‫العالمي ألول مرة‬ ‫في المملكة العربية‬ ‫السعودية‬

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‫أصبحت المملكة العربية السعودية اليوم أول دولة من دول مجلس‬ ‫التعاون لدول الخليج العربية تحتفل بفعاليات يوم النبات العالمي‬ ‫(‪ ،)FOPD‬ويرجع ذلك إلى الجهود التي يبذلها مركز جامعة الملك عبداهلل‬ ‫للزراعة الصحراوية‪ .‬وتقود المنظمة األوروبية لعلوم النبات (‪ )EPSO‬هذا‬ ‫الحدث العالمي لرفع مستوى الوعي بالنباتات وعلوم النبات‪ .‬وهذا هو‬ ‫العام الثالث لهذه الفعالية حيث تتم بمشاركة أكثر من ‪ 50‬دولة‪ 26 ،‬منها‬ ‫خارج القارة األوروبية‪.‬‬ ‫ويوضح البروفيسور هيريبرت هيرت‪ ،‬أستاذ في العلوم البيولوجية‬ ‫ومدير مركز جامعة الملك عبداهلل للزراعة الصحراوية (‪ ،)CDA‬أن النباتات‬ ‫ً‬ ‫مهمة ً‬ ‫خصوصا في‬ ‫جدا كمصدر أساسي للغذاء لكل بلد في العالم‬ ‫منطقة الشرق األوسط التي تتميز باألحوال المناخية القاسية والمناطق‬ ‫الصحراوية القاحلة والتي تحد من اإلنتاج الزراعي فيها‪.‬‬ ‫ومن الجدير بالذكر أن البروفيسور هيريبرت هيرت هو الرئيس السابق‬ ‫للمنظمة األوروبية لعلوم النبات‪ ،‬األمر الذي عزز جلب هذه الفعالية‬ ‫الفريدة إلى منطقة الشرق األوسط‪ .‬ويقول البروفيسور هيرت‪" :‬أطلقت‬ ‫المنظمة األوروبية لعلوم النبات فعالية يوم النبات العالمي من أجل‬ ‫زيادة الوعي بأهمية النباتات في جميع جوانب حياتنا‪ .‬وتعتبر في واقع‬ ‫األمر أول مبادرة عالمية من نوعها‪ ،‬بل إنها المبادرة العالمية الوحيدة التي‬ ‫تركز على أهمية النباتات للحياة البشرية "‪.‬‬ ‫التفكير على المدى البعيد‬ ‫أهمية علم النبات واألمن الغذائي العالمي هما من أساسيات رسالة‬ ‫جامعة الملك عبداهلل التي تتركز أغلب أبحاثها على مجاالت الغذاء والماء‬ ‫والبيئة‪ .‬ويعلق ماجد سعد‪ ،‬عالم األبحاث في مركز جامعة الملك عبداهلل‬ ‫للزراعة الصحراوية والمنسق الوطني ليوم النبات العالمي في المملكة‬ ‫العربية السعودية‪" :‬نحن هنا ال نتحدث عن تقديرنا لنباتات الزينة أو األشجار‬ ‫على طول الشارع‪ .‬ولكننا نحتفل بأهمية النباتات كونها مصدر كبير‬ ‫ومتنوع لحياة البشر"‪.‬‬ ‫ويهتم عالم األبحاث ماجد سعد في دراسة البكتيريا في النباتات وطبقة‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫كبيرا في سبيل‬ ‫مجهودا‬ ‫تربة جذور النباتات الصحراوية‪ ،‬كما أنه يقدم‬ ‫جلب فعالية االحتفال بيوم النبات العالمي إلى موطنه المملكة العربية‬ ‫السعودية من خالل المشاركة في الفعاليات التوعوية والحوارات التي‬

‫‪3‬‬ ‫‪chemical storage, cold storage, growth chambers,‬‬ ‫‪autoclaves and more. There is even a headhouse, which‬‬ ‫‪functions as a meeting and learning space.‬‬ ‫‪The CDA is “probably the only research institution in the region‬‬ ‫‪that has the expertise and technology to perform such research.‬‬ ‫‪The CDA plays a major role in educating future scientists to‬‬ ‫‪identify and solve regional problems with highly sophisticated‬‬ ‫‪molecular techniques,” said Hirt.‬‬ ‫‪“The Fascination of Plants Day gives us the opportunity to explain‬‬ ‫‪some of our work to the KAUST community, as well as to expose‬‬ ‫‪people to some of the wonders of plants,” said Tester.‬‬ ‫‪To learn more about FOPD or CDA, visit cda.kaust.edu.sa.‬‬

‫تتحدث عن أهمية النبات والحفاظ على البيئة‪.‬‬

‫ً‬ ‫معربا عن أهمية النبات في حياتنا‪" :‬إن قطع األشجار‬ ‫ويقول ماجد سعد‬ ‫عملية سهلة للغاية فقد يستغرق قطع شجرة بالكامل دقيقة واحدة‪ ،‬إال‬ ‫أننا نغفل حقيقة أنه يتحتم علينا في بعض األحيان االنتظار لسنوات طويلة‬ ‫حتى تنمو شجرة أخرى‪ .‬وال أرى أن التخلص من الغابات لحاجتنا للمزيد من‬ ‫ً‬ ‫حكيما"‪.‬‬ ‫المساحات يعتبر قرار‬

‫‪1. Research specimens on display in the university‬‬

‫‪greenhouse during the Fascination of Plants Day event.‬‬ ‫‪By Meres J. Weche‬‬

‫‪2. The university greenhouse was the setting for the‬‬

‫‪Fascination of Plants Day events, hosted by the Center for‬‬ ‫‪Desert Agriculture. By Meres J. Weche‬‬

‫‪3. Community members enjoy a tour of the university‬‬

‫‪greenhouse during the Fascination of Plants Day event.‬‬ ‫‪By Meres J. Weche‬‬

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‫‪www.kaust.edu.sa‬‬

Researchers look to desert beetles for water The natural ingenuity of the Stenocara beetle, which thrives in southern Africa’s Namib Desert, has inspired many researchers.

Though the beetles live in one of the most parched zones on Earth, they eke out a living thanks to an array of moistureabsorbing bumps on top of their shell.

To date, all of the techniques developed for fog harvesting have been far too costly and incompatible with large-scale applications to put into practice. But a team led by Professor Peng Wang from KAUST’s Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division has finally found a way.

Wang’s team has replicated the water-capturing abilities of the desert beetle using inkjet-printed microdroplets imbued with binding agents similar to those found in marine mussels.

The team is working on large-scale films to harvest fog in a bid to find new water opportunities for arid and semi-arid desert regions.

To streamline the process, the team printed dopamine directly onto a superhydrophobic surface. The substance forms sticky polymers with properties similar to the bio-adhesives used by marine mussels. To ensure adhesion the researchers had to find a way to make dopamine droplets, which naturally form beads on water-repelling surfaces, increase their contact area.

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

“The biggest challenge is convincing the tiny droplets to stay on the superhydrophobic substrates,” says Wang.

To achieve this, the team added ethanol and ethylene glycol to their aqueous dopamine solution to improve adhesion. Ethanol lowers the droplet’s surface tension energy and enhances its wettability, while ethylene glycol lowers the vapor pressure to increase contact time. “This causes the dopamine solution to be stable on the surface, allowing for its complete self-polymerization into polydopamine,” Wang explains.

After printing several pre-designed patterns on to superhydrophobic silica substrates, the researchers measured the condensation and movement of water on the coatings under a simulated flow of fog.

They found stark differences between their samples, noting that surfaces with beetle bumps achieved twice the water collection efficiency of non-patterned superhydrophobic surfaces.

Optimum surfaces need to promote both droplet nucleation and droplet removal simultaneously, and the researchers are now investigating new micropattern arrangements to meet these criteria for enhanced fog collection efficiency.

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1.The Namib desert of southern Africa, is an arid environment where few organisms can survive.

2. Professor Peng Wang from KAUST’s Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division.

3. The Stenocara beetle collects water from fog using the small bumps, visible on their shell.

www.kaust.edu.sa

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Teaching computers to see the world

By Meres J. Weche “Our eyes are the equivalent of two cameras,” said KAUST Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Bernard Ghanem. And much like cameras, human beings essentially record video, which is then processed to make decisions about our day-to-day lives.

We know, for example, to stay away from a barking dog; not to touch a hot stove; and not to walk onto unsafe surfaces. What if we could teach machines to do the same?

That’s what machine learning is all about—inputting stimuli, classifying the information and directing the machine to make decisions.

Ghanem works in the Visual Computing Center (VCC). He’s interested in computer vision, image processing and machine learning. “People in computer vision are trying to teach machines how to see the world. Seeing not only what color objects are and so forth, but actually understanding semantically what this visual data is all about.”

Self-driving vehicles One industry for which computer vision machine learning is essential is the automotive sector—particularly with the advent of self-driving vehicles. Several of the major auto manufacturers have already developed self-driving concept vehicles and are envisioning commercially viable models in the coming years. Famously Google has introduced a line of self-driving cars that are already rolling around the streets of Silicon Valley.

“The self-driving cars like Google have visual sensors,” said Ghanem. “Is the traffic light red, green or yellow? Based on that there are traffic rules to follow. But there are other sensors like range finders that perceive how far certain objects are. There are even sensors that determine what those objects are.”

When faced with a potential collision scenario, the autonomous driving technology must quickly differentiate between pedestrians, trees or other cars when deciding on which direction to veer the car—it’s not simply a decision about direction, but also a decision about priorities.

Mobileye, a computer vision company, is set to introduce autonomous driving technology in certain car brands as

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

early as next year. The company will provide technologies that enable obstacle avoidance and for detecting when the driver has started drifting from lane to lane.

Other industry applications Computer scientists are also using machine learning to assist governments, agencies and corporations with applications such as surveillance, security and even marketing. Airport authorities, for example, use biometric technology to scan travelers’ faces for identification purposes.

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2 3 1. Test footage from the Mobileye company showing the adaptive ability of their camera systems.

2. KAUST Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering Bernard Ghanem.

3. The Mercedes Benz F015 self-driving concept car.

“What I do specifically is analyze video,” said Ghanem. “From video, you can recognize not only objects but you can recognize what those objects are doing. For example, a train station security video can detect if a person is carrying a piece of luggage and suddenly leaves it unattended at a specific location.”

Detecting this type of information is important for security reasons.

Another scenario involves video footage from grocery stores– used as business intelligence. The video can identify what shoppers buy after they’ve purchased a particular item.

This can be valuable information for retailers for when they make decisions on where to stock items on the shelves, or where to place advertisements.

This is known as pattern recognition. But in order to detect a reliable pattern, thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of hours of video need to be analyzed. This isn’t something that a human can do. Computer scientists need to develop algorithms and use powerful clusters to analyze this big data.

“It’s not scalable if humans are looking at it. So you need a machine to look at the data efficiently, browse through it and find the things that you’re looking for. This is the type of research that I do,” Ghanem said.

www.kaust.edu.sa

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Cloth could hold the key to energy storage Finding storage solutions for energy created by wind and solar technologies is an important step towards largescale adoption of sustainable power sources. Solar cells only work during daylight hours and turbines only produce power in active wind. And while relatively cheap and large in capacity, current battery systems have a short lifespan, making their use prohibitive.

Professor of Material Science and Engineering Husam Alshareef and colleagues from KAUST’s Physical Science and Engineering Division have fabricated a novel storage solution using woven cloth devices that can store electrochemical energy with a longer life than batteries. The team, including doctoral student Chuan Xia, are following an alternative strategy using supercapacitors.

Capacitors store energy in the form of electric fields between two conductors separated by a dielectric. Supercapacitors can attain a much higher storage capacity by replacing the dielectric with an active electrochemical spacer.

Building on previous research, Alshareef’s team made a supercapacitor from a woven carbon cloth coated in a conducting polymer called polyaniline, which was clad in a thin layer of ruthenium oxide.

Previously polyaniline was considered a promising supercapacitor material: cheap, easy to process and with a high capacitance. But, polyaniline has a propensity to swell and contract when it is charged and discharged, causing cracking and reducing a device’s capacitance over time.

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

To stabilize the polyaniline, and increase the supercapacitor’s longevity, the KAUST researchers surrounded the device by ruthenium oxide. This acts as a scaffold to hold the polymer together, simultaneously assisting injection and extraction of the charge in and out of the device.

The researchers placed a carbon cloth into solution containing aniline monomer and an oxidant. A polymerization process coated the carbon strands in vertically aligned polyaniline nanofibers. They then used a low-temperature process, called atomic layer deposition, to coat the cloth in ruthenium oxide and prevent degradation of the polymer.

An optimum oxide thickness had to be found for maximum performance. “We found that too thin an oxide layer left the polymer exposed to the electrolyte resulting in poor cycling performance,” explains Alshareef. “On the other hand, too thick an oxide layer covered the nanostructured surface of polyaniline and substantially lowered device capacitance.”

“Our device has one of the highest capacitance values reported for polyaniline electrodes,” says Alshareef. Importantly, they showed that this capacitance dropped by only 12 percent after 10,000 charge–discharge cycles — which is lower than the 35 percent in a similar supercapacitor made without the ruthenium-oxide surface layer.

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1. Professor of Material Science and Engineering Husam Alshareef from the Physical Science and Engineering division.

2. Wind is plentiful in Saudi Arabia, as is land

for windfarms. Dr. Alshareef's research aims to help the kingdom take advantage of alternative resources by making the storage and transport of energy cheaper and easier.

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www.kaust.edu.sa

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From ideas to impact: the new Office of Sponsored Research

By Caitlin Clark The Beacon sat down with Dr. Teofilo (Jun) A. Abrajano Jr., director of KAUST’s new Office of Sponsored Research (OSR), to find out how OSR’s work impacts KAUST’s mission and vision.

How and why was the OSR established?

The OSR was created in March 2015 from a merger of three pre-existing offices, KAUST’s Office of Competitive Research Funds, the Office of Research Services and the Office of Research Evaluation. Professor Jean Fréchet, KAUST’s vice president for research, felt that through the merger, the connectivity between these separate offices would be enhanced. By combining our common resources – strategic, intellectual and administrative services – the new office presides over KAUST’s curiosity- and goaldriven research from ideas to impact.

Describe the OSR’s role and function.

The OSR’s work is very distinct – the reason for that distinctiveness connects to the distinctiveness of KAUST itself.

We support KAUST’s research from ideas to impact (which we refer to as “I 2 I”), starting from the development of project ideas within KAUST and with KAUST’s global collaborators, to differentiating which ideas are most fundable, to evaluating and enhancing the impact of research outcomes. The OSR supports KAUST’s research mandate to ensure the knowledge ecosystem at KAUST is world-class and sustainable and that research is integrated with our education and economic development missions.

How is the OSR different from its counterparts at other universities?

One of the truly distinct features of KAUST compared to other global universities is our control of our research destiny. KAUST is simultaneously the major provider of its research resources and the executor of its own research strategy. This unique situation gives the OSR particular responsibilities: our research administrators must be closely involved with the creative process and in exploring and capitalizing on the opportunities provided by KAUST’s self-sustained research funding model. It would be unusual indeed to find similar offices at other universities that strategically impact research funding portfolios the way OSR does.

An example of the unique role played by OSR as a catalyst for potentially transformative research is the recent international Sensor Innovation Workshop, which took place at KAUST on May 23-25. The workshop paired 20 KAUST professors with top international scientists across disciplines as diverse as marine science and analytical chemistry to solid state physics and computer and electrical engineering, with discussions focused on advancing sensor research. Several highly collaborative research proposals resulted from this, and are currently being considered for funding by OSR. These have the potential for transformative advances and disruptive innovation.

Teofilo Abrajano, director of the Office of Sponsored Research, speaks at the joint Upstream Petroleum Symposium held on KAUST campus in November 2014.

By Ginger Lisanti

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

Describe how the OSR builds relationships with research partners.

How does the OSR work to secure the Kingdom’s future?

As an office, the OSR’s primary functions must reflect the University’s missions in every way. One of these is to catalyze strategic research collaborations, which is a core activity of successful research universities. KAUST’s knowledge and innovation ecosystem is global, and we leverage our top-notch talents here at KAUST by attracting external best-in-class collaborators in areas where we need additional expertise. Hence it is important that we create an environment so that KAUST becomes a preferred destination for top global collaborators, and our researchers should, over time, also become indispensable partners for our collaborators.

The primary context of our quest for excellence in curiosity-driven and goal-oriented research at KAUST is our unwavering desire to positively impact the economy and well-being of the Kingdom and the world. I believe the achievement of King Abdullah’s vision for KAUST is a singularly historic undertaking in which we should all take great pride. Although KAUST is not the only new institution in the world attempting to join other elite universities that are now making global impact, I feel that KAUST is in the best position to get there.

My confidence in this is underpinned not only by our robust endowment, but also by our resolve to marshal our resources towards assembling the very best talents from around the world to inspire a culture of research excellence, risk-taking and innovation, and also by providing the right environment for our researchers to prosper.

It is therefore not enough to just produce impactful research today: we must also work to sustain an environment and culture of continued productivity and global connectivity for future generations who will work and study at KAUST. We want the world to know about what we do here and the immense talent we have – this makes us an indispensable and strategic partner for our research collaborators.

The distinction between basic and applied research is deliberately blurred at KAUST so our researchers will have the freedom to pursue excellence regardless of the challenges they are examining.”

OSR’s mantra of “ideas to impact” recognizes the necessary connections between our research ideas and their impact on people’s lives in the Kingdom and the world. In the end, KAUST’s research portfolio must faithfully reflect our institutional priorities and values—what we believe in, what challenges we want to address and the strategic directions we follow to reach a bright future.

www.kaust.edu.sa

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Exhibition puts artists’ work on display The 2015 Artists of KAUST exhibition brought together 154 works of art by 72 different community artists. An opening reception was held on April 22 in the University Library with artists in attendance to celebrate and chat about their work. The exhibition was organized by the Office of the Arts in collaboration with the University Library and was kept open through May 5 to allow the entire KAUST community access.

Chris Newns, president of the KAUST Fine Arts & Crafts Self-Directed Group (SDG), officially opened the event and encouraged everyone to become involved in art whatever their talent. In particular he thanked community volunteer Rachel Yeh and Art SDG Vice President Tamara Jones for their advisory work with the Office of the Arts team and their dedication to curating the exhibition.

The artwork was diverse, representing the talents of individuals from many different cultures and age groups.

Many art mediums were represented including paint, photographs, textiles, calligraphy, jewelry, sculpture, and ceramics. A large group of artists and community members were in attendance for the opening, which demonstrated just how important artistic expression is to the KAUST community.

1. Community members take in the art on

display in the University Library during the Artists of KAUST opening event. By Ginger Lisanti.

2. Artists and community members enjoy the opening event for Artists of KAUST 2015. By Ginger Lisanti.

3. Talent Show participants, organizers and

staff stand for a group portrait in April, 2015.

By Ginger Lisanti.

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

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Community shows off its talent

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On April 30, the KAUST community was treated to the Sixth Annual Talent Show sponsored by the Office of the Arts.

This year the program showcased 19 finalists in 11 acts.

Eight KAUST graduate students, four community members, three visiting students, two Kaust School (TKS) teachers, one postdoctoral fellow and one member of the KAUST staff took to the stage to represent 16 different countries.

A highlight of the event was the selection of a People’s Choice winner. Shakeel Parkar, of KAUST IT, configured an electronic voting system so that audience members could vote using their smartphones. The winners were Tsiky, Parsifal and Kay for their rendition of Rossini’s Cat Duet.

Three judges—Catherine Hill, the K3 a performing arts teacher at TKS; Moody Al-Tamimi, internal funding team lead in the Office of Sponsored Research, and Victor Nelson, a project engineer from CH2M Hill—had the difficult task of choosing three winners from amongst the finalists.

Tamimi Markets, Coastline LLC and KAUST Matjar sponsored the prizes.

First Prize and People's Choice: Itsikiantsoa (Tsiky) Randrianantenaina, soprano Parsifal Fidelio Islas Morales, baritone Kay Yang, piano Winning Act: “Cat Duet” by G.A. Rossini

Second Prize: Nadia Kouraytem, soprano Steve Petruzza, piano Winning Act: I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith

Third Prize (shared): Hanna Lee, Korean traditional dance Andrea Chiang Dethy, Chinese ribbon dance

www.kaust.edu.sa

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My University Natalya Julfakyan Originally from Yerevan, Armenia, Natalya Julfakyan came to KAUST in 2011 with her husband, a doctoral student, and her six-year-old son John.

She works in the Office of Academic Writing Services where she helps faculty generate content for the divisional websites. And she has become the go-to person for stunning research thumbnails.

“KAUST has been a great place to develop my professional skills, plus, I get to work with faculty members to help show off their research to the world,” said Julfakyan.

A big hit on campus

By Scott Herrington, TKS Activities Director Julfakyan holds a master’s degree in journalism and philology. She worked as a lecturer of world literature at the Slavonic University in Armenia. When she’s not churning out picture perfect little thumbnails, Julfakyan is tucked away somewhere reading literature in English, French, German or Armenian.

Most of all Julfakyan appreciates the diversity that is a part of the KAUST experience. “Every day is a day of discovery. After four years I can easily say that I have friends from all around the world.”

Where do you read The Beacon?

This month’s submission comes from Cilla Giannopoulos, a teacher at the KAUST School (TKS). Her K1 students love to read The Beacon as they wait for the bus. They particularly love to pick up a copy when they see one of their teachers featured.

Arabic teacher Ms. Wejdan Khan was featured in the April 2015 issue.

Khan, an early childhood Arabic and Islamic Studies teacher, is a favorite with the kids.

If you’d like to be featured, take a photo wherever you read The Beacon and send it to the editor – TheBeacon@kaust.edu.sa

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THE BEACON | JUNE 2015

Softball. It’s not an everyday word here at KAUST, but it’s certainly becoming a more familiar one. On Saturday, May 2, 2015 The KAUST School sponsored the 3rd Annual TKS Community Softball Invitational.

The softball diamond, near the Island Recreation Club, came alive as community members young and old dusted off their gloves and draped themselves in colorful uniforms representing the eight different teams that participated. Players endured the blazing Saudi sun to compete in an all-day tournament that saw the TKS Sharks play the King Abdullah Economic City team; the Canadian team take on the KAUST Health, Safety & Environment team; the Anzacs battle team U.S.A.; and the UK team tangle with the World team.

As the sun set in late afternoon, team Canada claimed victory in the championship game with a decisive win over the defending champs, Team U.S.A. Congratulations to all those who participated and special thanks to the KAUST Recreation Events team for their outstanding support and also to the TKS School of Rock for providing excellent ballpark snacks.