Dr. Samuel West, curator of the Museum of Failure, delivered a keynote lecture at KAUST on learning from innovation failure. He emphasized accepting failure, encouraging innovation, and framing work as learning problems. West used case studies like TwitterPeek and the Vasa warship to illustrate learning from past mistakes. Why it matters: This promotes a culture of experimentation and resilience, crucial for advancing AI and technology innovation in Saudi Arabia.
The article mentions several KAUST faculty and staff, including Matteo Parsani (Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics), Teofilo Abrajano (Director of Sponsored Research), and David Keyes (Director of the Extreme Computing Research Center). It also references a talk by NASA Senior Scientist Mark Carpenter at the SIAM CSE 2017 conference. The article includes a photograph of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Why it matters: This appears to be general information about KAUST faculty and activities, but lacks specific details on research or AI developments.
Munther Dahleh, director at the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), discussed his group's research on network systems at the KAUST 2018 Winter Enrichment Program. The research focuses on the fragility of large networked systems, like highway systems, in response to disruptions that may lead to catastrophic failures. Dahleh's team studies transportation networks, electrical grids, and financial markets to understand system interconnection in causing systemic risk. Why it matters: Understanding networked systems is crucial for building resilient infrastructure and mitigating risks in critical sectors across the GCC region.
Hattan Ahmed, Head of the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center, emphasizes the importance of community for entrepreneurial success, noting that even visionary entrepreneurs rely on support networks. A supportive community can be the difference between success and failure for startups. KAUST aims to foster such an environment to attract talent, investment, and encourage future entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia. Why it matters: This highlights the strategic focus on community building to accelerate startup growth and innovation within Saudi Arabia's evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Cristofaro Mune and Niek Timmers presented a seminar on bypassing unbreakable crypto using fault injection on Espressif ESP32 chips. The presentation detailed how the hardware-based Encrypted Secure Boot implementation of the ESP32 SoC was bypassed using a single EM glitch, without knowing the decryption key. This attack exploited multiple hardware vulnerabilities, enabling arbitrary code execution and extraction of plain-text data from external flash. Why it matters: The research highlights critical security vulnerabilities in embedded systems and the potential for fault injection attacks to bypass secure boot mechanisms, necessitating stronger hardware-level security measures.
Ahmed Al Saleh, a 2017 KAUST material science and engineering graduate, is now a business development manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific. He is the first Saudi to work for the company, representing them in Saudi Arabia from their KAUST campus office. Al Saleh advises KAUST students to experiment and develop their social skills, embracing failure as part of the learning process. Why it matters: This highlights KAUST's role in developing local talent for key science and technology sectors in Saudi Arabia.
In a 2018 KAUST lecture, MIT professor Kamal Youcef-Toumi discussed the case of Ordos Kangbashi, a Chinese city designed for a million residents that became a near-ghost town. Despite government incentives, the city struggled due to an economic downturn and lack of social and economic balance. Youcef-Toumi emphasized the importance of the public realm and a balance between social and economic development for successful cities. Why it matters: The analysis provides insights relevant to urban planning in Saudi Arabia and the broader GCC region, where new cities and megaprojects are being developed.