MBZUAI Ph.D. candidate Muhammad Maaz has been awarded the 2025 Google Ph.D. Fellowship in Machine Perception. Maaz is the first student from MBZUAI and the first from the Gulf region to receive this recognition, which includes funding, mentorship, and $50,000. He has published extensively in top-tier CV/NLP venues and has over 4,500 citations. Why it matters: This award highlights the growing prominence of MBZUAI and the increasing quality of AI research in the Gulf region on the global stage.
MBZUAI students Hanoona Bangalath and Muhammad Maaz, with perfect GPAs, had papers accepted at ECCV 2022 ("Class-agnostic Object Detection with Multi-modal Transformer") and NeurIPS 2022 ("Bridging the Gap between Object and Image-level Representation for Open-Vocabulary Detection"). Both will stay at MBZUAI for their PhDs, crediting the university's resources and faculty. Their supervisor, Salman Khan, praised their curiosity and hard work, highlighting their role in building the institution's reputation. Why it matters: The success of these students underscores MBZUAI's potential to foster high-quality AI research and attract top talent to the UAE.
Qurrat-Ul-Ain Nadeem, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering at KAUST, is researching MIMO technology for 5G communication systems as part of the Communication Theory Lab (CTL). She holds a Bachelor's degree from LUMS, Pakistan, and previously completed her master's at KAUST in 2015. Nadeem chose KAUST over fully funded Ph.D. scholarships from Cornell and Wisconsin-Madison due to its research opportunities and diverse environment. Why it matters: This highlights KAUST's ability to attract top talent and contribute to advancements in 5G technology, showcasing the university's role in fostering cutting-edge research within the region.
MBZUAI Ph.D. students Muhammad Maaz and Hanoona Rasheed interned at Meta, developing a vision encoder for images and videos. They created PerceptionLM, a multimodal language model, to generate synthetic video-caption data to train the Perception Encoder. The team addressed the challenge of limited labeled video data by building a multimodal language model called PerceptionLM to understand video's spatial and temporal aspects. Why it matters: This highlights MBZUAI's strength in computer vision and provides students opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge research at global tech firms.
Professor Mohammad Younis, a new Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at KAUST, focuses his research on micro and nanotechnology, specifically the interface between nonlinear dynamics and micro/nano electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). He is developing a generic platform for sensing and actuation with potential uses in detecting poisonous gases, biohazards, and earthquake signals. He is also working on actuator systems that can assist elderly people after a fall by automatically calling for help. Why it matters: This research has significant implications for safety, environmental monitoring, and elderly care in the Middle East and beyond.
KAUST Ph.D. student Muhammad Akram Karimi is developing low-cost microwave sensors for industrial applications, particularly in the oil industry, under the supervision of Professor Atif Shamim. He is working on a field prototype for Saudi Aramco based on his novel design. Karimi and his professor plan to form a startup to provide microwave sensing solutions and are collaborating with a Norwegian company to commercialize their sensor. Why it matters: This highlights KAUST's focus on industry-relevant research and its potential for commercialization through startups, particularly in the important oil and gas sector.
KAUST research scientist Muhammad Wakil Shahzad won the 'best presenter' award at the 2019 Global Summit and Expo on Power & Energy Engineering in Dubai. His presentation focused on the energy efficiency of seawater desalination processes. Shahzad's research at KAUST's Water Desalination and Reuse Center aims to improve desalination methods and develop water reclamation strategies. Why it matters: This award highlights KAUST's contributions to innovative desalination technologies, which are crucial for addressing water scarcity in the Gulf region and drought-stricken areas globally.
This article is a brief faculty profile of Stefaan De Wolf at KAUST. It appears to be part of a standard template on the KAUST website. Why it matters: Such profiles help showcase the expertise and research areas of faculty at KAUST.