2013 June Beacon

INSIDE: In Brief 2 News 3 Community 4Research 1

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

www.kaust.edu.sa

BEACONthe ة املنـار

June 2013 / Shaban 1434 Volume 3, Issue No. 10

Adds Prof. Alshareef: “If we were able to make fast transistors using

transparent oxides that transport electrons and holes equally fast, we

could make power-efficient transparent electronics and displays with

better resolution, and we could eliminate the need for backlights in dis-

plays, as these drain the battery of many portable devices.”

Prof. Al-Jawhari and Caraveo-Frescas were assisted in their research

by KAUST postdoctoral fellow Dr. Pradipta Nayak, Prof. Alshareef,

and members of the research group of Dr. Udo Schwingenschlögl,

KAUST Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. Prof.

Schwingenschlögl’s group, including former student Danilo Granato, a

recent graduate from the master’s degree program, performed electronic

structure calculations to help explain the experimental results.

“Working with the group has been one of the best experiences I have

had in my career,” Prof. Al-Jawhari notes. “I am sure this work will pio-

neer the field of p-type oxide TFTs.” Adds Caraveo-Frescas: “I am very

grateful to Prof. Al-Jawhari for her valuable discussions, perseverance,

and optimism, and to the entire team for helping me better understand

SnO. I hope that our findings in the field of transparent electronics will

improve our lifestyle and reduce our excessive energy consumption.”

“SnO, or tin monoxide, is a very elusive and challenging material to

work with,” notes Alfonso Caraveo-Frescas, a PhD student in Prof.

Husam Alshareef’s Functional Nanomaterials and Devices group in

Materials Science and Engineering. Over the past year, Caraveo-Frescas

and Dr. Hala Al-Jawhari, a visiting assistant professor from the Physics

Department at King Abdulaziz University, have worked to tackle a

difficult task involving the material — developing SnO as a viable

p-type transparent oxide semiconductor material, an advancement

which has the potential to produce a significant technological leap in

transparent electronics, display, and solar cell applications.

Caraveo-Frescas and his research collaborators’ work resulted in a

paper published recently in the high-impact journal ACS Nano, which

can be accessed at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/nn400852r#.

In semiconductors, current conduction occurs via free electrons and

electron holes. In its pure state, a semiconducting material conducts

little current and is of limited value. To increase conductivity, con-

ventional semiconductors are modified or “doped” with impurities to

increase the number of free electrons, which results in n-type semi-

conductors, or holes, which results in p-type semiconductors.

Oxide semiconductors, which are used in thin-film transistors

(TFTs), are unique because they can also be doped by controlling the

level of oxygen in the material, a process which must be carefully

carried out under precisely controlled conditions to correctly tune the

material’s electronic structure.

n-type oxide semiconductors have made impressive progress in

areas like display electronics, for example, and companies such as

Samsung and Sharp use n-type oxide semiconductors to fabricate

high-resolution display technologies. However, p-type transparent

oxide semiconductors that perform comparably to n-type oxides

have been difficult to develop. “The development of a high perfor-

mance p-type transparent oxide semiconductor would open the door

for the fabrication of a huge variety of transparent electronics,” notes

Caraveo-Frescas, “and that possibility is really exciting.”

OBSERVING REAL-TIME CATALYTIC REACTIONS ON NANOMATERIALSRESEARCHERS at KAUST have demonstrated

how even at ultra-small or nanometer-scale,

well-designed nanomaterials can successfully

integrate multiple functions for delicate and

important applications. In a paper recently

published in the Journal of the American

Chemical Society, Professor Yu Han and his

team from the Advanced Membranes and

Porous Materials Center outline how they have

developed an efficient platform for investi-

gating the kinetics of catalytic reactions with

surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).

The other authors are: Jianfeng Huang, Yihan

Zhu, Ming Lin, Qingxiao Wang, Lan Zhao,

Yang Yang, and Ke Xin Yao.

By using a wet-chemistry synthetic method,

the scientists created an ideal catalyzing envi-

ronment whereby highly active catalytic sites

are united with strong SERS sites in a single

entity. Through the real-time data obtained

over this platform, the kinetics of the hydro-

genation reaction of 4-nitrothiophenol can

be directly determined. The innovation of this

research is through the in-situ and real-time

monitoring of catalytic reaction processes

over heterogeneous catalyst surfaces with

high sensitivity. It is even possible to peer

down to the monomolecular level.

Conventional methods, such as the Fourier

transform infrared spectroscopy, mass spec-

troscopy, and gas chromatography suffer from

slow response, low sensitivity, or incapability

to detect surface species. They therefore aren't

able to reveal surface reactions in a real-time

manner. Overcoming these limitations, Prof.

Han and his team’s work has developed a

bi-functional (plasmonic and catalytic) plat-

form, which allows in-situ and real-time

monitoring of a catalytic reaction with very

high sensitivity down to the monomolecular

layer level by means of surface enhancement

Raman spectroscopy.

KAUST/KING ABDULAZIZ UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION SETS PERFORMANCE RECORD IN TRANSPARENT ELECTRONICS

REAL-TIME REACTION | Continued on p4

A fabricated device produced by the researchers contains several hundred thin film transistors and uses gold for the electrodes to make it visible

(L-R) PhD student Alfonso Caraveo-Frescas, Dr. Hala Al-Jawhari, a visiting assistant professor from King Abdulaziz University, Professor Husam Alshareef, and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Pradipta Nayak examine a p-type oxide thin film transistor fabricated in the lab.

A well-designed nanostructure that combines the plasmonic and catalytic activities in the form of a single crystal enables the study of the kinetics of a catalytic reaction at the monomolecular layer scale with SERS

KAUST STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN PETROBOWLMEMBERS of the KAUST Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) student chapter will participate in

the 2013 PetroBowl competition in New Orleans, Louisiana, US on September 30. At PetroBowl,

SPE student chapter teams from universities around the world are pitted against each other to

answer a series of technical and non-technical quiz questions about the oil and gas industry.

Since its inception in 2002, PetroBowl has been hosted by the Gulf Coast (US) Section of SPE,

and demand from student teams to participate in the event climbed to new highs this year. The

KAUST team, consisting of students Ibrahim Gawish, Sultan Safin, Ayrat Abdullin, and Klemens

Katterbauer, answered a set of questions during PetroBowl’s first round, a qualification stage to

enter the competition. Despite fierce competition from other universities’ student chapters, the

team succeeded in gaining one of the 36 spots.

“I liked the team spirit we had during the first round of PetroBowl,” stated Ayrat Abdullin, a

PhD student in Earth Science and Engineering. “It was very exciting and a great experience for

us as a student chapter. I’m looking forward to participating in the PetroBowl finals.”

Sultan Safin, a master’s student in Earth Science and Engineering, concurred, saying:

“Thank you to the SPE chapter for giving me the opportunity to learn and work in a great

team of graduate students from different fields. I call [PetroBowl] a dive into the world of

petroleum engineering.”

KAUST is the only Saudi university to be represented at the 2013 PetroBowl. Teams from other

prestigious universities, including Stanford University, Colorado School of Mines, Texas A&M,

and TU Delft, will also participate in the event.

COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MECHANICS OF ADVANCED MATERIALS (CEMAM) WORKSHOP

FROM July 1-3, the Physical Sciences and Engineering Division will present an international

workshop focused on the mechanics of solids and structures with applications to composite

materials. The main themes of this workshop are: multiscale experimental and computational

approaches for design; inverse problems for non-destructive control and health monitoring of

composite structures; and durability of materials and structures.

The workshop is being organized by Gilles Lubineau (KAUST), Glaucio H. Paulino (University

of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, US), and Marco Alfano (University of Calabria, Italy).

For details, visit http://www.kaust.edu.sa/media/symposiums/cemam/

2013 NEVADA MEDAL AWARDED TO PROFESSOR FEDOROFF

NINA FEDOROFF, Distinguished Professor in the Biological and

Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division and Director

of the Center for Desert Agriculture, was awarded the 2013

Desert Research Institute (DRI) Nevada Medal.

“In only a few decades Prof. Fedoroff's research has helped

stimulate a revolution in biology," said DRI President, Dr. Stephen

Wells. "The reality is our world is changing, and we need leaders

like Prof. Fedoroff to help us address the problems and challenges

that lie ahead." The Nevada Medal was established by the Desert Research Institute in 1988 to

acknowledge outstanding achievement in science and engineering. The award program involves

public lectures by the medalist at DRI campuses in Reno and Las Vegas.

KAUST’s PetroBowl 2013 participants (L-R) Ayrat Abdullin, Ibrahim Gawish, Sultan Safin, and Klemens Katterbauer will represent the only Saudi university to take part in the competition this year.

Not pictured: Aram Amassian and Zhip-ing Lai.

WORKSHOP ON WHITE SPOT SYNDROME VIRUS (WSSV)

ON MAY 18-19, KAUST’s Center for Desert Agriculture, together with the National Prawn Company

and the Saudi Aquaculture Society, convened a workshop on the control of the white spot syn-

drome virus (WSSV) of shrimp. WSSV causes untold damage to the shrimp aquaculture industry

worldwide and is currently impacting production in Saudi Arabia. The workshop brought together

leading scientists engaged in WSSV research and other potentially relevant fields to assess the

current state of knowledge about the virus, identify limitations of current control strategies, and

devise new biological approaches to eradicating the disease.

ACCOLADES FOR SRSI GRADUATES

CONGRATULATIONS to the four KAUST Saudi Research Science Institute (SRSI) alumni who, after

participating in the IBDA’A National Olympiad held in Riyadh on March 20, continued with their

research and entered and won top positions in the prestigious Intel International Science and

Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) which took place at the Phoenix Convention Center Phoenix, Arizona

on May 12-17, 2013.

Intel ISEF is the world's largest international pre-college science competition and provides an

annual forum for more than 1,500 high school students to showcase their independent research.

These young innovators and scientists came from over 70 countries, regions, and territories for a

week-long celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math, to share ideas and present

original research as they vied for more than USD 4 million in prizes and scholarships.

Congratulations to the four outstanding achievers and their KAUST faculty mentors:

Abdullah Hassan Bukhamsin - Second Award in Plant Science Category (mentor: Prof. Nina

Fedoroff, BESE)

• Reem Ahmed AlRabiah - Fourth Award in the Environment Sciences Category (mentor: Prof.

Christian Voolstra, BESE)

• Alma Amad Alhussaini - Second Award in the Special Award Organization- the Society for

Experimental Mechanics (mentor: Prof. Gilles Lubineau, PSE)

• Ahmed Nabil Halawani - Third Award in the Special Award Organization – the American

Association of Physics Teachers and the American Physical Society (mentor: Prof. Iman

Roqan, PSE)

The SRSI is a mentorship program run by Saudi Initiatives, designed to inspire the future young

scientists and engineers of the Kingdom. SRSI offers academically motivated and scholastically

accomplished grade eleven high school students the opportunity to conduct university-level research

under the mentorship of KAUST professors, through a rigorous six-week scientific research program.

The program, which has been held at KAUST over the past two years, now has 65 alumni. Forty more

students will take part in SRSI from June 11-July 26.

)WSSV( ورشة عمل عن فريوس متالزمة البقع البيضاء

)WSSV(عقدت يف الفرتة من 19-18 لشهر مايو املاضي ورشة عمل عن مكافحة فريوس متالزمة البقع البيضاءالروبيان وشركة والتقنية، للعلوم عبداهلل امللك الصحراوية جبامعة الزراعة مركز من كل برعاية للروبيان جسيمة بأضرار البيضاء البقع متالزمة فريوس ويتسبب املائي. لالستزراع السعودية واجلمعية الوطنية، للصناعات القائمة على تربية الروبيان يف العامل ويؤثر حاليًا على إنتاج اململكة العربية السعودية للروبيان. األخرى وامليادين الفريوس هذا رائدة يف جمال أحباث لديهم الذين العلماء كبار العمل ورشة واستقطبت ذات الصلة وذلك لتقييم حجم املعرفة احلالية بفريوس متالزمة البقع البيضاء وحتديد ثغرات وقيود طرق

.املكافحة احلالية، وإنشاء خطة حبوث مشرتكة للقضاء على املرض

)SRSI( الرتحيب خبرجيي معهد علوم األحباث السعودي تهينء جامعة امللك عبداهلل للعلوم والتقنية خرجيي معهد علوم األحباث السعودي باجلامعة ملشاركتهم املتميزة يف األوملبياد الوطين )إبداع( الذي عقد يف الرياض يف 20 من شهر مارس املاضي، كما تهنئهم على املراكز املتقدمة اليت حققوها جبدارة من خالل مشاركتهم يف مسابقة إنتل الدولية للعلوم واهلندسة )ISEF( اليت أقيمت يف مدينة فينيكس بوالية أريزونا بالواليات املتحدة األمريكية يف الفرتة من 12 - 17

مايو 2013. وتعد مسابقة إنتل اليت تقام سنويا من أكرب املسابقات العاملية يف جمال البحوث العلمية قبل املرحلة حول دولة 70 من ألكثر ينتمون والذين الثانوية من محلة طالب 1500 حوايل وتستضيف اجلامعية، والرياضيات والتقنية واهلندسة العلوم أجواء من اإلبداعية املستقلة يف لعرض أحباثهم العامل وذلك 4 قيمتها البالغة املسابقة وجوائز الدراسية باملنح للفوز والتنافس األصلية والبحوث األفكار وتبادل

مليون دوالر.وفيما يلي أمساء املتفوقني األربعة إىل جانب أعضاء هيئة التدريس من جامعة امللك عبداهلل والذين أشرفوا

على أحباثهم: عبداهلل حسن بوخمسين - الجائزة الثانية ، فئة علوم النبات ) المشرف : البرفسور نينا فيدروف، •

العلوم والهندسة البيولوجية والبيئية(.ريم أحمد الربيعة - الجائزة الرابعة ، فئة علوم البيئة )المشرف: البرفسور كرستيان فولسترا ، •

العلوم والهندسة البيولوجية والبيئية(الما الحسيني- الجائزة الثانية ، جائزة المنظمة الخاصة - مجتمع الميكانيكا التجريبية ) المشرف: •

البرفسور جيلز لوبينو ، العلوم والهندسة الفيزيائية (.أحمد نبيل حلواني- الجائزة الثالثة ، جائزة المنظمة الخاصة – الرابطة األمريكية لمعلمي الفيزياء •

والجمعية الفيزيائية األمريكية )المشرف: البرفسور إيمان رقعان، العلوم والهندسة الفيزيائية(.ومعهد علوم األحباث السعودي هو برنامج تعليمي تابع إلدارة املبادرات السعودية جبامعة امللك عبداهلل، وميثل خطوة رئيسية يف املسار األكادميي للشباب السعودي املوهوب لكي يصبحوا علماء وباحثني وقادة، على األحباث بإجراء أكادميية اهتمامات ولديهم الثانوية املرحلة يف املتفوقني للطالب الفرصة ويتيح املستوى اجلامعي حتت إشراف أساتذة من جامعة امللك عبداهلل من خالل برامج أحباث علمية مكثف يف ستة أسابيع. ووصل عدد خمرجات هذا الربنامج الذي أقامته اجلامعة على مدى العامني املاضيني إىل 65

.خرجيًا. وسوف ينضم إليهم أربعني طالبًا اخرين يف الفرتة من 11 يونيو إىل 26 يوليو املقبل

Nina Fedoroff

2 June 2013 The Beacon

THIS June issue is a first for The Beacon. We have not published in the summer months pre-

viously, but there was too much taking place on campus to put off its delivery to you until

the fall –important research, noteworthy accolades, workshops and showcases, and end of

the year programs at The KAUST School. Be sure to take note of the five-year service award

recipients, the members of the KAUST family who have been with KAUST from the begin-

ning – spring 2008. The activities of some of the younger members of the KAUST community

are featured on page four – TKS graduation, art exhibit and the Inter-Kingdom Music Festival

held at KAUST.

The Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 10, June 2013. Published by The Communications Department, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia. Contact Salah Sindi [email protected], or Michelle D'Antoni [email protected] © King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Printed on partially recycled paper.

—THE BEACON Editorial

In Brief

News

هذين املشروعني هو مشروع )نافذة مكة( الذي قدمه تطبيق عن عبارة وهو راوتيك، وبيرت الزيدي حممد على أجهزة اهلاتف املحمول يستخدم تقنية الصورة املدمج الواقع وتقنية درجة 360 بزاوية البانوراميه واملعامل التارخيية للمواقع تفاعلي حمتوى لتوفري إثراء جتربة احلجاج والزوار. يف مكة املكرمة وزيادة الفائزة املشاريع أحدث )HACHID( مشروع وكان جبائزة الربنامج، وقام بتقدميه الدكتور حممد شليب الذي قدم عرضًا عن أجهزة املشروع وبرناجمه الذي يستطيع عد حشود كبرية من الناس بدقة عالية ويف التقنية مفيدة جدًا يف مراقبة الفعلي. وهذه الوقت حركة أفواج احلجيج واملعتمرين وحماكاتها يف مكة

املكرمة خالل مومسي احلج والعمرة.

نبذة عن صندوق التمويل التأسيسي:صندوق التمويل التأسيسي هو عبارة عن آلية لتمويل تطوير املنتجات، ودفع األفكار الواعدة حنو اإلعداد للسوق ومن مث تكوين شركات جديدة. كما يهدف إىل تزويد اجلامعة بوسيلة لتحويل املشاريع العلمية اليت الناجحة النماذج إبراز باإلضافة إىل إىل شركات

ميكن تكرارها على نطاق اململكة. التأسيسي التمويل صندوق برنامج يف املشاركة عبداهلل امللك جامعة منسويب جلميع مفتوحة وباحثني وموظفني تدريس هيئة وأعضاء من طالب .ويقدم الربنامج متويال يصل إىل 200000 دوالر

THE SEED FUND recently held a showcase event

to unveil its latest winner and to highlight some

of the program’s awarded projects. The recipients,

representing a diverse group ranging from an

early award winner to the most recently awarded

project, shared with the audience a snapshot of

their ongoing entrepreneurial journey. The four

teams who presented were Acadox (Mustafa

Nabulsi); Makkah Window (Mohammed Alzaydi

and Peter Rautek); iDive (Michael Berumen); and

HACHID (Mohamed Shalaby).

The Seed Fund supported these projects which

have introduced innovation to the Saudi economy

and created jobs. Acadox, a first round Seed Fund

winner, was represented at the event by Mustafa

Nabulsi, co-founder of the online education plat-

form. Providing a problem-solving solution for

fellow marine researchers and a wider demographic

of scuba divers, KAUST Professor Michael Berumen

shared an update on the iDive project. The iDive

project provides hardware and software to ena-

ble full functionality of touchpad devices (iPad,

iPhone, tablet PC) underwater for diving activities.

The two other presenting teams at the Seed

Fund Showcase provided inventive applica-

tions for the millions of pilgrims who journey to

Saudi Arabia’s Holy sites. The Makkah Window

project, presented by Mohammed Alzaydi and

Peter Rautek, uses 360 degree panoramas and

augmented reality technology on a mobile app

platform. It provides interactive content for his-

torical sites and landmarks in Makkah, further

enriching the experience of pilgrims and visitors.

The latest Seed Fund winner was the HACHID

project. Mohamed Shalaby gave a presentation

on their proposed highly accurate hardware and

software enabling real-time high density crowd

counting. This technology can be particularly use-

ful for monitoring and simulating massive crowds

in Makkah during the Hajj and Umrah seasons.

The keynote speaker for the event was entre-

preneur and investor Christopher Schroeder, who

specializes in global entrepreneurship and tech-

nology startups in the MENA region. Schroeder

remarked that a common trait found in innovative

entrepreneurs is that they are “problem solvers.”

He added that KAUST assumes an important role

in the region because he believes the Middle East

is where world-class global technology and inno-

vation will increasingly play out.

“The Seed Fund program is so profoundly

important here in Saudi Arabia and the region

overall” because it facilitates and nurtures a

“hub of entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs,” he

remarked. As this happens, ecosystems start to

grow exponentially.

June 2013www.kaust.edu.sa 3

SEED FUND SHOWCASES AWARD PROJECTS

املعرض السنوي لربنامج صندوق التمويل التأسيسي

مؤخرًا التأسيسي التمويل صندوق برنامج أقام فعالية املعرض السنوي لتسليط الضوء على بعض لفرتة جبائزته الفائزين وتقدمي الفائزة املشاريع الفرق وقدمت السابقة. والفرتات احلالية الربنامج مشاريعهم رحلة عن سريعة ملحات الفائزة األربعة القائمة وهي: مشروع أكادوكس )مصطفى نابلسي(، راوتيك(، وبيرت الزيدي، )حممد مكة نافذة ومشروع HACHID ومشرع أي دايف )مايكل بريومني( ومشروع

)حممد شليب(.يف املتخصص واملستثمر األعمال رجل وكان الناشئة التقنية واملشاريع العاملية األعمال ريادة السيد أفريقيا ومشال األوسط الشرق منطقة يف هلذا الرئيسي املتحدث هو شرودر كريستوفر املشرتكة السمة أن إىل أشار حيث الفعالية، ألصحاب تلك املشاريع هي سعيهم الدووب لتقدمي أن شرودر وأضاف املختلفة. للمشاكل حلول جلامعة امللك عبداهلل دورًا مهمًا يف منطقة الشرق األوسط نظرا ألنها ستشهد نشاطا متزايدًا للتقنية

واالبتكار العاملي. وقال شرودر: " إن لربنامج صندوق التمويل التأسيسي أهمية كبرية هنا يف اململكة العربية السعودية بصورة الربنامج أن ويعتقد عامة". بصورة واملنطقة خاصة يشكل "مركزًا لرواد املشاريع الذي يساعدون الرواد يف املطرد النمو حتقيق شأنه من والذي االخرين

املنطقة على مجيع األصعدة".

فرق االبتكار واحللول االبتكاريةالواعدة املشاريع التأسيسي التمويل صندوق يدعم فرص وتوفر السعودي لالقتصاد االبتكار تقدم اليت اليت مت العمل. وكان من بني املشاريع االستثمارية تقدميها مشروع )أكادوكس(، والفائز يف اجلولة األوىل عرب التعليم منصة تأسيس يف واملشارك للربنامج السيد الفعالية هذه يف بتقدميهم وقام اإلنرتنت. مايكل الربفسور حتدث كما نابلسي. مصطفى التحديثات عن عبداهلل امللك جامعة من بريومني يقدم والذي دايف(، )أي مشروع على أدخلت اليت الباحثني تواجه اليت املشاكل من للعديد احللول و عامة بصورة والغواصني البحار علوم جمال يف استخدام لتمكني املتطورة والربامج األجهزة يوفر )iPhone,iPad,tablet PC( أجهزة االتصال املحمولة

بكامل وظائفها خالل أنشطة الغوص حتت املاء.التمويل صندوق برنامج معرض يف فريقان وقدم التأسيسي تطبيقات مبتكرة تساعد ماليني احلجاج الذين يزورون اململكة لزيارة األماكن املقدسة. وأحد

(From left to right) Duaa F. Dawood, Administrative Assistant; Mohamed Shalaby, Senior Research Scientist; Ibrahim F. Faza, Portfolio Officer; Chris Schroeder, Keynote Speaker; Amin M. Al-Shibani, VP Economic Development; Kadir Teoman Uysal, Director of New Ventures and Entrepreneurship; Mohammad Osman Sayeed, Award Finance Administrator

AS A FLEDGLING institution, much gratitude is given to the

people who have been with KAUST since the very beginning

– those individuals who have been a part of this journey

since spring 2008 – before the research buildings were con-

structed, before classes began, and even before the first

meeting of the Board of Trustees (in April 2009). These first

KAUST employees believed in the ambitious vision of the

University when it was still just a dream and had an integral

part in shaping its reality today.

June 2013 marked a milestone for 65 notable KAUST employ-

ees, who celebrated five years of service at the University. At

a recognition ceremony honoring these individuals on May 7,

remarks were given by Patricia Ann Hughes, Vice President,

Human Resources; and Nadhmi Al-Nasr, Executive Vice

President of Administration and Finance.

President Choon Fong Shih gave the keynote address where

he expressed his appreciation. “KAUST is where we are today

because of you. To me, the achievements of our young insti-

tution are not so surprising. From the beginning, we brought

on board people who want to excel, who want to make a dif-

ference. And you do.”

“Back in January 2009, I spoke of three essentials for excel-

lence – or three ‘bests.’ First, get the best. Since our earliest days,

we have worked hard to bring in the best – faculty, staff, and

students. We wanted to get the best to join KAUST, so that we all

could experience the joy of working with the best. The second – be

your best. Since our earliest days, I have seen for myself how hard

you have worked to be your best. Third, help others be their best…

When we help others be their best, we create a supportive environ-

ment for the unrelenting pursuit of excellence. Helping others be

their best, we build excellence together.”

Congratulat ions to the fol lowing members of our

University family celebrating five years of service:

Shadi AbdallahLuluwah AbokhodairMartina AgustinSyed AhmedAyman Al ShehriHadeel Al SulaimanyAli Al YamiFeras Al-BatranSaud Al-DeraanHatim AlgarniAli Al-GhanimMaha Alhaddad

5-YEAR SERVICE AWARD

Salem Al-HajriYasser Al-HaraziHatem Al-JahdaliHaitham AljehdaliSaif Alkatheri Wael AlmoazenAbdullah Al-MutawaAli Al-QahtaniBalqees Al-RamahiAbdulaziz Al-SuwailemTariq AlyahyaAbdullah Alzuabi

Roberto AprueldoZaldy AquinoJoy AzurNaif Bashen Ghazi BasohailShereen BawazeerOmaimah BazaraaPaul BennettCharlie BiunasHani Bukhari Mary Ann CaillanGheraldine CarpioRoberto Chato, Jr.Rogin DiazDennis DilaoTareck Elass Afrah FaidMohammedzain FairaqVictor FajilanLarry FayadJaneth HermidaHani Itani Shahinaz JanMohammed KareemullahBernard Llovore

Edgardo Mateo Arwin MayordomoMaria MiclatCatherine MontianoAllan NapolesShakeel ParkarMohamed PattaniJofrey PerjeAzeez RizwanIffat Saadeh Andrew SalomonWilliam StammJerry ThomasGerry TornoRegina ValidoPaterno VictorinoHiba Zamzam

)من اليسار إىل اليمني( دعاء داود، مساعد إداري، حممد شليب ، عامل أحباث أول، ابراهيم فازا، مسؤول استثمارات، كريس شرودر، املتحدث الرئيسي، امني الشيباين، نائب رئيس التنمية االقتصادية، قادر تيومان أوسال، مدير املشاريع اجلديدة وريادة األعمال، حممد سيد عثمان، املدير املايل للجائزة

WHEN MOHAMMAD Fairaq, 18, first started at The KAUST School (TKS) two years ago, he only

knew a handful of English words. Intimidated and daunted by having to complete grades 11 and

12 all in English and at an International Baccalaureate school, Mohammad never thought he would

end up giving the senior address in front of his classmates, their friends and families, and the TKS

Secondary School faculty, at his high school graduation ceremony.

“This is my first speech in English so please bear with me…I think most of us felt that we didn’t

know very much before we moved to KAUST…now I know that being part of an international school

like this has taught us to know the difference an international education can make. Now we know:

nothing is impossible.”

In his speech, Mohammad recounted all of the hard work and determination it required to learn

English and apply it in his studies. He thanked his classmates for their support and encouragement and

also teachers Ms. Kristy Wilkinson and Dr. Jacque Phillips whose commitment and dedication made a

significant positive impact in his progress.

In her senior address to the Class of 2013, Mariyam Mahmud echoed appreciation for TKS teachers.

“On behalf of the graduates I would like to thank you, teachers, for all the motivation, inspiration,

and care that you have given us in order to strive for the greater good for ourselves and for the

world. We are going to miss you very much.”

“We have made it this far, all of us, after much anticipation and longing. I sincerely hope we are

able to adopt the lessons learned in school and from our parents to actualize our greatest invention

ever, which is our very own lives! As John C. Parkin says, ‘Every moment has infinite potential.

Every new moment contains for you possibilities that you can't possibly imagine. Every day is a

blank page that you could fill with the most beautiful drawings.’”

The 2013 graduates were also offered words of wisdom from chemistry teacher and senior advisor

Daniel Whitehair, who was nominated by the senior class to deliver the faculty address. “What you

must do is work hard to endow yourself with skills and resilience and give things a try. I’m not going

to tell you that if you do this, your dreams will come true. They might, and they might not…But I will

tell you that if you prepare, if you work hard and you try, you can do more than you think. You can get

a college degree, you can work harder, you can exercise regularly, you can eat healthy, you can learn

Spanish, and you can make a difference - you can do it. You are capable of more than you imagine.”

Congratulations to the 20 students in the TKS Class of 2013:

Basel Imad Abukhalaf

Sumaya Ahmed AlMubarak

Mohamed Asem Al-Ramahi

Liam Gracielle Chato

Mohammad Fairaq

Malek Ziyad Fraihat

Mohammed Yaseen Goolam

June 2013 Community4 The Beacon

STUDENTS from The KAUST School (TKS) and middle school students from nine international

schools in Saudi Arabia “had a blast” at the 2013 Saudi Arabia Inter Kingdom Activities Conference

(SAIKAC) Middle School Music Festival, said Chuck Brooker, TKS Music Teacher.

The festival, which was held on the KAUST campus from April 30 – May 2, gave students in

the Honors Band and Honors Choir a unique opportunity to come together and participate in

two days of intensive rehearsals on wind and percussion instruments for the band and vocal

preparations for the choir. The event culminated in a Gala Concert presented to the KAUST com-

munity on May 2.

“This year’s festival was a huge success,” Jennifer Hermanson, TKS Choral Director, said. “The

students and music directors who participated really enjoyed working and collaborating together

for the final concert.”

Edward Elkins, visiting Band Director from the Saudi Aramco Schools in Dhahran, noted

how TKS staff and students and the KAUST community embraced the event. “We were over-

whelmed by the welcome we received from our KAUST hosts,” he said. “Congratulations,

KAUST, on a job well done.”

PhD student Afnan Mashat’s innovative research work in the Controlled Release

& Delivery (CRD) Lab recently won her the 12th Annual Almarai Prize for

Scientific Innovation in the branch of “Scientific Research Prize for Women.”

The Almarai Prize was established to “support, encourage, and motivate

scientists, researchers, and inventers in the Kingdom to be creative in the

fields of science.” Almarai, a major Saudi corporation founded in 1977,

manufactures dairy and other food products, and is partnered with the King Abdulaziz City for

Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh to award and administer the prize.

Under the supervision of Dr. Niveen Khashab, Assistant Professor of Chemical Science and Principle

Investigator in the CRD Lab, Mashat and Dr. Lin Deng, research scientist, investigate the design of

nanomaterials, and specifically carbon nanotubes, for controlled release and delivery applications.

Mashat’s prize-winning work entitled “Zippered release from polymer-gated carbon nano-

tubes” was published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry in 2012. The research examines

the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to form a thermo-sensitive drug delivery system in which

CNTs are loaded with the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) and coated with polyethylen-

imine (PEI) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via the “zipper effect.”

The zipper effect allows for control and support of drug release, and changes in tempera-

ture enable the complexation at low temperature and decomplexation at high temperature

of PEI and PVA via hydrogen bonding. DOX is released at high temperature (≥40˚C), and is

slowly released at normal human body temperature (37˚C). The system looks to be a promising

method for the use of stimuli triggered polymer-gated CNTs in controlled release applications.

Said Mashat of her win: “I was so excited. Winning for me means working even harder in

the future and presenting more research. I am proud of the work that was accomplished.”

KAUST PHD STUDENT WINS ALMARAI PRIZE FOR SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION

The observation of these designed complex functions at such an exquisite nanostructure were

made possible by the cutting-edge electron microscopic facilities of KAUST’s core labs. The input

of the core lab staff through their expertise in electron microscopy has been a crucial component

to the project.

By introducing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy into the realm of catalysis, allowing

for fast and highly sensitive study of catalytic reactions, the researchers’ findings offer a unique

possibility to investigate the intrinsic reaction kinetics on the catalyst surface by excluding the

influence of adsorption/desorption of reactants and products.

REAL-TIME REACTION | Continued from p1

(L-R) Jianfeng Huang, Qingxiao Wang, Kexin Yao, and Yang Yang

TKS GRADUATES PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE

Rima Hallak

Maram Jamal Jahln

Matias Kaspar Lehvaslaiho

Mariyam Mahmud

Rahaf Osama Mandurah

Hollie Martin

Renad Nabeel Masoudi

Siddharth Samtaney

Mahmoud Shalaby

Osayil Skinner

Mohamad Razeen Stoffberg

Jake Veikoso Twigg

Nolan Yimrawd-Thivin

2013 SAIKAC MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSIC FESTIVAL A ‘HUGE SUCCESS’

High school seniors from The KAUST

Schools (TKS) taking part in the IB Diploma

program in Visual Arts began a creative

journey with their Visual Arts teacher

Rebecca Morris two years ago, with Morris guiding the students through the use of various art

media to create pieces reflecting an individually chosen theme.

The students’ journey through the art world culminated in a display of their pieces in the lobby

of the Administration Building, with a special reception held there for the young artists on May 27.

“Art is a way of listening to the world, communicating our perceptions of it, and understanding

our individual and collective place in it,” explained Morris. “The students began the program

as a global scattering of nations, cultures, and understandings. We had a great dialogue and

came to a deeper understanding of each other through the process. I am very proud of how the

students have grown, and I hope they take art with them to use what they have learned in the

next part of their journey in life.”

Contributing high school seniors:

Rima Hallak

Mahmoud Shalaby

Osayil Skinner

HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS’ ART DISPLAYED FOR KAUST COMMUNITY

Basel Abukhalaf

Sumaya AlMubarak

Matias Lehvaslaiho

Rahaf Mandurah

Renad Masoudi

Jake Twigg

Afnan Mashat

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