Abu Dhabi-UAE: 9 April, 2012 – Over 40 students at the UAE University in Al Ain were offered a glimpse on the range of academic and research offerings on carbon capture available at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies.

The representatives from Masdar Institute including Dr. Hector H. Hernandez, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Program, Samar Al Harbi, Student Enrollment Officer, and Ismail Al Zarooni, Foundation Student in Mechanical Engineering, Masdar Institute, were welcomed by Mustafa Abu Dayeh, Alumni Coordinator, UAE University in Al Ain.

Students enthusiastically participated in a technical presentation on the current research on carbon capture offered by Dr. Hector H. Hernandez. Samar Al Harbi presented the vision of Masdar City and Masdar Institute, as well as the research offerings, academic programs and outreach initiatives. She also provided details on the admission criteria and scholarship options, while Ismail Al Zarooni shared his academically and socially enriching experience as a student at Masdar Institute. Several students expressed their intention to take up programs for Master’s studies at the research-driven institution.

Established as an ongoing collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow. With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 08 April, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced a team of crowd-sourcing experts led by one of its faculty has won the international Tag Challenge competition, redefining the limits of technology-mediated social mobilization and rapid information gathering.

The worldwide gaming challenge that has never before been attempted in human history, opened on 31 March. The US State Department-sponsored competition aimed to track down five ‘suspects’ of a jewel heist in five different cities within 12 hours with the use of social media. The Masdar Institute-led team – Team Crowdscanner – led by Dr. Iyad Rahwan, Associate Professor – Computing and Information Science, in collaboration with Dr. Manuel Cebrian, Research Scientist at University of California, San Diego (UCSD), won the challenge by finding the three targets in New York City, Washington DC, and Bratislava in Slovakia within the stipulated time.

Judging from social media presence, Dr. Rahwan feels there may have been four serious competing teams. Two other teams also found a single target each, but Team Crowdscanner found those targets as well, and did so earlier than others.

Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, President of Masdar Institute, said: “This is a moment of great pride for our institution and we acknowledge the pioneering efforts undertaken by Dr Iyad Rahwan and his team members. The winning of the global challenge bears true testimony to the caliber of our faculty and the project initiatives they lead internally and externally. We believe Masdar Institute will continue to achieve more international acclaim and we thank the country’s wise leadership for their support that enables such success.”

Dr. Iyad Rahwan, Associate Professor – Computing and Information Science, Masdar Institute, said: “We were able to succeed by leveraging a combination of social media and traditional media, and by building up a reputation as a credible, reliable team. We were more selective in our social media strategy, and I believe this gave us an edge. Our victory will surely redefine the limits of technology-mediated social mobilization with implications ranging from rapid disaster response, to finding missing children, and many more similar applications.

“We were fascinated by the new TAG Challenge for two main reasons. First, a lot of people wondered if the success in the DARPA Red Balloon challenge was a lucky accident. We were determined to see if we can indeed ‘do it again’. Secondly, we realized that the TAG Challenge is much harder. Instead of locating static, massive weather balloons, you had to locate mobile people mixed within a crowd. We knew that, should we win this, we would manage to raise the bar for rapid mobilization through social media a significant notch higher.”

Dr. Rahwan added: “What is the most fascinating thing about our success, in my opinion, is the fact that none of us resides in any of the five cities. We all coordinated everything from behind our computer screens. This, to me, is what is special about the Internet. Our next step is to try to reconstruct exactly how we won, and what happened on the day of the challenge, and to learn something about what makes social media work in such amazing ways.”

Team Crowdscanner kept a similar incentive structure as in 2009 with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Network’s Red Balloon Challenge. However, this was simplified to enable people to make more money by either finding suspects, or recruiting the person who found the suspects. Though the team has not yet decided on a way to divide the prize money, it is expected along the terms already announced – US$500 for finding the suspects, and US$100 for recruiting the person who found them. Also, anyone who recruits a person gets US$1 for the first 2,000 people recruited.

Dr. Cebrian was also part of the team that won the US$40,000 prize at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Network’s Red Balloon Challenge in 2009. Earlier, Dr. Rahwan co-authored a paper with the Red Balloon Challenge winners on their use of social networks to mobilize people to contribute to their team’s efforts. The paper was later published in the prestigious Science journal.

Established as an ongoing collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow. With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.

Network of Spotters to Track ‘Jewel Heist Suspects’ in Five Cities across North America and Europe through Social Media

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 26 March, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced a group of crowd-sourcing experts including one of its faculty, are building a team to participate in a worldwide gaming challenge to track down five ‘suspects’ of a jewel heist in five different cities within 12 hours.

The ‘Tag Challenge’, a not-for-profit, independent event taking place on 31 March, aims to “determine whether and how social media can be used to accomplish a realistic, time-sensitive, international law enforcement goal.”

With a US$5,000-reward, the winning strategy will involve building a network of spotters and teammates for the simulated law enforcement search through social media in each of the five cities including Washington DC, New York City, London, Stockholm and Bratislava in Slovakia. Sponsored by the US State Department and the US Embassy in Prague, the challenge has been created by an international group of graduate students from six countries.

Anyone, resident in these cities or otherwise, can play the game by joining the team to share the reward.

The team being assembled has been dubbed “CrowdScanner”, and anyone can join by visiting http://crowdscanner.net. The site is being built in collaboration with experts from University of Southampton and University of California San Diego.

The team leader, Dr. Iyad Rahwan, Associate Professor – Computing and Information Science, Masdar Institute, said: “Tag Challenge is a competition to gauge how social media can be effectively tapped to locate ‘real life’ culprits. We are developing a website that will enable more people to use social networks and inform their friends about the challenge and try to find the targets. We are confident, with talented spotters, our team will emerge winners in this competition.”

The organizers will post on the website a “mug shot” of each suspect on the day of the event. Each suspect will be wearing a shirt bearing the event logo. The suspect’s face, dress, and the contest logo will be clearly visible in each of the mug shots. Contestants may use only this photograph and any other information provided on the event website to identify each suspect. The photos will be verified through a unique code phrase on both the front and back of the shirt, which is not revealed in a suspect’s mug shot but known only to the organizers. Participants need to make sure that the code phrase is clearly visible in each submission.

In order to win, a participant or team must be the first to successfully locate and photograph all ‘volunteer suspects’ and submit verifiable photographs to the contest organizers.

The enormity of the challenge means that no single person or group of friends can tackle it on their own. Instead, winning is likely to rely on the ability to assemble a very large, ad-hoc team of spotters. A group of crowd-sourcing and social media experts are providing the tool to do just that.

Dr. Manuel Cebrian, winner of the now-famous DARPA Red Balloon Challenge and a member of the CrowdScanner team, said: “We will give the entire reward to the participants who will actually do the work; we will keep nothing.”

Anyone who submits a photograph of a target to CrowdScanner and enable the team to win, will receive IS$500. In addition, if someone invites a friend, and the friend submits a photograph, they get US$500, but the first person also gets US$100. To help spread the word, the recruiters of the first 2,000 members will get US$1 for each person they invite to join the team.

Dr. Cebrian added: “We are not interested in the money; we just want to learn more about the power of social media in information gathering tasks like this one.”

A Total of 15 Projects on Offer for Student Interns This Summer

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 25 March, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced an entire bouquet of internship offerings are available for university graduates and senior students this summer.

The summer internship program is offered to the UAE nationals who are university seniors and/or those graduating this year with science, engineering or computer science as major subjects. Scheduled to begin from 1 July, the internship program runs for six weeks.

This year, the 15 summer internship programs offered at Masdar Institute range from ‘Renewable Energy Projects: Implementation Strategies + Cost Comparisons’, and ‘Experimental and Numerical studies of CO2 Geological Storage and Financial Mechanisms’, to ‘Solar Cell Technologies and Applications Investigation of Luminescent Solar Concentrators for UAE Conditions + Desalination’, and ‘MATLAB Simulation Development for Power Grid Systems Simulations + Solar Cell Technologies and Applications Designed Filters for Applications in Solar Cells Under Light Concentration’.

Such diverse programs are offered to university graduates to illustrate the wide academic and research options available in the advanced energy and sustainable technologies. The programs are expected to provide the university seniors and fresh graduates an opportunity to analyze in depth the areas that may offer potential for innovation.

Dr Kenneth Volk, Head of Outreach, Masdar Institute, said: “The summer internship programs are relevant to the region as they include areas such as desalination, recycled water and power grid systems. But at a much deeper level, they also cover advanced technology topics including carbon capture and solvents for post-combustion. There is growing interest in these subjects across the world and we believe exposing fresh and talented UAE graduates to such areas will equip them with profound knowledge, which could be utilized for the betterment of the global community. We thank the UAE’s wise leadership for their support to our commitment in developing human capital through such initiatives.”

Applications can be completed online at the Masdar Institute website. A single project requires only one application, while multiple applications will be required for more than one project. The website offers adequate details on each project category with a complete description and a list of tasks an intern is expected to do as well as the recommended skills and the formal education required. This summer, more than 15 project opportunities are available for student interns, who will receive on-campus housing and a monthly stipend, in addition to valuable research and professional experience.

An applicant is required to have a GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). An IELTS score of 6.0 (or equivalent) is mandatory for the applicant who also has to submit a letter of recommendation.

Established as an ongoing collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.

Acknowledges Masdar for Supporting Renewable Energy and Investing in Students’ Expedition to Antarctica

 Abu Dhabi-UAE: 21 March, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced polar explorer Sir Robert Swan commended the commitment and courage of the two students who were part of the International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012.

During a video shoot on Day 9 of the expedition in the Antarctic, Sir Robert Swan also acknowledged Masdar for investing in Reem Al Junaibi and Maitha Al Kaabi, and sponsoring them on their expedition to the Antarctic continent as part of Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) program, a Masdar Institute outreach initiative. The two students thanked the polar explorer for the wonderful experience in the Antarctic and Masdar Institute for selecting them to be part of the expedition team.

The two students returned to the UAE on 16 March after successfully completing the expedition. The International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2012 team began their voyage from Ushuaia in Argentina on 27 February and returned on 12 March after visiting several places including the ‘E-Base 2041’ that continues to stand as an example of sustainable living in the Antarctic.

The video clipping can be accessed at

Sir Robert Swan said: “I want to thank you all a lot for having the courage and the generosity in investing in these two (students) in coming here with me to the Antarctic, which is quite cold here today. But if we are not using more renewable clean technology in our real world, not only will we not preserve Antarctica but the human race will not survive on earth. So, we are here on a survival situation. Masdar is part of the survival situation.

“It has been great to have these two fabulous girls here on the International Antarctica Expedition (IAE) 2012 team. They have been real stars. You should be proud of these two. They are the best of the best.”

Reem Al Junaibi said: “I would like to thank you (Sir Swan) for such an amazing experience. We have definitely improved our leadership skills and we have added more skills while being here in the Antarctic. And we are ready to go back to Masdar and contribute to help preserve the Antarctic continent.”

Maitha Al Kaabi said: “It is a wonderful experience and I have loved every moment of it. Now I have great friends among the international community. We discuss interesting topics. We had a lovely day today learning about renewable energy, cleaning waste products and stuff like that. And now, we are ready to conduct our research projects in the UAE.”

Established as an ongoing collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.

24 Students from Energy and Poverty Solutions Course to Collaborate with Local Development Organizations during Week-Long Field Trip

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 19 March, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced a group of 24 students accompanied by faculty will visit Varanasi in northern India to work with communities on projects directly related to energy and water issues.

Dr Scott Kennedy, Associate Dean for Research, Masdar Institute, and students of the Energy and Poverty Solutions Course will be in Varanasi from 24-30 March as part of a field trip to address important energy and development challenges for this region. The projects are expected to benefit more than 2,000 people in three different communities in the Varanasi district. They are being developed in consultation with local non-governmental organizations with significant experience in the region. The Energy and Poverty Solutions Course has been in operation for three years now.

The communities in Varanasi have been chosen in consultation with Human Welfare Association, a non-governmental organization that is operating with the community, and Husk Power Systems, an energy company that works on biomass gasification based-power systems in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Preliminary studies of the villages have found that the communities get electricity only for a few hours daily and the primary schools lack proper sanitation, safe drinking water and educational material in addition to poor infrastructure and inadequate facilities. The students’ team led by Dr Scott Kennedy will work towards improving living conditions in and around the communities. They will also engage with the local energy company, Husk Power Systems, to seek ways for technical and business model improvements.

The Energy and Poverty Solutions Course focuses on the design and prototype construction of compact, robust, low-cost energy systems including micro-hydro, solar, wind turbine generators, and biomass cooking options. Through workshops and case studies, students learn design methodologies for creating flexible, adaptive, and robust technologies and systems analysis tools to evaluate technical, economic, and social implementation challenges. Students also get the opportunity to travel to a developing country during their Spring break to identify and implement the projects. The Varanasi project is part of this initiative.

Dr Kennedy said: “The project in Varanasi will be a good learning experience for the students to understand and design sustainable projects in energy and water management. We aim to build a long-term relationship with our local partners and share new knowledge with other organizations to expand these efforts nationally and internationally. The field trip will effectively enrich the experience of the students and enable them to learn collaboratively with the people of these communities.”

Some of the projects previously undertaken by the Energy and Poverty Solutions Course include the enhancement of a micro-hydropower energy system for a rural village in Borneo, an analysis of water supply options for rural areas in Somaliland, and an assessment of energy needs and opportunities for a residential compound near Lusaka, Zambia.

The Energy and Poverty Solutions Course is part of the Engineering Systems and Management program, which is an interdisciplinary field that brings together experts in engineering, design, economics, management and policy to teach and undertake research into large-scale complex systems. The program aims to create corporate and government leaders that can effectively deal with global energy and sustainability challenges that involve large scale systems.

Established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.
 

Dr. Marcus Dahlem Invites Physics Students and Faculty from UAE Universities to Visit Masdar Institute

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 14 March, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced it highlighted its current research projects in Applied Physics at a Physics colloquium in the UAE. The overall research themes and mission of the institute were also emphasized at the event.

Dr. Marcus Dahlem, Assistant Professor, Microsystems Engineering, Masdar Institute, presented details of the research projects at an event themed ‘Physics Education in the UAE’. It was organized by the American University of Sharjah’s Physics Department in collaboration with the University of Sharjah Physics Department. The event gathered Physics faculty from several UAE universities, in addition to undergraduate Physics students and some high-school teachers specialized in the subject. The main goal of the event was to bring together all Physics faculty from the UAE to discuss the state of the field, major challenges and ideas for improving the teaching of Physics in the UAE.

Dr. Joseph Cecchi, Masdar Institute’s Provost and a physicist himself, said: “Physics is one of the vital science streams that can engage the students and encourage them to ask the most important question ‘why’. This question is essential to guide the students towards the first fundamental step for innovation. Events such as the ‘Physics Education in the UAE’ are also necessary to nudge the students towards finding new ways on scientific advancements.

“Masdar Institute serves as an example for innovative research in Physics and sustainable clean technologies. We thank the UAE’s wise leadership for enabling Masdar Institute to implement highly selective research projects in advanced technology areas, especially in Applied Physics.”

Dr. Dahlem invited the faculty and teachers attending the colloquium to visit Masdar Institute together with their Physics students to gain further insight into the research activities in advanced energy and sustainable technologies that are being conducted at the Abu Dhabi institution. At the same time, Dr. Dahlem was also invited to participate in outreach activities at two local high-schools in Abu Dhabi.

Others from Masdar Institute who were present at the event included Dr. Adel Gougam, Assistant Professor, Material Science and Engineering (MSE), Dr. Hasan Nayfeh, Assistant Professor, Microsystems Engineering (MIC), and Hessa Al Shehhi, Students Enrollment Officer.

Dr. Dahlem shared his insights during the general discussion on how to attract more students into Physics, develop outreach activities for high-schools, and improve marketability of Physics as a one of the key science subjects.

Dr. Dahlem said: “It is extremely important to engage students at a young age, developing their passion for Physics while still in high-school. As a major player in promoting science and technology in the region, and being equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories, Masdar Institute is in a good position to help with such outreach activities.

“The event was a great opportunity to spread the word about the high-end world class research being developed at Masdar Institute, directly to the Physics faculty from the major universities in the UAE. This will hopefully attract top Emirati Physics students to our graduate programs. The participants, including students, were keen to learn more about the depth and scope of the ongoing research projects at Masdar Institute.”

At present, Masdar Institute is conducting research in Applied Physics in areas such as integrated photonics, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), novel materials for solar cells, and micro/nano fabrication.

Some of the current research focus areas of Dr. Dahlem include light management in solar cells, electronic-photonic integrated circuits, on-chip optical data interconnects, integrated photonic components (modulators, switches, resonators, delay lines, detectors), near-field optics and optical fiber sensors.

Holder of a Licenciatura degree (BS + Master) in Applied Physics from the University of Portoin Portugal, Dr. Dahlem earned his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working in the Optics and Quantum Electronics group at the Research Laboratory of Electronics. During his doctoral studies, Dr. Dahlem also spent some time working at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory.

Established as an ongoing collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow. With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research.

Projects of American Kenan Jijakli and UAE National Tariq Al Sarkal on Desalination Are Interlinked

Abu Dhabi-UAE 6 March, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced two of its students – one from the United States. and the other a UAE National – presented their research projects during the American Embassy President’s Day Reception in Abu Dhabi.

The American student Kenan Jijakli and the UAE National Tariq Al Sarkal, both from the Water and Environmental Engineering program, participated at the reception that was held on 15 February at Emirates Palace. They offered insightful presentations on their research to an audience that comprised dignitaries, ministers, government officials and leading business leaders from the UAE and the U.S.

Jijakli presented details and progress on his research titled ‘An Environmental Assessment into Renewable Energy Powered Desalination’, while Al Sarkal spoke about ‘LCA comparison between Dual Media Filter vs. Ultrafiltration Pretreatment methods in Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants’. The research of Al Sarkal builds on that of Jijakli, although they are not directly working together.

The two students were selected based on their highly focused research subjects that are interlinked. Masdar Institute was invited to send two students because of its status as an institution that leads research activities in specialized areas such as advanced energy and sustainable technologies.

Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, President of Masdar Institute, said: “It was a privilege for our students to showcase their research projects at the U.S. Embassy President’s Day Reception. The two students’ projects signify the extent of specialized research activities that are being conducted at Masdar Institute. The President’s Day Reception offered us an opportunity to adequately highlight our research activities in desalination to an august audience and we thank the UAE’s wise leadership for their guidance in making Masdar Institute a pioneer in sustainability and clean technology.”

Jijakli’s thesis work investigates renewable energy-powered desalination systems, particularly solar-powered, and compares them with ‘Reverse Osmosis’ desalination. The basis of this assessment is environmental and it adopts a ‘Life Cycle Assessment’ (LCA) approach. However, it also includes a technical and economic analysis. Jijakli has already completed his research project.

Al Sarkal’s work involves life cycle assessment, which is a technique to find out the environmental impacts that are associated with a certain activity or process. His studies focused on life cycle assessments that are connected to desalination technologies. Desalination has assumed enormous significance across the world due to the scarcity of safe drinking water. In some countries, including the GCC region, desalinated water is sometimes the only source of safe water.

Desalination and its associated technologies have expanded considerably over the recent years and currently the focus remains more on their environmental impacts. Al Sarkal’s research project attempts to gain a better understanding of the environmental impacts associated with some of the technologies and processes for desalination.

Masdar Institute’s research platform explicitly recognizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach by promoting work in and across the domains of technology, systems and policy. In 2011, a total of 110 research projects were awarded, covering areas including water, environment and health, future energy systems, micro-systems and advanced materials, and other ancillary fields.

Established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change.

Several Major Companies and Global Organizations Tap Masdar Institute for Advanced Research Facilities and Renowned Faculty

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 4 March, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, has entered into collaborative research agreements with several major companies and global organizations, affirming its status as an institution that remains consistently focused on research.

In the last few months alone, the number of collaborative research agreements has steadily increased. The most recent deals include collaborations with Emirates Aluminium Company (EMAL), Masdar PV GmbH, Siemens Energy Systems, Toyota Motor Corporation as well as an agreement and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi-headquartered International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

These agreements are in addition to the number of competitively awarded research projects during 2011 that touched 110, covering areas such as water, environment and health, future energy systems, microsystems and advanced materials, as well as other related fields. These projects are directly relevant to the long-term economic objectives of Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, President of Masdar Institute, said: “Such diverse sponsored research agreements and competitively awarded projects reflect the expertise available with Masdar Institute for conducting research in highly specialized areas of advanced energy and sustainable technologies. It is our sincere endeavor to offer support to industries that seek to implement clean technologies while welcoming those organizations that are keen to collaborate with us in our human development efforts. We thank the UAE’s wise leadership for supporting us in building an academic institution with multidisciplinary capabilities.”

Along with the master research agreement, the contract with EMAL covers four research projects. They include ‘Efficient cooling for shut down pot in aluminum smelters’, ‘Exploring activation water treatment to limit the growth of green algae and other pathogens that promote their growth’, ‘Onsite assessments of a reverberotary aluminum smelting furnaces’, and ‘Voltage drop study across the anode-rod connection’. The objective of these projects is to minimize environmental impact while increasing production efficiency.

A strategic master research partnership agreement with Masdar PV GmbH, leading German-based manufacturer of photovoltaic filmson silicon thin film photovoltaic technologies, covers three research projects. They include transparent conductive oxide (TCO) glass layer optimization, photovoltaic device simulation and light management optimization.

The agreement with Siemens Energy Systems covers solar energy technology research and development to enhance the use of PV panels in the Middle East region. Testing activities focusing on investigating the properties of solar panel coatings are also covered under this deal.

As part of an expertise sharing initiative, Masdar Institute signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IRENA to support the development of a publicly-accessible atlas of solar and wind resources in addition to hosting the atlas database at its campus. The agreement ensures cooperation between the two organizations for exchange of information; joint implementation of project activities, analyses and research studies; as well as defining technical compatibility and methodological harmonization and data transparency protocols for solar and wind data.

Another agreement with IRENA involves Masdar Institute’s mandate that aims to contribute to developing a knowledge-based economy through capacity building and human development. As part of this, IRENA will award up to 20 scholarships to promote talented academics for students across the eight Master’s programs offered at Masdar Institute.

The Masdar Institute-Toyota Scholarship Program is the result of a landmark negotiation with Toyota Motor Corporation that aims to facilitate research on the advancement of low-carbon emission vehicle technologies. Toyota, winner of the Zayed Future Energy Prize in 2010, is using the US$1.5 million prize to fund the scholarship program for 10 students. One student will be selected for each academic year and the scholarship includes a two-week trip to Japan. The annual scholarships will be offered to highly-qualified graduate students from around the world to work on projects in the area of technologies for sustainable development. Ayoola Brimmo, a student in the Mechanical Engineering Program, is the inaugural winner of this Masdar Institute-Toyota Scholarship for the year.

Dr Steve Griffiths, Executive Director of Institute Initiatives, Masdar Institute, said: “Faculty drive research at Masdar Institute, guiding students and research staff in core areas of advanced energy and sustainable technologies. Over the year, the faculty and students have consistently demonstrated their scientific and technical acumen as evidenced by the number of published papers in top scientific journals and at international conferences. Our research projects will bring economic and environmental benefits as the research outputs begin to get commercialized.”

A key characteristic of Masdar Institute’s research strategy is its focus on complex real-world problems that require a multidisciplinary approach that is based on an integrated technology, systems and policy perspective. Masdar Institute is focused on the integration of teaching and research and constantly seeks new ways to connect the learning that takes place in the classroom and laboratories to the world that the students will enter upon graduation.

Established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change through education and research. 

Various Nationalities in Traditional Attire Reflect Rich Cultural Diversity at Research-Driven Institution

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 23 February, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced faculty, students and staff members enthusiastically participated in the second annual International Fair, highlighting the institution’s rich cultural diversity.

Students representing 28 countries were joined by faculty and staff members from their respective countries in what became a confluence of colors representing various nationalities in traditional attire. The event held at the Wind Tower area of the Masdar Institute campus showcased cultural aspects of each country, offering everyone an opportunity to understand and appreciate customs and practices that make each country unique.

Most of the events that were independently lined up by the students of each country included traditional Jordanian dance performance, ‘dabkeh’ – an Arab folk dance native to the Levant countries, and ‘bhangra’ from India. In addition to exclusive stalls showcasing calligraphy from South Korea and colorful bangles (bracelet) from India, an array of multicultural cuisine from nearly every country was also on offer. Contemporary and folk music from most of the countries played throughout the event.

Ameirah Aldahmani, President of Student Government Association (SGA), Masdar Institute, said: “The second annual International Fair was built on the success of the previous year’s event that also witnessed intense participation from across the students, faculty and staff members. This year’s event proved even more inclusive with a marked increase in the number of students representing various countries. Events such as these bind the communities together and the day’s activities offered an opportunity to learn about each other’s cultures, evolution of modern traditions from ancient practices, and region-specific customs.”

Abdulla Alshamsi, Executive Vice-President of SGA, Masdar Institute, said: “This is a platform for showcasing practices that are unique to a country. We organized folkdance and showcased traditional culinary delights. Each group representing the 28 countries signifies the diversity within the campus that makes learning from Masdar Institute a comprehensively rich academic as well as a cultural experience.”

Established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean energy and climate change. 

Faculty and Students Receive Accolades from Academic, Industry and Scientific Institutions

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 19 February, 2012 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, has gradually gained status as one of the leading institutions to have received consistent global recognitions over the past few months.

These recognitions have been granted to faculty or the alumni by some of the globally- acclaimed academic, industry and scientific institutions.

In fact, over the last few months alone Masdar Institute has received five major global recognitions from diverse organizations. They include Borealis Student Innovation Award, inclusion of alumni Steven Meyers on the esteemed Forbes 30 ‘Under 30’ achievers list, selection of a study by the faculty on the annual special edition of the respected Nanotechnology journal, selection of a paper co-authored by a faculty on the prestigious ‘Science’ journal, and winning of the ‘elevator-pitch’ competition at an entrepreneurship bootcamp in Singapore.

Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, President of Masdar Institute, said: “These diverse recognitions reflect the wide spectrum of the research areas in which our faculty and students continue to excel. Our objective is to offer the right ingredients for the students to grow academically and contribute later to tackling climate change and its impact on the environment. Through the awards Masdar Institute has consistently demonstrated its contribution towards facilitating scientists in highly specialized sectors. We thank the UAE’s wise leadership for their continuous support that has ensured our success in these areas.”

The prestigious Borealis Student Innovation Award was won by Rana Qudaih, an alumnus majored in Mechanical Engineering, for her thesis on Polyolefins (plastics). Qudaih additionally received an opportunity to present her thesis in front of an august audience at the Borealis Innovation Day event in Linz, Austria. Qudaih, who was the first female winner of the master thesis award, was commended for her broadness and applicability of her work by a Borealis official.

Founded by Dr. Matteo Chiesa, the Laboratory for Energy and Nano Sciences (LENS) at Masdar Institute offers students unique research opportunities in advanced technologies. Part of the LENS team under the guidance of Dr. Peter Armstrong, Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Steven Meyers an alumnus who graduated in June 2011, was named in the esteemed Forbes 30 ‘Under 30’ achievers list in the ‘clean energy’ category for his research in thermal and optical modeling of the Beam Down Solar Thermal Plant in Masdar City.

The editorial board of the respected Nanotechnology journal selected a fundamental study on nanoscale energy dissipation as part of a special edition that collects the highest relevant articles from 2011. The research group, led by Dr Matteo Chiesa, included Dr. Sergio Santos of LENS, the leading author of the manuscript, and a group of collaborators including Dr. Victor Barcons, Dr. Joseph Font, Dr. Albert Verdaguer and Dr. Neil H. Thomson from Spanish and British universities. Dr. Matteo Chiesa has already published his works in other scientific journals such as Nature Materials, Journal of Physics D and Solar Energy.

A paper co-authored by a UAE-based scientist Dr. Iyad Rahwan, Assistant Professor, Computing and Information Science, was chosen for publication by the esteemed Science journal. The paper analyses the tactics adopted by various teams during the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Network’s Red Balloon Challenge, which measured the crowd-sourcing power of today’s social media platforms.

A team led by Dr Raed Hashaikeh, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering won the ‘elevator-pitch’ competition titled ‘Entrepreneurship Bootcamp: From Laboratory to Marketplace’ at the INSEAD/SMART Entrepreneurship Bootcamp in Singapore. Dr Hashaikeh’s team won the competition for effectively selling the idea that the novel biodegradable material produced from processing cellulose developed at Masdar Institute, could be used to improve water storage and availability in sandy soils.

Masdar Institute’s research mission focuses on key energy and sustainability challenges and outlines strategic areas for applied research to address such challenges. Its strategy is aligned with the overarching Masdar initiative and a key new growth area for Abu Dhabi.

Established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute integrates theory and practice to incubate a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, working to develop the critical thinkers and leaders of tomorrow.  With its world-class faculty and top-tier students, the Institute is committed to finding solutions to the challenges of clean and renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change.

Speakers Stress on Vital Role of Education, Regulations to Further Support IP and Need to Translate New Ideas into Commercially Viable Ventures

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 18 February, 2012 – The role of higher education institutions in fostering research, the support of the government with appropriate regulations to assist R&D through education, the industry’s role in helping to translate new ideas into commercially viable ventures, as well as the need for a consortium of academic, industry and government bodies to support knowledge creation were highlighted at the forum on research and innovation.

Organized under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research, the forum titled ‘Bridging the Knowledge Economy’ was held at the Zayed University campus in Abu Dhabi. The event was hosted by UAE University Leadership Council (ULC), a platform for academic leaderships to share creative ideas, foster common interests and spearhead new initiatives for innovation and technology transfer in the region.

Experts from the academia, industry and government as well as students from various higher education universities totaling more than 350 attended the forum. Panelists from the academia, government and the industry collectively emphasized the need for quality education to drive innovation, regulations to facilitate creativity and protect IPs, as well as partnerships with industry sector to instill the culture of research and innovation among the youth.

In her welcome address, Dr Lamya Fawwaz, Executive Director of Public Affairs, Masdar Institute, said: “This forum is certainly timely to further spur investment in R&D in light of the concerted efforts by the UAE leadership, to move towards a knowledge-based economy. We believe the event will provide us not only essential knowledge but also a great opportunity to share ideas and experiences on major topics crucial to R&D projects and opportunities.”

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of Masdar Institute, was present in the morning session.

Moderated by Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, President of Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the Academic Panel had ULC Executive Council members Dr. Peter Heath, Chancellor of American University of Sharjah (AUS), Dr. Tod Laursen, President of Khalifa University, Dr. Rory Hume, Provost of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and Dr. Larry Wilson, Provost of Zayed University (ZU).

There was consensus among the panelists who voiced their support for the partnerships among the government, industry and academic institutions to progress towards achieving a knowledge-based economy through focusing on research and innovation.

Dr. Tod Laursen said: “Partnerships among the academia, industry and government remains vital to inspire youth towards creating new concepts and contribute to the economic development of the country. Effective collaborations can help bring about promising changes to the mindset of the students and youth, encouraging them to reach the next stage of research, which is innovation. Faculty does play a key role in engaging with the students, mentoring them and guiding them on the right path towards creating innovative solutions.”

Dr. Peter Heath said: “ There is no place better in the MENA region than the UAE for innovation.  In acknowledging the accomplishments of the UAE over the past 40 years, you can glimpse the atmosphere of openness to new ideas and a willingness to take risks. Building on that spirit, we need to create partnerships with active involvement by government and the private sector, to establish a research culture. “The spark that will inspire this transformation is competition. Students compete naturally and success is measured by graduating with distinction. For faculty, they are recognized by excellence in teaching and research. Journal articles and citations are marks of excellence but how are they going to further the economic health of the UAE? We need to align universities’ research to the needs of industry and the ULC is the beginning of that process.”.

Dr. Rory Hume said: “Fundamentally strong education, evaluation and competitive funding, appropriate intellectual property laws, easier and simpler access to venture capital as well as networking with various institutions are some of the key points that will help achieve our R&I objectives.”

Dr. Larry Wilson said: “Students, practitioners, industry and government have come together to exchange ideas on this most important subject. The fact that the leading universities are actively engaged in research, innovation and creativity clearly demonstrate their commitment to the development of this country. In fact, research has shown that 1% increase in the number of graduates from universities result in 2% increase in economic activities. The investment the Abu Dhabi Government has made in education is already beginning to show results.”

Summarizing the discussions, Dr Fred Moavenzadeh said: “Education at all levels is necessary for development not only for the knowledge but people have to get accustomed to what type of innovation they are looking at. The corroborative nature of this activity is vital, as all the industry, government and academic need to come together. Then comes the technology rewards system – the IP rights in terms of the regulatory system that has to contribute to encourage venture capitalists and development of ideas and applications. Lastly, the relevance to need, especially the work we do has to reflect on the needs of the economy. There must be a balance between the research and applications to reflect the needs of the society.”

Following the academic panel discussions, Dr Rafic Makki, Executive Director, Office of Planning and Strategic Affairs and interim Executive Director of Higher Education, Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), moderated the government panel. The panelists included Ghaniya S. Bin-Dhaaer Al-Yafei, CO2-EOR Strategy Advisor, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO), Dr. Richard Perry, Executive Director of Environmental Information, Science & Outreach Management, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), and Noura Ibrahim Al Marri, Special Education Department Director, UAE Ministry of Education.

Stressing on the role of government organizations in chalking out the right ‘policies and regulations in promoting innovation, Dr Rafic Makki said that scientific papers published in prestigious journals by faculty from universities based in the UAE have tripled over the last few years. He added that the Abu Dhabi Strategy on R&D that was implemented in 2009 has helped the average citations per university in the UAE to go up significantly during 2011. The partnership among the ADEC, DED and the technology development committee (TDC) have helped drive policies in science and technology, he pointed out. Emphasizing the government organization’s role, he said various funding bodies such as the Khalifa Foundation, Emirates Foundation, National Research Foundation and Abu Dhabi Research Foundation have contributed to furthering the role of research and innovation in the country. He also gave examples including the work conducted by Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi Technology Investment Company (ATIC), ADCO and Mubadala Aerospace in the research arena.

Pointing out the high level of participation from the community to submit research project proposals in semiconductors, he said a total of 54 proposals were received when the call went out for research projects, out of which seven were taken up for funding by ATIC.

Ghaniya S. Bin-Dhaaer Al-Yafei pointed out the various collaborations ADCO has with academic institutions including Masdar Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Petroleum Institute of Abu Dhabi, Rice University, Heriot Watt University and Stanford. She added that the collaborations cover several key areas that help Abu Dhabi in carbon capture and storage mechanisms, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

Moderating the panel on industry Dr. Eesa Bastaki, CEO of ICT Fund, said the country does have innovation but lack the mechanisms to take the new ideas to the next stage of the evolution. The youth has enough ideas to support the country’s future but it is a question of adopting them and turning these into successful ventures. Dr. Bastaki said only education and developing human capital would ensure that the UAE could sustain today’s lifestyle in the post-oil era and added that government support would significantly facilitate the success of budding entrepreneurs.

The panel members included Sultan Al Haji, Vice-President – Institutional Development, Total UAE, Suhail Mahmood Al Ansari, Executive Director of the Mubadala Healthcare, Yousef Al Bastaki, Vice-President of Projects, Emirates Aluminum (EMAL), Osman Ahmed, Head of the Centre of Excellence for Smart Buildings at Siemens.

The panelists each dealt at length the contributions their respective organizations continue to make in developing human capital. Sultan Al Haji spoke about various capacity building programs for the UAE nationals at Total, while Suhail Mahmood Al Ansari spoke about harnessing the power of innovation and motivating the passion among the youth to find creative solutions. In this context he pointed out the aerospace cluster Mubadala has set up for better exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Yousef Al Bastaki highlighted the new technologies are being deployed at EMAL and added that continuous innovation and improvement in existing technologies has helped the collaborative venture with Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) to remain competitive globally, exporting to 200 customers in 30 countries.

Interpreting that the Siemens’ DNA is structured on the ideals of its founder, who wanted the company to be innovative and global, Osman Ahmed said that established the company’s mindset and became the lifeline for its growth globally today. He also cited Apple Inc as an example for continuous innovation that has maintained the company’s status as a leader in the technology sector.

The UAE University Leadership Council’s ‘Bridging the Knowledge Economy’ forum was the first in a series of initiatives and events being developed to advance research and innovation and promote the economic development in the UAE.

Acting as a link for faculty and students to interface with both the public and private sectors, the University Leadership Council aims to seek industrial, government, and private individual financial support for the academic and research activities of the universities. It is also mandated to advance the educational goals of the UAE-based universities and align their policies with the government with regard to meeting the requirements of the economy and the industry.