Khalifa University held its 44th National Day Celebrations at its Abu Dhabi campus. The event focused on innovation through the ages from traditional handicrafts and performances to state-of-the-art technology projects by students faculty and the University’s research centers.

In addition to the Innovation Expedition students put together an exciting game called “Escapology ” which tested participant’s knowledge about the UAE. Other attractions included a demonstration of poetry and traditional dances and a short movie and a play created by students. There was also the awarding of the winners of the University’s “i-Pledge” competition. This special competition began in September and asked students to submit artworks that represented their commitment to Academic Integrity.

“National Day is always an exciting day at Khalifa University because our students have the opportunity to display their creativity and innovation in areas beyond the academic ” said Dr. Arif Sultan Al Hammadi Executive Vice President of Khalifa University. “Our students are very proud of their country and highly respect and love its wise leadership and our President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan which is why there was also a great focus on loyalty pride and the importance of supporting their country at all costs. Our students wanted to express their gratitude to the fallen martyrs and to the UAE’s Armed Forces and tell them that they will always support them and help them in every way they can be it through advancements in technology or personally. We are grateful for the continued support of the leadership of the UAE and proud to be a part of this exciting pioneering country.”

Download Official KU Press Release – English

للمشاھدة والتنزیل باللغة العربیة

Khalifa University students showcased their engineering design projects at a demonstration event on campus on Tuesday December 8 2015.

The students had been working on a broad variety of innovative projects as part of their freshman year and displayed their work to staff faculty and students with enthusiasm.

The projects covered a range of engineering disciplines studied at Khalifa University from robotics to programming to biology.  

They included a robotic crane which was fitted with electromagnets to lift its cargo of cogs and nails; its light sensors helped guide the crane along a black stripe on the floor. Also on display was a water tap whose water pressure was controlled by an object’s proximity to the tap and a lightweight “hot-air” balloon which was powered by a number of fans and remotely controlled from the lobby below. 

Other projects were UAE-themed such as computer games which aim to teach children about the history and culture of the UAE. Others drew onfuture events in the UAE calendar such as Emirates Mars Mission due to take place in 2021.  

The students designed and constructed the items themselves working based on a number of criteria such as durability economy and usability. Some projects such as lightboard projects which aimed to improve engagement through video lectures and a display case which is designed to advance chemical demos in the labs may be deployed to classrooms at Khalifa University.

Hashim Hausien Design Project Coordinator at Khalifa University said: “It was fantastic to see the students showcasing the culmination of a semester’s work on campus. The range and complexity of projects on display were impressive given that these are first year students. I look forward to seeing what these students accomplish during future semesters at Khalifa University.”

 

 

Graduation Ceremony will be held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Abu Dhabi 14 December 2015: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Khalifa University the University will host its third graduation ceremony on January 12 2016 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) Abu Dhabi. This graduation will see over 330 students receive PhD Masters and Bachelor’s degrees.

This will be the second batch of PhD students to graduate from the University with seven students obtaining their doctorates in Engineering.  This graduation will also see the first batch of students to receive a Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree. 

The University will also be awarding Master’s degrees in Nuclear Engineering Information Security International and Civil Security Mechanical Engineering and MSc’s by Research in Engineering as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Aerospace Biomedical Communication Computer Electrical and Electronic and Mechanical Engineering.

Khalifa University was recently recognized as the world’s youngest university to make it into the top 100 universities under the age of 50 in a ranking by internationally renowned university rankings guide QS (Quacquarelli Symonds). In addition several of its undergraduate programs Aerospace Biomedical Communication Electrical and Electronic Mechanical and Computer Engineering were accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET during the summer.

 

Khalifa University Professor George K. Karagiannidis a member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been named as one of Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers for 2015.  Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals combing industry expertise with innovative technology. This enables the delivery of critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk legal tax and accounting intellectual property and science and media markets powered by one of the world’s most trusted news organizations.

The list of “Highly Cited Researchers 2015” represents some of world’s most influential scientists. About three thousand researchers have earned this distinction by writing the greatest number of reports officially designated by Essential Science Indicators as Highly Cited Papers — ranking among the top 1% most cited for their subject field and year of publication earning them the mark of exceptional impact.

“We are very pleased that Prof. Karagiannidis has earned this distinction ” said Dr. Tod Laursen President of Khalifa University. “In the world of science citations are increasingly important as a way of both recognizing the hard work of a researcher but also of spreading their work and ideas.  To be named as a top researcher by one of the biggest intellectual databases in the world a database which is accessed by millions worldwide to assist in their business intellectual property and scientific decisions is truly a great accomplishment and we are proud to name Prof. Karagiannidis as one of Khalifa University’s faculty.”

 

 

EBTIC’s chief researcher Dr. Dymitr Ruta recently came in second place at an Urban Data Hackathon held in Belfast UK which was run in partnership with Belfast City Council. EBTIC is the Khalifa University based ICT research and innovation center setup in collaboration with Etisalat and BT (British Telecom) with the support of ICT Fund in the UAE.

Dr. Ruta who leads “Big Data” research at EBTIC was partnered with Jack Steers a student from Queens University Belfast. They were tasked with solving problems put forward by the Belfast City Council namely on increasing recycling making the council spend more intelligently and increasing the level of tourism activity across the city. Dr. Ruta and Mr. Steers proposed a new system that was assessed as a step closer towards eliminating barriers to recycling across the city of Belfast.

Their “Rapidly Composed System” prototype geographically visualized waste collection processes as well as discovered and explained the catalysts and inhibitors to recycling in Belfast. The development involved cleaning linking and intelligently aggregating multiple large data sources including waste collected weight population and census statistics and weather data all aligned along with the time and location. The data was then analyzed to predict the weight of collected recycling. Using this information the team was successfully able to predict the key contributors and barriers to recycling in the city.

The solution delivered new insights into how education attainment household profiles and other socio-economic factors impact recycling attitudes some of which were identified as worth immediate attention by the judges from the Belfast City Council.

“We are very pleased with Dr. Ruta’s second place win in Belfast ” said Dr. Samer Al Samahi EBTIC Director. “Recycling is certainly a global concern and sustainability is a key part of EBTIC’s research and innovation program. Moreover the skills and capabilities we have at EBTIC that underpinned this achievement demonstrate our thought leadership at an international level. It is also in line with our strategy of leveraging our core research and innovation capabilities in ICT to support the drive towards realizing a smart city infrastructure in the UAE. Challenges like this one are a great way to get our researchers thinking outside “the box” and exploring areas that may not be their primary focus. This is always valuable because it spurs creativity and creativity is what drives innovation.”