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Experts Focus on R&D Infrastructure, Role of Women in Future Energy and Tackling Water Scarcity

 
Masdar Institute Officials and Faculty Lead Three Panel Discussions at WFES 2013
 
Abu Dhabi-UAE: 17 January, 2013 – Three panel discussions focusing on R&D infrastructure, role of women in future energy and tackling water scarcity through renewable energy sources marked the third day’s participation of Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in the World Future Energy Summit 2013.
 
Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute, moderated a roundtable titled ‘Building a robust R&D Infrastructure in Abu Dhabi’, while Dr Lamya N. Fawwaz, Executive Director, Public Affairs, led discussions during a panel discussion on ‘The role of Women in Future Energy: Breaking down the Barriers’. Dr. Hassan E. S. Fath, Professor of Practice – Water and Environmental Engineering, offer his views at a panel discussion on ‘Optimization of Water Production, Technology and Process to Positively Impact Environment’.
 
The three panels marked the multifaceted participation of Masdar Institute that highlighted the integral role of the research-based institution’s contribution to drive key issues in clean energy and sustainable technologies at WFES 2013. Part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2013 hosted by Masdar and supported by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), WFES was held from 15-17 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC).
 
Moderating the round-table, Dr Fred Moavenzadeh said: “As emerging economies move towards high technology, the reliance on a suitable R&D infrastructure will increase manifold. Physical infrastructure in the form of universities, labs and facilities, with policy regulation and financing, as well as organizational infrastructure together need to jointly contribute towards creating the right environment for developing this set-up.
 
“Since R&D remains the backbone of innovation, which in turn helps drive economic expansion, all three areas need to be adequately addressed to develop an appropriate mechanism. Such a mechanism alone will be able to generate the kind of productive outcome required to build a knowledge-based society.” 
 
The panel analyzed topics including the importance of a research based higher education systems, the role of R&D and the need for innovation and entrepreneurship. Building and fostering R&D capacity as well as disseminating the findings into the economy were also deliberated upon by the panelists.
 
The panel of eminent experts included Prof. Adnan Badran, President of Petra University in Jordan, Dr Mohammed Baniyas, Provost, UAE University, Dr Larry Wilson, Provost, Zayed University and Dr Tod Laursen, President, Khalifa University.
 
Masdar Institute also contributed to the panel on ‘Optimisation of Water Production, Technology and Processes to Positively Impact Environment’ at the International Water Summit (IWS) 2013. Experts took a strategic perspective on ways to bridge the water scarcity gap from a production point of view to better understand the challenges. Integration of renewable energy sources to reduce environmental impact and incentives to stimulate commercial opportunity in clean technology were also discussed by the panel members.
 
Speaking at the panel, Dr. Hassan Fath said: “The newly developed novel integrated Multi Stage Flash/ Multi Effect Distillation (MSF/MED) technology combines the positive advantages of both technologies, targeting high performance. Since this technology also suits the integration with solar and renewable energies, water security could be achieved. We aim for the construction of the first 5000 – 10,000 m3/day solar thermal desalination pilot plant of integrated MSF/MED technologies in the future.”
 
Linda Macpherson, Vice-President, CH2M HILL, moderated the panel. Other speakers included Carlos Cosin, CEO, Befesa Agua, and Dr. Mohamed A. Dawoud, Water Resources Advisor, Environment Quality Sector, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD).
 
Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar’s core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges such as climate change.
 
Established as an on-going 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.
 
 
 
 
 

 

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GCC and EU Furthering Energy Cooperation during High-level Meeting at WFES 2013

 
EU-GCC ENERGY COOPERATION CONFERENCE 2013
 
Abu Dhabi-UAE: 19 January, 2013 – Fruitful discussions have taken place during the annual EU-GCC Energy Cooperation Conference that was held from 16 – 17 January, as a side event of the World Future Energy Summit-WFES 2013. The meeting organized by the EU-GCC Clean Energy Network in co-operation with the SHARAKA EU funded project and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology aims to advance the common interest between the EU and the GCC for strategic energy cooperation.
It also seeks to promote EU-GCC cooperation in the field of clean energy, and enhance inter-regional knowledge dissemination and information exchange on energy topics, including research, technology and policy aspects.
 
The opening ceremony was honored by the presence of distinguished EU and GCC officials including Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, Adam Kulach, EU Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of European Investment Bank (EIB), and Hamza Kazim, Vice-President, Operations & Finance, Masdar Institute and Representative of UAE and the GCC in EU-GCC Clean Energy Network.
 
In her opening speech, Connie Hedegaardhighlighted the importance that the EU places on international clean energy cooperation instruments to mitigate the climate change effects towards a sustainable energy future. The GCC region is a strategic partner for the EU towards this direction.
 
Philippe de Fontaine Viveaddressed in his speech the financing priorities and mechanisms for supporting clean energy initiatives and invited the GCC and the EU energy stakeholders to develop relevant cooperation projects.
 
Hamza Kazimsaid that the GCC already possesses the resources and a high degree of renewable energy expertise as can be gathered from the number of the new projects and initiatives being implemented at present. The annual EU-GCC Clean Energy Network conference at the WFES 2013 provided a platform for the region’s industry to come together for knowledge sharing and exchange of views. Kazim added that the region’s commitment and enthusiasm to adopt renewable sources is overwhelming and the events at WFES will provide a fresh stimulus to implementing additional green measures across the GCC member states.
 
The presentation by the high-level team of attendees from the GCC and Europe highlighted the achievements in areas of mutual interest for the two regions including renewables, energy efficiency and demand side management, electricity interconnections, carbon capture and storage, as well as natural gas.
 
Following the opening ceremony, the agenda of the first day included a workshop on GCC – EU renewable energy cooperation that discussed ‘Challenges and opportunities in EU-GCC renewables energy cooperation’. Experts elaborated on a recent initiative – the GCC Renewable Energy Readiness Assessment Report being developed with Network partners across the GCC.
 
Distinguished GCC experts who participated in the sessions included Hamza Kazim- Masdar Institute, Dr. Ibrahim Abdel Gelil Said Abdula – Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Dr. Hussam Khonkar – King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Dr. Saad Jandal – Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Dr. Sgouris Sgouridis, Associate Professor, Engineering Systems and Management – Masdar Institute, Dr. Abdullah Al Badi – Sultan Qaboos University, Dr. Rabi Mohtar, Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Dr. Scott Kennedy, Dean of Research, Masdar Institute, and Dr Rabia Ferroukhi – IRENA.
 
John Psarras, Director of the EU-GCC Clean Energy Network, underlined the fact that climate change is a key driver for the promotion of both clean energy and international cooperation. The EU-GCC Clean Energy Network can thus be an important asset towards the achievement of these objectives.
 
Experts from Europe included John Psarras, Institute of Communication and Computer Systems – National Technical University of Athens (ICCS-NTUA), Project Director – EU, Emanuela Menichetti – Observatoire Méditerranéen de l’Energie (OME), Silvia Colombo – Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Juergen Kern – DLR, Koukouzas Nikolaos CERTH/ CPERI, Giacomo Luciani – Gulf Research Centre Foundation, Marcelino Sanchez- CENER, Mohsen Assadi – University of Stavanger, Dr. J. Scowcroft, Global CCS Institute, Frank Ellingsen, Director, Technology Center Mongstad.
 
Some of the concrete outcomes that were summarized during the sessions include publications, research work/papers, established partnerships between the GCC and EU, co-operation project ideas, targeted working meetings and training workshops.
 
Events on the second day included round–table discussion sessions and papers presentations on enhancing GCC-EU cooperation in the fields of EU-GCC energy cooperation; technical paper presentation, co-ordinated by the SHARAKA project; Maritime Transport/security; technical paper presentation, co-ordinated by the SHARAKA project; and Discussion Groups (DGs) on Clean Natural Gas Technologies and Carbon Capture and Storage; co-ordinated by the EU-GCC Clean Energy Network as well as a technical site visit at Masdar City.
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Masdar Institute Highlights Water-Related Research Projects and Leads Knowledge Exchange at WFES 2013

 
Experts and Students Participate in Sessions on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Human Capital Development and Creation of IP
 
Abu Dhabi-UAE: 21 January, 2013 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced experts and faculty members marked their participation in the sixth edition of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) through effectively leading various knowledge sharing sessions.
 
Panel discussions, debates and workshops at WFES 2013 witnessed experts and students from Masdar Institute sharing their expertise in human capital development, creation of intellectual property and spreading a culture of Innovation and entrepreneurship in the UAE and the region. At the same time, a dedicated display of key water-related research initiatives at the International Water Summit (IWS) 2013, another component of WFES, reiterated Masdar Institute’s role in obtaining innovative solutions for the region and worldwide.
 
The participation in WFES 2013 brought under spotlight the special expertise Masdar Institute has acquired and developed under three themes that drive its research activities. The themes include ‘Water, Environment and Health’, ‘Advanced Energy Systems’ and ‘Microsystems and Advanced Materials’.
 
Organized under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, WFES 2013 was held from 15-17 January at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC). The Summit gathered nearly 30,000 participants from 150 countries including heads of states, as well as key decision-makers from the government and the global energy industry.
 
Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, President Masdar Institute led the panel discussion on human capital development on ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship’. The panelists included His Excellency Dr. Adnan Badran, President of Petra University, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, and Member of the Board of Trustees of Masdar Institute, Dr Mohammed Baniyas, Provost, UAE University, Dr Larry Wilson, Provost, Zayed University and Dr Tod Laursen, President, Khalifa University.
 
In his opening address at the annual EU-GCC Clean Energy Network Conference that was held concurrently with WFES 2013, Hamza Kazim, Vice-President, Operations & Finance, highlighted the capabilities already existing in the GCC region and pointed out that the Abu Dhabi summit proved to be a valuable forum for intra-regional and international knowledge sharing. Masdar Institute is the lead institution for the GCC region at the Network.
 
Dr Lamya N. Fawwaz, Executive Director, Public Affairs, participated in a panel discussion on ‘The role of Women in Future Energy: Breaking down the Barriers’, highlighting the vital role of Masdar Institute and the UAE in empowering women. Dr Fawwaz additionally pointed out various factors that might help facilitate the entry of more women in the clean sustainable energy and advanced technology sectors. Three Masdar Institute students – Reem Al Junaibi, Reem Ketait and Catherine Wilcox – also shared the platform with the dignitaries and women leaders in energy industry.
 
At the International Water Summit 2013, a dedicated Masdar Institute stand displayed key water-related research projects that included initiatives undertaken by Dr. Nidal Hilal, Professor in Nano-membranology and Water Technologies, and other faculty members.
 
Dr. Farrukh Ahmad, Associate Professor Water and Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute participated in a workshop titled ‘The role of Water Recycling and Water Re-Use in Arid Regions for Mitigating Water Scarcity’ at the World Future Energy Summit 2013. The workshop, facilitated by Walid Saleh, Regional Coordinator, MENA The United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment, & Heath (UNU-INWEH, focused on understanding the importance of water re-use in arid regions is of vital importance to ensure community self-sufficiency.
 
Dr. Hassan E. S. Fath, Professor of Practice – Water and Environmental Engineering, participated in a panel on‘Optimization of Water Production, Technology and Process to Positively Impact Environment’ that aimed to highlight the integration of renewable energy sources in reducing water supply gap to reduce environmental impact and introduction of incentives to stimulate commercial opportunity in clean technology. The session was moderated by Bert Diphoorn, Senior Advisor, Urban Basic Services, UN-Habitat.
 
Hosted by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, WFES was part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2013. The week-long events served as a global platform not only to highlight the activities of participating governments, businesses and organizations, but also to strengthen cooperation in driving sustainable development, focusing on the interconnected challenges of energy and water.
 
Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar’s core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges such as climate change.
 
Established as an on-going 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.
 
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Electricity grids of the future will need to be a two-way street

By Dr Khaled Elbassioni
While today’s electricity grids operate on a fairly simple producer- receiver model, renewable energy powered grids of the future will need to be far smarter.
Instead of relying on utility providers alone for electricity, many homes and offices will have their own renewable energy sources, such as rooftop solar panels or backyard wind turbines.
That requires a grid that can handle energy flows back and forth, supply and demand variation, quality fluctuations, and many more technical challenges.
 And not only will such a system, where energy consumers are also providers, and where supplies – of solar energy, for example – are intermittent – require a whole new way of distributing power, it will need a new way of selling it, too.
 There will need to be an energy market, where excess renewable energy can be bought and sold. That way, those who produce more than they need can sell the excess to those who consume more.
Such a market would incentivize energy conservation – by giving those who save energy the opportunity to make money on their excess – while also ensuring a more efficient overall energy supply system.
But exactly how that market would work remains a big unknown. Many existing models suffer from inefficiency and pricing mechanism sensitivities.
 One problem is the risk of energy buyers and sellers manipulating the market for their own gains, through artificially inflated prices or sale or buy orders.
An example of this is a seller attempting to take advantage of the need of consumers by demanding an unreasonably high price, or a buyer putting an order out for more energy than they really need to try to draw down prices.
Scientists at the Masdar Institute are exploring market mechanisms that could reduce the risk of price manipulation, and ensure the market prices reflect as closely as possible the real values of demand and supply of energy.
While several such mechanisms had been proposed by other scientists, applying them in energy markets is quite challenging. They typically need a lot of computational power – and more as the size of the market increases.
 Once we have a computationally efficient way of making the renewable energy market reflect the true supply, demand and value of energy, we can then work to optimise the whole system.
The more competitive the market, the greater the incentive will be for buyers and sellers to cut waste – especially in the transmission and storage of power. That will further reduce costs, and increase the system’s uptake and popularity.
 With this research, we hope to contribute to the UAE’s goals for renewable energy production and sustainability by making renewable energy sourced electricity competitive, efficient and secure.
 Dr Khaled Elbassioni is an associate professor of computing and information science at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.
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Searching the mangrove and the desert for a native biofuel

 
Humankind has much to learn from nature. Even the simplest of organisms are as complex and potentially useful in their own way as the latest computer chip. And the more we learn, the more puzzles there are.
 
Figuring out the natural processes at work in those organisms could turn out to be a much easier way of doing some things than inventing our own methods from scratch.
 
This is especially true for biofuel production. As fossil fuels continue to play havoc with our environment, the need to secure renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources is only growing.
 
The UAE, recognising the potential of biofuel, is now looking to discover its own plant-based sources of energy. And it is trying to mitigate some of the challenges posed by the first generation of biofuels – namely agricultural land use.
Researchers at the Masdar Insititue are scouring the UAE’s deserts, coasts, marshes, mangroves and salt flats for plants that contain a good amount of sugar or oil that can be turned into fuel and which thrive in its extreme environment.
 
A number of species of algae with good biofuel potential have already been found. But extracting their energy is not always easy. Unlocking the energy from cellulose – a subtance found in plant cell walls that can be converted into sugar – is not always simple, affordable or efficient.
The cellulose in many plants is not able to withstand the extreme conditions of the biorefining process, making extraction costly and inefficient. So we are looking for better ways to produce renewable energy from plant species.
 
And we may have found just that lurking in roots of the UAE’s mangrove trees, which are are home to a host of microbes that can help break down cellulose into sugar.
These microbes consume the plant waste that falls into the water, extracting for their own use the plant the sugars they need to survive. And because the environment in which mangroves thrive is hot, saline, and intense, the microbes that can survive there may be more able to withstand the biorefining process.
 
The challenge is finding the ideal microbe – or, more likely, the microbe community – for this job, and extracting the enzyme it produces.
 
Our team is screening mangrove root sediments in the UAE for novel enzymes to break down cellulose waste. This process will be aided by the rapidly developing field of bioinformatics.
 
First, we need to map the microbes’ DNA, using the Masdar Institute’s state-of-the-art sequencing facility. Then we can crunch that data using bioinformatics algorithms to find out why exactly one microbe community is better at breaking down cellulose than another.
 
That information can then be used to more efficiently search for and pinpoint the enzyme best suited for our purposes.
 
With this interdisciplinary research, we hope to help the UAE discover the most promising biofuel plant species, the best microbes to help refine them, and perhaps a guideline for the engineering of the ideal cellulose-refining, enzyme-producing microbe.
 
Additionally, the bioinformatics portion of this research, which involves student training and research, will help Abu Dhabi develop indigenous expertise. And in a field expected to be worth US$8.3billion by 2014, it could be a lucrative contribution to the UAE’s knowledge economy.

Dr Andreas Henschel is assistant professor of computing and information science at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology

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Algae from UAE desert saltflats could be biofuel of the future

The desert may seem a bleak and inhospitable place. Only the hardiest plants, animals and people survive it, defying the odds and in some cases the limits of our understanding of biology.

In particular, desert species’ sources of water and energy, and how they are extracted, is a mystery that has the potential to provide benefits to modern man and society.

As resources dwindle and the population grows, the attraction of reaping the desert’s bounty is obvious.

One area of particular interest is the energy potential of algae that live in the desert’s saltflats – known as sabkha.

Algae is one of the many forms of plant life that can be used as an alternative source of energy to drive growing economies without contributing to global warming.

Biofuel can be used in place of petrol, diesel and jet fuel without the need to develop a new energy infrastructure, as it acts and looks very similar to the petroleum-derived fuels it replaces.

The big challenge of plant-based biofuel has been where to grow it and how. In the United States for instance, using farmland to grow corn for biofuel has been controversial, particularly given global food shortages.

For biofuel to be truly sustainable, it must not take away other important resources – making desert algae particularly appealing.

Algae that grows in the harsh environments of the UAE’s deserts does not need to take up farmland. It already manages to thrive in a landscape where food cannot grow.

Also, the UAE’s desert algae is very tolerant of saltwater, as it lives in highly saline saltflats. This means it does not require freshwater to grow – a resource as precious and scarce in the UAE as fuel is to other nations.

But which of the UAE’s possibly thousands of algae strains is best suited for cultivation and energy extraction?

It must grow well along coastlines, where the soil salinity is elevated due to tidal flows and thus making the land unusable for agricultural ventures.

It must also withstand large changes in water salinity driven by evaporation from raceway ponds.

Answering these questions requires a lot of work, as no one has really ever gone out and collected all the algae found in the UAE deserts, nor have their individual qualities been explored.

My research team at the Masdar Institute is working to do exactly that. We now have many strains being cultivated in our lab, where we are testing to find out which can be the biofuel producer we need.

In time, we hope to cultivate the selected algae in large-scale raceway ponds, where it can be harvested for biofuel.

We hope that this work will eventually lead to a fuel that can be used in place of petrol, diesel and jet fuel.

That will not only be better for the environment, through reduced carbon emissions, but will also free up fossil-fuel resources for more lucrative export sale.

It may also pinpoint which strains can be used for pharmaceutical purposes, providing the Emirates with another source of revenue.

And it will help produce localised expertise in biofuels, which is one of the world’s most exciting and rapidly growing sectors.

One of our Emirati students, Ahmed Al Harethi, has already filed an invention disclosure on his research findings. Two others will also work on this project as part of a summer internship programme, for which applications are still being accepted.

We hope that in time, the UAE can become a biofuel leader, with its desert and people serving as important resources in its knowledge economy transformation.

Dr Hector Hernandez is an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. More information on the algae project is available at algae.labs.masdar.ac.ae

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Masdar Institute to Showcase Academic and Research Offerings to Students in France

Event on 16 February in Paris to Highlight Advantages of Pursuing Graduate Studies in Abu Dhabi’s Research-Based Institution

Paris/Abu Dhabi: 15 February, 2013 – A team of faculty and students from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, will participate in Spring 2013 QS World Grad School Tour Fair & Seminars on 16 February in Paris to highlight the advantages of pursuing graduate studies at the Abu Dhabi-based institution.

A large number of students from across universities in France are expected to attend the event from 2.00pm-5.00pm at Hotel Concorde la Fayette, on Place du Général Koenig in Paris. Pre-fair presentations and panels are scheduled from 1.00pm-2.00pm. Dr. Taha B.M.J. Ouarda, Professor – Water and Environmental Engineering, with student Farah Ahmed and other representatives from the research-based Abu Dhabi institution, will showcase his project on ‘Predicting rainfall and floods for better water security’ and present information about the ‘Solar and the Wind atlases’ part of Global Atlas, an online resource-mapping tool on solar and wind potential developed in collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and other stakeholders.

Developed in cooperation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute’s graduate programs integrate education, research and scholarly activities. With admission criteria similar to MIT, Masdar Institute helps students to become innovators, creative scientists, researchers and critical thinkers in technology development, systems integration and policy.

Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute, said: “Since inception, we have achieved breakthroughs in research and innovation, contributing to developing the region’s human capital and R&D infrastructure. Our patents, research accomplishments and academic success serve as an inspiration for graduate students seeking to enroll and acquire clean energy knowledge. This roadshow offers us an opportunity to interact with students across Europe and apprise them of the learning options at the sustainable campus. We welcome them to take advantage of our educational and research offerings.”

Dr. Taha Ouarda said that his research represents a critical piece of the water puzzle and can contribute to resolving the water crisis in the MENA region. He added it will help create a comprehensive supply/demand-led, people-centered approach for water management in a way that balances social and economic needs, while ensuring the protection of ecosystems for future generations.

Masdar Institute provides such niche research options to participate in the creation of intellectual property rights and patents as well as job placements opportunities in local and internationally-recognized organizations.

Masdar Institute has one patent already issued and 16 active patent applications pending at present. With publications of papers in 311 peer-reviewed journals, 330 conference papers, two full books and 38 invention disclosures, it has already notched up success in academic and research fields. With 73 faculty members from 32 countries, students are benefited from a unique range of insights and experiences.

In addition to providing full scholarship to qualified applicants, Masdar Institute has collaboration agreements with several organizations including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for up to 20 scholarships, and Toyota Motor Corporation for one student every year to work in sustainable transportation.

For the September 2012 intake, the total number of enrolled students across the eight academic programs reached 336. The student body is expected to grow to 600-800 over the next few years. Two batches of Master’s students have already graduated from Masdar Institute.

Admissions for Fall 2013 are now open. Online application forms can be accessed from www.masdar.ac.ae/Admission.html. A minimum CGPA of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 and a minimum GRE Quantitative scope of 700 (or 155 on the new scale) are mandatory for applicants. Talented applicants, who may not meet the GRE and TOEFL/IELTS requirements but are otherwise qualified to enroll, may be admitted. They will, however, be required to pass two placement exams or complete additional technical and math coursework.

Dr. Taha B.M.J. Ouarda specializes in hydrometeorology, environmental and public health modeling, and risk analysis.  Earlier, Dr. Ouarda was Chairman of the Canada Research Chair on the Estimation of Hydro-meteorological Variables, and Chairman of the Industrial Chair in Statistical Hydrology, where his research team represented one of the largest Canadian teams in hydrology. He has also served as President of the National Canadian Committee on Statistical Hydrology.

Dr. Ouarda holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University. He has developed several approaches for the estimation of extreme hydro-meteorological events on local and regional scales, developed several methodologies for the modeling of hydro-meteorological variables under changing environments, and developed many softwares that deal with a range of problems in water resources and environmental engineering.

Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar’s core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges such as climate change.

Established as an on-going collaboration with (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.
 

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Masdar Institute to Showcase Academic and Research Offerings to Students in Spain

Event on 20 February in Barcelona to Highlight Advantages of Pursuing Graduate Studies in Abu Dhabi’s Research-Based Institution

Barcelona-Spain/Abu Dhabi-UAE: 18 February, 2013 – A team of faculty and students from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, will be participating in the Spring 2013 QS World Grad School Tour Fair & Seminars on 20 February in Barcelona to highlight the advantages of pursuing graduate studies at the Abu Dhabi-based institution.

A large number of students from across universities in Spain are expected to gather for the event from 5.00pm-8.00pm at Melia Barcelona, Avinguda de Sarrià, Barcelona. Pre-fair presentations and panels are scheduled from 4.00pm-5.00pm. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, Professor, Water and Environmental Engineering / Chemical Engineering, with student Alberto Gómez and other Masdar Institute representatives will showcase research projects on integrated sea water agriculture systems and engineering a new ecosystem for the production of valuable chemicals/biofuels from organic residues.

Developed in cooperation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute’s graduate programs integrate education, research and scholarly activities. With admission criteria similar to MIT, Masdar Institute helps students to become innovators, creative scientists, researchers and critical thinkers in technology development, systems integration and policy.

Masdar Institute is part of Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Initiative that aims to diversify the economy and extend its leadership in the energy sector. Already a familiar brand in Spain, Masdar last year commissioned the 19.9MW Gemasolar concentrated solar power (CSP) project in collaboration with Torresol Energy, a joint venture with SENER of Spain. The plant in Seville provides electricity 24-hours a day. Valle 1 & 2 of 50MW each, another project in Cadiz, is now fully operational.

Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute, said: “Since inception, we have achieved breakthroughs in research and innovation, contributing to developing the region’s human capital and R&D infrastructure. Our patents, research accomplishments and academic success serve as an inspiration for graduate students seeking to enroll and acquire clean energy knowledge. This roadshow offers us an opportunity to interact with students across Europe and apprise them of the learning options at the sustainable campus. We welcome them to take advantage of our educational and research offerings.”

Dr. Jorge Rodriguez said that his team is working to develop model-based strategies to engineer open anaerobic fermentative microbial ecosystems that can be directed towards low cost production of valuable chemicals/biofuels such as acetate and hydrogen from organic residues. Anaerobic fermentation is 100% natural process and is carried out on micro-organisms. Dr Rodriguez is also working on a project that looks at a key technology for recovering nutrient and energy from integrated seawater agriculture systems (ISAS).

Masdar Institute provides such niche research options to participate in the creation of intellectual property rights and patents.

Masdar Institute has one patent already issued and 16 active patent applications pending at present. Other achievements include publication of papers in 311 peer-reviewed journals, 330 conference papers, two full books and 38 invention disclosures.

In addition to full scholarships to qualified applicants, Masdar Institute has collaboration agreements with several organizations including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for up to 20 scholarships and with Toyota Motor Corporation for one student every year to work in sustainable transportation.

For the September 2012 intake, the total number of enrolled students reached 336. The student body is expected to grow to 600-800 over the next few years. Two batches of Master’s students have already graduated from Masdar Institute.

Admissions for Fall 2013 are now open. Application forms can be downloaded from www.masdar.ac.ae/Admission.html. A minimum CGPA of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 and a minimum GRE Quantitative scope of 700 (or 155 on the new scale) are mandatory for applicants. Talented applicants, who may not meet the GRE and TOEFL/IELTS requirements but are otherwise qualified to enroll, may be admitted. They will, however, be required to pass two placement exams or complete additional technical and math coursework.

Dr Jorge Rodriguez heads the Environmental Bioprocess Modelling (EnvBioProM) Laboratory at Masdar Institute including a team of half a dozen researchers and students. He is Associate Editor of the journal Water Science and Technology and Newsletter Editor for the IWA anaerobic digestion specialist group.

Holder of a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Dr Jorge Rodriguez also has an MSc in Chemical Engineering and BEng Industrial Chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) in Spain. He is a Fellow of UK's Higher Education Academy holding a PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching (HE) by the University of Glamorgan (UK).

Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar’s core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges such as climate change.

Established as an on-going 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.

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Masdar Institute Students Gain Expertise in Fabricating Advanced Thin-Film Solar Cells

Two Students Attend Training Session on Fabrication at UNAM in Turkey as Global Thin-Film Market Projected to Reach US$44 billion by 2017

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 06 February, 2013 – Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, today announced it has taken another step forward in bringing the technical expertise for fabricating advanced thin-film solar cells to the UAE.

Accompanied by Dr. Ammar Nayfeh, Assistant Professor, Microsystems Engineering, two students – Aaesha Alnuami and Kazi Mohitul Islam – travelled to National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM) at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, to gain expertise in fabricating thin film solar cells. The two are trained to use the advanced equipment at The Nano Electronic and Photonics Research Group (NEP) laboratory in Masdar Institute.

The research collaboration with UNAM in Turkey concurs with the mission of Masdar Institute and is expected to contribute to the socio-economic objectives articulated in Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 plan.

In addition, the knowledge the students have gained through UNAM will play a key role in ramping up the nano-fabrication facility at Masdar institute, which is the first in the UAE and second in the GCC. In fact, Masdar Institute can be instrumental in unifying all research in the nano-fabrication facilities in the Middle East to create a world-renowned knowledge bank. Additionally, the Class ‘100’ and Class ‘1000’ cleanrooms at Masdar Institute are now operational, thus paving the way for researchers to build nano-components that can be assembled to make new and useful devices.

Dr Fred Moavenzadeh, president, Masdar Institute said: “The training received by the two Masdar Institute students at UNAM will help establish and evolve interdisciplinary and collaborative research that will develop capability in advanced energy and sustainability. The novelty of the research will inspire students to be innovators and lead technology and enterprise in the region and globally. Research into clean energy sources is of vital interest to the Masdar Initiative and Abu Dhabi at large, and with the support of the UAE’s leadership we will continue to lead innovations in future energy areas.”

On completion of the training at UNAM, Alnuami fabricated thin film crystalline Si-solar cells and studied the effect of ‘annealing’ – a process whereby a device is treated with a specific ratio of Hydrogen and Nitrogen on a specific temperature and then allowed to cool down slowly, thus improving the interfacial properties between different layers. At the same time, Kazi Islam fabricated a nanoparticle-enhanced amorphous Si-based solar cell. In this work, we place tiny gold dots as small at 10 nano meters (10-8 meter) on top of the solar cell. When sunlight hits the gold dot, surface plasmons are created, enabling a self-sustaining, propagating electromagnetic wave that enhances the amount of energy the solar cell can provide. The solar cell fabrication process developed in the UNAM cleanroom will be transferred shortly to Masdar Institute's state-of-the-art nano-fabrication facility.

The main advantages of thin-film solar cells are their light weight and resistance to heat. Unlike other technologies, thin-film solar panels do not decrease in output when temperatures rise. Consequently, the actual output of thin-film solar panels is usually close to what they are rated for, making planning a solar-power system much easier.

Dr. Ammar Nayfeh said: “The fabrication knowledge and training the students have gained is an invaluable asset and will assist greatly in the ramping up of Masdar Institute's nano-fabrication facility. The fabricated thin film solar cells are currently being characterized in our solar cell lab at Masdar Institute. The results will be submitted to the 39th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference 2013 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa Bay, Florida.”

The training and fabrication work were part of the on-going research collaboration between Dr Ammar Nayfeh's NEP and Dr Ali Okyay's research group at Bilkent University.

In a recent report titled ‘Thin-Film Solar Technology Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2011 to 2017' by US company Wintergreen Research, the global thin-film market is projected to reach US$44 billion by 2017. With building-integrated photovoltaics systems (BIPV), electric cars and ever-increasing applications, the thin-film industry is expected to grow in the next few years.

Aaesha Alnuaimi is currently conducting research on ‘The effect of interface states on a-Si/c-Si thin film hetero-junction solar cells’, while Kazi Islam’s research focuses on ‘Novel Methods to Increase the Efficiency of Thin Film Solar cells’.

Aaesha Alnuami said: “The training at UNAM in Turkey was crucial for obtaining key insights into operating and understanding micro/nano-fabrication processes. With this expertise, we have developed the thin-film solar cells. I thank Masdar Institute and my academic advisor Dr Ammar Nayfeh for making this possible and I am confident the training will prove beneficial to my research work here in Abu Dhabi.”

Kazi Islam said: “At UNAM I learnt how to fabricate a nanoparticle-enhanced amorphous Si-based solar cell. The training facilities and the program have adequately enriched me in this area. I thank my academic advisor Dr Ammar Nayfeh and Masdar Institute for this training opportunity and I hope to contribute to obtaining sustainable clean energy solutions for the future.”

UNAM hosts a 400-square meter word-class cleanroom laboratory including class ‘100’ and class ‘1000’ lab spaces for micro/nano-fabrication processes. UNAM cleanroom consists of four parts – Epitaxial material growth division; lithography (yellow) room; thin-film deposition and etching division; and device characterization (dark) room. The cleanroom is designed suitably for a researcher to grow, fabricate, and test his/her samples in the same laboratory.

Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar’s core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges such as climate change.

Established as an on-going 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.
 

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Masdar Institute to Showcase Academic and Research Offerings to Students in Turkey

Event on 23 February to Highlight Advantages of Pursuing Graduate Studies in Abu Dhabi’s Research-Based Institution

Istanbul/Abu Dhabi: 20 February, 2013 – A team of faculty and students from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, will be will be participating in the Spring 2013 QS World Grad School Tour Fair & Seminars on 23 February in Istanbul to highlight the advantages of pursuing graduate studies at the Abu Dhabi-based institution.

A large number of students from across universities in Turkey are expected to gather for the event from 2.00pm-5.00pm at Grand Hyatt Istanbul, Taskisla Caddesi, Taksim, in Istanbul. Pre-fair presentations and panels are scheduled from 1.00pm-2.00pm. Dr. Marcus Dahlem, Assistant Professor – Microsystems Engineering, with student Abdulla Kaya and other Masdar Institute representatives, will showcase a research project on ‘Design of novel photonic crystal structures for solar PV applications’. The research project focuses on understanding and designing novel photonic crystal structures that can be used for increasing the performance of existing solar photovoltaic cells. Dr. Dahlem will additionally present details of the state-of-the-art micro-fabrication cleanroom and microscopy facilities at Masdar Institute.

Developed in cooperation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute’s graduate programs integrate education, research and scholarly activities. With admission criteria similar to MIT, Masdar Institute helps students to be innovators, creative scientists, researchers and critical thinkers in technology development, systems integration and policy.

At present, Masdar Institute has research collaboration with National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM) at Bilkent University in Ankara for knowledge exchange.

Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute, said: “Since inception, we have achieved breakthroughs in research and innovation, contributing to developing the region’s human capital and R&D infrastructure. Our patents, research accomplishments and academic success serve as an inspiration for graduate students seeking to enroll and acquire clean energy knowledge. This roadshow offers us an opportunity to interact with students across Europe and apprise them of the learning options at the sustainable campus. We welcome them to take advantage of our educational and research offerings.”

Masdar Institute’s research themes include ‘water, environment and health’, ‘energy systems’, and ‘microsystem and advanced technology’. The niche research project options provide potential students opportunities to participate in the creation of intellectual property rights and patents.

Masdar Institute has one patent already issued and 16 active patent applications pending at present. With publications of papers in 311 peer-reviewed journals, 330 conference papers, two full books and 38 invention disclosures, it has already notched up success in academic and research fields.

In addition to providing full scholarship to qualified applicants, Masdar Institute has collaboration agreements with several organizations including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for up to 20 scholarships, and Toyota Motor Corporation for one student every year to work in sustainable transportation.

For the September 2012 intake, the total number of enrolled students across the eight academic programs reached 336. The student body is expected to grow to 600-800 over the next few years. Two batches of Master’s students have already graduated from Masdar Institute – the first in June 2011 and the second in May 2012.

Masdar Institute currently has 73 faculty members from 32 countries, enabling students to benefit from a unique range of insights and experiences.

Admissions for Fall 2013 are now open. Application forms can be accessed from www.masdar.ac.ae/Admission.html. A minimum CGPA of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 and a minimum GRE Quantitative scope of 700 (or 155 on the new scale) are mandatory for applicants. Talented applicants, who may not meet the GRE and TOEFL/IELTS requirements but are otherwise qualified to enroll, may be admitted. They will, however, be required to pass two placement exams or complete additional technical and math coursework.

Dr. Marcus Dahlem received his Licenciatura degree (BS + Masters) in Applied Physics (Optoelectronics and Lasers) from the University of Porto, Portugal, in 2000. He earned his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2005 and 2011 respectively.

From 1999 to 2002, he worked as a laboratory instructor in the Physics Department at the University of Porto, and at the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering of Porto (INESC Porto). In 2003 and 2005 he served as a teaching assistant in EECS at MIT, and between 2003 and 2011 he worked as a research assistant at the MIT RLE. During the summer and fall of 2008, he worked at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, in the Exploratory Photonics group.

Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar’s core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges such as climate change.

Established as an on-going 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.

 

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Algorithms might drum up a better way to save energy in Abu Dhabi

Imagine you are at a ski resort, but don’t have any skiing gear. You can rent or buy it, but which should you do?

The answer hinges on how much you’re likely to ski in the future. But you don’t yet know that, so how do you decide?

This is not just an innocuous problem. We face many similar decisions that depend on unknowable information about the future.

How much stock should I buy to satisfy future demand? How much should I save to support my retirement?
Computer systems are teeming with similar so-called “online problems”, such as deciding which data to store in a form that can be quickly accessed, and when to send data into a network.

They do it using “algorithms” – sets of rules and instructions that break down how a computer is going to set about a particular task. And some of these algorithms are inspired by studying puzzles such as the ski-rental problem.

Algorithms can also cope with increasing complexity. Do you like solving puzzles such as Sudoku or the Rubik’s cube, but are getting tired of the typical 9×9 Sudoku and 3x3x3 Rubik’s cube? How about a super-sized 16×16 Sudoku or a 6x6x6 Rubik’s cube? While puzzles of such sizes stretch human capabilities, computers can breeze through them with just a bit more computing power.

The amount of extra processing power required isn’t necessarily linear, though – doubling the size of a puzzle can require a million times more computational grunt.

Indeed, there are tons of problems, from puzzles to practical applications, which steadfastly resist computer scientists’ attempts to find an efficient algorithm.

Some of these are problems that on the face of it don’t seem that hard at all – how to optimally pack a knapsack with any set of different-sized objects, for example, or how to find the shortest cycle route on a map – can actually be extremely tricky, to the extent that finding the best solution requires an absurd or impractical amount of computing power.

In these cases, the answer is sometimes to look for a solution that is “good enough”, rather than necessarily the best. It can be the case that an algorithm produces outcomes approximately close to the best, while using far less computing power than the dead-accurate alternative.

All these algorithms underpin the information economy on which we all depend, making information processing faster and more cost-effective.

They power our gadgets, which use ingenious algorithms that continuously optimise the quality of their graphics and speed up processing time.

And they can help us with the new challenges of sustainability. How do we balance energy supplies and demands for an uncertain future? How do we allocate scarce resources effectively, despite the growing complexity?

One such problem we are working on at the Masdar Institute is how to efficiently regulate power generation in the presence of an unsteady renewable energy supply, such as wind or solar.

We are designing algorithms that can determine when the backup power supply – a traditional power plant – should be turned on to meet a shortage of energy from a renewable source, in real-time.

The result, we hope, will be a more efficient and reliable renewable energy-powered electricity grid – essential if Abu Dhabi is to meet its target of 7 per cent of its power from renewables by 2030.

Dr. Sid Chi-Kin Chau is an assistant professor of computing and information science at the Masdar Institute.

 
 

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Masdar Institute to Showcase Academic and Research Offerings to Students in Russia

Event on 27 February to Highlight Advantages of Pursuing Graduate Studies in Abu Dhabi’s Research-Based Institution

Moscow/Abu Dhabi: 26 February, 2013 – A team of faculty and students from Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, will be will be participating in the Spring 2013 QS World Grad School Tour Fair & Seminars on 27 February in Moscow to highlight the advantages of pursuing graduate studies at the Abu Dhabi-based institution.

A large number of students from across universities in Russia are expected to gather for the event from 5.00-8.00pm at Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel & Business Center, Europe Square, Moscow. Pre-fair presentations and panels are scheduled from 4.00pm-5.00pm. Dr. Marcus Dahlem, Assistant Professor – Microsystems Engineering, and student Olga Tsvethova with other representatives from Masdar Institute, will showcase a research project on ‘Electronic-photonic integrated circuits’. The research project looks at how photonics can be incorporated into existing electronic chip design to improve their performance. Dr. Dahlem will additionally present details of the state-of-the-art micro-fabrication cleanroom and microscopy facilities at Masdar Institute.

Developed in cooperation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Masdar Institute’s graduate programs integrate education, research and scholarly activities. With admission criteria similar to MIT, Masdar Institute helps students to be innovators, creative scientists, researchers and critical thinkers in technology development, systems integration and policy. Masdar Institute aims to produce cutting-edge technology, which can potentially be commercialized by other Masdar units.

Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute, said: “Since inception, we have achieved breakthroughs in research and innovation, contributing to developing the region’s human capital and R&D infrastructure. Our patents, research accomplishments and academic success serve as an inspiration for graduate students seeking to enroll and acquire clean energy knowledge. This roadshow offers us an opportunity to interact with students across Europe and apprise them of the learning options at the sustainable campus. We welcome them to take advantage of our educational and research offerings.”

The niche research project options provide potential students opportunities to participate in the creation of intellectual property rights and patents as well as job placements in local and internationally-recognized organizations.

Masdar Institute has one patent already issued and 16 active patent applications pending at present. With publications of papers in 311 peer-reviewed journals, 330 conference papers, two full books and 38 invention disclosures, it has already notched up success in academic and research fields.

In addition to providing full scholarship to qualified applicants, Masdar Institute has collaboration agreements with several organizations including the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for up to 20 scholarships, and Toyota Motor Corporation for one student every year to work in sustainable transportation.

For the September 2012 intake, the total number of enrolled students across the eight academic programs reached 336. The student body is expected to grow to 600-800 over the next few years. Two batches of Master’s students have already graduated from Masdar Institute – the first in June 2011 and the second in May 2012.

Masdar Institute currently has 73 faculty members from 32 countries, enabling students to benefit from a unique range of insights and experiences. The faculty are alumni from leading international institutions including MIT, Stanford University, University of California – Berkeley, University of Michigan, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, University of Waterloo, Oxford University, Cambridge University and Harvard University.

Admissions for Fall 2013 are now open. Application forms can be downloaded from www.masdar.ac.ae/Admission.html. A minimum CGPA of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 and a minimum GRE Quantitative scope of 700 (or 155 on the new scale) are mandatory for applicants. Talented applicants, who may not meet the GRE and TOEFL/IELTS requirements but are otherwise qualified to enroll, may be admitted. They will be, however, required to pass two placement exams or complete additional technical and math coursework.

Dr. Marcus Dahlem received his Licenciatura degree (BS + Masters) in Applied Physics (Optoelectronics and Lasers) from the University of Porto, Portugal, in 2000. He earned his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2005 and 2011 respectively.

From 1999 to 2002, he worked as a laboratory instructor in the Physics Department at the University of Porto, and at the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering of Porto (INESC Porto). In 2003 and 2005 he served as a teaching assistant in EECS at MIT, and between 2003 and 2011 he worked as a research assistant at the MIT RLE. During the summer and fall of 2008, he worked at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, in the Exploratory Photonics group.

Serving as a key pillar of innovation and human capital, Masdar Institute remains fundamental to Masdar’s core objectives of developing Abu Dhabi’s knowledge economy and finding solutions to humanity’s toughest challenges such as climate change.

Established as an on-going 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.