Events

May 4 - May 10, 2025

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  Relations between Decision Trees and Decision Rule Systems

  Kerven Durdymyradov, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Computer Science

  May 4, 11:00 - 13:00

  B5 L5 R5220

  decision trees machine learning

  This thesis investigates the complex transformation of decision rule systems into decision trees, establishing bounds on tree depth, developing polynomial-time path-finding algorithms and an optimal dynamic programming algorithm for minimum depth, and analyzing time-space complexity trade-offs for trees over infinite binary information systems.
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  Autonomy at the Edge of Capabilities: Uncertain Environments, Limited Resources, Difficult Missions

  Melkior Ornik, Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  May 4, 10:30 - 11:30

  B5 L5 R5209

  This seminar introduces a planning strategy for complex autonomous systems that integrates machine learning with structure-driven abstraction and mission decomposition to achieve computationally tractable, scalable, and high-performing policies despite environmental and agent constraints.
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  On Complexity of Decision Trees for Decision Tables from Closed Classes

  Azimkhon Ostonov, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Computer Science

  May 4, 09:00 - 11:00

  B5 L5 R5220

  decision trees machine learning

  This thesis considers classes of decision tables closed under operations of removal of attributes (columns) and changing of decisions and study for the tables from these classes relationships among the minimum complexity of deterministic and nondeterministic decision trees and the complexity of the set of attributes attached to columns of the table, while also analyzing the algorithms for constructing decision trees for these decision tables.
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  Future of Semiconductors Forum 2025 | KAUST

  May 4, 08:00 - May 5, 17:00

  Building 20

  semiconductor advanced semiconductors smart health photonics

  Join global leaders at KAUST to shape the next era of semiconductor technologies.

Apr 27 - May 3, 2025

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  Towards Trustworthy News Recommendation Systems

  Manal A. Alshehri, Ph.D. Student, Computer Science

  May 1, 17:00 - 19:00

  B3 L5 R5209

  machine learning artificial intelligence personalized recommendations Generative Adversarial Networks

  This thesis enhances the trustworthiness of news recommendation systems by addressing the cold start problem for new users/items, enabling efficient user data removal for privacy, and mitigating multi-dimensional filter bubbles to improve diversity.
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  Retraction Maps, Feedback Linearization and Nonholonomic Integrators

  Ravi Banavar, Professor, Systems and Control Engineering, IIT Bombay

  May 1, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  This talk will introduce the utility of retraction maps on Riemannian manifolds to two applications in applied mechanics and control.
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  Efficient Antenna-on-Chip with Optimized Artificial Magnetic Conductor Performance for 6G mm-Wave Applications

  Yiyang Yu, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 30, 15:30 - 17:30

  B3 L5 R5209

  Electrically Small Antenna Design antenna design on-chip antennas 6g wireless systems

  This dissertation introduces innovative Artificial Magnetic Conductor structures and a reconfigurable superstrate to overcome profile thickness, illumination efficiency, and radiation pattern limitations in CMOS-integrated Antennas-on-Chip, thereby enhancing their performance and versatility for future 6G wireless communication systems.
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  Control and Estimation Designs Using Model-Based and Model-Free Approaches for Water Quality Monitoring in Process Systems

  Fahad Aljehani, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 30, 10:00 - 12:00

  B1 L4 R4214

  machine learning algorithm optimal control Control Theory Reinforcement Learning

  This dissertation develops and evaluates advanced control and estimation strategies to address complex dynamics and measurement limitations in water-related applications, specifically optimizing fish growth in aquaculture and estimating bacterial concentration in wastewater treatment plants.
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  Design and Process Development of Graphene-Based Geometric Diodes for Enhanced Performance

  Heng Wang, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 29, 14:00 - 16:00

  B2 L5 R5220

  Thz rectennas Graphene geometric diodes semiconductors nano devices artificial intelligence

  This thesis advances graphene geometric diodes (GGDs) by addressing fabrication, performance, and design challenges using innovative nanofabrication techniques and artificial intelligence-enhanced computational methodologies.
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  On Singular Equations Modeling Electrostatic MEMS

  Katerina Nik, Assistant Professor, Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences

  Apr 28, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  MEMS free boundary problems

  This talk introduces mathematical models for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), focusing on the existence and behavior of solutions to equations describing the MEMS device's instability due to electrostatic forces that can lead to singularities in the mathematical equations.
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  Harnessing Multi-modal AI and Machine Learning for Next-Generation 6G Networks

  Asmaa Abdallah, Research Scientist, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 27, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  LLM machine learning 6G Wireless communication Digital signal processing

  This seminar explores how multi-modal AI and large language models can optimize future 6G wireless networks by integrating diverse data sources to enhance reliability, efficiency, and overall performance.
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  Metasurface Based Optical Metrology Systems: Design, Fabrication, and Implementations

  Arturo Burguete Lopez, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 27, 11:00 - 13:00

  B3 L5 R5209

  Metasurfaces integrated optics

  This dissertation introduces a framework to advance optical metasurfaces from individual components to integrated optical instruments, it presents demonstrations of metrology techniques that combine machine learning and nanophotonic technologies for remote sensing that outperform methods based on conventional optics, thus advancing the next generation of optical instrumentation.

Apr 20 - Apr 26, 2025

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  Linear Solvers for Large-Scale Bayesian Modeling

  Lisa Gaedke-Merzhäuser, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics

  Apr 24, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  In this talk we explore what it means to perform Bayesian inference and introduce the methodology of integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA).
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  Advancing Security Red-Teaming in Cyber-Physical Systems via AI-Driven Side-Channel Analysis

  Tao Ni, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

  Apr 23, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L3 R3223

  cybersecurity IoT cyber-physical systems

  This talk will systematically reveal security and privacy vulnerabilities in cyber-physical systems by characterizing contactless side-channel attacks on various components and proposing effective defense methods using hardware-software co-design and AI-driven techniques, while also outlining future research directions for developing secure and privacy-preserving CPS platforms.
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  Bridging the Digital Divide Gap: Next-G Approach Towards Connecting the Unconnected

  Fahad Salem Alqurashi, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 21, 13:00 - 14:30

  B 4/5, L0, R0215

  This dissertation investigates next-generation technologies, including hybrid free-space optics (FSO) and radio frequency (RF) communication systems, to bridge the digital divide in underserved remote areas, addressing multifaceted constraints like economic viability, technical feasibility, and socio-economic inequalities, with a focus on real-world applications.
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  The Earliest Arrival of Quantum Utility

  David Keyes, Senior Associate to the President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

  Apr 21, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9, L2, R2325

  The earliest advantageous uses of quantum computing will take the form of a quantum processing unit (QPU) attached to a traditional supercomputer. Supercomputers of the not too distant future will have thousands of GPUs and thousands of CPUs as today, along with one or more QPUs with thousands of qubits.
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  Towards Full Information Transformation in Deep Learning: A Study in Neural Machine Translation and Vision on Next-Generation Language Foundation Models

  Dr. Liang Ding

  Apr 20, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L3 R3223

  This seminar will present LLM advancements to address alignment and efficiency challenges in neural machine translation, aiming to balance decoding speed and translation quality towards building sufficient, efficient, and trustworthy next-generation language models for diverse real-world applications.
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  Adaptive Unbound Resilient Electronics for Organic and Reconfigurable Architectures Realizing Fully Flexible 3D-IC Systems for Extreme, Evolving, and Embedded Environments

  Muhammad Hussain, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, United States

  Apr 20, 12:00 - 13:00

  B2 L5 R5220

  This talk reviews recent advances across flexible electronics, dissolvable packaging, liquid metal-enabled systems, NFC-powered devices, wearable sensors, and swarm-capable microsystems.
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  GaN-based VCSELs and Future of Semiconductor Lasers

  Tatsushi Hamaguchi, Professor, Innovation Center for Semiconductor and Digital Future

  Apr 20, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  This lecture covers the history, breakthroughs, and future of nitride-based blue and green surface-emitting lasers, from both industry and academic viewpoints.

Apr 13 - Apr 19, 2025

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  Homogenization and Wave Functional Materials

  Ying Wu, Professor, Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences

  Apr 17, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  Wave functional materials Homogenization

  In this talk, I will give a brief review on the progress from on homogenization and its impact on achieving unusual wave functional materials, such as zero-index materials in which the effective refractive index is vanishing.
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  Towards Safe, Factual, and Empathetic Human-AI Interaction

  Yuxia Wang, Postdoctoral Researcher, Natural Language Processing department, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence

  Apr 16, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L3 R3223

  This talk will explore the challenges of evaluating and improving LLM factuality, safety, and cultural sensitivity, addressing questions about hallucination rates, retrieval-augmented generation efficacy, fact-checking limitations, regional policy alignment, and the necessity of machine-generated content detection.
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  Frequency-Domain Description of Semiconductor Mode-Lock Lasers

  Weng Chow, Single Photon Sources, Sandia National Laboratories, United States

  Apr 16, 10:30 - 11:30

  B9 L2 R2322

  This talk presents a frequency-based theoretical framework utilizing multimode laser theory to explain the diverse dynamical behaviors of semiconductor mode-lock lasers by analyzing mode competition and multiwave mixing through a generalized Alder's equation, with direct connection to the semiconductor bandstructure.
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  Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits with Integrated Lasers

  John E. Bowers, Distinguished Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Stanta Barbara, United States

  Apr 16, 09:30 - 10:30

  B9 L2 R2322

  Tremendous progress is being made at silicon photonic foundries around the world to improve the performance, yield and capability of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and that is opening up new markets, including quantum computing and sensing. These results will be described with an emphasis on integrating lasers to PICs and the improvements in laser and system performance that are possible.
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  Advancing Optoelectronics and Power Electronics: From Ultrawide-Bandgap Semiconductors to Silicon-Integrated Plasmonic Heterojunctions for Next-Generation Applications

  Nasir Alfaraj, Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral Fellow, The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto

  Apr 15, 11:30 - 12:30

  B3 L5 R5209

  Addressing critical challenges in on-chip communication, this presentation details the development of silicon-integrated plasmonic heterojunction devices within the broader context of energy-efficient, high-performance electronic and photonic systems. We emphasize material innovations (e.g., transparent conductive oxides) and architectural advancements aimed at enhancing efficiency and minimizing optical losses.
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  Strategies for Improving Communication Efficiency in Distributed and Federated Learning: Compression, Local Training, and Personalization

  Kai Yi, Ph.D. Student, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering

  Apr 14, 18:00 - 20:00

  B5 L5 R5209

  This dissertation advances communication-efficient distributed and federated learning through novel algorithms for model compression, local training optimization, and personalization, validated by theoretical analysis and empirical results.
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  Making LLMs Agentic: How Tool Use and Synthetic Data Drive Real-World Intelligence

  Ibrahim Abdelaziz, Senior Research Scientist, IBM

  Apr 13, 16:00 - 17:00

  B2/3 L0 R0215

  LLM machine learning artificial intelligence AI

  This talk presents advancements in agentic AI, focusing on creating and utilizing datasets and models that enable Large Language Models to effectively interact with external tools for real-world applications.
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  Enhancing Solar Fuel Production Performance through Catalyst Design and Device Engineering

  Fei Xiang, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 13, 14:00 - 16:00

  B2 L5 R5209

  This thesis integrates catalyst design and device engineering to enhance solar fuel production performance. Our work focuses on expanding the scope of solar fuels beyond hydrogen in PV-EC systems and improving the efficiency and long-term stability of the photoanode in PEC water splitting, thereby enhancing solar energy utilization.
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  Gallium Oxide Diodes: Past , Present and Future Applications

  Jose Manuel Taboada Vasquez, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 13, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  This talk will explore recent advancements in gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) diode technology, highlighting its potential as a cost-effective ultra-wide bandgap material for high-power electronics despite challenges in electron mobility and thermal conductivity.

Apr 6 - Apr 12, 2025

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  The Earliest Arrival of Quantum Advantage

  David Keyes, Senior Associate to the President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

  Apr 10, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  quantum computing quantum processing unit supercomputers

  This talk outlines a "quantum first" strategy for future supercomputers, integrating QPUs, GPUs, and CPUs to optimize energy efficiency and accelerate scientific computing while addressing the current challenges and projecting the maturation of quantum computing by leveraging classical supercomputing advancements.
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  Helmholtz–Korteweg Equations: Modeling, Analysis, and Applications

  Umberto Zerbinati

  Apr 8, 15:00 - 16:00

  B1 L4 R4102

  Korteweg fluids Helmholtz–Korteweg equation

  This talk presents a derivation and analysis of Helmholtz-Korteweg equations, extended to nematic-Korteweg fluids, including well-posedness proofs, numerical methods, and predictions for wave propagation and scattering phenomena with experimental implications.
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  Architecture and System Co-Design for High-performance LLM Inference and Training

  Jingwen Leng, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

  Apr 7, 11:00 - 12:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  This talk explores the advantages and challenges of integrated training and inference architectures for AI, which are becoming increasingly necessary due to the evolving nature of AI models and the growing demand for efficient computing power.
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  Workshop on Analysis and PDEs

  Apr 7, 08:00 - Apr 10, 17:00

  B3, L5, R5220

  PDEs Analysis of PDE's fluid dynamics free boundary problems energy minimization Mathematical Biology

  Join us for the Workshop on PDEs to explore advances, challenges and methods in the analysis and computation of partial differential equations.
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  Rising Stars in AI Symposium 2025

  Apr 7 - 10, All day

  Building 19, Halls 1, 2 and 3

  AI

  Join KAUST's Rising Stars in AI Symposium 2025, bringing together exceptional emerging talent shaping the future of AI research and innovation.
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  SAAI Factory 3

  Apr 6, 08:00 - Apr 14, 14:45

  Buildings 20 and Buildings 19

  artificial intelligence AI art machine learning Hackathon

  SAAI Factory 3 brings together artists, researchers and youth to explore AI and art at KAUST.

Mar 23 - Mar 29, 2025

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  MI is All You Need: Understanding Complex Multivariate Systems Through the Lenses of GenAI

  Pietro Michiardi, Professor, Department Head, Data Science Department, EURECOM

  Mar 26, 12:00 - 13:00

  B1 L4 R4102

  This talk explores the use of score functions and denoising neural networks for efficient estimation of mutual information and novel extensions to information theory that describe complex multivariate interactions, demonstrating applications in automotive sensing, semantic alignment, and neuroscience.
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  Some Contributions to Particle and Unbiased Simulation Methods

  Elsiddig Awadelkarim Elsiddig, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Statistics

  Mar 26, 10:00 - 12:00

  B3 L5 R5209; Zoom Meeting 95303621356

  Bayesian Statistics machine learning

  This thesis develops unbiased estimators and efficient particle filters, leveraging Feynman-Kac formulae and multilevel techniques, to address challenges in parameter estimation, filtering, invariant measure approximation, and stationary distribution computation for partially observed diffusion processes and McKean-Vlasov stochastic differential equations.
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  Dimension Liftings for Quantum Computation of Partial Differential Equations and Related Problems

  Shi Jin, Director of Institute of Natural Sciences, Chair Professor of Mathematics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

  Mar 25, 16:00 - 17:00

  B1 L3 R3119

  PDEs Schrödinger equation quantum simulation quantum computing

  This lecture presents a systematic framework for developing quantum simulation algorithms for general differential equations, using dimension lifting to transform nonlinear and time-dependent problems into forms solvable by simulating the Schrödinger equation.
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  Statistical Models and Methods Based on Stochastic Partial Differential Equations

  David Bolin, Professor, Statistics

  Mar 23, 14:00 - 15:30

  B9 L2 R2322; Zoom Meeting ID 93209452060

  SPDEs non-Gaussian random fields statistical analysis Metric graphs

  This talk presents an overview of our research on statistical methods using stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs), focusing on non-Gaussian random fields and fractional-order SPDEs, and theory for random fields and statistical analysis on metric graphs, highlighting theoretical contributions, software development, and applications relevant to KAUST RDI pillars.
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  Sense of Touch: from Haptics to Robotic Tactile Sensing

  Zhanat Kappassov, Associate Professor, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

  Mar 23, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  biomedical sensing robotics haptics

  This talk explores the intersection of haptics, human touch perception, and robotic tactile sensing, covering principles of human touch, traditional and emerging robotic tactile sensors, and their applications in human-robot interaction, including a case study on tactile gloves for breast lump detection.
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  Latent Abstractions, Mutual Information and Generative Diffusion Models

  Giulio Franzese, Assistant Professor, Data Science Department, EURECOM

  Mar 23, 12:00 - 13:00

  B1 L4 R4102

  This talk presents a mathematical framework linking stochastic differential equations and information theory on how diffusion models utilize latent abstractions via implicit stochastic filtering to synthesize high-dimensional data.

Mar 16 - Mar 22, 2025

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  Extensions of Dynamic Programming for Combinatorial Optimization and Data Mining

  Mikhail Moshkov, Professor, Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences

  Mar 20, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9, L2, R2325

  Dynamic programming is an efficient technique to solve optimization problems. It is based on decomposing the initial problem into simpler ones and solving these sub-problems beginning from the simplest ones. A conventional dynamic programming algorithm returns an optimal object from a given set of objects.
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  Color-Converting Luminescent Devices for High-Speed Optical Wireless Communication

  Yue Wang, Ph.D Candidate (former), Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Mar 20, 10:00 - 11:30

  B3 L5 R5209

  Free-space optical communications Underwater wireless optical communication luminescent optoelectronics fiber optics

  This dissertation advances optical communication systems by exploring and integrating novel luminescent materials, including MOFs, perovskite nanosheets and quantum dots, and organic fluorophores, to enhance speed, efficiency, and versatility in applications ranging from high-speed visible-light communication and ultraviolet free-space communication to underwater wireless optical communication and optical amplification.
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  Luminescent Photonic Metamaterials and Devices from THz to Optical Frequencies

  Qing Gu, Associate Professors, Electrical and Computer Engineering, NC State University, United States

  Mar 19, 12:00 - 13:15

  B3 L5 R5209

  This talk covers on-chip light sources, a crucial component in high-performance photonic integrated circuits (ICs), including perovskite microlasers, luminescent hyperbolic metamaterials, topologically protected microlasers, and spintronic THz emitters.
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  Recent Advances in 3D Computer Vision and Their Applications for Medical Imaging

  Abdullah Hamdi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Visual Geometry Group; Junior Research Fellow, Kellogg College, University of Oxford

  Mar 17, 13:00 - 14:00

  Building 9, Level 2, Hall1, Room 2325

  Abstract Advances in AI have revolutionized many domains, yet effectively harnessing 3D data remains a challenge due to the lack of a unified 3D representation across tasks. A recent breakthrough in this area is the 3D Gaussian Splatting primitive, which enables fast and accurate 3D reconstruction from multiple 2D images. However, its limitations in representing sharp, physical objects have prompted us to propose an alternative based on 3D smooth convexes, which demonstrably outperforms traditional approaches in reconstructing fine details. In the realm of medical imaging—where 3D volumetric
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  Bridging 2D and 3D for Label-Efficient Learning in Scene Understanding

  Timo Ropinski, Professor, Institute of Media Informatics, Ulm University, Germany

  Mar 17, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  This talk presents a series of novel methods that bridge 2D and 3D data representations to achieve robust, label-efficient scene understanding, encompassing unsupervised semantic and instance segmentation, open-vocabulary 3D scene graph generation, and RelationField, which extends neural radiance fields to capture open-vocabulary object relationships implicitly.
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  iHunter: Empowering Autonomous UAVs for Robust, Real-Time Aerial Terget Tracking and Trajectory Prediction

  Mohamed Abdelkader, Assistant Professor, Computer and Information Sciences, Prince Sultan University

  Mar 16, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  UAV Aerial Robotics

  This talk introduces iHunter, an integrated framework for UAVs to reliably detect, track, and predict the trajectories of moving targets by fusing multi-modal perception with state estimation, employing kinematic predictors and a GRU-based neural network trained on synthetic data, and demonstrating improved tracking stability and predictive performance for aerial surveillance and target interception.

Mar 9 - Mar 15, 2025

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  On the Use of "Conventional" Unconstrained Minimization Solvers for Training Regression Problems in Scientific Machine Learning

  Stefano Zampini, Senior Research Scientist, Hierarchical Computations on Manycore Architectures

  Mar 13, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2325

  petsc PETScML machine learning

  This talk introduces PETScML, a framework leveraging traditional second-order optimization solvers for use within scientific machine learning, demonstrating improved generalization capabilities over gradient-based methods routinely adopted in deep learning.
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  Viscous Thin Films Driven by Thermal Noise

  Manuel V. Gnann, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

  Mar 11, 16:00 - 17:00

  B1 L3 R3119

  This talk explores the mathematical analysis of stochastic thin-film equations, focusing on the existence of solutions for nonlinear noise and measure-valued solutions, highlighting the importance of the Stratonovich formulation for accurate physical modelling of capillary-driven viscous thin films at microscopic scales.
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  One-on-One Statistical Consulting for KAUST Researchers

  Mar 11, 10:00 - 16:00

  B1 L4 R4102

  Join the American Statistical Association (ASA) KAUST Student Chapter for one-on-one statistical consultations.
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  Chase and Escape from Sticks to Groups: Effects of Noise and Delay

  Toru Ohira, Professor, Graduate School of Mathematics Division of Mathematics Advanced Topology, Nagoya University, Japan

  Mar 10, 16:00 - 17:00

  B1 L3 R3119

  This talk explores the "group chase and escape" model, an extension of the classic chase and escape problem, demonstrating emergent complex behaviours like emergent aggregate formations, noise-enhanced catching, and distance-dependent movements delays, and further examines the impact of probabilistically converting caught escapees into chasers, adding another layer of dynamical complexity to the system.