Omar Khalifa

July 2026

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  ISL-MCEM Team Wins First Place at the Global Young Professionals Challenge

  1 min read · Sat, Jul 11 2026

  Awards News

  We are thrilled to announce that a collaborative team from the Information Science Lab (ISL) and the Mechanics of Composite for Energy and Mobility (MCEM) Lab has won First Place in the Global Young Professionals Challenge at the 12th European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (EWSHM) , held in Toulouse, France. Organized by COFREND and sponsored by Airbus and CEA-List, the prestigious competition brings together outstanding early-career researchers in structural health monitoring from around the world. The winning team consisted of Omar Khalifa (ISL), Hassan A. Mahmoud, and Aldyandra

June 2026

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  Flow Guard Wins First Prize at Hult Prize Saudi Arabia National Competition

  1 min read · Wed, Jun 3 2026

  Awards News

  We are proud to celebrate a major entrepreneurial achievement as Flow Guard, co-founded by ISL members Omar Khalifa and Mohammed Ahmed, secured first place at the Hult Prize Saudi Arabia National Competition in Riyadh. The Hult Prize is one of the world's largest student entrepreneurship competitions, challenging teams to develop innovative solutions to pressing global problems. This year, KAUST demonstrated a strong presence, with four of the six finalist spots awarded to KAUST projects: Flow Guard, Wiaam Project, FutureHeat, and Furat. Flow Guard was recognized for its innovative approach to

January 2025

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  KAUST ECE students achieve high honors in Competition on Non-Terrestrial Networks for 6G (NTNYS'24)

  4 min read · Tue, Jan 21 2025

  News

  6g wireless systems connectivity NTN Communication Non-Terrestrial Networks IoT

  KAUST Ph.D. candidate Omar Khalifa earned an impressive second place in the global Competition on Non-Terrestrial Networks for 6G (NTNYS'24). The IEEE Future Networks Initiative organized the competition as part of the "Connecting the World from the Skies Global Forum," which took place last November in Riyadh. Second place, and a prize of $10,000, was awarded to Khalifa based on his work titled "Supplying Data for Digital Twins in Green Smart Cities: A Non-Invasive NTN-IoT Approach." The international forum, which focused on the theme “Shaping the Future of Converged Connectivity,” was hosted

May 2024

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  Congratulations to our graduates in 2023/'24

  1 min read · Wed, May 22 2024

  News

  We at Information Science Lab would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the following students who have graduated during the academic year 2023/2024. Ruslan Zhagypar (MSc May 2023) - PhD student at KAUST ISL Xing Liu (PhD May 2023) - Postdoctoral Researcher at the ISL lab, KAUST Kalamkas Zhagyparova (MSc July 2023) - PhD student at KAUST ISL Lama Niyazi (PhD Nov. 2023) - Postdoctoral Researcher at The University of Edinburgh with the prestigious Ibn Rushd scholarship Mohammed Aasim Shaikh (MSc Dec. 2023) - PhD student at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Reema Alnafisi

January 2024

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  First place at aramco Upstream Digital Hackathon

  1 min read · Tue, Jan 16 2024

  News

  We are delighted to announce that our Master's student, Omar Khalifa, along with his team, achieved first place in the Aramco Upstream Digital Hackathon, specifically in the Advanced Sensing, IoT, and Robotics Track. Their project, "ZAJEL," successfully developed a fully functional prototype for autonomous data collection and shipment delivery using drones in challenging work environments. This accomplishment highlights their creativity, innovation, and effective teamwork. Omar extends his gratitude to his exceptional team members, Salman Ghori, Mutaz AlJafari AlTayar, Mohamed Magdy Khalifa

September 2022

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  ISL welcomes new students joining in 2022/2023

  1 min read · Mon, Sep 5 2022

  News

  Information Science Lab would like to extend a warm welcome to 6 new students who joined KAUST from different universities from all parts of the world during the Fall 2022/23 semester. Omar Khalifa (MS/Ph.D.) – from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dammam, KSA Rose Alaslani (MS/Ph.D.) – from King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, KSA Israel Filho (MS/Ph.D.) – from Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil Adilya Bakambekova (MS/Ph.D.) – from Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan Xuexian Zheng (Ph.D.) – from South China University of Technology, China Levina Perzhilla (MS/Ph.D.) – from Epoka

November 2021

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  KAUST-KFUPM collaboration wins top honors at STC AIoT Hackathon

  3 min read · Mon, Nov 29 2021

  News

  IoT agriculture artificial intelligence drones

  A team composed of KAUST and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) students was one of three winning teams of this year’s Saudi Telecom Company (STC) AIoT (AI & IoT) Hackathon. The KAUST entry, AgriDoctor, a proposed autonomous, sustainable, intelligent agriculture system, was a standout pick for the competition judges from a pool of 110 project submissions and 350 participants.