My name is Mohammed-iliès Ayachi; I am a research software engineer at Kaust.
I started my KAUST journey with Prof. Shehab Ahmed since October 2018 in the Mechatronics and Energy Systems Research Group MERGE to develop novel software through the synergetic integration of physical modeling and computing technologies. I am also part of the Resilient Computing and Cybersecurity Center RC3 since May 2022 to contribute to projects in the areas of Digital Twin, Cyber-Physical Systems, and the Internet of Things.
Son of French-Tunisian parents, I was born and raised in France. I studied at Strasbourg University, where I got my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in software engineering. I worked for six years in the software development industry, focusing on evolutionary computation applied to health transportation.
When I learned about KAUST and its inspiring vision, I wanted to be a part of it! The opportunity to work with highly accomplished researchers and students on such exciting topics and utilizing the world-class laboratories that KAUST offers made the decision to move to KAUST easy. Kaust is also a fantastic place for my family; we enjoy it daily!
In my opinion, putting a product into the field brings the greatest gratification. I like to create tools and products that help people and have a significant technological and social impact. That’s why I am so thrilled when I turn our research into a practical product. KAUST shines by establishing external partnerships and giving us direct access to collaborate with the biggest players in the industry.
I started to use this opportunity for renewable energy integration and its real-time implementation at the edge. I am also working on new disruptive tools for the drilling industry, using the latest deep learning, computer vision, and edge computing breakthroughs. We have excellent mechanical engineers in our group handling our project’s mechanical aspect. This allows me to focus on the software and gives us an immense advantage to design, create and quickly deploy a prototype in no time.
Last but not least, I am working on research topics that became only recently possible: Digital Twin of cyber-physical energy systems and critical smart grid infrastructure, thanks to several technologies that have recently matured and have become widely adopted, including the Internet of Things, cloud computing, extended reality, and artificial intelligence. The extensive use cases of Digital Twins is a great motivation for me.
Today, we are also witnessing a very interesting fusion of technologies from the video gaming sector (such as Unity or Unreal Engine game-engine), a topic close to my heart, with the realm of professional industrial software. Participating in this research is both a challenge and a privilege.
Outside work, I enjoy photography, video editing, and soundscape recording when I am not exploring something new behind the screen.
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