News

April 2021

• 

  Star light, star bright…as explained by math

  1 min read · Sun, Apr 25 2021

  News

  extreme statistics big data statistics

  The evolving periodicity of the brightness of certain types of stars can now be described mathematically.
• 

  Introducing "THE FANTASTATISTICS 4"

  1 min read · Thu, Apr 15 2021

  News

  Introducing KAUST’s very own "THE FANTASTATISTICS 4." Gaurav Agarwal, Jian Cao, Wanfang Chen, and Yuxiao Li are four Ph.D. alumni from the Statistics program at KAUST. The four students obtained their Ph.D.s last year under the supervision of Professor Ying Sun, Agarwal and Li, and Distinguished Professor Marc Genton, Cao and Chen, respectively.
• 

  KAUST-led research set to revolutionize communications privacy

  1 min read · Wed, Apr 14 2021

  News

  CMOS-compatible silicon chip communications privacy

  In our modern information-saturated society, data protection is a significant and ongoing challenge for both individuals and organizations. Every day we share public and business data over unsecured information channels, computer systems, and networks, be it through video calls, emails and text messaging. At any moment, the transmission of this sensitive, private communication can be intercepted and hacked to commit fraudulent acts such as stealing passwords, identity theft, and gaining access to bank accounts.
• 

  A brainwave from social networks

  1 min read · Wed, Apr 14 2021

  News

  neuroscience extreme computing statistics

  The statistics used to understand social networks reveal the diversity of functional connections in the brain.
• 

  Machine learning at speed

  1 min read · Mon, Apr 12 2021

  News

  machine learning artificial intelligence big data Computer science

  Optimizing network communication accelerates training in large-scale machine-learning models.
• 

  Predicting future hotspots in the Red Sea

  1 min read · Thu, Apr 8 2021

  News

  big data Red Sea climate science statistics

  Predicting areas of the Red Sea most susceptible to overheating by the end of the century could help conservation efforts to protect its precious coral reefs.

March 2021

• 

  Meet KAUST New Student: Carlos Andrés Muñoz Moncayo

  2 min read · Wed, Mar 31 2021

  News

  Carlos Andrés Muñoz Moncayo is a mathematics graduate from Yachay Tech University, Ecuador, who joined KAUST in February 2021. Carlos believes that KAUST’s renowned faculty, unique facilities and diverse community make the University the best environment for him to develop high-quality and impactful research.
• 

  Getting the inside track on street design

  1 min read · Tue, Mar 30 2021

  News

  big data statistics

  Large-scale analysis of pedestrian data from three European cities examines how building density and street design influence pedestrian behavior.
• 

  Meet KAUST New Student: Fabio Credali

  1 min read · Mon, Mar 15 2021

  News

  Fabio Credali holds a bachelor's and master's degree in mathematics from the University of Pavia, Italy. Fabio joined KAUST in January 2021 as a Ph.D. candidate in the Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences program under the supervision of Professor Daniele Boffi.
• 

  Rue honored by Royal Statistical Society

  1 min read · Wed, Mar 3 2021

  Spotlight News

  ​KAUST Professor of Statistics Håvard Rue has been honored by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) for his "substantial and significant contributions in the area of efficient and scalable computational techniques for the data analysts' toolbox."
• 

  This black is the new black, and light is its prisoner

  1 min read · Tue, Mar 2 2021

  News

  ​Originally published in Wired Black gold signals the future of energy in the Middle East—and, for once, that doesn't mean oil. At least this is the vision of Italy-born academic Andrea Fratalocchi, who in 2015 was recognized by Guinness World Records for co-creating the "blackest black"—the darkest human-made substance, which is actually fashioned from gold. The nanomaterial Fratalocchi's team invented absorbs more than 99 percent of visible light and over 98 percent of infrared. Think of it as a tiny, imperfect, terrestrial black hole, just sucking in light rays. While having joined Neil

February 2021

• 

  ECRC contributions to SIAM CSE21

  4 min read · Sat, Feb 27 2021

  News

  research conference HPC computational science and engineering

  ECRC @ SIAM CSE21! Follow us @KAUST_ECRC As in previous SIAM conferences on Parallel Processing (PP) and Computational Science and Engineering (CSE), ECRC members and their collaborators will have a strong presence at SIAM CSE21, nominally in Fort Worth, Texas, but held virtually due to the pandemic. ************************************************** SIAM CSE21 will run virtually with live sessions. ************************************************** Registration to SIAM CSE is required to gain access to the online platform and attend live sessions. Once registered, please use your personal
• 

  CovMT: Tracking virus mutations across the world

  1 min read · Sun, Feb 21 2021

  News

  human health pathogens computation bioscience

  An interactive platform helps users visualize where SARS-CoV-2 mutations start, how wide they spread and how infectious they are.
• 

  KAUST Ph.D. Student Gaurav Agarwal wins ASA SCSG and ENAR Student Paper Awards

  2 min read · Sun, Feb 14 2021

  Awards News Spotlight

  Gaurav Agarwal, a Ph.D. candidate in statistics and member of KAUST Associate Professor Ying Sun's Environmental Statistics (ES) research group, recently won an American Statistical Association (ASA) Student Paper Award sponsored by the Sections on Computing and Graphics (SCSG). In addition to his ASA SCSG award, Agarwal has also been selected a Distinguished Student Paper Award winner by the Eastern North American Region (ENAR) of the International Biometric Society for his paper titled "Flexible Quantile Contour Estimation for Multivariate Functional Data: Beyond Convexity."

January 2021

• 

  Ferrofluid surface simulations go more than skin deep

  1 min read · Sun, Jan 10 2021

  News

  algorithms visual computing Computer science

  Computer models efficiently and accurately simulate the magnetic responses of ferrofluids by considering only the fluid’s surface.
• 

  CEMSE Student Research Excellence Awards and Student Academic Accomplishment Awards winners announced

  2 min read · Tue, Jan 5 2021

  News Spotlight

  student research excellence awards

  The annual CEMSE Student Research Excellence Awards and Student Academic Accomplishment Awards celebrate the talent and achievements of the Division's students. Awarded around the KAUST Commencement ceremony, the awards are presented in recognition of the academic accomplishments and research impact created by our leading students in the fields of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (AMCS), Computer Science (CS), Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), and Statistics (STAT).

December 2020

• 

  KAUST researchers rank in top 1% of cited work worldwide

  1 min read · Wed, Dec 23 2020

  News

  Fifteen KAUST faculty members and one postdoctoral researcher rank among the 2020 Highly Cited Researchers from around the world, according to Clarivate Web of Science Group, a global leader of academic research analytics. The list names individuals whose work accounts for the top 1% of research cited worldwide.
• 

  Modeling rainfall drop by drop

  1 min read · Sun, Dec 20 2020

  News

  water security Environmental Statistics statistics

  A high-frequency model developed using data from new high-precision rain gauges gives fresh insight into the dynamics of rain and runoff events.
• 

  Modeling the neighborhood boosts landslide prediction

  1 min read · Sun, Dec 13 2020

  News

  statistics extreme statistics

  A prediction model that considers multiple landslides over time in a given region may improve the accuracy of early warning systems.
• 

  KAUST STAT students come together for second ASA chapter meeting

  2 min read · Thu, Dec 3 2020

  News

  statistics data science

  Members of the KAUST American Statistical Association (ASA) student chapter recently came together for the group’s second online meeting held on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. The meeting served as an orientation exercise for new KAUST Statistics (STAT) Program students while also highlighting the shared experience of STAT Ph.D. candidates: Jian Cao, Wanfang Chen, Yuxiao Li, and Gaurav Agarwal.
• 

  KAUST Distinguished Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini honored with IEEE accolades

  3 min read · Tue, Dec 1 2020

  News

  Wireless Communications IEEE award

  Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini has been awarded both the 2019 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Communication Society Communication Theory Technical Committee (CCTC) Technical Achievement Award, and the 2020 IEEE Vehicular Technology Society James Evans Avant Garde Award. The CEMSE Division founding faculty member received the awards for his contributions in the modeling, design, performance evaluation, and optimization of wireless communication systems and networks.
• 

  Mohamed-Slim Alouini elected as 2021 OSA Fellow

  1 min read · Tue, Dec 1 2020

  Spotlight News

  ​KAUST Distinguished Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini was recently elected as a 2021 Fellow of the Optical Society (OSA). The prestigious recognition highlights members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics. This year's cohort comprises 118 newly elected members from 24 countries. The new Fellows will be honored at OSA conferences and meetings throughout 2021.

November 2020

• 

  Deep learning in the emergency department

  1 min read · Sun, Nov 22 2020

  News

  machine learning artificial intelligence statistics human health

  Harnessing the power of deep learning leads to better predictions of patient admissions and flow in emergency departments.
• 

  An algorithm for success: KAUST-designed differential equation-solving algorithm included in Maple 2020

  3 min read · Tue, Nov 17 2020

  News

  algorithm nonlinear ordinary differential equations Symbolic Computation

  A KAUST-designed symbolic algorithm to solve nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) has been selected for inclusion in the current version of the computer algebra system (CAS) Maple 2020. The global symbolic and numeric computing software system—developed by the Canadian company Waterloo Maple (Maplesoft)—is widely used by scientists, engineers, and researchers to analyze, visualize, and solve mathematical problems.
• 

  Connecting the Unconnected at the KAUST 6G Summit

  2 min read · Sun, Nov 1 2020

  News

  6G Wireless Communications communication technology

  The inaugural 6G Summit on "Connecting the Unconnected" took place on Tuesday, October 27, and featured a host of international researchers and experts in the areas of Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) and Wireless Communications System (WCS).

September 2020

• 

  Wind forecasts power up for reliable energy production

  1 min read · Sun, Sep 27 2020

  News

  climate science statistics

  Prediction of wind speed and direction for up to several hours in advance improves Saudi Arabia’s wind energy potential.
• 

  Quieter wind beneath the wings

  1 min read · Tue, Sep 22 2020

  News

  extreme computing Acoustics applied mathematics computational science

  The ability to efficiently simulate the noise generated by wings and propellers promises to accelerate the development of quieter aircraft and turbines.
• 

  Meet KAUST student: Grigory Malinovsky

  2 min read · Mon, Sep 21 2020

  News

  machine learning optimization

  Grigory Malinovsky joined KAUST this fall as a M.S./Ph.D. candidate and member of Professor Peter Richtarik's Optimization and Machine Learning Lab. Grigory holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia. Malinovsky first came to KAUST as a visiting student and was instantly impressed by the research facilities and working atmosphere. His outstanding internship experience was a catalyst in choosing KAUST as the next step in his academic career.
• 

  Professor Knio named Interim Dean of the KAUST CEMSE Division

  3 min read · Mon, Sep 14 2020

  News

  Omar Knio, KAUST professor of applied mathematics and computational science, has assumed the role of Interim Dean of the Computer, Electrical, Mathematical Science and Engineering (CEMSE) Division. Professor Knio succeeds former CEMSE Dean Professor Mootaz Elnozahy, who will now assume the role of Special Advisor to the KAUST President in the areas of open online learning and cybersecurity.
• 

  Meet KAUST prospective student: Stefanos Georgiadis

  1 min read · Tue, Sep 8 2020

  News

  Partial Differential Equations Mathematical modeling

  Stefanos Georgiadis is an applied mathematics graduate who will join KAUST from the School of Applied Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Athens, Greece. Stefanos will join KAUST this fall as a Ph.D. candidate and member of the Applied Partial Differential Equations (AppliedPDE) research group under the supervision of Professor Athanasios Tzavaras.
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  Turning your desktop to a Supercomputer with ExaGeoStatR

  1 min read · Mon, Sep 7 2020

  News

  Maximum Likelihood HPC Environmental Statistics

  Turning your desktop to a Supercomputer with ExaGeoStatR Download at https://github.com/ecrc/exageostatR. Remember the old times where you had to leave your R simulations running for the whole night on your desktop due to a large climate/weather dataset? ExaGeoStatR combines the user productivity of R with high performance computing linear algebra software libraries to deliver supercomputing-style environment right below your desk. ExaGeoStatR enables computing the maximum likelihood using large environmental datasets on R, while extracting performance from the underlying hardware resources

August 2020

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  Meet KAUST prospective student: Miguel Ángel Álvarez Ballesteros

  1 min read · Mon, Aug 31 2020

  News

  monte carlo algorithms

  Miguel Ángel Álvarez Ballesteros is a physics graduate from the Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia. Miguel will join KAUST this fall as a M.S./Ph.D. candidate and member of the KAUST Computational Probability research group under the supervision of Professor Ajay Jasra.
• 

  Meet KAUST Prospective Student: Igor Sokolov

  2 min read · Sun, Aug 9 2020

  News

  machine learning optimization

  Igor Sokolov, 23, is an applied mathematics and physics graduate who will join KAUST from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Russia. Igor first came to KAUST as a visiting student in 2019 and was highly impressed by the University's living and working facilities. It was this first impression that prompted him to pursue an M.S. at KAUST. Sokolov will join KAUST in the Fall of 2020 as an M.S. candidate under the supervision of Professor Peter Richtarik.

July 2020

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  KAUST mathematician named Fellow to European Academy of Sciences

  1 min read · Wed, Jul 29 2020

  Spotlight News

  EurASc numerical analysis Partial Differential Equations

  KAUST Distinguished Professor of Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, Dr. Peter Markowich, is named a 2020 Fellow to the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc) in recognition of his outstanding scholarship in the field of mathematical and numerical analysis of partial differential equations.
• 

  Studying COVID-19’s envelope protein

  1 min read · Tue, Jul 28 2020

  News

  COVID-19 human health genomics

  A likeness between genes of the SARS and COVID-19 viruses could inform research into potential treatments.
• 

  Blueprint may power up KSA's wind energy future

  1 min read · Thu, Jul 23 2020

  News

  energy security climate science statistics

  High-resolution analysis of wind speed across Saudi Arabia can help fast track the expansion of the Kingdom’s emerging world-class wind energy industry.
• 

  A shock to the system

  3 min read · Wed, Jul 22 2020

  News

  Spectral Analysis numerical analysis COVID-19 research

  The global, multifarious challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has scientists tapping their wide-ranging fields of expertise to attack the problem on many fronts. Answering the call from KAUST President Tony Chan, and coordinated by the University's leadership team, KAUST researchers making up the Rapid Research Response Team (R3T) are turning this crisis into an opportunity to innovate.
• 

  New research aims to bridge the digital divide

  2 min read · Thu, Jul 16 2020

  News

  6G atmospheric turbulence pointing errors

  By the end of 2018, there were nearly 4 billion people without Internet connectivity in the world. Almost 75% of this unconnected population is located in 20 countries and is concentrated in rural, low-income, and low-literacy areas.
• 

  Unleashing the potential of tethered drones

  2 min read · Tue, Jul 14 2020

  News

  electrical engineering applied mathematics

  Wire-connected drones may complement or replace the fixed base stations of cellular communications networks.
• 

  Keyes and colleagues take part in historic ISC

  1 min read · Tue, Jul 14 2020

  News

  International Supercomputing Conference

  KAUST Professor David Keyes, director of the KAUST Extreme Computing Research Center (ECRC) and professor of applied mathematics and computational science, chaired this year's International Supercomputing Conference (ISC). The ISC, which takes place in Frankfurt, Germany every June, is where the world's supercomputers are re-ranked for computational power, power efficiency, and performance on various scientific benchmarks.
• 

  Peter Markowich elected Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences

  2 min read · Thu, Jul 9 2020

  Spotlight News

  Applied Partial Differential Equations mean-field games

  KAUST Professor Peter Markowich has been elected as a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc). Established in 2003, the EurASC is a fully independent international organization of distinguished scholars that aims to recognize and elect to its membership the best European researchers to strengthen European science and scientific cooperation.
• 

  Dr. Alexandra Gomes receives 2020 KAUST Distinguished Teaching Award

  3 min read · Wed, Jul 8 2020

  Spotlight News

  Upon the recommendation of the DTA selection committee and the KAUST Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs Professor Yves Gnanou, Dr. Alexandra Gomes has been awarded the 2020 KAUST Distinguished Teaching Award. Gomes, who is a member of the KAUST CEMSE Division, was recognized for the award due to her exceptional contributions to the classroom instruction mission of KAUST. The award will be conferred at the annual KAUST Faculty Recognition Dinner scheduled for this fall.

June 2020

• 

  KAUST scientists win prestigious Gauss Award for supercomputing excellence

  2 min read · Fri, Jun 26 2020

  News

  HPC supercomputing numerical linear algebra parallel computing

  KAUST Ph.D. graduate Dr. Noha Al-Harthi and doctoral student Rabab Alomairy, have won the German Gauss Center for Supercomputing (GCS) Award for original research that best advances high-performance computing. This makes KAUST the first Middle Eastern institution to receive this prestigious award.
• 

  A clique away from more efficient networks

  1 min read · Sun, Jun 14 2020

  News

  networks connectivity applied mathematics electrical engineering

  An old branch of mathematics finds a fertile new field of application.
• 

  Angling for underwater WiFi

  2 min read · Wed, Jun 10 2020

  News

  communications Computer science

  Scuba divers could send sea life shots in real time using an aquatic internet service.
• 

  A sharper view of flood risk

  1 min read · Sun, Jun 7 2020

  News

  extreme events climate science statistics

  Extreme weather patterns and regions at risk of flooding could be easier to spot using a new statistical model for large spatial datasets.

May 2020

• 

  6G: The time is now!

  2 min read · Sun, May 17 2020

  News

  wireless telecommunication technology 6G

  While 5G companies and opponents are competing over the deployment of the first 5G platforms, the next generation of wireless telecommunication technology is being concocted right now in laboratories all around the world.
• 

  Shaheen II open to serve COVID-19 research around the Kingdom

  1 min read · Sun, May 10 2020

  News

  supercomputing

  The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed challenges across the globe that need to be solved using scientific discovery and innovation. In line with that, the KAUST Supercomputing Core Laboratory (KSL) has opened a call for proposals that require its supercomputer Shaheen II, as well as other cluster computing resources, to support research projects.

April 2020

• 

  Understanding the COVID wave

  1 min read · Thu, Apr 16 2020

  News

  numerical analysis numerical methods

  As countries around the world work to "flatten the curve," a reference to slowing the progression of COVID-19 cases, David Ketcheson is putting mathematical modeling to work to understand how transmission is playing out.
• 

  CEMSE Division student spotlight: Gaurav Agarwal

  2 min read · Thu, Apr 16 2020

  News

  spatial statistics Environmental Statistics

  Gaurav Agarwal firmly believes in the age-old adage that patience is a virtue. Without patience, life’s challenges cannot be overcome, and a steadfast belief in perseverance has served the statistics Ph.D. student well throughout his academic career.