KAUST Has Big Plans for the Future

THUWAL, September 30, 2009 - The students and faculty may put the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on the world map, but the research they do at the university will keep it there

“KAUST is envisioned as a post-graduate university that is focused on research,” said Dr. Raed Al-Husseini, director of Research Management. “We’re looking at what’s good for the economic development of the Kingdom. Nothing we’re working on is short-term.”

The university campus spans nearly 36 million square meters and, besides its core laboratories, research centers and classrooms, is equipped with 48 retail stores, seven restaurants, three schools, a bank, post office and a medical center.

That is demonstrated by the work of some of the faculty. “The big problem is that we are too many on this planet and plants don’t grow fast enough for us,” said Dr. Jorg Eppinger, a German professor at the Catalysis Center, which is concerned with speeding up chemical reactions through catalysts — as in plants

“One possibility is to do more efficient photosynthesis, including photo-catalysis, which is to use carbon dioxide, water and solar energy, and produce biomass.

That would essentially make crops grow faster, increasing their yield and the amount of food they produce. The research can also be applied to solar energy, carbon emissions and pharmaceuticals, to name a few.

Dr. Alyn Rockwood, associate director of Geometric Modeling and Visualization and a professor of applied mathematics, works on geometric design and modeling.

“Anything that is manufactured is designed by computer first, from pens to automobiles and buildings,” he said.

Once developed, the models are tested at the Visualization Center — or Cornea, as it is commonly called — where researchers can construct their models in 3-D and replicate real-life features.

“When designing a plane, you want to know how strong it is, how it handles air currents of a certain velocity,” he said. “You want to know these things before you build it.”

These technologies have applications in other fields, such as archaeology, where researchers can analyze artifacts.

“One of our tasks is to develop tools for all sciences, to advance anything,” Rockwood said. “Even art and music can benefit from this.”

Students are also given the flexibility to pursue their own research interests.

“I took a molecular genetics course during my bachelor’s and I want to pursue it and study regenerative medicine,” said Sara A. Al-Aqeel, a Saudi bioengineering student. “I want to help people who suffer from organ failure.”

For Felix Lao, a Chinese student in computer science, it’s networks and communications

“Even though we are so far away, in the computer world it’s only 1-2 seconds distant,” he said. “I think that that distance can be much shorter. I hope to make the world so connected, so close.”

The facilities at KAUST make all of this research possible

“I’m a mathematician, so I can do my research with paper and a pencil,” said Dr. David Ketcheson of applied mathematics, whose work in numerical analysis can be applied to such varied applications as tsunami forecast and bone-marrow regeneration. His office puts him in the same building as Shaheen, one of the world’s largest supercomputers, which he plans to use.

Also unique to KAUST is its location by the Red Sea — a feature of which students at the Red Sea Science and Engineering Research Center take full advantage.

“The Red Sea is an environment that’s not really well-studied,” said Bertrand Rioux, a marine scientist from Canada. “I want to study the microorganisms that survive in high-stress environments and their applications in medicine and pharmaceuticals.”

The university’s other six laboratories work on similar ground-breaking research, from improving desalination technology at the Desalination Center to understanding genes that allow plants to survive in harsher climates at the Plant Stress Genomics Center.

“I look at the Red Sea and the desert … and the secrets of the plants that survive in them,” said center director Dr. Jiang-Kang Zhu. “We can utilize these secrets to grow crops and food with less water.”

This could mean a world of difference not only for the Kingdom’s deserts, but for the world’s.

And Dr. Zhu is optimistic. “I think that one day we can do it.”