Building minds at KAUST
Ahmad Showail (Ph.D. 2016, M.S. 2010), Taibah University vice dean of the College of Computer Science and Engineering, speaks about the internet of things at the 2017 Winter Enrichment Program Alumni Lecture Series.
The lecture series also featured alumni speakers Dinorath Olvera Ramos (M.S. 2013), Jenna Lloyd-Randolfi (M.S. 2012) and Ahmad Showail (Ph.D. 2016, M.S. 2010), who discussed their career pathways after graduating from KAUST and the impact their time at the University has had on their lives so far.
From L to R: Alumni Ahmad Showail, Muna Khushaim, Dinorath Olvera Ramos and Jenna Lloyd-Randolfi receive congratulations from KAUST Prof. Gilles Lubineau, chair of the 2017 Enrichment Programs, after their Winter Enrichment Program speaking event.
Enriching skills
“I returned as a speaker for WEP because I wanted to share my fruitful experience as a KAUST Ph.D. student with other students at KAUST,” said Khushaim. “Furthermore, KAUST has always encouraged us to share our knowledge as broadly as possible, and these kinds of experiences truly enrich my skills.”
Muna Khushaim (Ph.D. 2015) speaks to an audience of KAUST students about her career after KAUST at the 2017 Winter Enrichment Program Alumni Lecture Series event. Photo by Ginger Lisanti.
Khushaim completed her bachelor’s degree at Madinah’s College of Education in 2002 and her master’s degree at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah in 2007. She currently works as an assistant professor in the Physics Department at Taibah University in Madinah. At KAUST, her studies under Associate Professor of Chemical Science Alexander Rothenberger focused on the analysis of materials using atom probe tomography (APT).
“KAUST has highly analytical and sophisticated techniques. Performing my Ph.D. using APT was truly exciting, as this is a rare technique to use around the world. KAUST is the first and only institution in the Middle East that has this increasingly popular device used and applied in the investigation of different types of materials,” she said.
Local and global impact
Khushaim noted that it “was a great opportunity to participate in WEP 2017. This kind of an event is an excellent opportunity to be in continued contact with KAUST and to outline how the University has helped to shape our careers and academic philosophies. We also have the opportunity to make connections for institutional collaboration in research areas that impact local and global communities.”‘Find your passion’
Olvera Ramos, a current Ph.D. student at the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, outlined her work in the Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology Research Group. There, she has focused on the use of fiber-reinforced hydrogels; the effect of topography and biochemical cues on adult mesenchymal stem cell differentiation; and extracellular matrix components to recreate the tissue-specific microenvironments that make up the complex ligament-bone attachment. She hopes to complete her Ph.D. in 2018 and continue her career in the tissue engineering field.
Dinorath Olvera Ramos (M.S. 2013), a current Ph.D. student at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, listens to questions from the audience after her talk at the 2017 Winter Enrichment Program Alumni Lecture Series event. Photo by Ginger Lisanti.
“Find your passion and your niche and surround yourself with experts,” she advised the students in the audience. “Also make use of the University’s outstanding facilities—my knowledge from these helped me get into my current Ph.D. program.”
Preparing for the real world
Lloyd-Randolfi studied under KAUST Assistant Professor Jorg Eppinger at the University’s Catalysis Center and went on to work as a development engineer for Heliae Development LLC, a biotechnology company in Arizona, U.S., that produces microalgae-based products for agriculture. She currently works for Western Window Systems in Arizona as a testing engineer.
Jenna Lloyd-Randolfi (M.S. 2012), a testing engineer at Western Window Systems in Arizona, U.S., speaks to the audience about her career pathway after graduating from KAUST at the 2017 Winter Enrichment Program Alumni Lecture Series event. Photo by Ginger Lisanti.
“Even when you think you have found the answer for a technical issue, getting it ready for the real world scenario is the situation you have to prepare for,” she told the audience. “When given a design challenge, you also have to understand the requirements and parameters.”
Lloyd-Randolfi noted her time at KAUST was filled with many happy memories, such as volunteering for The KAUST School, playing sports, making friends from around the world and traveling internationally.
“Some of the benefits of being a KAUST alumna include the ability to thrive on cross-cultural teams and meeting friends wherever you travel,” she said.
Maintaining excellence
Showail currently works at Taibah University in Madinah as the vice dean of the College of Computer Science and Engineering. Prior to joining KAUST, he worked as a system engineer for the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). In his talk, Showail outlined the internet of things and how it is the next big technological revolution, highlighting the problem of IPv4 address exhaustion and how to possibly mitigate this through IPv6.
Ahmad Showail (Ph.D. 2016, M.S. 2010), Taibah University vice dean of the College of Computer Science and Engineering, speaks about the internet of things at the 2017 Winter Enrichment Program Alumni Lecture Series event. Photo by Ginger Lisanti.
“KAUST gave me the opportunity to explore many areas, including how to begin a startup,” Showail said. “In September of 2016, I launched my startup zayer.net, a tourist guide for Madinah. I continue to work on my startup while at the same time maintaining excellence in teaching and research in computer science and engineering at Taibah University.”
International successes
While Khushaim, Olvera Ramos, Lloyd-Randolfi and Showail have embarked on successful careers since graduation from KAUST, all four noted none of their successes would have been possible without their time at KAUST.
“Our job is to continue to build our minds as we did at KAUST—but it’s not always an easy job,” Khushaim said. “We must also direct current and future KAUST students to build their minds in a new way for the benefit of the Kingdom and the world.”
- By Caitlin Clark, KAUST News