Events

Apr 5 - Apr 19, 2020

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  Evolutionary science via nonlinear orthography

  Andrea Fratalocchi, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 12, 12:00 - 13:00

  KAUST

  Evolutionary science nonlinear orthography

  The goal of our research is to understand the physical origin of these behaviors and trasform them into sustainable technologies that tackle contemporary problem of global interest, ranging from energy harvesting to clean water production, design of smart materials, biomedical applications, information security, artificial intelligence, global warming, and so on. Creating technologies from complex natural systems is a modern interdisciplinary research field that permeates many different scientific areas, ranging from physics to mathematics, to engineering and the theory of linguistics. This is a very challenging, yet very promising research. It involves the understanding of what we consider complex, which translates as something “involved, intricate, complicated, not easily understood or analyzed”. This sets the challenge of being able to understand the mechanisms of these systems and cross many different disciplines in order to constructively harness their properties into reproducible applications.

Mar 29 - Apr 12, 2020

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  Blue LED material extended to Green, Yellow, and now Red

  Kazuhiro Ohkawa, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 5, 12:00 - 13:00

  KAUST

  electrical engineering energy LED OLEDs MOCVD

  In this seminar, the science of MOCVD, the material science of InGaN, and the new-born InGaN-based red LED performance will be discussed. The three primary colors in light are RGB. Green and blue LEDs have been realized by using InGaN active region. The current red LEDs are based on AlGaAs or InGaP as the active region. If we can realize red LEDs by InGaN, it is possible to integrate RGB LEDs in a wafer. Such RGB integration is a breakthrough to develop the next displays, so-called, micro-LED displays that are the next after the OLED displays, and functional LED lightings.

Mar 29 - Apr 5, 2020

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  Fabrication and Characterization of GaN-Based Superluminescent Diode for Solid-State Lighting and Visible Light Communication

  Abdullah A. Alatawi, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 2, 16:00 - 18:00

  KAUST

  Fabrication and Characterization solid-state lighting Visible light communications

  This dissertation is devoted to the fabrication and electrical and optical characterization of a new class of III-nitride light-emitter known as superluminescent diode (SLD). SLD works in an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) regime, and it combines several advantages from both LD and LED, such as droop-free, speckle-free, low-spatial coherence, broader emission, high-optical power, and directional beam. Here, SLDs were fabricated by a focused ion beam by tilting the front facet of the waveguide to suppress the lasing mode. They showed a high-power of 474 mW on c-plane GaN-substrate with a large spectral bandwidth of 6.5 nm at an optical power of 105 mW. To generate SLD-based white light, a YAG-phosphor-plate was integrated, and a CRI of 85.1 and CCT of 3392 K were measured. For the VLC link, SLD showed record high-data rates of 1.45 Gbps and 3.4 Gbps by OOK and DMT modulation schemes, respectively. Additionally, a widely single- and dual-wavelength tunability were designed using SLD-based external cavity (SLD-EC) configuration for a tunable blue laser source.
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  Efficient and Accurate Numerical Techniques for Sparse Electromagnetic Imaging

  Ali Imran Sandhu, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 1, 15:30 - 17:30

  KAUST

  computational electromagnetics inverse scattering

  In this thesis, efficient solutions are sought out to fundamental problems in Electromagnetic (EM) imaging that determines the shape, location, and material properties of an (unknown) object of interest in an investigation domain from the scattered field measured away from it. The solution of an EM inverse scattering problem inherently poses two main challenges: (i) non-linearity, since the scattered field is a non-linear function of the material properties and (ii) ill-posedness, since the integral operator has a smoothing effect and the number of measurements is finite in dimension and they are contaminated with noise. The non-linearity is tackled incorporating a multitude of techniques (ranging from Born approximation (linear), inexact Newton (linearized) to complete non-linear iterative Landweber schemes) that can account for weak to strong scattering problems. The ill-posedness of the EM inverse scattering problem is circumvented by formulating the above methods into a minimization problem with a sparsity constraint, which assumes that the dimension of the unknown object relative to the investigation domain is much smaller. Numerical experiments, which are carried out using synthetically generated measurements, show that the images recovered by these sparsity-regularized methods are sharper and more accurate than those produced by existing methods. The methods developed in this work have potential application areas ranging from oil/gas reservoir engineering to biological imaging where sparse domains naturally exist.
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  Ultraviolet band based underwater wireless optical communication

  Xiaobin Sun, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Apr 1, 10:00 - 12:00

  KAUST

  Optical communications optical wireless communicaitons communication networks photonics

  Underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) has attracted increasing interest for data transfer in various underwater activities, due to its order-of-magnitude higher bandwidth compared to conventional acoustic and radio-frequency (RF) technologies. Our studies pave the way for eventual applications of UWOC by relieving the strict requirements on PAT using UV-based NLOS. Such modality is much sought-after for implementing robust, secure, and high-speed UWOC links in harsh oceanic environments. This work was first started with the investigation of proper NLOS configurations. Path loss (PL) was chosen as a figure-of-merit for link performance. The effects of NLOS geometries, water turbidity, and transmission wavelength are evaluated by measuring the corresponding PL. The experimental results suggest that NLOS UWOC links are favorable for smaller azimuth angles, stronger water turbidity, and shorter transmission wavelength, as exemplified by the use of 375-nm wavelength. With the understanding of favorable NLOS UWOC configurations, we established a NLOS link consisting of an ultraviolet (UV) laser as the transmitter for enhanced light scattering and high sensitivity photomultiplier tube (PMT) as the receiver. A high data rate of 85 Mbit/s using on-off keying (OOK) in a 30-cm emulated highly turbid harbor water is demonstrated. Besides the underwater communication links, UV-based NLOS is also appealing to be the signal carrier for direct communication across wavy water-air interface. The trial results indicate link stability, which alleviates the issues brought about by the misalignment and mobility in harsh environments, paving the way towards real applications.
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  Understanding a Block of Layers in Deep Neural Networks: Optimization, Probabilistic and Tropical Geometric Perspectives

  Adel Bibi, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Mar 30, 18:00 - 20:00

  KAUST

  Computer Vision machine learning optimization

  In this dissertation, we aim at theoretically studying and analyzing deep learning models. Since deep models substantially vary in their shapes and sizes, in this dissertation, we restrict our work to a single fundamental block of layers that is common in almost all architectures. The block of layers of interest is the composition of an affine layer followed by a nonlinear activation function and then lastly followed by another affine layer. We study this block of layers from three different perspectives. (i) An Optimization Perspective. We try addressing the following question: Is it possible that the output of the forward pass through the block of layers highlighted above is an optimal solution to a certain convex optimization problem? As a result, we show an equivalency between the forward pass through this block of layers and a single iteration of certain types of deterministic and stochastic algorithms solving a particular class of tensor formulated convex optimization problems.

Mar 22 - Apr 5, 2020

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  Exact Backstepping Control for Systems in Pure Feedback Form

  Prof. Johann Reger, Computer Science and Automation Faculty, TU Ilmenau, Germany

  Mar 29, 14:00 - 15:00

  KAUST

  Backstepping Lyapunov Theory non-linear feedback TU Ilmenau

  Traditional backstepping approaches may struggle to asymptotically stabilize systems in pure feedback form, due to its inherent implicit equations. Approximation based designs only have a limited domain of validity and turn out sensitive to model uncertainty and disturbances. We propose a new design that circumvents the necessity of solving implicit algebraic equations by introducing new state variables. Additional augmentations to the backstepping Lyapunov design lead to explicit expressions for the associated differential equations. The result is a dynamic state feedback, capable of asymptotically stabilizing the origin of a general class of nonlinear systems, based on just standard assumptions.
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  EE+CS Graduate Seminar: Deep Graph Convolutional Networks

  Bernard Ghanem, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Mar 29, 12:00 - 13:00

  KAUST

  Deep learning GCN

  In this talk, I will present a line of work done at the Image and Video Understanding Lab (IVUL), which focuses on developing deep graph convolutional networks (DeepGCNs). A GCN is a deep learning network that processes generic graph inputs, thus extending the impact of deep learning to irregular grid data including 3D point clouds and meshes, social graphs, protein interaction graphs, etc. By adapting architectural operations from the CNN realm and reformulating them for graphs, we were the first to show that GCNs can go as deep as CNNs. Developing such a high capacity deep learning platform for generic graphs opens up many opportunities for exciting research, which spans applications in the field of computer vision and beyond, architecture design, and theory. In this talk, I will showcase some of the GCN research done at IVUL and highlight some interesting research questions for future work.

Mar 15 - Mar 22, 2020

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  Part 2 - Introduction to backstepping control

  Prof. Johann Reger, Computer Science and Automation Faculty, TU Ilmenau, Germany.

  Mar 16, 09:00 - 11:30

  KAUST

  Backstepping TU Ilmenau Lyapunov Theory

  Backstepping is a widely applicable control technique based on Lyapunov theory that under rather mild assumptions leads to families of control laws for a large class of nonlinear systems. Focusing on systems of ordinary differential equations, we introduce the basic concept (integrator backstepping), generalize it, among others, to systems in strict feedback form and pure feedback form, which all enjoy an inherent controllability property, captured in the system structure. The course ends with extending the setting to the adaptive backstepping case, resorting to the certainty equivalence principle and Barbalat's lemma. The course is furnished by a series of exercises to let the students gather experience on tailored examples.

Mar 8 - Mar 22, 2020

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  Light management in non-Hermitian media

  Dr. Waqas Ahmed, Electrical Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

  Mar 15, 12:00 - 13:00

  KAUST

  Non-Hermitian Optics nanophotonics Artificial Structured Materials laser physics metamaterials

  Structured media provide the momentum compensation for the scattering of waves. It is well-known that nano-scale modulations of the refractive index may lead to a temporal and spatial control over light propagation. Yet, also engineering the gain and loss profile uncovers analogous shaping effects. However, only the interplay between both the refractive index and gain and loss modulations introduces unidirectionality in light management. Thus, non-Hermitian optics has become one of the most fertile grounds in optics. A generalized Hilbert transform allows tailoring the two quadratures of the complex permittivity to design periodic or disordered non-Hermitian media, holding either global or local unidirectionality following arbitrary vector fields to tailor the flow of light. The method allows restricting the permittivity within realistic values rendering it suitable for applications.

Mar 8 - Mar 15, 2020

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  Sensing, Localization, and Communications to Enable Future IoT Systems

  Tareq Al-Naffouri, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Mar 12, 16:00 - 17:00

  KAUST

  IoT Sensor array processing

  In this talk, Tareq will present his research contributions and future directions to advance some critical IoT-enabling technologies: sensing, localization, and communications. He will demonstrate how we take advantage of structure in sensed-data and sensor arrays. This structure can help mitigate sensing uncertainties, improve localization accuracy, and enhance the performance of communication systems, all while reducing the computational overhead. The Internet of Things (IoT) has ushered a new era in many fields including retail, medicine, agriculture, and the automotive industry. In fact, it is projected that by 2025, one trillion IoT devices will be deployed worldwide: the equivalent of 1000 devices per person. To reach such a scale, major advancements are needed in various IoT-enabling technologies.
• 

  Part 1 - Introduction to backstepping control

  Prof. Johann Reger, Computer Science and Automation Faculty, TU Ilmenau, Germany.

  Mar 12, 09:00 - 11:30

  KAUST

  Backstepping TU Ilmenau

  Backstepping is a widely applicable control technique based on Lyapunov theory that under rather mild assumptions leads to families of control laws for a large class of nonlinear systems. Focusing on systems of ordinary differential equations, we introduce the basic concept (integrator backstepping), generalize it, among others, to systems in strict feedback form and pure feedback form, which all enjoy an inherent controllability property, captured in the system structure. The course ends with extending the setting to the adaptive backstepping case, resorting to the certainty equivalence principle and Barbalat's lemma. The course is furnished by a series of exercises to let the students gather experience on tailored examples.

Mar 1 - Mar 15, 2020

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  Radio Frequency Sensing in Healthcare: Detection of Falls, Gait Abnormality and Vital Signs

  Moeness Amin, Professor and Director of the Center for Advanced Communications, Villanova University, USA

  Mar 8, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1

  Radio frequency devices sensor healthcare

  In this talk, we represent recent advances of radio frequency (RF) sensing technology for healthcare, specifically in monitoring human activities inside homes, retirement facilities, and hospitals. Sensing technologies and data analytics are considered powerful tools in efficient indoor monitoring of human activities. Monitoring of activities of daily living (ADL) can identify falls, which are considered as the leading cause of fatal and non-fatal injuries for people aged 65 and over. It can also detect variants in activity patterns and changes in routines and lifestyle as well as the state of physical, cognitive, and psychological health of the person. In addition to monitoring ADL, RF-based gesture recognition using hands and arms is shown to be an important contactless technology for Man-Machine-Interface (MMI). Adding to the indoor applications, RF-based vital sign monitoring has vast medical use, as respiration and heartbeats are essential diagnostic barometers for many health problems. More recently, RF sensors have also been proposed for gait analysis for rehabilitation and timely diagnosis of many neurological, orthopedic and medical conditions. Changes in gait patterns can also be precursors of falls. In this talk, we present successful examples in each of the above application areas and discuss pertinent open problems worthy of investigations.

Mar 1 - Mar 8, 2020

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  Dual Function Radar Communication Systems: Towards RF Convergence

  Moeness Amin , Professor and Director of the Center for Advanced Communications, Villanova University, USA

  Mar 2, 14:00 - 17:00

  B1 L3 R3119

  radar

  This tutorial establishes and promotes the area of dual system functionality, allowing the radar to house voice and data transmission, leading to technological advances in radar and communications systems. The tutorial develops novel signaling schemes for embedding information into the radar pulsed emissions which, in most cases, is blind to the primary radar operation and radar ambiguity function. It considers different antenna configurations, including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars and shows how to achieve high data rate communications by combining amplitude-shift keying, phase-shift keying, and code shift keying modulations with waveform-diversity and spatial degrees of freedom.

Feb 23 - Mar 8, 2020

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  Engineering Organic Electronics for Biology - 2020-03-01

  Sahika Inal, Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, KAUST

  Mar 1, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  bioelectronics

  The field of bioelectronics combines the worlds of electronics and biology with the aim of developing new tools for biomedical research and healthcare. The majority of implantable devices are mechanically stiff and the mechanical properties mismatch with soft tissue causes an immune response which results in their rejection from the body. Another limitation is associated with the fact that most devices utilize metal electrodes to record from/stimulate tissue. These electrodes offer limited coupling with ion fluxes used by cells to communicate with each other, resulting in low efficiency. Such challenges can be overcome with the integration of soft, conducting polymers displaying mixed (ionic and electronic) conduction. In this talk, I will present approaches that leverage the properties of organic conducting materials in order to develop bioelectronic devices interfacing with the body. These devices include organic electrochemical transistors for measuring metabolites, neural activity and integrity of cellular layers.

Feb 23 - Mar 1, 2020

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  Recent Advances in Sparse Array Design

  Moeness Amin , Professor and Director of the Center for Advanced Communications, Villanova University, USA

  Feb 27, 14:00 - 17:00

  B1 L3 R3119

  sparse array

  In this tutorial, we review sparse arrays from the coarray perspective that strives for full augment ability, i.e., maximizing the number of spatial autocorrelation lags. In this respect, we discuss sparse array performance for direction finding and also address the passive and active arrays for stationary and moving platforms. We then contrast these configurations with sparse arrays that achieve MaxSINR for both narrowband and wideband sources operating in an interference-active environment. The tutorial also considers both single point source and multiple point sources. We cover the two important cases where the array aperture size is constrained and unconstrained and demonstrate optimum performance in both cases. For the former, and with a limited aperture, we introduce a hybrid design that seeks a full augmentable array which at the same time optimizes beamformer performance. The problem is formulated as a quadratically constraint quadratic program, with the cost function penalized with weighted l1-norm squared of the beamformer weight vector. The wideband problem is tackled by two different approaches, one includes a delay line filter implementation and the other one is the DFT approach.
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  Towards Collaboration of Multiple Intelligent Robots and Human Supervision

  Dr. Inmo Jang, Postdoctoral Researcher, Robotics for Extreme Environment Group at the University of Manchester

  Feb 27, 10:00 - 11:00

  B2 L5 R5209

  robotics game theory algorithms

  As autonomy in individual robots becomes advanced, one of the next challenges is to coordinate multiple of such intelligent robots, which are then expected to innovatively transform legacy industries (e.g., warehouse automation, connected-vehicle management, etc.). Towards collaboration of multiple robots, this talk will particularly introduce a game-theoretical framework for clustering a large number of multiple robots and assigning the robot teams to given tasks, where the network of the robots is strongly connected and the individuals are asynchronous. The proposed decentralised algorithm guarantees convergence of selfish agents having social inhibition towards a Nash stable partition (i.e., social agreement) within polynomial time.

Feb 16 - Mar 1, 2020

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  Manipulating Magnetization with Acoustic Waves

  Pallavi Dhagat, Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oregon State University, USA

  Feb 23, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1

  magnetization acoustic waves

  In this seminar, I will present our work on manipulating magnetization with acoustic waves. The temporally and spatially varying strain in acoustic waves produces a corresponding change in the local anisotropy of magnetostrictive materials through the Villari effect. This magneto-acoustic coupling may be used for patterning magnetic films and for nonlinear signal processing such as amplification and correlation of spin waves. I will discuss our experiments and results towards these application possibilities, and also present the techniques we have developed to characterize magnetostriction.

Feb 9 - Feb 23, 2020

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  Distributed Multi-parameter Sensing Using a Multimode Fiber

  Islam Ashry, Senior Research Scientist, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Feb 16, 12:30 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  Graduate Seminar Part 2. Fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) and distributed temperature sensor (DTS) are considered important for many applications. It is challenging to design a hybrid DAS-DTS system using the same optical fiber because the operation principles of the two sensors are different. In this talk, we summarize the concept of using the widespread standard multimode fiber (MMF) for simultaneous distributed acoustic and temperature sensing. In particular, we operate the MMF in a quasi-single-mode (QSM) state to simultaneously fulfill the functional requirements of the DAS and DTS. This technique is significant for many industrial applications because it efficiently tackles a long-standing issue in practical implementation.
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  Epitaxial growth of group-III nitride semiconductors on amorphous fused silica glass and its heterogeneous integration for optoelectronic devices

  Jung-Wook Min, Research Scientist, Photonics Laboratory

  Feb 16, 12:00 - 12:30

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  Graduate Seminar Part 1. In this talk, catalyst- and mask-free GaN nanowires ensemble were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) under nitrogen-rich condition. Prior to optoelectronic device realization, we conducted fundamental studies including diffusion-induced growth mechanisms on various substrates. On bare fused silica substrate, without any buffer layer, hundreds-of-nanometer scale grains of GaN nanowires were examined by SEM and interfaces were investigated by TEM. Despite the poly-crystalline properties of the coalescent columnar GaN layer, each grain showed the preferential orientation along the c-axis growth direction. To provide conductivity and transparency on amorphous fused silica as a thermally durable substrate, transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering method on a fused silica glass substrate. Next, for the heterogeneous integration toward solar cell application, we introduced n-GaN nanowires as an electron transport layer (ETL) for methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) perovskite solar cells (PSCs). n-GaN nanowires showed high electron mobility and UV blocking characteristics with MAPbI3. Moreover, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation confirmed that the roughened interfaces of GaN nanowire arrays are helpful for photon recycling. These achievements can open a new pathway for the heterogeneous integration of group-III nitride and perovskite semiconductors and substrate-independent epitaxy.

Feb 9 - Feb 16, 2020

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  A robust HOSM control method for robotic systems

  Fatma Abdelhedi, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering department, at the College of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University

  Feb 12, 14:00 - 15:00

  B3 L5 R5209

  Robotics is set to play an ever increasingly important role in society, due to its influence in every aspect of life, including medicine and healthcare, manufacturing, services..etc

Feb 2 - Feb 16, 2020

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  Toward Satellite-Air-Ground-Ocean Optical Wireless Communication for Internet of Things

  Meiwei Kong, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Photonics Laboratory

  Feb 9, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1

  Satellite-Air-Ground-Ocean Optical Wireless Communication for Internet

  With the advent of Internet-of-Things (IoT), the conventional radio frequency (RF) communication technology with a congested spectrum of 300 GHz cannot meet the ever-increasing demand for broadband transmission. By exploiting an unlicensed spectrum of ~ 30 PHz, optical wireless communication (OWC) technology is supposed to significantly relieve the load of RF spectrum to support the massive connectivity of IoT devices in the era of fifth-generation networks and beyond. Up to now, continuous breakthroughs in the field of free-space optical communication, visible light communication, and underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) are laying a solid foundation for the realization of OWC across satellite-air-ground-ocean (SAGO) boundaries, which is expected to considerably accelerate the pace of realizing globally-connected IoT. In this talk, we will briefly introduce the current progress of UWOC research and development toward applications in SAGO OWC.

Feb 2 - Feb 9, 2020

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  Influence of urban architecture features on the attenuation of a field strength levels of mobile communication

  Prof. Alisher Shakhobiddinvos, Dean, TV and Broadcasting System Department, Tashkent University of Information Technologies

  Feb 6, 13:30 - 14:30

  B1 L4 R4214

  Tashkent University effective conductivity base stations urban architecture

  In this speech, In this speech, Okumura-Hata expressions will be presented for calculating the attenuation of the field strength of mobile communication stations in the megapolis on the example of the capital of Uzbekistan - Tashkent in the frequency bands 900 and 1800 MHz. Expressions allow to take into account factors that affect the signal attenuation in detail. Knowing the levels of the distribution patterns of the field strength in urban environments can correctly determine the number of base stations required to provide high-quality mobile communication. High quality of mobile communications, in turn, creates the best conditions for a quick payback on the development of a mobile network.
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  Rate-splitting and Multi-Cloud Signal Processing in Cloud-Enabled Communication Networks

  Dr. Allaa Alameer Ahmad, Resarch Assistant, Institute of Digital Communication Systems, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

  Feb 6, 11:00 - 12:30

  B1 L4 R4214

  Ruhr-University Bochum Germany

  Our talk will consider a cloud-enabled system, and will investigate ways of managing its performance through two particular interference mitigation techniques. In the first part of the talk, inspired by the classical information theoretical results on characterizing the interference channel achievable rate region, we will consider rate-splitting (RS) and common message decoding (CMD) schemes. The talk will shed light on ways of tackling two of the underlying optimization problems in this realm.

Jan 26 - Feb 9, 2020

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  Nanomaterials and Nanostructure Based Energy Efficient Edge and Fluidic Computing for Internet of Things Applications

  Nazek El-Atab, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Feb 2, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1

  nanomaterials Nanostructure Based Energy Efficient Edge Fluidic Computing KAUST IoT

  In this talk, I will address these questions with a focus on smart and multifunctional nanomaterial-based memory devices than can sense different physical qualities of the environment (Memsors) in addition to pressure-driven microfluidic logic gates which can process and analyze non-electronic media in an attempt to explore, enable and empower a wider range of IoT applications.

Jan 26 - Feb 2, 2020

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  An Egocentric Computer Vision-based Robotic Wheelchair

  Mohammed Kutbi, Assistant Professor at the department of Computer Science and a member of the Artificial Intelligence Unit at Saudi Electronic University (SEU)

  Jan 30, 11:00 - 12:00

  B3 L5 R5209

  robotics Computer Vision

  The emerging need to improve the quality of life for elderly and disabled individuals who rely on wheelchairs for mobility is our motivation for this work. Research on robotics wheelchair covers broad range from motion control, how to control the wheelchair movement, to complete autonomy.
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  RF Inductors Incorporated with Domain Controlled Magnetic Material

  Dr. Syed Azeemuddin, Associate Professor, International Institute of Information Technology

  Jan 28, 12:00 - 13:00

  B1 L4 R4214

  In this talk we will see patterned ferromagnetic films control of film aspect ratio which changing film demagnetizing fields increasing the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) frequencies, Physical separation of two domain dynamics viz. domain wall motion and magnetization rotation incorporated with spiral inductors. Measurement results achieved showing 70% boost in inductance at frequencies between 2 GHz - 6 GHz.

Jan 19 - Feb 2, 2020

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  Low power approaches to communication and computing system design

  Ahmed Eltawil, Associate Dean for Research, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering

  Jan 26, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 R2322

  low power communication computing system

  In this talk we discuss approaches to low power design for advanced communication and computing platforms. Specifically, we present the concept of cognitive power management, where contrary to common approaches that assume a 100% error free hardware, the algorithm is made aware of the statistical error performance of the underlying hardware platform. By accounting for hardware errors at the system level, the explorable power management design space is significantly expanded, leading to novel power saving schemes that deliver expected application performance at much lower power consumption. Sample case studies including LTE system design and in-memory computing platforms will be presented and discussed.

Jan 19 - Jan 26, 2020

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  Bridging the Digital Divide in Africa

  Dr. Mitchell Arij Cox, Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

  Jan 22, 14:00 - 15:00

  B1 L4 R4214

  The University of the Witwatersrand

  Africa has one of the highest inequality factors in the world, reflecting its developed and developing nature. As such it suffers from the traditional “digital divide”, with low internet connectivity reach in rural areas, which is both economic and geographic in nature. In this talk we will summarize recent proposals to bridge the digital divide and offer a South African perspective on the problem. We will cover active research in South Africa on the topic and speculate what the network future in Africa might be.

Dec 1 - Dec 8, 2019

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  Towards Self-Aware Systems-on-Chip Through Intelligent Cross-Layer Coordination

  Prof. Fadi Kurdahi, Center for Embedded & Cyber-physical Systems University of California, Irvine

  Dec 3, 12:00 - 13:00

  B2 B3 A0215

  Self-Aware-Systems-On-Chip-Cross-Layer

  Although there is a rich history of cross-layer design for embedded computing systems to achieve desired QoS, we are facing ever more challenges from the intertwined goals of energy- efficiency, thermal design constraints, as well as resilience to errors emanating from the application, environment and hardware platforms. We posit that next-generation computing platforms must necessarily deploy intelligent cross-layer design achieved through self-awareness principles inspired by biology and nature. Such an approach will move us from current strategies (using limited cross-layer coordination) to a holistic cross-layer strategy that enables intelligent cross-layer management policies which can adaptively tune itself based on the current state of the system. The talk will present design exemplars that embrace this intelligent cross-layer approach, and highlight the role of self-awareness in achieving dynamic adaptivity.

Nov 24 - Dec 8, 2019

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  Discussion on Different set-ups for Free Space Optical Systems

  Dr. Anshul Jaiswal, Assistant Professor, Electronics Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

  Dec 1, 16:00 - 17:00

  B1 L2 R2202

  Free Space Optical Systems FSO systems optical space shift keying effective tracking capability

  As the title suggests, this interaction focuses on three different set-ups of free-space optical (FSO) communication. We will start with the historical background of FSO system and review traditional data transmission techniques for FSO system. In the first set-up, we will discuss a novel modulation scheme for traditional multi-input multi-output configuration, called optical space shift keying (OSSK). Two recent modified versions of OSSK scheme will also be elaborated.
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  Enabling smart and connected systems

  Ahmed Eltawil, Associate Dean for Research, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering

  Dec 1, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  The talk will discuss how recent advances in wireless computing and communication nodes can be harnessed to serve the multitude of deployment scenarios required to empower communities of the future with smart and connected systems. In this talk, we address fundamental questions that should be asked when contemplating future smart and connected systems, namely, How, Where and What? (1) How can we design computing and communication nodes that best utilize resources in a way that is cognizant of both the abilities of the platform, as well as the requirements of the network? (2) Where are the nodes deployed? By understanding the context of deployment, one can architect unique solutions that are currently unimaginable. With the transformation to diverse applications such as body area networking, critical infrastructure monitoring, precision agriculture, autonomous driving, etc., the need for innovative solutions becomes even more amplified. (3) What benefit can be inferred from the data gathered by nodes in the capacity of computing, communication, and sensing?

Nov 24 - Dec 1, 2019

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  KAUST-Asia Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Workshop

  Nov 29, 08:00 - Nov 30, 18:00

  KAUST Main Library L3 R3118

  The fast-developing wide bandgap semiconductor technologies have created hundred-billion-dollar market globally and are crucial for numerous critical areas in Saudi Arabia including water security, lighting, power supply, communication, and nuclear management. This workshop features distinguished speakers from more than 15 leading research institutions and a poster competition. It will serve as a bridge to strengthen the connections of KAUST with Asia for collaboration opportunities in research, development, and commercialization of wide bandgap semiconductor technologies. View the agenda here.
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  Surface Electromagnetics: Physics Exploration and Engineering Applications

  Prof. Fan Yang, Electronic Engineering Department, Tsinghua University, China

  Nov 28, 13:00 - 14:00

  B2 L5 R5220

  surface electromagnetics development concepts and designs applications in microwaves and optics

  This seminar will review the development of electromagnetic surfaces, as well as state-of-the-art concepts and designs. Detailed presentations will be provided on their unique electromagnetic features. Furthermore, a wealth of practical examples will be presented to illustrate promising applications of the surface electromagnetics in microwaves and optics.
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  Plasmonics in wide-band-gap semiconductor materials

  Prof. Jing Li, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University

  Nov 27, 16:30 - 17:30

  B3 L2 R2255

  Recently, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect has been widely applied in wide-band-gap semiconductor materials (e.g. GaN, ZnO or TiN etc.) for emission enhancement, absorption regulation, sensitive bio- or chemical detections and so on. In this talk, different metal (Ag or Al) nanostructures were introduced into and successfully fabricated on several kinds of wide-band-gap semiconductor materials, including ZnO, AlGaN, TiN, and h-BN by template-based nanosphere lithography method and deposition techniques.

Nov 17 - Dec 1, 2019

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  Planning 5G under EMF constraints: Challenges and opportunities

  Prof. Luca Chiaraviglio is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy)

  Nov 24, 13:30 - 14:30

  B1 L3 R3119

  5G

  Abstract 5G networks are currently facing the first installation steps in many countries. From a user perspective, there is a growing concern about the health impact of the ElectroMagnetic Fields (EMFs) generated by 5G. in this context, different countries in the world adopt EMF limits defined by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), but many countries, including Italy, adopt much more stringent regulations, by following precautionary principles. In this talk, we will focus on the planning of 5G networks under strict EMF limits. Starting from a set of

Nov 17 - Nov 24, 2019

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  Estimation Problems for Partial and Fractional Differential Equations - Autumn 2019

  Nov 21, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  Fractional differential equations Partial Differential Equations Estimation problems Simulations algorithms real applications

  I will present an overview of our activities around estimation problems for partial and fractional differential equations. I will present the methods and the algorithms we develop for the state, source and parameters estimation and illustrate the results with some simulations and real applications.

Nov 10 - Nov 24, 2019

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  Photonics for bio-applications: see, move and fabricate with lasers

  Carlo Liberale, Research Associate Professor, Bioscience

  Nov 17, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  This talk will introduce current challenges and methods in Biophotonics which relate to the research work carried out at the Vibrational Imaging Lab at KAUST.

Nov 10 - Nov 17, 2019

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  Eric Feron's world: A short introduction

  Eric Feron, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Nov 14, 12:00 - 13:00

  B3 L5 R5209

  aerospace information systems aerospace software engineering drones Lyapunov functions

  Over the past 30 years, my research has focused on problems involving aerospace information systems, give or take a couple of exceptions - I also seem to like things with wheels-. In the talk, I will introduce and discuss a few research topics that, I believe, best describe the kind of research I like to perform. The topics will include things as diverse as drones, airports, and the hunt for Lyapunov functions. I will also introduce an educational initiative focusing on systematically restoring "the sense of touch" in all Engineering disciplines, and which I would like to experiment with as part of the courses I will be in charge of at KAUST.
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  Integration Strategy for Standalone Compliant Interactive Systems for Add-on Electronics

  Sherjeel Khan, Ph.D. Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Nov 12, 16:30 - 18:00

  B9 L3 R3125

  IoT DIY sensors

  Physically compliant electronics are scientifically intriguing, mechanically complex, ‎technologically ‎challenging but with huge socio-economical potential. Until now the target applications ‎for ‎flexible electronics have been limited to displays, solar cells, printed batteries, wearables, and ‎implantable. However, with the emergence and growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices ‎worldwide ‎from nearly 27 billion in 2017 to 125 billion in 2030, in this PhD research, expanding the ‎horizon of ‎applications for flexible electronics toward existing “things” will be explored. Low-cost sustainable materials as active electronic materials and a ‎Do-It-Yourself (DIY) integration strategy is used to build “Add-on” standalone sensory system which can be ‎attached to any ‎existing things like a decal. Such electronics can also be embedded in newly minted ‎devices specially ‎using additive methods.
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  Negative Capacitance and Its Potential Use for Next Generation Computing Technology

  Prof. Sayeef Salahuddin, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California Berkeley

  Nov 12, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L3 R3125

  negative capacitance

  Power constraint has become a critical challenge for computing, restricting the rate at which data can be processed. The physics of ordered and correlated systems allow for fundamental improvement of the energy efficiency in this regard, going beyond what is possible with conventional materials in today’s computing hardware. One such example is the the ferroelectric materials, where thermodynamics dictate that charge can be switched with much lower energy compared to conventional dielectrics. This leads to a situation where a ferroelectric material can be stabilized at a state of negative capacitance. In this talk, I shall discuss our experimental work demonstrating the stabilization of negative capacitance, its integration into advanced transistors, and its potential impact on next generation computing hardware.
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  Deep-Ultraviolet Optoelectronic Devices Enabled by the Hybrid Integration of Next-Generation Semiconductors and Emerging Device Platforms

  Nasir Alfaraj, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Nov 11, 18:00 - 20:00

  B3 L5 R5209

  photonics ultraviolet wavelengths optoelectronics

  In this dissertation, the design and fabrication of deep-ultraviolet photodetectors, based on gallium oxide and its alloys, through the heterogeneous integration with metallic and other inorganic materials is investigated. The crystallographic properties of grown oxide films formed directly and indirectly on silicon, magnesium oxide, and sapphire are examined, and the challenges that hinder the realization of efficient and reliable deep-ultraviolet photodetectors are elaborated on. I provide an overview of aluminum nitride, gallium oxide, sapphire, and silicon substrates as platforms for deep-ultraviolet optoelectronic devices, in which I elaborate on the challenges associated with using sapphire as a platform for efficient deep-ultraviolet devices and detail advancements in device growth and fabrication on silicon and magnesium oxide substrates.
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  Wafer-Scale Fabrication of 2D Materials based Memristive Crossbar Arrays with Record Electrical Performance

  Prof. Mario Lanza, Nanoelectronics, Soochow University

  Nov 11, 15:45 - 17:00

  B2 L5 R5209

  material fabrication memristive crossbar arrays

  In this seminar, I will present the first wafer-scale statistical analysis of memristive crossbar arrays made of 2D layered materials. By using chemical vapor deposited multilayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) sheets, we have fabricated metal/h-BN/metal memristive crossbar arrays that exhibit high yield ~98%, and low device-to-device variability. The devices showed record electrical performance, including stable operation at ultra-low currents down to 110 fA in low resistive state, ON/OFF current ratios up to 1011, record non-linearity of

Nov 3 - Nov 17, 2019

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  EE 398 Graduate Seminar

  Tareq Al-Naffouri, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Nov 10, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  Tareq Al-Naffouri is a professor of Electrical Engineering (EE) and Principale investigator of the Information System Lab (ISL). He is also an active member of the Sensor Initiative (SI) at the King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology, Saudi Arabia.

Nov 3 - Nov 10, 2019

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  Additively Manufactured Conformal Microwave Sensors for Applications in Oil Industry

  Muhammad Akram Karimi, Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Nov 7, 16:30 - 19:00

  B3 L5 R5220

  energy harvesting oil and gas sensors embedded systems multiphase meters oil industry

  Modern industries are adapting smart ways of monitoring their processes to ensure smooth operations. Sensors capable of early detection of a problem are becoming the norm in industrial processes. This is key to the development of the “Internet of Things” (IoT), in which billions of interconnected devices will work together to make smart decisions. Sensors that can detect and communicate the process information are essential ingredients of any IoT-enabled network. Since billions of such sensor nodes will be required in the future, the low cost will be an important feature for these devices. Consistent with the above-mentioned trends, the oil industry is also adapting smart monitoring and actuation mechanisms for its day-to-day operations. This thesis is focused on developing low-cost sensors, which can increase oil production efficiency through real-time monitoring of oil wells and also help in the safe transport of oil products from the wells to the refineries.
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  Reproducibility in Computer Science - Part 3

  Roy Maxion, Research Professor, Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University

  Nov 6, 16:00 - 17:00

  B9 L3 R3223

  reproducibility issues reliability testing Computer science complex models artificial intelligence machine learning scientific enterprise

  Roy Maxion will give three lectures focusing broadly on different aspects of an increasingly important topic: reproducibility. Reproducibility tests the reliability of an experimental result and is one of the foundations of the entire scientific enterprise. We often hear that certain foods are good for you, and a few years later we learn that they're not. A series of results in cancer research was examined to see if they were reproducible. A startling number of them - 47 out of 53 - were not. Matters of reproducibility are now cropping up in computer science, and given the importance of computing in the world, it's essential that our own results are reproducible -- perhaps especially the ones based on complex models or data sets, and artificial intelligence or machine learning. This lecture series will expose attendees to several issues in ensuring reproducibility, with the goal of teaching students (and others) some of the crucial aspects of making their own science reproducible. Hint: it goes much farther than merely making your data available to the public.
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  Reproducibility in Computer Science - Part 2

  Roy Maxion, Research Professor, Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University

  Nov 5, 16:00 - 17:00

  B9 L3 R3223

  reproducibility issues reliability testing Computer science complex models artificial intelligence machine learning scientific enterprise

  Roy Maxion will give three lectures focusing broadly on different aspects of an increasingly important topic: reproducibility. Reproducibility tests the reliability of an experimental result and is one of the foundations of the entire scientific enterprise. We often hear that certain foods are good for you, and a few years later we learn that they're not. A series of results in cancer research was examined to see if they were reproducible. A startling number of them - 47 out of 53 - were not. Matters of reproducibility are now cropping up in computer science, and given the importance of computing in the world, it's essential that our own results are reproducible -- perhaps especially the ones based on complex models or data sets, and artificial intelligence or machine learning. This lecture series will expose attendees to several issues in ensuring reproducibility, with the goal of teaching students (and others) some of the crucial aspects of making their own science reproducible. Hint: it goes much farther than merely making your data available to the public.
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  Reproducibility in Computer Science - Part 1

  Roy Maxion, Research Professor, Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University

  Nov 4, 16:00 - 17:00

  B9 L3 R3223

  reproducibility issues reliability testing Computer science complex models artificial intelligence machine learning scientific enterprise

  Roy Maxion will give three lectures focusing broadly on different aspects of an increasingly important topic: reproducibility. Reproducibility tests the reliability of an experimental result and is one of the foundations of the entire scientific enterprise. We often hear that certain foods are good for you, and a few years later we learn that they're not. A series of results in cancer research was examined to see if they were reproducible. A startling number of them - 47 out of 53 - were not. Matters of reproducibility are now cropping up in computer science, and given the importance of computing in the world, it's essential that our own results are reproducible -- perhaps especially the ones based on complex models or data sets, and artificial intelligence or machine learning. This lecture series will expose attendees to several issues in ensuring reproducibility, with the goal of teaching students (and others) some of the crucial aspects of making their own science reproducible. Hint: it goes much farther than merely making your data available to the public.

Oct 27 - Nov 10, 2019

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  Efficient and Accurate Numerical Methods for Transient Electromagnetic Analysis - 2019

  Hakan Bagci, Associate Dean for Students, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering

  Nov 3, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H1 R2322

  Hakan Bagci is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering (EE) and Principal Investigator of the Computational Electromagnetics Laboratory (CEML). His scientific contribution are in advancing high-speed and long-distance communication, energy transfer, and medical imaging. Bagci’s research interests are in various aspects of applied and theoretical computational electromagnetics with emphasis on Time-domain integral-equations and their fast marching-on-in-time-based solutions and solvers to the characterization of wave interactions on complex integrated and electrically large system of photonics and optics.

Oct 20 - Oct 27, 2019

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  Key Enabling Techniques and Practical Considerations for Signal and Information Processing in 5G Cellular Network

  Chung-An Shen, Associate Professor, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology

  Oct 22, 12:00 - 13:00

  B9 L2 H2

  Digital signal processing Cellular Networks 5G networks

  Abstract The 5th Generation (5G) wireless communication provides considerably enhanced user experiences and offers possibilities of more intriguing applications. In order to fulfil the requirements of 5G like low-latency, energy efficient, and high reliability, many enabling technologies from the physical layer signal processing to the design of network architecture are proposed which all increase the demand for more computing capabilities. This talk gives an overview of the practical considerations, challenges, and techniques for the 5G cellular network. In particular, this talk contains two