Profiles

Silvio Giancola is a Research Scientist at KAUST, where he leads initiatives at the intersection of computer vision, artificial intelligence, and sports. He co-founded the SoccerNet project, a large-scale benchmark for soccer video understanding now adopted by hundreds of research groups worldwide. His research spans video understanding, 3D perception, and sports analytics, with applications ranging from athlete biomechanics to broadcast automation. Dr. Giancola has published more than 25 peer-reviewed papers, co-authored a book on 3D camera technologies, and organized workshops and challenges at premier conferences such as CVPR. At KAUST, he plays a central role in the newly established FIFA Research Institute, collaborating with FIFA and industry partners to translate cutting-edge AI research into real-world football solutions.

Silvio is mainly interested in Computer Vision, Deep learning, Sports, and Robotics.

• Digital Signal Processing & algorithms.
• Low sampling & low complexity systems.
• Image Processing.
• Ultra-wideband (UWB) sensing and communications.
• UWB channel impulse response estimation.
• Acoustic sensing and communications.
• Sonars and radars.
• Movement detection and tracking using RF and acoustic waves.
• Respiration detection and tracking.
• Robust estimation and regularization.
• Experimentation and testing.

Tien Khee Ng (Fellow of IET and InstP) is a principal research scientist and a laboratory-operation-manager of the Photonics Laboratory at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. He co-established the Photonics Laboratory (2009-) and KACST Technology Innovation Center on Solid-State Lighting at KAUST (2013-2021), and currently focuses on molecular-beam-epitaxy-grown group-III-oxides photonics/electronics and quantum-devices. He was a research fellow and a member-of-technical-staff at Nanyang Technological University and Tinggi Technologies (Singapore), respectively, developing group-III-arsenide, -phosphide, -antimonide and - nitride semiconductor nanostructures and optoelectronic devices. He was an associate editor of digital Encyclopedia of Applied Physics (July 2018–June 2023).

Semiconductor photonics, Multistack membrane semiconductor; Quantum photonic integrated circuits; Optoelectronic devices for optical wireless communication

PhD from Peking University in 2021; Research Scientist in JD Explore Academy from 2021 to 2023.

machine learning, large language/vision models, trustworthiness

• 2018 - Present Research Specialist, Robotics, Intelligent Systems & Control Lab, KAUST, KSA
• 2015 - 2018 Instructor, School of Science and Technology, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
• 2013 - 2015 Research Assistant, National Laboratory Astana, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
• 2013 Project Administrator, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
• 2012 - 2013 Teaching Assistant, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan

• Autonomous and Intelligent Systems​
• Robotics
• Drones
• Deep Learning

Najmeddine Dhieb received the Diplôme d’Ingénieur in Telecommunication Engineering—with honors— the École Supérieure des Communications de Tunis (SUP’COM), Tunisia, in 2019. That same year, he worked as a Research Assistant at the Smart City Lab within the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, USA.
Currently, Najmeddine contributes his expertise as a Research Engineer at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, after serving as a Senior Data Scientist at Bdeo Technologies S.L. in Madrid, Spain. His work focuses on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, Internet-of-Things, Edge-Computing, and Blockchain, where he develops practical solutions for emerging digital challenges.

Najmeddine's research focuses on the following areas:

• Artificial intelligence
• Data science
• Computer vision
• Edge computing
• Blockchain

Ahmed Nasser received his M.Sc. degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), New Borg El Arab, Egypt, in 2016. He earned a double Ph.D. degree from Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, and E-JUST, Egypt, in 2020. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. His research interests lie in the broad areas of next-generation wireless communication systems and networks.

Ahmed's research interests focus on both learning and non-learning based techniques for enhancing the performance of emerging technologies in 6G wireless networks.

Aijaz H. Lone is a PhD candidate Integrated Intelligent Systems I2S group, under the guidance of Professor Gianluca Setti at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), I'm dedicated to pushing the boundaries of spintronic innovation. With a background in electrical and computer engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M), I've developed a passion for advancing spintronic devices for data storage and neuromorphic applications.

As a PhD candidate Integrated Intelligent Systems I2S group, under the guidance of Professor Gianluca Setti at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), I'm dedicated to pushing the boundaries of spintronic innovation. With a background in electrical and computer engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M), I've developed a passion for advancing spintronic devices for data storage and neuromorphic applications.

During my Ph.D., I focused on simulating and experimentally realizing spintronic devices tailored for neuromorphic (brain-inspired) computing. This includes advanced spintronic memories that emulate synapse and spiking neuron functionalities. By integrating these devices, I have explored their potential in implementing artificial neural networks (ANNs) and spiking neural networks (SNNs) at both circuit and system levels, aiming to improve the computational paradigms.

As a researcher, I bring expertise in modeling, simulations, and experimental realization to the table. My focus
lies in pioneering spintronic technologies like magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), domain wall devices, and
magnetic skyrmionic devices – all with the goal of revolutionizing AI and machine learning.

Through my research, I aim to bridge the gap between theoretical understanding and practical implementation, driving the development of novel spintronic-based solutions for AI.

Andres Villa received a bachelor's in Electronic Engineering at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia, in 2017. Moreover, he received his PhD in Computer Science at Pontifical Catholic University in 2023 in Santiago, Chile. Before joining KAUST, Andres was a teaching assistant for undergraduate and graduate students in the Engineering department at Pontifical Catholic University in Chile from 2019 until 2024. He was teaching subjects such as Deep Learning and AI Applications (VQA, Image Captioning, and Video Understanding). Andres was a Research Intern at IVUL from June 2021 to June 2022.

Andres focuses on Computer Vision, Continual Learning, Video Understanding, and Visual Language Models.

Dr. Apala’s research focuses on the development of RF sensors for real time medical and environmental applications like industrial, biomedical and humanitarian applications. Her recent research area focuses on the development of RF biosensors for detecting human metabolic and genomic activities paving the way for wearable sensing with higher sensitivity.  His expertise spans RF sensors, RF biosensing, RF passive and active devices, THz receiver development and dielectric characterization of materials.

Dr. Aram Mkrtchyan is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Integrated Photonics Laboratory (IPL) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he works under the supervision of Prof. Yating Wan. He earned his Ph.D. in Photonics from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), where he specialized in nonlinear optics, ultrafast fiber lasers, and photonic integrated circuits. He received his M.Sc. degrees in parallel from Skoltech and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), and holds a B.Sc. degree in Applied Physics and Mathematics from MIPT.

Before joining KAUST in 2025, Dr. Mkrtchyan served as a Senior Research Scientist at Skoltech, contributing to both academic and industry-driven initiatives, including the Huawei Innovation Research Program and Skoltech's Translational Research and Innovation Program. His achievements include the development and commercialization of an ultrafast all-fiber laser at 920 nm, used as a pump source for single-photon quantum emitters in quantum computing systems, advanced studies on carbon nanotube-based photonic devices, and the development of a hybrid microresonator-based frequency comb system. 

In 2024, Dr. Mkrtchyan was nominated for the Skoltech Educational Leadership Excellence Award, honoring for demonstrating leadership and best practices in making Skoltech the top choice for international education in Russia.
Dr. Mkrtchyan has authored over 15 peer-reviewed publications, including articles in Nano Letters, Nanophotonics, Carbon, Journal of Power Sources, Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Lightwave Technology, etc and holds several patents in the fields of ultrafast optics and integrated photonics. His research focuses on nonlinear optics, integrated photonics, ultrafast fiber lasers, Quantum nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes for photonic applications.
 

Dr. Mkrtchyan’s research focuses on nonlinear optics, integrated photonics, ultrafast fiber lasers, Quantum nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes for photonic applications.

Charalampos Antoniadis received a Diploma degree (Hons.) in Computer and Communication Engineering, an M.S. degree in Computer Science, and a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece, in 2011, 2014, and 2019, respectively. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Computer, Electrical, and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Before joining KAUST, he served as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Thessaly for one year.

Dr. Antoniadis was awarded an M.Sc. study fellowship by the University of Thessaly and the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) fellowship for his Ph.D. studies. Additionally, he led a student team that won the First Place Award in the ACM TAU 2020 and TAU2 2021 timing analysis contests.

Charalampos's research focuses on the following areas:

• Efficient AI
• Generative AI and LLMs
• Smart city applications
• Electronic Design Automation

Dr. Dayanand Kumar is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the SAMA Laboratory, KAUST. He received his M.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Varanasi, India, and his Ph.D. from National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Taiwan. During his doctoral studies, he was honored by the President of Taiwan for outstanding academic research performance. Following his Ph.D., he worked as a Principal Integration Engineer at Micron Technology, Taiwan, and subsequently held postdoctoral research positions at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He also served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan.

Dr. Kumar’s research focuses on Emerging memory devices for in-memory sensing and computing; smart multifunctional optoelectronic synaptic devices—including memristors, transistors, and capacitors—for bionic machine vision and physiological signal processing applications. 

Dr. Defan Sun is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Integrated Photonics Laboratory (IPL) under the supervision of Prof. Yating Wan at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He earned his B.S. degree from the China University of Petroleum (UPC) in 2020 and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS).

Before joining KAUST, he worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for four years (2021-2025). During this time, he was a core member of several key research projects, including the National Key R&D Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and collaborative projects with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. His research focuses on the development and application of optical frequency combs based on mode-locked lasers. He has published 11 peer-reviewed articles (7 as first and corresponding authors) such as Photonics Research, Optics Express, and Optics Communications, etc.

He was recognised as the Outstanding Graduate of Shandong Province in 2020 and the Director's Scholarship of the Institute of Semiconductors, CAS in 2025. 

Dr.Sun’s research focuses on the development and application of optical frequency combs based on mode-locked lasers, specifically covering Optical Frequency Comb Generation based on Mode-Locked Lasers, Photonic Integrated Circuits, and Silicon-based Heterogeneous Integrated Photonic Chips. 

Dr. Hongyan Yu is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Integrated Photonics Laboratory (IPL) under the supervision of Prof. Yating Wan at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Before joining KAUST, he received his B. S. degree in Material Physics from Harbin University of Science and Technology, in 2015, and M. Sc. degree in Optical Engineering from Beijing University of Technology, in 2019. He earned his Ph.D degree in Optical Engineering from Zhejiang University - Westlake University joint program, in 2023.
Prior to joining IPL, Dr. Yu was a postdoctoral scholar at Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (2023-2025). He has published over 15 peer-reviewed articles (10 first and corresponding authors), including Nature Communications, ACS Photonics, APL Photonics, Journal of Lightwave Technology, etc. 

Dr. Yu’s research interests include heterogeneous integrated optical chip, high-speed electro-optic modulator, optical computing.

Karen Sanchez is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the IVUL lab at KAUST, specializing in deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare applications. Her research focuses on video understanding, domain adaptation, generative AI, and methods for preserving patient privacy. She earned her PhD in Engineering, MSc in Electronic Engineering, and a Bachelor’s degree in Energy Engineering in Colombia.

Her research interests include video understanding, domain adaptation, generative AI, and preserving patient privacy, with a focus on deep learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence for healthcare applications.

Khalil obtained a bachelor of science degree in electromechanical engineering (with honor) in 2013 and a master of science in robotics in 2014 from the National Engineering School of Sfax (ENIS), Tunisia.

Khalil's Ph.D. research work is about "Miniaturized Drug Delivery Systems for Biomedical Applications" and his research interests include Drug Delivery Systems, Micropumps, Biomedical Devices, Bioengineering, and MEMS.

Meng Tang earned his bachelor’s degree in applied physics and his Ph.D. in physics from Tongji University. In December 2022, he joined the Physical Science and Engineering Division at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Professor Xixiang Zhang. In March 2024, he transitioned to the Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division at KAUST, where he now works as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Professor Gianluca Setti.

Meng Tang's research interests include spin-orbit torque (SOT) effects and spin transport, SOT-driven magnetization switching, SOT-based MRAM, spintronics-based neuromorphic computing and hardware security primitives, and superconducting spintronics. His areas of expertise encompass thin film deposition techniques (such as magnetron sputtering and pulsed laser deposition), nanofabrication methods (including lithography and ion milling), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), electrical transport measurements, harmonic Hall voltage measurements for SOT, current-driven magnetization switching measurements, spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR), magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy, X-ray reflection (XRR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Additionally, he is proficient in LabVIEW programming for measurement automation.