Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF), concluded its successful involvement at QF’s Annual Research Forum (ARC ’16).
The University has been awarded a total of 15 research grants by Qatar National Research Fund’s National Priorities Research Programme, including three grants to the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), one to Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), and eleven to Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI). Researchers from Qeeri and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) also won awards for the best poster presentations.
HBKU’s three national research institutes, QBRI, QCRI, and QEERI, as well as HBKU’s CSE, Law School, and its publishing house, HBKU Press, played an active role at ARC ’16.
Dr Khaled B Letaief, provost of HBKU, who spoke about 5G mobile and wireless networks on a panel that focused on cutting-edge computational research at the event, noted: “At HBKU, we are committed to building Qatar’s national research capabilities and propelling Qatar’s knowledge-based economy. ARC provides an excellent platform for researchers to come together to exchange ideas and discuss how to best tackle challenges faced by Qatar, the region, and the wider world.”
Three of the five parallel sessions of the conference were moderated by officials from the university.
Dr Said Ahzi from QEERI chaired the session on “Materials for Solar Energy Harvesting and Photovoltaic Technologies”, while Dr Mounir Hamdi, dean of HBKU’s CSE, led the discussion on “Big Data for Sustainable Development” and Dr Hilal Lashuel from QBRI guided a conversation on “Biomedical and Health Research in Qatar: Transforming Challenges into Competitive Advantages and Economic Opportunities.”
Dr Khalid al-Subai, acting executive director of QEERI, was featured on the Energy and Environment panel, and, and Dr Ahmed Elmagarmid, executive director of QCRI, spoke on the panel on Computing and Information Technology.
A number of HBKU faculty members and scientists also presented their work during the oral presentations on day one of the conference, including Dr Jorge Quiane from QCRI on “A System for Big Data Analytics Over Diverse Data Processing Platforms” and Dr Clinton Francis, dean of HBKU’s Law School, on “Crowd Inventing: An Innovation about Innovation”.
Dr Omar El-Agnaf, acting executive director of QBRI, also spoke about his work on Parkinson’s disease and disorders.