Description

For the last five years, the Alumni Lecture Series has celebrated the return of KAUST’s graduates as they present highlights from their work in research, academia, industry and innovation to current student students, faculty and the KAUST community. Join us to participate in thought-provoking conversation with five inspirational alumni.
 
President Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau will host an invitation only afternoon tea following the Lecture Series.

Program 2:00 pm to 2:15 pm
Opening Remarks Dr. Brian Moran, Dean of Graduate Affairs

2:15 pm to 2:50 pm
Muna Khushaim - Effecting of a KAUST PhD experience on the academic teacher performance
In this lecture, Dr Khushaim will present a brief description of her PhD studies at KAUST. She will describe how this educational experience enriched her career as an academic and teacher in the Physics Department of Saudi Arabia’s Taibah University in Al-Madinah. She will highlight the effects of important factors learned at KAUST, which have impacted her attitude and academic philosophies in her role at Taibah University. These factors include: inspiration, discovery, patience, persistence, challenge and knowledge. Dr Khushaim will also discuss opportunities for institutional collaboration in research areas that will impact local and global communities.

2:50 pm to 3:25 pm
Dinorath Olvera Ramos - Recreating the bone-ligament interface
Dinorath’s presentation will focus on how her research has pushed the limits of tissue engineering by aiming to recreate the complex attachment of ligaments to bones. The attachment of dissimilar materials is an engineering challenge. Nature solved it by developing a graded transition tissue called enthesis. Ligaments that do not heal after trauma, for example the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), are replaced by tendon grafts that fail to regenerate the native enthesis. Failing to restore the enthesis can compromise graft stability, one of many factors predisposing such surgically repaired knees to an increased risk of osteoarthritis. By integrating tissue-specific molecular cues and the topography of microfibrillar substrates it is possible to drive adult mesenchymal stem cell differentiation into ligament-enthesis-bone formation. This new interface can be integrated to existing repair or replacement surgeries to better mimic the native attachment and improve outcome measures following treatment of soft tissue knee injuries.

3:25 pm to 3:40 pm Break and Refreshments

3:40 pm to 4:15 pm
Jenna Lloyd Randolfi - Engineering challenges of biological systems: from the bench top to the production plant.
Whether for nutrition, fuel, or agriculture the world of microalgae for commercial scale has been riddled with engineering challenges. From harvesting to economics and everything before and after - what works at the bench scale in the lab doesn't always work at large-scale. This is especially true for biological systems that react and change based on various conditions. Many of the engineering innovations we do not hear about are related to process scale-up. In Jenna’s presentation, you will hear case studies of such challenges and her solutions for making high-quality products from algae.

4:15 pm to 4:50 pm
Ahmed Showail - IoT facing IPv6 challenges
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the next big technological revolution. This seminar focuses on the problem of IPv4 address exhaustion, why is it happening, how does it affect IoT, and what are the possible ways to mitigate it. It also introduces IPv6 as a possible solution and highlights the major challenges facing the deployment of this protocol. 

4:50 pm to 5:00 pm
Closing Remarks President Dr Chameau

5:00 pm to 6:00 pm President's Afternoon Tea (Invitation Only)