Khalifa University students and faculty receive prestigious National Research Foundation Awards

Khalifa University announced today that five of its students and three of its faculty members received the 2012 Young Emirati Researchers Award and the 2012 Young Emirati Innovators Award from the UAE National Research Foundation at a special awards ceremony held recently. 

Students Omran Al Hammadi and Faisal Al Hawi received the Young Emirati Innovators Award and Mouza Al Shemaili, Essa Basaeed, and Hamad Al Marzouqi received the Young Emirati Researchers Award. 

Both prizes, which were open to Masters and PhD students, are aimed at honoring outstanding young national talents in research and innovation, and encouraging researchers to continue their contribution to building and enlarging a solid base of knowledgeable, capable and well-trained researchers in the UAE and encourage young people in the UAE to follow careers in research. 

The students were required to give a short presentation on their winning projects before being awarded the prize, which was a monetary grant, so that they will be able to continue with their research. 

Khalifa University faculty member’s Dr. Habiba Al Safar and Dr. Hassan Al Muhairi were also awarded the Young Emirati Researchers Prize for their PhD thesis.  

Dr. Al Safar also received the Emirati Faculty Mobility Award for her research entitled “Treating Cardiovascular Diseases through Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Training at Harvard/Mass General” and the University Industry Research Collaboration Award for her research on the “Identification of Genetic and Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Diabetes (Type 2) and Induced Cardiovascular Disease in the UAE Arab Population.” 

Dr. Al Muhairi also received the Emirati Faculty Mobility Award for his research into “Visual Gesture-based Human Robot Interaction.” 

Finally, Dr. Naoufel Werghi won the University Industry Research Collaboration Award for his “Design and Implementation of a Grading System for Assessing Posterior Capsule Opacification using Medical Digital Images.” 

“We are very pleased to see our students and faculty being awarded with such prestigious awards, that recognize their hard work and provide them with means of continuing their research and pursuing their careers,” said Dr. Tod Laursen, Khalifa University’s President, “Khalifa University shares many of the same goals represented by the National Research Foundation. We are dedicated to the development of a knowledge based economy, and with educating the future leaders of this economy, as envisioned in the Abu Dhabi 2030 plan.” 

This year 14 Khalifa University students won the Prestigious Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Awards for Best Project. The members of the Design/Build/Fly Team were given the prestigious award for their hard work. This team was also awarded first place at the Made in UAE 2012 competition. 

Khalifa University students were also presented with the Prestigious Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Awards, for Distinguished Academic Performance, where three of them walked away with the honor. 

A Khalifa University student was named the UNESCO Youth Peace Ambassador and another student won the Best IT Student in the Middle East Award. 

Two Khalifa University students also became the UAE Representatives to the World Business Dialogue at Cologne Germany Award. 

A Khalifa University student team won the Intellectual Property Rights Competition initiated by Dubai Customs, while others were awarded the top prizes at the Engineering Ethics Competition. 

Moreover, Khalifa University students won the Second Annual Math Competition, which was organized by the University. Other students were named the winners of the Oxford University Press Short Story Competition, and two students came first and fourth at the 2012 Mobile Application Contest.