InSIde: Research 4-7 Community 8news 1-3

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology at Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

www.kaust.edu.sa

BeACOnthe ة املنـار

May 2013 / Rajab 1434 volume 3, Issue no. 9

“hYDRoGENaTioN is one of the most important reactions in chem-

istry,” explains luigi cavallo, associate Professor of chemical

science and a member of KaUsT’s catalysis Research center, “but

hydrogen can be a lot of trouble.” hydrogen’s troublesome nature

lies in the fact that it is explosive and flammable, specifically when

used in large quantities.

in a recently published paper appearing on the cover and in the

March 27 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society,

Prof. cavallo and co-authors from the University of st andrews

(UK) and the Universitat de Girona (spain) examined the difficulties

of hydrogenation, isolating a hydridoformatopalladium complex,

[Pd{oc(o)h}(h)(iPr)(Pcy3)], which can be used to carry out cata-

lytic transfer hydrogenation, a “viable alternative,” the researchers

note, to the classical reduction pathway using potentially danger-

ous molecular hydrogen. The paper can be accessed at http://pubs.

acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ja311087c.

The use of molecular hydrogen to hydrogenate a substrate has

many applications across diverse industries, including oil and gas,

chemicals, food, and pharmacy. For example, hydrogenation is

commonly used to change fats that are liquid at room temperature

into solids, such as margarine, and is a very popular process in the

food industry, where hydrogenated fats are used to prolong foods’

shelf life by preventing rancidity.

in catalytic transfer hydrogenation, hydrogen is “kept quiet,”

says Prof. cavallo, by storing it in other molecules, such as for-

mic acid. Formic acid is found in nature in the bites and stings

of insects, but it can also be manufactured cheaply and easily in

industry, and thus is readily available. a catalyst is used to liber-

ate hydrogen from the “storage” molecule, and normally a second

catalyst must then be employed to use the liberated hydrogen in

the media for hydrogenation purposes. “Formic acid is also consid-

ered a viable molecule for hydrogen storage in energy-related fields,

such as using hydrogen to run a car,” Prof. cavallo notes.

enerGy FrOm CHAOs | Continued on p3 tAndem CAtAlyst | Continued on p7

Primalight research groUP harvest eNergy From chaos

يصف األستاذ المشارك في علوم الكيمياء وأحد أعضاء مركز أبحاث التحفيز لويجي كافالو الدكتور والتقنية للعلوم الملك عبداهلل الكيميائي في جامعة الهدرجة بأنها " تعتبر واحدة من أهم التفاعالت الكيميائية ، إال أنها ال تخلوا من المتاعب". وتكمن تلك المتاعب في الطبيعة المزعجة للهيدروجين حيث أنه متفجر وله قابلية كبيرة لالشتعال خصوصًا عند استخدامه بكميات كبيرة. وقامت مجلة Journal of the American Chemical Society مؤخرا بنشر ورقة بحث على صدر صفحاتها في عدد 27 مارس وشارك في كتابتها الدكتور كافالو المتحدة( و جامعة دي )المملكة اندروز آخرين من جامعة سانت باحثين مع مركب عزل وعملية الهدرجة صعوبات الورقة هذه وتشرح )إسبانيا(. جيرونا يمكن الذي المعقد ])Pd{OC)O)H})H))IPr))PCy3[ هيدريدوفورماتوباالديوم االستخدام عن مناسب( الحفاز)كبديل نقل هدرجة عملية في استخدامه التقليدي للهيدروجين الجزيئي العالي الخطورة. ولإلطالع على ورقة البحث يرجى

.http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ja311087c :زيارة الرابط التاليمن العديد في الجزيئي الهيدروجين باستخدام الهدرجة عملية وتدخل التطبيقات والصناعات المتنوعة بما في ذلك صناعات النفط والغاز الطبيعي، والمواد الكيميائية، والغذاء، والصيدلة. فعلى سبيل المثال، تستخدم الهدرجة عادًة لتغير حالة الدهون التي تكون سائلة في درجة حرارة الغرفة الى صلبة الغذائية الصناعات في بكثرة و أيضًا وتستخدم السمن. في الحال هو كما

إلطالة مدة صالحية األطعمة المعلبة والمغلفة. ويتم في عملية هدرجة نقل الحفاز إبقاء الهدروجين خاماًل عن طريق احتوائه الطبيعة في لسعات الموجود في الفورميك في جزيئات أخرى، مثل حامض ولدغات الحشرات، و يمكن ايضًا انتاجه صناعيًا بطرق غير مكلفة مما يجعله من الهيدروجين لتحرير محفزة مادة استخدام يتم كما بسهولة. متاحًا الجزيء الذي يحتويه، وعادة يقتضي ذلك وجود مادة محفزة ثانية لتمكين و الهدرجة. ألغراض الكيميائية األوساط في المحرر الهيدروجين استخدام مناسب أيضا جزيء الفورميك "يشكل حمض قائال: كافالو الدكتور يضيف مثل بالطاقة، الصلة ذات المجاالت في الهيدروجين تخزين و الحتواء

استخدام الهيدروجين لتشغيل السيارة".واكتشف الباحثون عبر استخدام تقنية مطياف الرنين المغناطيسي النووي أن pal� مركبات الباالديوم الحلقية المحتوية على حلقات كاربين غير متجانسة

ladium tricyclohexylphosphine N�heterocyclic carbene تشكل محفزات من الهيدروجين تحرير وتستطيع الكيميائية التفاعالت أوساط في ترادفيه حمض الفورميك ثم استخدامه في هدرجة األوساط. وقد تم هدرجة المركبات

اهلدرجة باستخداماحلافز الرتاديف

REsEaRchERs working as part of Professor

andrea Fratalocchi’s Primalight group in the

Electrical Engineering program have conducted

groundbreaking work on wave propagation in

complex systems. The core application of this

technology resides in the harvesting of energy.

a paper co-authored by Prof. Fratalocchi, his

PhD students c. liu and D. Molinari, and other

collaborators was recently published in Nature

Photonics and demonstrates how chaotic reso-

nators can store six times the amount of energy

as conventional resonators.

“We recently developed a very new and

important technology to harvest energy

from chaos. We’re developing a novel

material design capable of increasing the

performance, in terms of broadband energy

absorption, of existing systems. This for

example could lead to a new generation of

solar cells,” said Prof. Fratalocchi.

HydROgenATIOn USIng A TAndeM CATAlyST

تتمه صفحة 7

مجع الطاقة باستخدام مبدأ CHAOS العشوائية

البرفسور بقيادة بريمااليت فريق من باحثون قام الكهربائية الهندسة بقسم فراتالوتشي أندريا بدراسة والتقنية للعلوم عبداهلل الملك بجامعة رائده عن تقنية انتشار الموجات في األنظمة ذات التركيب المعقد بهدف تجميع الطاقة. وقد نشرت Cha� “هذه الدراسة مؤخرًا في ورقة بحثية بعنوان os-Assisted, Broadband trapping of Light inNature Pho� مجلة في ”,Optical Resonatorsالبرفسور فراتالوتشي من جامعة حيث قام tonicsمن اثنين مع باإلشتراك بكتابتها عبداهلل الملك طالبه لدرجة الدكتوراه وهم الطالب ليو و والطالب االخرين. علماء من عدد إلى باإلضافة موليناري Chaos العشوائية الرنين دوائر أن الورقة وتوضح تستطيع التي الطاقة أضعاف ستة تخزين يمكنها

دوائر الرنين التقليدية تخزينها. وقال بروفسور فراتالوتشي "قمنا مؤخرًا بتطوير تقنية جديدة وهامة جدًا لتجميع الطاقة من مبدأ العشوائية للمواد جديد تصميم تطوير على ونعمل .Chaosأداء رفع على القدرة من التصميم هذا يمّكن بما امتصاص الطاقة من النظم القائمة. ويمكن أن يؤدي

ذلك الى ابتكار جيل جديد من الخاليا الشمسية".تتمه صفحة 6

Prof. andrea Fratalocchi

coRREcTioN: ahmad J. showail’s name was misspelled in the “My University” article on page 8 the april issue of The Beacon. his surname should have been listed as showail, not showall.

SABIC HOnORS FIve yOUng KAUST FACUlTy AS PReSIdenTIAl CHAIR ReCIPIenTS

ThE saUDi Basic industries corporation (saBic) signed an innova-

tive agreement with the University on april 18, awarding five-year

funding to support the research careers of four KaUsT assistant

Professors and one associate Professor. The support stems from

an initial saBic Presidential chair agreement between saBic

and KaUsT, and each faculty recipient will be named a “saBic

assistant (or associate) Professor.” The assistant professors hon-

ored in the agreement are: Dr. aram amassian, Materials science and

Engineering; Dr. osman Bakr, Materials science and Engineering; Dr. Ulrich

stingl, Marine science and Bioscience; and Dr. Kuo-Wei (andy) huang,

chemical science. The associate professor honored is Dr. Zhiping

lai, chemical and Biological Engineering.

The funding will support the five young faculty mem-

bers in agreed research programs within the following

areas: “combinatorial optimization of organic solar cells;”

“hydrogenation of co2;” “Novel materials for kinetic sep-

aration;” “Nanoparticles-polymers composites for energy

storage;” and “Exploration of novel photosynthetic and extre-

mophilic microbes.”

The collaborative work will enable KaUsT and saBic to “provide an insight into the various

elements that help enrich the lives of the people of saudi arabia…and meet their current and

future challenges,” stated a press release on the saBic website. The intention of the funding is

to create clusters of excellence, with 30% of the personal research effort of each recipient and

additional funding support for a team of up to two PhD students and two postdoctoral students

provided by saBic.

saBic, which was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Riyadh, is one of the world’s larg-

est petrochemical manufacturers. The company’s global workforce of over 40,000 individuals

operates in more than 40 countries, with operations focusing on six business units: chemicals,

Polymers, Performance chemicals, Fertilizers, Metals, and innovative Plastics. The company

invests heavily in technology and innovation, and recognizes the value of supporting young,

creative minds at KaUsT.

in 2011, saBic signed an agreement with the University to build the company’s new center

for Research and innovation (cRi) at the KaUsT Research Park. stated saBic Executive Vice

President for Technology and innovation Ernesto occhiello: “We began our partnership aware

of the caliber of the faculty and staff [at KaUsT] and the culture of the organization.” By 2015,

saBic’s aim is to recruit over 150 exceptional scientists to work at the new center, taking part

in “horizontal research,” in which research questions are investigated by interdisciplinary teams

from the broader KaUsT research community.

KaUsT Provost stefan catsicas highlighted the strategic relevance of the agreement for both

parties, stating: “saBic understands the need to leverage on long-term academic excellence to

fuel their innovation pipeline. The architecture of the agreement is particularly attractive as it

allows young faculty to freely maintain a personal research agenda while dedicating signifi-

cant research effort to questions of fundamental relevance for saBic.”

saBic also supports outstanding postdoctoral fellows at KaUsT, and launched its Post-

Doctoral Fellowship awards at KaUsT in November 2011. The awards have been made annually

since then. Postdoctoral fellow candidates were nominated by their supervisors, with the ini-

tial 15 winners selected by a special committee of experts from saBic and KaUsT. “We are

supporting research that is not only related to [saBic’s] business and future plans,” said

Mohamed al-Mady, saBic Vice chairman and cEo, “but also relevant to the development and

expansion of knowledge for the benefit of humankind.”

al-Mady explained that the funding for the five saBic Presidential chair Recipients dem-

onstrates saBic’s commitment to develop KaUsT talent, allowing the assistant professors to

research solutions to problems that are not only relevant to saBic’s long-term strategic goals,

but also to the future goals of the Kingdom. “This is an investment allowing both KaUsT and

saBic to support saudi arabia’s development vision with the prospect of new, disruptive tech-

nologies and materials for a more accountable and sustainable future,” he stated. continued

occhiello: “as we enter into new areas of research and technology, talented faculty at KaUsT

are seen as a rich source of knowledge that can benefit KaUsT, saBic, and the scientific com-

munity at large.”

The saBic Presidential chair Recipients were quick to note their gratitude for the support.

said Prof. aram amassian: “The generous gift from saBic will allow my team to push towards

our goal of achieving low-cost printing of efficient plastic solar cells.” Prof. Zhiping lai stated:

“i regard this saBic chair not only as a great honor to myself, but also a great opportunity to

connect our research to industrially important topics, and ultimately to fulfill our mission to

make contributions to the economy of the region.”

“saBic is making a strategic investment in the development of KaUsT’s promising junior

faculty,” KaUsT President Prof. choon Fong shih stated. “This investment will not only deepen

the Kingdom’s talent pool for science and technology, but will also help KaUsT to deliver crea-

tive and sustainable solutions that are relevant to the Kingdom and beyond, thereby bringing

knowledge in the service of society.”

KAUST HOSTS WORKSHOP On vISUAl COMPUTIng

oN aPRil 15-17, the University’s Geometric Modeling & scientific Visualization (GMsV)

center and KaUsT Visualization core lab (KVl) hosted a workshop on visual computing.

Visualization Summit 2013 offered an opportunity for researchers and industry representa-

tives to share knowledge on recent research, tools, and applications. The workshop featured

a series of talks by international visual computing experts from academia and industry, who

covered topics on large-data visualization, computer graphics, and human-computer interac-

tion. The workshop’s main organizers were Prof. helmut Pottmann (GMsV) and Dr. steven

cutchin (KVl).

KICP ReSeARCH SyMPOSIUM HIgHlIgHTS UnIveRSITy ReSeARCH exCellenCe And InnOvATIOn

ThE third annual KaUsT industry collaboration Program (KicP) Research symposium was held at the

University from april 21–23. attended by 30 presenters from the KaUsT faculty and industry, over

55 representatives from 23 major corporations partnered with KaUsT through the KicP, and KaUsT

graduate students, the symposium focused on “Filling up the industry’s innovation Pipeline through

academic R&D collaborations.” it was “a valuable tool to provide visibility for research conducted at

KaUsT, and to build strong national and international industry networks,” said Dr. Mohamed samaha,

KaUsT senior Vice President for Economic and Technology Development, who spoke at the event.

The symposium featured six scientific sessions, each focusing on different areas of research

being undertaken at the University. The sessions covered advanced materials and novel catalysts;

solutions to saudi arabia’s unique energy needs; polymeric materials and membrane reactors;

wastewater treatment and reuse; remote sensing and wireless communications; and environmen-

tal and geological factors driving new businesses. Throughout the sessions KaUsT faculty and

researchers shared their projects, goals, and emerging technologies with KicP partners. Private

discussions and networking opportunities were built in to the symposium, and tours of KaUsT’s

laboratories and research facilities were also given for the industry visitors.

“We come to you because you understand the needs of the industry,” explained keynote speaker

Dr. ing. Michael ladwig, Director of scientific collaboration at KicP partner, alstom. “Universities

are key institutions for creating new innovations which result in new industries, and for supporting

the creation of national and international collaboration projects.” added Dr. atieh abu Raqabah,

keynote speaker and General Manager of the saBic corporate Research and innovation center

at KaUsT, “We too [in industry] are trying to give you a flavor of what [research] we are doing.”

The presentations from both the academic faculty and industry representatives helped align

industries’ research and development needs with the University’s research competencies, creat-

ing stronger alliances for KaUsT and raising the profile of the University’s cutting-edge research

and innovation.

KaUst’s saBic Presidential chair recipients were honored to receive the awards from saBic. From left to right: Drs. Kuo-Wei (andy) huang, osman Bakr, and Ulrich stingl.

Not pictured: aram amassian and Zhip-ing lai.

ARAM AMASSIAn

ZHIPIng lAI

news2 May 2013 The Beacon

Each month The Beacon is pleased to offer a highlight of the research activity and scientific

work conducted at KaUsT. in this issue you will find the work of faculty and staff recently

published in high impact journals in areas such as chemical science, photonics, marine science,

and photovoltaics. highlights also include scientific and academic accolades, transdisciplinary

student research, and the innovative ideas coming out of the Entrepreneurship center.

in addition to being an inter-disciplinary scientific community, our University also celebrates

the arts. see page 8 to read about the recent art exhibit and music concerts featuring our own

scientists, staff, students, and community members.

The Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 9, May 2013. Published by The Communications Department, King abdullah University of science and technology, Thuwal 23955�6900, Saudi Arabia. Contact Salah Sindi salah.sindi@kaust.edu.sa, or Michelle D'Antoni michelle.dantoni@kaust.edu.sa © King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Printed on partially recycled paper.

—THE BEACON Editorial

PRoFEssoR Jean Fréchet, KaUsT’s Vice President for Research,

was formally awarded the 2013 Japan Prize at a ceremony in Tokyo

on april 24. Prof. Fréchet jointly won the prize with Dr. c. Grant

Willson, Professor of chemistry and chemical Engineering at the

University of Texas at austin (Us). The Tokyo ceremony was also

attended by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and

a host of other Japanese and international dignitaries.

The Japan Prize, which was first presented in 1985, is awarded

each year to scientists from around the world in two general

research areas, “Physics, chemistry, and Engineering” and “life

science, agriculture, and Medicine.” although the prize recognizes

all fields of science and technology, two specific fields are chosen

each year for the prize, taking into consideration recent develop-

ments in these fields.

Prof. Fréchet and Prof. Willson were awarded their prize in

the area of “Materials and Production” for the development of

chemically amplified resist polymer materials for innovative semi-

conductor manufacturing process. The Japan Prize aims to “honor

individuals whose original and outstanding achievements in sci-

ence and technology are recognized as having advanced the

frontiers of knowledge and served the

cause of peace and prosperity for man-

kind,” states a press release on The

Japan Prize Foundation’s website.

During a speech delivered at KaUsT

on February 13 after his win of the

Japan Prize was announced, Prof.

Fréchet noted how his research work

with Prof. Willson reinforced the

importance in science of “‘think[ing]

outside of the box,’ always look[ing] for and shar[ing] fresh ideas.”

“coming from different chemistry backgrounds, [Prof. Willson]

and i complemented each other,” Prof. Fréchet explained. “We did

not hesitate to propose new ideas – no matter how exotic they

might be. Within days [of working together], we came up with the

concept of ‘chemical amplification,’ and the first polymer struc-

ture, precursor of a radically new generation of resists, was entered

on page one of my…research notebook. The uninhibited exchange

of ideas between [us] eventually led not only to the key concept

of using photons to trigger chain reactions, but also to practical

polymer structures capable of exploiting this concept.”

The Japan Prize Foundation’s website states: “We hope that

the Japan Prize will contribute to the promotion of international

cooperation and look forward to the continuing support of scien-

tists and technologists throughout the world.” Profs. Fréchet and

Willson’s work reflects the goals of The Japan Prize Foundation, as

chemically amplified resists are used in the manufacture of most

memory chips and microprocessors found in commonplace elec-

tronic devices today, such as cars, mobile phones, computers, and

medical technologies.

PROF. JeAn FRéCHeT HOnORed In JAPAn PRIZe CeReMOny

news 3May 2013www.kaust.edu.sa

adopting a transdisciplinary approach to the study of the propagation of waves in disordered sys-

tems from Ångström scale to the Terahertz regime, Primalight investigates complex systems through

the paradigms of applied mathematics, theoretical physics, and parallel computing. For this particu-

lar study, Prof. Fratalocchi and his team combined analytic theory with ab-initio simulations and

experiments in photonic crystal resonators and deformed polystyrene microspheres.

chaos is often associated with unpredictability and considered an unwanted factor in scientific

observations. however, Prof. Fratalocchi and his team believe it represents the starting point for “a

new ubiquitous technology for energy production.”

The key characteristic of these resonators is based on specific deformation patterns. The

deformed resonators are built in such a way that “light becomes completely chaotic and non-

reversible in time, such as the Brownian motion of a particle in a liquid. The process leads to

entropy increase manifesting itself in coherent dynamics of energy buildup inside the system,”

said Prof. Fratalocchi.

The theory shows that at the root of the dramatic energy increase there is a fundamental thermo-

dynamic principle, known as energy equipartition. The most salient observation is that the energy

absorption is significantly higher while keeping the size and the volume constant. “This is very

important if you consider that today 50% of the price of a single solar module lies just in the acqui-

sition of the semi-conductor. Besides that, chaotic energy harvesting has no theoretical efficiency

limits and, in optimized systems, the energy increase can be much larger than the 600% value

reported in the paper,” he adds.

By significantly increasing the performance of a semi-conductor simply by reshaping it, and

basically using the same amount of material, a more cost-effective energy production model can

be achieved.

as an editor of Scientific Reports with the Nature Publishing Group and a referee of Nature and

Physical Review Journals, Prof. Fratalocchi is recognized as a world-leading expert offering valuable

contributions to the study of disordered systems – an increasingly prominent area in the discipline of pho-

tonics. “Most of the papers that are now being published in high-impact journals are in this field,” he says.

in addition to energy harvesting, other applications can be found in the fields of medicine and

materials science. Prof. Fratalocchi is currently investigating how light propagates in human tissue.

This line of research, known as biophotonics, can potentially lead to the development of non-inva-

sive and harmless techniques for performing cancer diagnosis.

“imagine in the future if you could have just a single optical fiber which can be applied to the

skin and, in less than a second, a pulse could be retrieved by the scattering inside the human tis-

sue indicating if a patient is sick or not,” said Prof. Fratalocchi. Encouraged by the early results of

their experiments, the Primalight team intends to continue innovating through the application of

photonics in the field of biosystems.

in the two years since its inception, the KaUsT Primalight group has published 14 articles (11

printed and three accepted), received 11 citations and has an h-factor of two. six papers have been

published in 2012 and three have been accepted this month, two in Nature Photonics and one in

Scientific Reports.

Prof. Fréchet gives his acceptance speech at the Japan Prize presentation ceremony in tokyo, attended by their majesties the emperor and empress of Japan.

enerGy FrOm CHAOs | Continued from p1

UNiVERsiTY President choon Fong shih was honored on april

19 at a dinner hosted by h. E. ali i. al-Naimi, chairman of the

Board of Trustees, and attended by KaUsT Trustees, international

advisory council members, senior university leaders, and faculty.

Executive Vice President of administration and Finance Nadhmi

al-Nasr welcomed the group to the gathering to honor choon

Fong shih, “a colleague, friend, visionary, and leader.”

chairman al-Naimi offered his gratitude and that of the Board

of Trustees to President shih for his “hard work and commitment

to King abdullah’s great vision of a house of Wisdom – Bayt

al-hikma.” he related how Prof. shih came to be President of

the University after being selected as one of the internationally-

recognized experts to help identify the sort of people needed to

carry the King’s vision forward.

“We invited Professor shih to join us in our worldwide search

for the first KaUsT President, a mission which took us to asia,

the Us, and Europe. But it soon became clear that Professor

shih was eminently qualified to do the role himself. in fact,

we realized he was not only qualified, he was clearly the most

qualified,” said chairman al-Naimi.

he continued, “one of his key achievements in singapore was

to link the University’s goals and ambitions with that of the

nation. and this is precisely

what we wanted in relation to

KaUsT and saudi arabia.”

c h a i r m a n a l - N a i m i

explained, “in many ways,

the physical building of the

University was the easy bit.

More challenging was the

mission to get KaUsT estab-

lished in saudi arabia. More

demanding still was the long-

term task of establishing the academic culture to set KaUsT on

a global footing. This takes great vision, determination, and pas-

sion, and it is here that Professor shih excelled.”

President shih thanked the chairman for his kind words and

expressed in his speech the importance of openness and rooted-

ness in great universities. “Great universities thrive on openness.

They welcome talent. They facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas.

They offer rich opportunities to discover and grow, and oppor-

tunities to learn and serve. at the same time, great universities

strive to root individuals to the institution and the institution to

the society where they are situated…”

“KaUsT is taking root in the Kingdom. indeed, rootedness

for KaUsT will stem from our talents – saudi and interna-

tional – dedicated to advancing science, engineering, and

enterprise…Rootedness of the individual involves a sense of

identification with our University, bolstered by a feeling of

belonging and pride in being part of our endeavor by the Red

sea. i consider myself rooted to KaUsT. i will always be a

flag-bearer for KaUsT.”

Professor shih and his wife lily were presented with gifts

of gratitude from the Board of Trustees, saudi aramco, and

saBic in recognition of outstanding service to the University

and saudi arabia.

PReSIdenT CHOOn FOng SHIH lAUded

KaUst President choon Fong shih (center) with h. e. ali i. al-Naimi, chairman of the Board of trustees (third from the left), and members of the KaUst Board of trustees and University leadership at the Board of trustees recognition Dinner on april 19.

a TEaM of researchers has demonstrated that

both local and cooperative fisheries management

can play a big role in restoring and maintaining

fish numbers in stressed coral reef fisheries. The

international team, including KaUsT Red sea

Research center’s assistant Professor of Marine

science Michael Berumen and postdoctoral fel-

low Pablo saenz-agudelo, reported on their

findings in an april issue of Current Biology.

The researchers analyzed the genetic par-

entage of protected squaretail coral grouper

(Plectropomus areolatus) around Manus island

in Papua New Guinea. They worked with local

fishers in community-run marine reserves and

fisheries, first collecting fin samples from a

spawning aggregation of coral grouper. six

months later, the team collected similar tissue

samples from juvenile fish, this time with the

help of around a hundred fishers in five fishing

communities and up to 33 kilometers from the

original collection site.

The team analyzed DNa from the samples to

determine how many of the juveniles were off-

spring of the originally studied spawning group.

The study showed that 17-25% of the juveniles

collected in the managed area were offspring of

the studied parent group, as were 6-17% of the

juveniles caught in the four neighboring fisher-

ies. The team went on to predict that half of all

coral grouper young settle within 14 kilometers of

the spawning site. The results demonstrated that

managing and protecting fishing grounds helps

to re-stock the protected fishing grounds, and the

actions also benefit the surrounding marine areas.

“This project has very clear applications - real

world benefits that are readily apparent," said

Prof. Berumen. “it was very important to us that

what we did was useful and relevant to the vil-

lages involved, that they understood the project

and the outcome. and they did, immediately."

The findings are expected to have significant

implications for hundreds of millions of people

who depend on coral reefs for food and liveli-

hood in areas under stress from development,

overfishing, and climate change. The results are

thought to be particularly important to coun-

tries where government fisheries schemes are

lacking or poorly enforced, and to areas like the

coral Triangle (indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia,

Papua New Guinea, solomon islands, and East

Timor). “our results can empower people in the

coral Triangle region and throughout oceania…

to take effective local actions that help ensure

their own food security," the scientists concluded.

according to the article’s first author, Dr. Glenn

almany of James cook University in australia,

“this gives us a really great handle on how dif-

ferent fishery areas interconnect and can support

one another. it also shows that the community

which bears the cost of operating a marine

reserve derives the greatest benefit."

Discussing the relevance of the work to reefs in

our own backyard, Prof. Berumen added, “some

parts of the Red sea unfortunately have a seri-

ous overfishing problem. our work in Papua New

Guinea shows that marine reserves could help

to conserve and replenish stocks of fish such as

hammour and nagil on saudi reefs. our connec-

tivity projects in the Red sea lead us to believe

that we will see similar patterns here.” The square-

tail coral grouper studied in Papua New Guinea

is locally known as taradi while nagil is a closely

related species (Plectropomus pessuliferus).

The project’s core team formed in 2004

includes researchers from James cook University

(australia), Woods hole oceanographic

institution (Whoi) (Us), and the University of

Perpignan (France). at that time Prof. Berumen

was a PhD student at James cook University,

then later a postdoctoral fellow at Whoi, and

since 2009, has been on the faculty of KaUsT.

also involved in this work are researchers

from the Nature conservancy in New Guinea

and australia, the University of hawaii (Us),

the University of Melbourne (aUs), and centre

de Recherches insulaires et observatoire de

l'Environnement (French Polynesia). Dr. saenz-

agudelo's postdoctoral studies are sponsored

jointly by KaUsT and Whoi. Whoi shares

strong ties with the University, as it was involved

with the early development of KaUsT's Red sea

Research center and maintains several collabora-

tions between professors and students.

“one of the great privileges of being at KaUsT

is the ability to collaborate with leading universi-

ties in our field," said Prof. Berumen. "Projects of

this type and size lead to really meaningful high

impact work that deserves international attention

and can only be achieved by collaboration with

experts from around the world."

The Current Biology paper, “Dispersal of

Grouper larvae Drives local Resource sharing in

a coral Reef Fishery,” can be accessed at http://

dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.006

SCIenTIFIC STUdy SHOWS THAT MARIne MAnAgeMenT WORKS

دراسة تعاونية تثبت علميًا بالدليل القاطع جدوى اإلدارة البحرية

من كل بينهم من الدوليين الباحثين من فريق أثبت علوم في المساعد األستاذ بيرومين مايكل الدكتور البحار في جامعة الملك عبداهلل للعلوم والتقنية وزميل ما بعد الدكتوراه بابلو ساينز أغوديلو في دراسة تعاونية يديرها التي األسماك ومصائد البحرية المحميات عن المجتمع المحلي أن اإلدارة التقليدية المحلية لمصايد األسماك مجدية للغاية ويمكن أن تلعب دورًا كبيرًا في المساعدة على استعادة الثروة السمكية والحفاظ عليها بمناطق الصيد في الشعب المرجانية التي تحظى بإقبال

شديد في البلدان النامية.الزعنفة تصوير تقنية باستخدام الفريق هذا واستطاع دليل أول إلى التوصل من )fin-printing( الظهرية التي الصغيرة التقليدية الصيد مناطق أن على واضح تديرها المجتمعات المحلية بفاعلية يمكن أن تساعد في إعادة الثروة السمكية لتلك المناطق والمناطق البحرية المحيطة بها. ولهذا االكتشاف تأثيرات كبيرة على مئات الماليين من الناس في جميع أنحاء العالم الذين يعتمدون

على الشعاب المرجانية في الغذاء و كسب الرزق.Current Bi� و ذكر الباحثون في مقالة نشرت في مجلة

ology أنهم عثروا على ساللة محمية من سمك هامور المناطق في بوفرة تعيش المرقش المرجانية الشعاب في بابوا منطقة في المحلية المجتمعات تديرها التي وبالتعاون المحيطة، الصيد ومناطق الجديدة غينيا مع الصيادين المحليين في جزيرة مانوس هناك تمكن من مجموعة زعانف من عينات أخذ من الباحثون الهامور تتكاثر في محمية بحرية صغيرة ثم جمع عينات بعد 33 كم الصغيرة على الهامور أسماك مماثلة من للساللة المنتمية االسماك عدد لتحديد المحمية من

األصلية في المحمية عن طريق تحليل الحمض النووي.ولقد وجد الباحثون أن ما نسبته 17-25 في المائة من المناطق تم جمعها في التي الصغيرة األسماك جميع نفس من كانت المحلية المجتمعات تديرها التي مجموعة األسماك في المحمية وكذلك الحال مع 17-6 في المائة من جميع أسماك الهامور الصغيرة في أربعة مصايد أسماك مجاورة. وتوقع الباحثون من هذه النتائج الصغيرة المرجانية الشعب هامور أسماك نصف أن تعيش على بعد 14 كم من منطقة التكاثر بعد 25 يوم

عندما تفقس من البيض.تطبيقات المشروع "لهذا ان بيرومين الدكتور وقال ومن الحقيقي، للعالم ظاهرة وفوائد جدًا واضحة المهم جدًا أن تستفيد القرى المعنية من عملنا بصورة كبيرة، و أن يعي سكانها هذا المشروع ونتائجه. وقد

فعلوا ذلك فورًا ".يبدوا أن شكل من أشكال اإلدارة البحرية التقليدية قد أدلة من الدراسة هذه تقدمه وما قرون، لعدة استمر علمية ثابته تؤكد ذلك وتؤيد مدى جدواها وفاعليتها. كما أن لنتائج هذه الدراسة أهمية خاصة لدول العالم التي تفتقر إلى مشاريع مصائد األسماك الحكومية أو الغير مدعومة بصورة جيدة و في مناطق مثل مثلث المرجان )إندونيسيا، الفلبين، ماليزيا، بابوا غينيا الجديدة، وجزر سليمان وتيمور الشرقية( الذي يمد مئات الماليين من الصيد نتيجة كبيرة أزمات من ويعاني بالغذاء الناس

الجائر، وضعف التنمية وتغّير المناخ.

وأفاد العلماء أن النتائج التي توصلوا لها ستساعد الناس أوقيانوسيا أنحاء وجميع المرجان مثلث منطقة في التي والفعالة الالزمة المحلية اإلجراءات اتخاذ على تضمن أمنهم الغذائي. ويقول الدكتور غلين ألماني من لهذه األول الكاتب أستراليا في كوك جيمس جامعة كيفية عن بالفعل عظيم مؤشر يعطينا "هذا المقالة ترابط مناطق صيد األسماك المختلفة وإمكانية دعمها لبعضها. كما يظهر لنا أن المجتمع الذي يتحمل تكاليف

تشغيل المحميات البحرية هو المستفيد األكبر".وأوضح البرفسور بيرومين عالقة هذه الدراسة التعاونية بالشعاب المرجانية في منطقتنا بقوله " لسوء الحظ ، تتعرض بعض المناطق في البحر األحمر لمشكلة الصيد الجائر. وقد بينت الدراسة التي قمنا بها في منطقة بابوا أن يمكنها البحرية المحميات أن الجديدة غينيا في تساعد في حفظ وتجديد الثروة السمكية مثل أسماك السعودية. المرجانية الشعاب في الناجل و الهامور ونعتقد من خالل أبحاثنا في البحر األحمر أننا سنشاهد نفس النمط الموجود في منطقة بابوا". و تجدر اإلشارة إلى أنه يطلق على ساللة أسماك الشعاب المرجانية التي تمت دراستها في بابوا في غينيا الجديدة محليًا بالّطرادي

و هي ساللة منحدرة من سمك الناجل. المشروع في عام 2004، لهذا األساسي الفريق تشكل وكان وقتها يتألف من باحثين من جامعة جيمس كوك )WHOI( ومعهد وودز هول لعلوم المحيطات ،)أستراليا(

)الواليات المتحدة( وجامعة بربينيان )فرنسا(. كان الدكتور بيرومين طالب دكتوراه في جامعة جيمس في الدكتوراه بعد ما زميل ثم الوقت، ذلك في كوك معهد ودز هول، وحاليا يعمل عضو في هيئة التدريس في جامعة الملك عبد اهلل منذ عام 2009. كما يشارك في هذا العمل باحثون من منظمة حفظ الطبيعة في غينيا الجديدة، وأستراليا، وجامعة هاواي )الواليات المتحدة(، الجزيرة بحوث ومركز )أستراليا(، ملبورن وجامعة الملك وجامعة الفرنسية( )بولينيزيا البيئي والمرصد

عبداهلل للعلوم و التقنية. كما انضم باحث دراسات ما بعد الدكتوراه في جامعة الملك عبداهلل، بابلو ساينز اغوديلو برعاية مشتركة من جامعة الملك عبد اهلل للعلوم والتقنية ومعهد ودز هول البحر أبحاث مركز تطوير في بارز دور له كان حيث األحمر في الجامعة والحفاظ على عالقات التعاون بين

األساتذة والطالب.ويؤكد الدكتور بيرومين "إن من أعظم امتيازات االنتماء مع التعاون على القدرة هي عبداهلل الملك لجامعة الجامعات الرائدة في مجال عملنا، إذ أن نتائج مشاريع بهذا الحجم و النوع تكون هادفه ومفيدة حقًا وذات تأثير كبير يستحق اإلشادة واالهتمام الدولي ولن يتحقق ذلك

إال بالتعاون مع خبراء من جميع أنحاء العالم".مجلة من األخير العدد في البحث هذا نتائج ونشرت Dispersal of " بعنوان مقال في Current Biology Grouper Larvae Drives Local Resource Sharingعليه اإلطالع باإلمكان و "in a Coral Reef Fisheryhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. التالي الرابط عبر

cub.2013.03.006

May 2013 The BeaconResearch4

Fishers from the locha community return to the village after a long day of catching adult coralgrouper at the spawning aggregation for sample collection. Fishers paddled back and forth from their village to the site each day, a round trip of 10 km.

traditional houses in the background and a fishing canoe in the foreground at the tawi community, one of the five titan (pronounced “tee-tan) communities that worked with researchers during this study.

الصغر. ثم يتم إكمال خلية CQD الشمسية بواسطة ترشيح النقطة الكمية في شبكة األقطاب الكهربائية لألسالك المتناهية الصغر. وساعد الهيكل المتداخل CQD للمادتين الفريق على تجميع شحنات من طبقةأكثر سمكًا وامتصاصًا للضوء مقارنة مع السطح ذو

الوصلة غير المتجانسة. ويأتي نجاح هذا العمل بفعل الضبط الدقيق لمختلف مراحل تصنيع القطب الكهربائي الذي أعطته خاصية إلكترونية جيدة مع تشكيل قابل للضبط، فيما يسعى اإللكترونية الخصائص تحسين على اآلن الباحثون فلم في استخدامها ثم الكهربائية األقطاب لشبكة سمكًا أكثر يكون الضوء امتصاص بخاصية يعمل CQD وذلك للتغلب على محدودية الخاليا الشمسية

على جمع الشحنات. Self-Assembled,“ البحثية الورقة على لإلطالع Nanowire Network Electrodes for Depleted Bulk Advanced في مجلة ”,Heterojunction Solar Cellshttp:// :يرجى الدخول إلى الرابط التالي Materials

dx.doi.org/10.1002/adma.201203759

DR. silVia Masala, a postdoctoral fellow

in the solar and Photovoltaic Engineering

Research center, Division of Physical sciences

and Engineering, authored a paper published

recently in the high-impact materials science

journal Advanced Materials. The issue’s fron-

tispiece illustration was by the center’s Web

and communication administrator, anastasia

Khrenova.

colloidal quantum dot (cQD) solar cells have

attracted growing attention since they were first

introduced in 2005. They offer several advan-

tages over solar cells that use bulk materials

(such as cadmium telluride, copper indium gal-

lium selenide, or silicon) as the photovoltaic

systems’ absorbing material. Rather than having

fixed bandgaps, as is the case with bulk materi-

als, quantum dots have bandgaps that are tunable

across a broad spectrum of energy levels. This

property makes them attractive for heterojuction

solar cells, where the cell’s efficiency is improved

by tuning a variety of different bandgap materials

to different wavelengths of light. in addition to

their advantages regarding properties, quantum

dot solar cells are also easy to fabricate, and they

have a potential for low-cost manufacture.

“Because of their limited ability to efficiently

collect charges, cQD solar cells deliver well under

the short-circuit current density they should be

capable of,” Dr. Masala said. “in these solar cells

in fact, a depletion region for field-driven charge

transport and separation is formed, resulting in

increased efficiency of photogenerated charge

extraction at the electrodes.”

The international research team, including

Dr. Masala and scientists from the University

of Toronto and hefei University of Technology,

developed a depleted heterojunction cQD solar

cell based on a novel nanowire network elec-

trode. The electrode is fabricated by bottom up

approach and consists in a zinc oxide (Zno)

template converted into locally connected, yet

infiltratable, titanium dioxide (Tio2) nanowires.

The cQD solar cell is completed by infiltration of

the quantum dots in the nanowire network elec-

trode. The interpenetrating structure of the two

materials allowed the team to efficiently extract

charges from a thicker, more light absorbing col-

loidal quantum dot active layer compared to a

planar heterojunction.

The success of this work stems from the fine

control of the different stages of fabrication of

the electrode, which allowed good electronic

property and tunable morphology.

The researchers will now work on improving

the electronic properties of network electrode

and implement it in an even thicker absorbing

film overcoming the well-known absorption-

extraction compromise limiting colloidal

quantum dot solar cells.

The Advanced Materials research paper,

“self-assembled, Nanowire Network Electrodes

for Depleted Bulk heterojunction solar cells,”

is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/

adma.201203759.

KaUsT Entrepreneurship center’s Venturelab is a bi-annual entrepreneurial development program that

provides a real-world, hands-on learning experience on how to successfully transform an idea into a

startup business. spring 2013 Venturelab started in February and concluded with a startup showcase

Event held in on april 28.

“What most business schools and textbooks teach us about startups does not really apply in the real

world,” said the event’s host, Entrepreneurship center Manager Mr. ahmed abdulwahab. “With the tra-

ditional business plan method, everything happens inside the building – but there is no knowledge inside

the building, so no business plan survives the first customer contact,” as steve Blank, a successful serial

entrepreneur and lecture at leading Us universities, says. “We do it the other way around: instead of

concentrating and documenting the future unknowns, we ask our entrepreneurs to go outside the build-

ing and talk to customers, partners, etc. We start with customer validation before product development.

This is not another or new approach in entrepreneurship, but rather a fundamental different approach

in how to successfully start a business.”

The ten week spring 2013 Venturelab started with a week of action-oriented teaching and lecturing

sessions by Babson college's award winning entrepreneurship teacher, Professor les charm. over the

following weeks, KaUsT Entrepreneurship center’s team taught and coached the participants as they

validated their product ideas by talking to customers, developed a minimum viable product, made finan-

cial projections, engaged with potential customers, and prepared to pitch their businesses to potential

investors and the showcase Event judges.

“startups are not smaller versions of larger companies,” Mr. abdulwahab explained. “With startups,

it’s about searching – searching for the right business model. instead of concentrating on writing down

the unknown, we encourage our teams to get out of the building, and talk to customers to validate the

product idea. They should then develop a minimal viable product, just one inexpensive feature of the

final product, and again return to the customers to validate it. only after customer validation, only then,

should they start to develop the product or start writing down the business plan.”

Nine teams presented their businesses before a panel of prominent judges: Jamal Naboulsi, Managing

Director of saudi aramco Entrepreneurship center (Wa'ed); Rami abu Ghazaleh, Founder and cEo of

alBaik; aiman alatiqi, Partner at iris capital (sTc Ventures); Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, co-founder and

Board Member of oqal angel Network; Prof. Mootaz Elnozahy, KaUsT Dean of computer, Electrical,

and Mathematical sciences and Engineering Division; and Tony Valenzuela, KaUsT Director of campus

support. Each team was given six or three minutes for the presentation and a further one or two for

questions, answers, and feedback. Judging was based on the proposals’ general assessment; product and

market positioning; business competitiveness; business model; and how the team had prepared their

presentation. The awards were presented by KaUsT Provost Prof. stefan catsicas.

The afternoon’s first award, a Fast-Track to seed Fund Finals, was presented to Rasid, a system

that “monitors, tracks, and acts on the health condition of your car.” Rasid team members are Maha

alsahman (KaUsT industry collaboration Program member/sadara chemical company,) Khalid Mulla

(National commercial Bank), Walid alharbi (Research systems specialist at KaUsT iT), Khalid alMotrafi

(Umm al-Qura University), and Yasmeen algabasani (Dhl saudi).

The main prize of 40,000 sR in cash was sponsored by the MiT startup competition and awarded to

3D Print Your imagination (3D PYi), a business that offers a 3D printing service. The team members are

Mohannad alnabulsi (Qotuf alRiyadah Development company) and Yasser Bahjatt (Qotuf).

May 2013www.kaust.edu.sa 5Research

CQd SOlAR Cell BASed On A nOvel nAnOWIRe neTWORK eleCTROde

SPRIng 2013 venTURelAB STARTUP SHOWCASe

الدكتور سيلفياماساال - املواد املتقدمة

الشهيرة العلمية Advanced Materials نشرت مجلة بعد ما زميل ماساال، سيلفيا للدكتورة بحثية ورقة الدكتوراه في مركز أبحاث هندسة الطاقة الشمسية الفيزيائية والهندسة العلوم بقسم الضوئية والخاليا

بجامعة الملك عبداهلل للعلوم والتقنية. وتعمل الخاليا الشمسية من نوع CQD والتي جذبت في عام إكتشافها اإلعالن عن متزايدا منذ إهتماما 2005 على توفير مزايا عديدة أكثر من تلك الموجودة السائبة المواد تستخدم التي الشمسية الخاليا في السيليكون( أو ،CIGS الكادميوم، تيلوريد )مثل طاقة فجوات استخدام من فبداُل الضوء. لتجميع تستخدم السائبة، المواد في الحال هو كما ثابته يمكن طاقة فجوات CQD نوع من الشمسية الخاليا وهذه النطاق. واسعة طاقة مستويات عبر ضبطها الخاصية تجعلها مناسبة للخاليا الشمسية ذات الوصلة غير المتجانسة حيث يتم تحسين كفاءة الخلية من خالل ضبط مجموعة متنوعة من المواد ذات فجوات طاقة مختلفة تبعًا ألطوال موجية مختلفة من الضوء. وتمتاز الخاليا الشمسية من نوع CQD بسهولة تصنيعها

وانخفاض تكلفتها. الخاليا قدرة ماساال:" سيلفيا الدكتورة وتقول الشمسية CQD على جمع الشحنات بكفاءة محدودة جدًا ، لكنها تعمل بفاعليه كبيرة تحت الكثافة الحالية البنية ساعدت كما القصيرة. الكهربائية للدائرة الشمسية الخاليا مثل الجديدة لألجهزة التركيبية في )HD( المتجانسة غير الوصلة ذات المفرغة تحسينات كبيرة في هذا المجال، حيث يتم في هذه الخاليا تشكيل منطقة إفراغ لنقل وفصل الشحنة مما الكهربائية الشحنات تجميع كفاءة زيادة إلى يؤدي التي يتم توليدها من الضوء في األقطاب الكهربائية. "

وسعى فريق األبحاث الدولي الذي ضم الدكتور ماساال، سارجنت تيد والبروفسور جبور، غسان والبروفسور ذات CQD مفرغة نوع تطوير خاليا شمسية من إلى أقطاب شبكة على باالعتماد متجانسة غير وصلة كهربائية جديدة من األسالك المتناهية الصغر . وتتم تصاعدي منهج باعتماد الكهربائية األقطاب صناعة الى وتحويله )ZnO( الزنك أكسيد قالب وباستخدام المتناهية )TiO2( التايتينيوم أكسيد ثاني أسالك

Dr. silvia masala

venturelab participants and members of the entrepreneurship center team with ahmed abdulwahab, manager of the entrepreneurship center (middle row, far right) and Jamal Naboulsi, managing Director of the aramco Wa’ed (middle row, second from right).

lUca Passone, a member of KaUsT’s founding class who gradu-

ated with an Ms in high Performance computing and is now a

PhD student in Earth sciences, wanted a remote control helicopter

when he was a little boy in Rome, italy. he kept asking his par-

ents for one, but they never gave in. Now, a few years later and

finally able to buy his own, luca turned his pastime into a project

that may allow people to visit archaeological and historical sites

in 3D virtually.

While enjoying flying his copter, Passone thought it would be

interesting to see if he could take photos from it. so he began to

adapt his copter to allow him to do just that. “The copter i am

flying now i made from parts of other ‘projects’ i had around the

house,” he said. “i use a little canon s-90 camera, a point and

shoot, for the photos and recycled materials for everything else.”

Passone’s copter can fly 1 kilometer horizontally away from

him. he says there is no reason it can’t fly that high as well. he has

ordered an osD (on screen Display) for it so he can receive real

time telemetry on the copter’s distance, altitude and speed, which

can also be recorded on an iPhone or iPad for later analysis. he

wears special goggles that allow him to see what the camera on

the copter sees as he flies it.

The copter also has built in GPs. if the machine detects a loss

in control signal or something goes wrong with the video link, it

will rise 20 meters and return to land within a meter of its starting

point. “it’s a safety consideration. although it is light in weight,

you want to be sure it is not going to injure anyone if something

goes wrong,” he said.

The copter took on another dimension when Passone met Dr.

Neil smith, a research scientist from the Geometric Modeling and

scientific Visualization center (GMsV). Dr. smith was interested

to see if they could make 3D point cloud reconstruction using

the copter and a technique called structure for Motion. Two six

minute flights and 200 photos later, it is possible to view a very

realistic 3D reconstruction of the King abdullah Grand Mosque as

if you are flying over and around it in the copter.

Passone and Dr. smith have also teamed up with Professor

Mohammad shalaby of GMsV, who plans to do a full digital

reconstruction of Makkah. his plan, the Digital Makkah Project,

would be a reconstruction of the entire city. it will catalog every

street, every building, and the terrain. They have ordered a larger

copter for use in the project. it can hold three cameras and can

fly up to 15 km away from the starting point while still stream-

ing live video.

“a 3D virtual tour of saudi arabian cultural sites would make

the viewer feel as if they were actually there,” said Dr. smith.

“This could be very important for people who may never have

the opportunity to come to saudi arabia and helpful in spreading

saudi arabia’s cultural heritage to the world.”

Passone and Dr. smith think that museums, schools, and uni-

versities may be interested in their efforts. at present, Dr. smith

is working out the algorithms that would allow for better color

and improve certain weaknesses in the point cloud reconstruction.

They are still in the early stages of the project, they say, but hope

to soon be “flying high.”

Research6 The BeaconMay 2013

ويعتمد فريق بريمااليت منهج متعدد التخصصات من الرياضيات التطبيقية والفيزياء النظرية والحوسبة المتوازية في دراسة انتشار الموجات في األنظمة المضطربة المعقدة من مقياس انغستروم إلى نظام منذ المحاكاة مع تحليلية نظرية بدمج بالذات الدراسة هذه في وفريقه فراتالوتشي وقام تيراهيرتز. ذات للبوليزثايرين المجهرية والكريات الضوئية الكريستال رنين دوائر في التجارب وإجراء البداية

التشكيل المشوه.وغالبًا ما ترتبط العشوائية Chaos بعدم القدرة على التنبؤ، كما تعتبر عاماًل غير مرغوب فيه في المراقبة العلمية. ولكن االمر ليس كذلك بالنسبة للبرفسور اندريا فراتالوتشي وفريقه حيث تمثل بالنسبة لهم نقطة

انطالق لتقنية جديدة إلنتاج الطاقة واسعة االنتشار. وتستند السمة الرئيسية لدوائر الرنين على أنماط تشوه محددة. ويقول فراتالوتشي " يتم بناء دوائر الرنين مثل ، الوقت نفس في لالنعكاس قابل وغير تمامًا عشوائيًا الضوء فيها يصبح معينة بطريقة المشوهة الحركة البراونية للجسيمات في السائل. وتؤدي العملية الى زيادة درجة التعادل الحراري التي تظهر بصورة

ديناميكيات متماسكة من الطاقة المتراكمة داخل النظام". يعرف الحرارية للديناميكية الرئيسية المبادئ أحد البحث عن ورقة في تم طرحها التي النظرية وتتحدث بالتوزيع المتساوي للطاقة ، له تأثير كبير في الزيادة الهائلة للطاقة. ومن المالحظات البارزة هنا، زيادة معدل امتصاص الطاقة مع بقاء المقاس والحجم ثابتين. يقول فراتالوتشي " هذا أمر مهم جدًا اذا ما أخذنا في االعتبار أن أشباه الموصالت تشكل 50 في المائة من سعر وحدة واحدة من الخاليا الشمسية. اضافة الى أن تجميع الطاقة العشوائية ال حدود لفاعليته من الناحية النظرية ، إذ يمكن زيادة الطاقة في النظم المثلى حتى

أكثر من 600 في المائة من القيمة التي ورد ذكرها في الورقة البحثية".

فإذا استطعنا ببساطة زيادة األداء في أشباه الموصالت بصورة كبيرة بواسطة إعادة تشكيلها وقمنا باستخدام نفس كمية المواد، عندها نكون قد ابتكرنا نموذج إلنتاج الطاقة أكثر فعالية من حيث التكلفة.

في المراجع وأحد للنشر Nature مجموعة في العلمية التقارير كّتاب أحد فراتالوتشي البرفسور ويعتبر لديهم الذين العالم في الرواد العلماء من أنه كما العلمية. Nature and Physical Review مجالت أشاد التي و الضوئيات الصاعدة في علم المجاالت أحد العشوائية - األنظمة إسهامات قيمة في دراسة البرفسور فراتالوتشي بأهميتها بقوله " معظم األوراق البحثية التي تنشر اآلن في المجالت العلمية الرائدة هي في هذا المجال". وال يقتصر دور هذه األنظمة على تجميع الطاقة فقط، بل إن لديها تطبيقات أخرى في مجاالت الطب وعلوم المواد. وتقوم أبحاث البرفسور فراتالوتشي الحالية حول كيفية انتشار الضوء في األنسجة البشرية. وهذا النوع من األبحاث يندرج تحت مجال الضوئيات الحيوية أو Biophotonics والتي

يمكن أن تؤدي إلى تطوير تقنيات لتشخيص مرض السرطان دون الحاجة لعملية جراحية وغير ضارة. ويقول البرفسور فراتالوتشي " قد نستطيع مستقباًل تحديد ما إذا كان الشخص مصاب بمرض في أقل من ثانية عبر وضع الياف بصرية على الجلد تقوم باسترجاع نبضة باستخدام التشتت الضوئي داخل أنسجة الجسم". بريمااليت في وقت مبكر أعضائه لمواصلة االبتكارعبر اليها فريق التي توصل الباهرة النتائج وقد شجعت

تطبيق الضوئيات في مجال النظم البيولوجية.تجدر اإلشارة إلي أن منشورات فريق بريمااليت منذ تأسيسه قبل عامين بلغ عددها 14 مادة علمية )11 منها تمت طباعتها و 3 تم قبولها( وتم االستشهاد بمقاالتهم العلمية 11 مرة. كما نشرت لهم ست أبحاث علمية في عام 2012 ، ثالث منها تم قبولها هذا الشهر )اثنان في مجلة Nature Photonics وواحدة في

.)Nature Scientific Reports مجلة

CHAOS تتمة مجع الطاقة باستخدام مبدأ العشوائية

HIgH-FlyIng QUAdCOPTeR’S PHOTOS ReSUlT In 3d HISTORICAl vIRTUAl TOURS

Research 7www.kaust.edu.sa May 2013

MOHAMMAD ADNAN KHAN RECEIVES AWARD FOR WORK ON POLyMER ELECTRONICS

PhD sTUDENT Mohammad

adnan Khan has been rec-

ognized for his research on

low-cost printed electronics

using functional polymeric

materials and devices.

Khan, who is majoring

in Materials science and

Engineering, is a mem-

ber of Professor husam

alshareef’s Functional

Nanomaterials and Devices laboratory. he received his

latest recognition from the Gulf Petrochemicals and

chemicals association (GPca), the largest petrochemical

and chemicals association in the Middle East.

The GPca recognitions are awarded for excellence and

innovative ideas, achievements, and improvements in

polymeric products, processes, and their sustainability.

Khan was recognized with a special “student Talent in

Plastics award,” a category where students are judged on

their achievements in research projects, publications in

refereed journals, intellectual property filings, and meas-

urable track records in exams and diplomas.

The GPca Plastic innovation awards 2013 winners

were announced in the GPca Plastcon 2013 conference

in Dubai on april 8.

PROFESSOR MARKOWICH AWARDED JOHN VON NEUMANN VISITING CHAIR AT TUM

DR. PETER Markowich,

Distinguished Professor of

applied Mathematics and

computational science, has

been awarded the John von

Neumann Visiting chair at

the Technische Universität

München (TUM). The Von

Neumann Visiting chair

is awarded to outstand-

ing researchers in the

Mathematical sciences.

as a Visiting Professor at TUM, Prof. Markowich will

offer a ‘John von Neumann Gastvorlesung’, which intro-

duces advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate

students to research in applied mathematics.

Upon receiving the Visiting Professorship, Prof.

Markowich said, “i hope to make good use of this unique

opportunity to intensify the already excellent scientific

contacts and collaborations between TUM and KaUsT.”

DR. DONALD BROWN AWARDED 2013 INTERPORE�FRAUNHOFER AWARD

DR. DoNalD Brown, a post-

doctoral fellow in cEMsE

in the strategic Research

initiative for Numerical

P o r o u s M e d i a , h a s

recently been awarded the

prestigious 2013 interPore-

Fraunhofer award for

Young Researchers. The

award is granted annually

by the international society

for Porous Media to young researchers for outstanding

contributions in the areas of porous and composite mate-

rial modeling and computer simulations. The award will be

presented at the interpore conference and annual Meeting

May 22-24 in Prague, czech Republic. The winners are

awarded 5000 euros and are invited to visit and collaborate

with researchers at Fraunhofer iTWM in Germany.

Dr. Brown’s research bridges pore-scale modeling, sim-

ulations, and experiments to system-level studies, such as

field studies in subsurface. This is important for modeling

and accurate predictions at large scales. Dr. Brown is cur-

rently working with associate Professor of Earth sciences

and Engineering, Victor calo, on multi-scale modeling

and simulations of unconventional reservoirs.

Through the use of nuclear magnetic res-

onance (NMR) spectroscopy, the researchers

discovered that palladium tricyclohexylphos-

phine N-heterocyclic carbene complexes can

act as tandem catalysts in reaction media, lib-

erating hydrogen from formic acid and then

using the hydrogen to hydrogenate the sub-

strates. Tandem catalytic hydrogenation of

alkenes and alkynes through the use of for-

mic acid was effectively carried out using

the complexes. Prof. cavallo and Dr. albert

Poater, a KaUsT visiting researcher from the

Universitat de Girona, performed the compu-

tational side of the research to clarify how the

catalyst complexes work, with the scientists

from st andrews carrying out the experimen-

tal research.

“i see computational chemistry as a kind of

microscope that can be used to investigate

nature, to get information and to get new

ideas to move forward, and i very much like

to collaborate with the experimentalists,” says

Prof. cavallo. “in the paper, we provide the

full characterization of the reaction pathway

for the release of hydrogen from formic acid,”

he notes. “The next step – hydrogenation of a

substrate with hydrogen – was very standard.

That was not the big issue, but it was unclear

through which mechanism the transforma-

tion of formic acid to hydrogen could occur.

computational chemistry is extremely helpful

because it enables us to characterize all the

steps from the beginning to the end of a reac-

tion to understand [it].”

Prof. cavallo hopes that the work with

the pal ladium tr icyclohexylphosphine

N-heterocyclic carbene complexes will lead to

an easier hydrogenation process for industry,

resulting in cheaper goods for consumers. and

although “people normally think of hydrogen

storage in terms of using hydrogen to run a

car,” he says, “there are other industrial pro-

cesses where the handling and storage of

hydrogen is important. catalytic hydrogena-

tion is one of these processes.”

tAndem CAtAlyst | Continued from p1

ACCOlAdeS

ترادفي بحافز الهدرجة عملية باستخدام بفاعلية غير الدهنية الهيدروكاربونية )المركبات للكينات الهيدروكربونية )العناصر والكاينات المشبعة( رابطة على والمحتوية المفتوحة السلسلة ذات

ثالثية واحدة(. ويقوم كل من الدكتور كافالو والدكتور ألبرت بوتير والقادم اهلل عبد الملك لجامعة الزائر الباحث الحاسوبية الجوانب بتولي جيرونا دي جامعة من فيما الحفز، مركبات تعمل كيف لتوضيح للبحث بالقيام اندروز سانت جامعة من العلماء يقوم

الفعلية. بالتجارب الحاسوبية الكيمياء كافالو الدكتور ويشبه "بالمجهر الذي يستخدم للتحقيق ودراسة الطبيعة جديدة أفكار وعلى المعلومات على للحصول "يفضل أنه كما العلوم". في التقدم على تساعد العمل التعاوني مع العلماء الذين يقومون بالتجارب البحثية الورقة في قدمنا "لقد ويقول: العلمية". لتحرير الكيميائي التفاعل لمسار كامل وصف

تتمة اهلدرجة باستخدام احلافز الرتاديف

Prof. luigi cavallo and his co-author, KaUst visiting researcher Dr. albert Poater, discuss computational chemistry at the University.

Reprinted with permission from J. Am. Chem. Soc., March 27, 2013, 135(12) cover. Copy-

right 2013 American Chemical Society.”

Cover illustration by KAUST Scientific Illustrator ekaterina Mikhaylova.

والخطوة الفورميك. حمض من الهيدروجين قياسية بطريقة الهدرجة بعملية القيام هي التالية تحول آلية تحديد هو المشكلة ولكن مكمن جدًا. حمض الفورميك الى هيدروجين. و هنا تأتي فائدة الكيمياء الحاسوبية في أنها تستطيع وصف جميع نهايته الى بدايته من الكيميائي التفاعل خطوات

ليسهل فهمه".التجارب على تؤدي "أن الدكتور كافالو في ويأمل حلقات على المحتوية الحلقية الباالديوم مركبات palladium tricyclohexyl� متجانسة غير كاربين

تبسيط إلى phosphine N-heterocyclic carbeneعملية الهدرجة في الصناعة األمر الذي سوف يسهم للمستهلكين". أرخص بضائع و سلع انتاج في ليست الهيدروجين احتواء "عملية بإن ويؤكد يعتقد كما فقط السيارات تشغيل على مقصورة مهمه أخرى صناعية عمليات توجد بل الكثيرين،

."كهدرجة الحفز مثاًل ،z تعتمد عليها

May 2013 Community8 The Beacon

KAUST President Choon Fong Shih speaks at the President’s Reception on May 7, where he was honored by the University family for his service to KAUST, and his leadership, vision, and dedication to the University’s mission. Prof. Shih will step down as founding President on June 30.

my universityNicholas Firth Nicholas Firth joined KaUsT three months ago from Glasgow, scotland, as the safaa

Racquet club Manager. From his current office at the harbor sports center, Nick has been

busy engaging the KaUsT community with various racquet sport activities and prepar-

ing for the opening of the Racquet club in the coming months. “i want to make sure that

tennis is accessible for everybody,” he told The Beacon.

Born in the small scottish town of Dunoon, Nick loved sports as a kid, and moved to

Glasgow after school. he started playing tennis at the age of six, and it soon became his

favorite sport. Prior to joining KaUsT, Nick worked for five years as the head coach of

Giffnock Tennis club, with its 800 members, in Glasgow.

Motivated by seeing players of all ages and skill levels improve, Nick has set up popu-

lar racquet sport activities on campus. his diverse coaching programs cater to everyone from

beginners looking for a new physical activity, as well as children and adults who play tennis

for social or competitive reasons. a popular new session called cardio tennis “is like aerobics on the tennis

court. That’s pulling in people that wouldn’t normally play tennis at all, which is great,” said Nick.

social tennis sessions on saturdays also attract players with basic skills to the safaa Gardens school ten-

nis courts for a series of timed match play sessions. “it’s a good chance for players to meet other people and

introduce people to each other," he added.

a competitive tennis and squash tournament was recently inaugurated and attracted a good number of

people. “i’ve been impressed by the facilities at KaUsT, and it’s a good thing that a lot of people in the com-

munity are already active in several sports,” Nick remarked. he has even started a talent identification process

to move kids that show particular talent and commitment into smaller groups and further develop their skills.

“i would like to improve and produce some really good tennis players as well as look into the possibility of

doing both competitive and social trips in the region," he concluded.

oN aPRil 14 and 27, the KaUsT community was treated to two “in-house” concerts presented by

members of the community.

The community concert on april 14 featured both the orchestra and the chorus, with the orchestra

performing J.s. Bach, W.a. Mozart, several contemporary pieces, and a regional work by Egyptian

singer and composer Mohammed abdel Wahab. The chorus delighted the audience with songs rang-

ing from those based on verse from carl sandburg to the irish melody, “Danny Boy.”

“The orchestra and chorus marveled us again,” said Damián san Román alerigi, a PhD student in

the Photonics laboratory. “it was fantastic to see the members of our community coming together

to bring us – even for an hour – wonderful tunes and a joyful time.” added Daniel Binham, a PhD

student in the Geometric algorithms Group and a member of the chorus, “My favorite moment was

[the performance of] ‘oh Danny Boy, i love you so.’ i felt the same for the concert.”

The sunset concert on april 27, which was held in the beautiful setting of the University library,

included pieces for piano, guitar, and violin, and featured composers such as arcangelo corelli,

Edward Elgar, and Mozart. a special treat was a performance of La Partida by Víctor Jara, a chilean

singer-songwriter, for which Gustavo Quino Quispe, a master’s student in Mechanical Engineering,

played the quena, the traditional flute of the andes Mountains, and the charango, another andean

instrument that resembles a lute. angel T. Garcia Esparza, a PhD student in chemical science,

accompanied Quino Quispe on the guitar.

“Bravo and hats off!” Rachel Yeh, community member, said of the concerts. “looking forward to

more of the same.” The sunset concert series will resume in september, and a community concert

will follow in November.

FRoM april 8-22, the University library hosted its fourth annual “artists

of KaUsT” exhibition to showcase the artistic and creative talent found

in our community. This year’s event featured a selection of works sub-

mitted by close to 30 individuals and by two collaborating groups of

artists. The exhibition’s 80 diverse works included paintings and draw-

ings in different styles and media, photographs from KaUsT and around

the word, painted textiles, wood burning, collage, jewelry, sculpture, and

stained glass.

The featured artists were both hobbyists and professionals who have

joined the KaUsT community to work, study, or to support their spouses.

This year’s youngest participants were The KaUsT school’s K2 students,

who had collaborated on their mixed-media collage as part of their

unit of inquiries. Their work was commissioned by averda, and will be

installed at the community Reuse center as part of the center’s sign.

The exhibition was organized by the University library and the arts

office, and was curated by library employee Bodoor shugdar and

KaUsT artists Rachel Weitzman-Yeh and Tamara Jones.

ARTISTS OF KAUST 2013

artists of KaUst at the opening event.

artists' work on display in the University library.

‘BRAvO And HATS OFF!’ FOR KAUST’S SUnSeT And COMMUnITy COnCeRTS

the musicians from the sunset concert on april 27 pose together in the University library venue.photo credit: Damián San Román Alerigi