Razaan Al Nuaimi

Source: WAM

Aspire UAE announced providing one out of four seats within the International Visiting Professor Program to Professor Hani Faraj, an expert in sustainable transportation solutions at York University in Canada, who will join Khalifa University in the UAE under the "Senior Researcher" category, utilizing his qualifications in research focused on distributed energy sources, such as transportation systems based on electricity, hydrogen, or gas, aiming to establish a unified smart energy framework. The research funding for the program amounted to 10 million dirhams, equivalent to 3,706,000 Canadian dollars, contributing to attracting distinguished researchers from leading global institutes and educational institutions.

Khalifa University allocated a second seat to Denmark, thus having two seats out of the four in this program, also hosting Professor Huai Wang from Aalborg University in Denmark, who has extensive expertise in research specializing in power electronics, collaborating with his peers at Khalifa University to tackle long-term challenges in power electronic converter operations used in energy systems relying on certain tools such as artificial intelligence based on physics. Khalifa University will also provide both visiting professors with the opportunity and ability to involve their best research teams, facilitating their efforts to complete and extract effective results for major challenges in the field.

The other two seats are scheduled to be hosted by both Zayed University and the United Arab Emirates University under the "Rising Star" category, which targets researchers who are considered mid-career with good reputations in their specialties, granting them the opportunity and enabling them to expand the scope of their research.

As for United Arab Emirates University, it will host Professor Adriano Camps from Spain, a global researcher specializing in microwave engineering, remote sensing, and reflection measurement using the Global Navigation Satellite System. Professor Camps, who founded a small satellite facility at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain, will work at both the United Arab Emirates University and the National Center for Space Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, where the first satellite manufacturing facility is being established at the United Arab Emirates University in cooperation with Tawazun Company and Airbus.

As for Zayed University, it will host Professor Jalal bin Othman from Paris-Saclay University / CentraleSupélec, specializing in smart transportation management, to contribute to upgrading the transportation network infrastructure in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, through the use of advanced technologies such as smart grids, artificial intelligence, connected and autonomous vehicles, and drones to improve transportation management in the capital.

The CEO of the Technology Innovation Institute and Aspire, Dr. Ray Johnson, stated at this event: "The International Visiting Professor Program will help attract a group of globally leading researchers to the capital, whose work will assist in developing effective solutions to many of the key challenges facing the country."

He added: "The Technology Innovation Institute anticipates strengthening aspects of cooperation and exchanging ideas with prominent international researchers in the fields of space, energy, sustainability, and mobility, and the advanced technology research centers affiliated with the Technology Innovation Institute are committed to partnering with like-minded individuals worldwide to ensure the advancement of innovation and science."

It is worth mentioning that Aspire UAE previously announced earlier this year an investment of 200 million dirhams, equivalent to 74,120,000 Canadian dollars, to fund three research institutes contributing to enhancing sustainable energy systems, food security, and biomedical technology for precision medicine. These research institutes will also facilitate collaboration between leading global research centers worldwide to support the knowledge economy.