2008

Solar cell using CuInGaSe2 nano-materials: for efficient solar cell development

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

This project deals with the growth and device development to enhance solar energy efficiency. The material chosen in this project is CuInGaSe2. Although this material has been used for solar cells before, we will here for the first time dope it with some rare earth metals for up-conversion of the solar radiation received with the aim enhance the efficiency. The project with involve simple growth technique, namely the Sol gel method. In addition, device fabrication of efficient solar energy diodes is also to be conducted. Our plan to to build a mini research network between Qatar, Egypt and Sweden. We are looking for an interested researcher from Qatar institutions to be a partner in this project.

Respiratory system mechanics

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Our lab has been recognized for its contribution in the area of respiratory muscle mechanics. We are hoping to uncover mechanisms of chest wall remodeling in respiratory disease.

Therapeutic and Diagnostic Application of RF/Microwave

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

RF and Microwave frequencies have been used in medical applications for their ability to control delivery of heat for therapy and to build inherently small implantable devices for diagnostic applications. As an example, a wireless implantable intracranial pressure monitoring device has been developed and animal tested to facilitate long-term measurement of intracranial pressure. The implant can be modified to incorporate a mechanism to drain excessive amounts of cerebrospinal fluid to alleviate intracranial hypertension. This device/implant can also be modified to measure pressure inside other body cavities.

Luminescent Lanthanide units for biomedical applications

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Development of novel lumniescent units for biomedical applications including drug discovery and diagnostic tools. Fabrication of new fiber optic sensors will be done in collaboration with Regensburg university,Germany as we are currently in international collaborations with them in two international projects(SFP982697 and GERF projects).Nanotechnology will be also included for the preparation of novel Silca based luminescent sensors for biomedical and environmental applications.

Intelligent Transportation Systems

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

"Existing road transportation system is facing severe problems – capacity shortage, poor safety, unreliability, inefficient fuel consumption and environmental pollution. Sustainable solutions to alleviate traffic congestion, such as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), have been widely implemented in many urban areas in Canada and the U.S. ITS capitalize on emerging computer and communication technologies to respond to the dynamic and random nature of traffic almost instantaneously. Recent advancements in ITS have shown that ITS strategies are able to effectively reduce congestion, incidents and emissions in urban areas, given the same street network. This is achieved through a variety of real-time control, management and information dissemination strategies. These strategies are highly interrelated and can be synergized to improve transportation system performance.
The infrastructure of an urban corridor under ITS typically includes (1) adaptive traffic control signals that manage the dispersion of traffic on urban arterials, (2) adaptive ramp metering that dynamically controls the number of vehicles entering a freeway, (3) variable speed limit signs that enable dynamic change of the posted speed limit on freeways to smooth traffic flow, and (4) Advanced Traveller Information Systems (ATIS) that provide real-time traffic information to commuters, who will be able to make informed trip decisions to avoid congested routes by rescheduling/canceling trips or using another mode or route.
So far, little research has been conducted into the integration of the various ITS strategies, in order to achieve optimal traffic management for real-life transportation networks. In this era of rapid technological change, there is considerable scope to solve this large-scale problem and to integrate the relevant systems at reasonable cost.Thus, the basic philosophy of the proposed research is to enhance existing traffic control and management methodologies, in order to effectively reduce congestion within urban corridor networks, by developing integrated ITS strategies."

Large Matrices of optical switches based on Multimode interference Couplers

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

"A large switch matrix is highly demanded in current optical network systems. It is very desirable to realize large matrices on a single chip to minimize insertion loss and cost for high port count connection. Firstly, when multiple arms in MMI-MZI were placed on the same substrate, thermal coupling clearly limited the device’s performance [1] The silicon trenches in silicon substrate as done in my previous work [2, 3] would be invested to build a large switching matrix. Secondly, when 2×2 or 1×2 optical switch was used as a basic element to build a large switching matrix, the intersection among single mode waveguides fr om cascading switches lim ited the device’s performance (crosstalk) [4]. Further research can be carried out to build a large switching matrix by using MMI couplers.

References
[1] Grosskopf, G. Silica Based Optical Beam Former for 60 GHz Array Antennas. Fiber and Integrated Optics. 22(1), 35-46. 2003
[2] Abdulaziz M. Al-hetar, I. Yulianti, Abu Sahmah M. Supa’at, A.B. Mohammad. Thermo-optic multimode interference switches with air and silicon trenches. Optics Communications 281, pp. 4653–4657, 2008.
[3] Abdulaziz M. Al-hetar, Abu Sahmah M. Supa’at, A.B. Mohammad, I. Yulianti. Crosstalk improvement of a thermo-optic polymer waveguide MZI–MMI switch. Optics Communications, 281, pp. 5764-5767, 2008
[4] Ralf Hauffe . Integrated Optical switching matrices constructed from digital optical switch based on polymer rib waveguide. Ph.D. Thesis. Berlin University. 2002"

Adult Content Detection and Blocking Processor Chip (Hardware SoC)

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

"Controlling pornographic or indecent content at work place or home is a major concern for employers and parents, together (esp. muslim countries). With the ubiquitous nature of Internet and potential of exposing minors to the dark side of Internet, many governments, such as, China have attempted to protect its citizens fr om the inappropriate content that exist on the Internet. The US Congress in 2007 approved the “Child Safe Viewing Act” to protect children from exposure to indecent or objectionable content, however that is lim ited to broadcast media, NOT internet. V-chip is not appropriate for internet or personal computers, as there is no rating embedded in internet images, and video.

Avieon offers a real time intelligent analysis of video for adult content detection and blocking using a Programmable Hardware (Processor) and Software algorithm. The analysis is performed at a stage when the graphics/video processor completes its processing activities and the output stream is ready for display. Hence, the architecture eliminates the issues associated with the filtering and blocking of graphics that are generated on the fly."

Dromedary heavy chain antibodies-based new therapeutic agents for human and animal diseases

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

"The camelids (Camelus dromedarius, Camelus bactrianus, Lama glama, Lama pacos, Lama guanicoe and Lama vicugna) are the only surviving species within the Camelidae family, suborder of Tylopoda, order of the Artiodactyla. Although the camelids are economically important in South American, North African and Middle East countries, their immune system was barely investigated until the mid-1990s. It was then reported that these animals contain in their serum a unique class of antibodies that lack the light-chains, the Heavy-chain only antibodies (abbreviated as HCAbs) which account for approximately 50% of the serum antibodies in the dromedary.
The aims of this project are to:
 Develop new VHHs for the targeting of proteins expressed by cancer cells at their membrane or intracytoplasmic (intrabodies). These VHH are selected from immunized animals or from naïve or synthetic phage display libraries.

 Immunize pregnant she-camels with inactivated bacteria causing diarrhea in calves so they produce, in their colostrums and milk, antibodies that can neutralize these bacteria and prevent calves' mortality."

The Development of International Elementary English Language Training Resources

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

"Elementary English Language Training or ELT - for Global Sales and Marketing
- Joint Venture/Collaboration
- vast potential as both an economic source other than oil, & altruistically as pedagogically correct (background research on request)
- I need a business partner to do everything related to the collaboration since my forte is the academic side. My project is perfect as a collaboration with your Ministry of Education, IT and as a project re. business university
- totally innovative
- Internationally needed
Please contact me for details.
Thank you.
Mary Meyers, President"

Detection, identification, and confinement of compromised nodes for resilient wireless sensor networks

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

"Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) - composed of a large number of small resource-limited sensors - have many real, anticipated and imagined applications.
Many (or even most) Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are assumed to operate in real-time mode where, soon after acquiring data, sensors communicate it to a trusted on-line entity, i.e., a sink. There are also other application settings where the real-time mode is not viable, due to the intermittent or sporadic sink presence.
We identify some reasons for this, listed in the order of perceived likelihood:
1) The sink, as a centralized and trusted collection point, represents a critical resource. It is a single point of failure and a very attractive attack target.
2) The operating environment can preclude sink's constant presence.
3) On a related note, if the scale (in terms of number of sensors) and/or the coverage (in terms of geographical area) of the WSN is very large, the sink needs to be itinerant.
4) As a computationally powerful entity involved in massive data processing and communication with a multitude of sensors, the sink requires a lot of energy.
Thus, although the sink may be physically present at all times, it might need to be switched off periodically in order to preserve its energy budget.
The entire class of WSNs with intermittent sink presence is referred to as Unattended Wireless Sensor Networks or UWSNs. Envisaged UWSN settings include:
- An UWSN deployed to monitor a critical infrastructure, as well as deployed to ease the recovery of the critical infrastructure.
- A treaty compliance UWSN operating under a United Nations mandate in a rogue nation, in order to monitor nuclear emissions.
Not coincidentally, these examples have a common feature of being deployed in hostile environments, albeit, the level of “hostility” clearly varies. Regardless of the
specifics, a hostile environment implies the existence of an adversary. In prior WSN security literature, adversary's goals typically include: deletion, injection and
modification of data sent by sensors to the sink, or commands sent by the sink to the sensors. Other types of attacks might involve cloning of compromised sensors,
creation of routing anomalies and sleep deprivation (which causes battery depletion). Also, prior work usually assumes that some upper-bounded number of sensors will be compromised over the entire life-time of the network (individual sensor compromise is viable since tamper-resistance is unrealistic for most WSN settings).
With reference to the above described scenario, we can envisage a set of coherent research activities that can be performed, that is:
- To investigate novel techniques for the detection of compromised sensors operating within the UWSN. These techniques will be tailored to the resource constraints sensors are subject to.
- To shed light on fundamental limitations that could affect the properties of confidentiality, privacy, data integrity and authenticity, when required to be enforced in an UWSN.
- To identify mechanisms that could allow an UWSN to continue providing a predefined level of service even when it is under attack from corrupted nodes operating within the UWSN;
- To provide self-healing mechanisms to recover the full fledged functionalities expected by the UWSN, once the attack has been detected."

Reader less RFID System using IPv6 and IEEE802.11 Standard

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Reader is one of the costly component in RFID system. The proposed project will employ IEEE802.11 protocol to access a PC directly to avoid traditional Reader. It will also employ IPv6 for inbuilt security. The proposed system will be an Active system, where solar cell will be used to power the Tag through the usage of Supercapacitor.

Thermal management of microsystems

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

As engineering systems advanced in capacity and capability, so are the sizes. Thermal management is an integral part of such systems and various methods that pose as potential solution for heat sinks can be considered with theoretical and numerical simulation. Conventional numerical schemes as well as the latest Lattice-Boltzmann method can be used to identify efficient systems. Constructal theory using entropy generation minimization can also be applied.

Portable Gamma-ray Tomography Instrumentation for investigating corrosion under insulation of pipelines

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Within industries that use industrial insulation, there are many integrity and safety challenges. One of the more serious issues, Corrosion under Insulation (CUI) is one that requires urgent attention. Corrosion under insulation (CUI) is exactly as it says, over time pipes may corrode while set inside the insulation, the pipes are shielded from the naked eye and so often go unnoticed. A method, preferably non-destructive in nature, is required to precisely perform this measurement whose data will be used as a basis for determining whether or not the pipes need to be replaced. Gamma-ray tomography is intended for the inspection of CUI as it is a non-destructive and contact-less procedure, therefore, can be used for pipes at, essentially, any temperature. It is able to produce the image of the cross-sectional slices of the investigated pipe.

Personal transportation/mobility and accessibility

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

"To evaluate the effectiveness of providing accessibility information about Points of Interests to people in Qatar regardless of age and ability.
•
Plan to leverage govt. and other sources of information regarding accessible transportation; points of interest

•Use of social media to crowd-source information and connect citizens, govt. and local businesses

Providing location-based information / services to mobile users
---------------------------
I am very interested in knowing about the IP policies for organizations like IBM. Please can you help me connect with appropriate people to discuss.

Thanks,
Pawan"

Novel Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Powered by Fossil Fuels

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

We are interested in the development of a new generation of solid oxide fuel cells that can efficiently convert fossil fuels directly to electricity with minimum emissions (see our recent publication in Science, 326, 126-129, 2009 ).

Various, on water reuse, improving irrication efficiency, aspects of biofuel production, including pyrolysis

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

We have expertise in a range of topics in a semi-arid environment, including but not confined to drought tolerance, molecular and traditional approaches, new crops, drip irrigation, integrated food production systems, fruit quality assessment, see: http://cpws.cqu.edu.au/FCWViewer/view.do?site=13

Interactive Simulation for Cardiac Surgeon using Augmented Reality

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Most of the time cardiac surgeon will bring his/her students (a surgeon) to his operation theater, unfortunately bring in more than 2 surgeon is not a good practice. This research intend to develop an interactive learning for surgeons to practice and have extra experience to become cardiac surgeon. The research will focus on the video capturing technique, real heart 3D reconstruction, tracking and real time processing. Expected result will be an interactive learning system where user will only need to where Head Mounted Device to feel and sense the real cardiac surgery.

Geometrical Reverse Engineering using Optical flow approach.

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

This project focuses on deploying Optical Flow approach to capture 3D dimension of an object. By using a single camera and a piece of black platform, dimension of an object will be captured to automatically generating 3D blue print.

Design of an Intelligent On-site ZnO Surge Arrester Condition Monitoring System

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

It is well known that a resistive current flow along the arrester body will cause the arrester to heat up, and this rise in temperature can be measured using thermal profiling camera. An unusual increase in temperature due to higher resistive current which in turn is due to ageing can therefore be quickly detected and attended to. Project proposes a new concept on-line monitoring the degradation or aging of ZnO surge arresters based on the correlation between heating and leakage current

Hypertension and cardiovascular disease in different ethnic groups

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0300

Our research group is open for collaboration from different groups regarding hypertension, subsequent end-organ damage and cardiovascular events in various ethnic groups.