TEXAS A&M AT QATAR's annual showcase focuses on the impact of research and partnerships with industry

Texas A&M University at Qatar recently hosted its sixth annual Research-Industry Partnership Showcase, “Making an Impact” at the Sheraton Grand Hotel and Conference Center.

The annual event highlights the work performed by Texas A&M at Qatar faculty, staff and student researchers to help realize sustainable solutions to real-world issues with high relevance to Qatar and contribute to Qatar’s goal of being a knowledge-based economy. The showcase also aims to strengthen partnerships with local industry to maximize shared opportunities and pursuits of mutual interest.

“Through research, which creates new knowledge and drives innovation, Texas A&M at Qatar is directly contributing to Qatar’s goal of becoming a knowledge-based society as outlined in Qatar National Vision 2030,” said Dr. César O. Malavé, dean of Texas A&M at Qatar. “We are proud to partner with industry collaborators to help realize sustainable solutions to real-world issues with high relevance to Qatar and contribute to Qatar’s goal of being a knowledge-based economy. We have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with industry in Qatar and continue to look for ways to explore, encourage, enrich and expand collaborations for the benefit of the State of Qatar and its greatest natural resource, its people.”

Invited talks this year were given by Dr. Hamad Al-Ibrahim, executive vice president of research and development at Qatar Foundation, and Dr. Abdul Sattar Al-Taie, executive director of the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF). The symposium also included a special panel discussion, “The Research Environment in Qatar, its Future and How to Increase Texas A&M at Qatar’s Impact,” featuring representatives from local industry, including Dr. Marwa Al-Ansary, R&D and technology manager for Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre; Al-Taie from QNRF; Eng. Saleh Hamad Mohammed Al-Marri, head of renewable energy technology at Kahramaa; and Yousef Mohammed Al-Jaber, deputy director of the Total Research Center in Qatar. Dr. Hassan S. Bazzi, associate director of research at Texas A&M at Qatar, moderated the discussion.

Students and researchers from Texas A&M at Qatar displayed research findings and outcomes of their recent projects, emphasizing their impact to local and international

scientific and technical communities. Several research centers also were represented, including the Gas and Fuels Research Center, the Advanced Scientific Computing Center, the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center and the Smart Grid.

In the student poster session, first place went to Abdul Salam Abd, second place to Muhammad Ghufran Rafique and third place to Mohammed Jaffrin. In the research staff poster session, Grigorios Matenoglou placed first, Sun Hee Yoon second and Dalila Chouikhi third.

Dr. Konstantinos Kakosimos, assistant professor in the Chemical Engineering Program at Texas A&M at Qatar, co-chaired this year’s event, and said, “For Texas A&M at Qatar, making an impact transcends all our activities. This year’s showcase presented the contributions of our students, researchers and faculty, and how their tangible research outcomes do make an impact in Qatar. Participants from industry and local society actively engaged in fruitful discussions and appraised Texas A&M, but they also formed a clear message: more need to be done to demonstrate these achievements.”