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NEWSLETTER

No. 1/2015-2016 April, 2015

It has been quite some time that the International Advisory Board (IAB) Newsletter was brought out. We hope to bring it

out regularly in future. The IAB has held four meetings since

the last Newsletter was published. The details of the topics

discussed will be presented below.

In the recent past, the following IAB members discontinued

due to their other commitments:

Prof. Robert Birgeneau

Prof. John Etchemendy

Mr. Andrew Gould

While Prof. Birgeneau was relatively a new member, Prof.

Etchemendy and Mr. Gould were members since the inception

of IAB. Their contributions were greatly acknowledged by the Board as well as the University.

The University is considering inducting new members to

replace the outgoing members soon.

As for the IAB meeting, deviating from its previous practice of holding two days full Board sessions, a new format was

introduced during this meeting, as per the suggestion of the

Board in its previous meeting. In this new format, as an

experiment, the following four topics were selected and the

IAB members were divided into four groups, identifying a

Chair for each team, and were assigned to discuss these

topics thoroughly with the University participants:

Research Institute

College of Industrial Management

College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences

KFUPM Endowment Fund

With this format, we will be able to fully engage the IAB

members and it will also enable optimum utilization of their

time. On the second day, the outcomes of these discussions were

presented to the full Board for its deliberation and comments.

The small teams of IAB members had a chance

to deeply dive into these topics and thoroughly discuss them with the KFUPM teams who presented these topics. At the end

of the meeting, the Board members were quite happy with this

new format and the outcome, and recommended continuing it

in the future meetings too and re-evaluate the effectiveness of

the process.

As in the past, several Deans, Chairmen and faculty members

were invited to attend the meeting as observers to get firsthand

knowledge of what transpires at these meetings and thereby

benefit from the discussions. Some CIM students were invited

to meet the Board members for informal discussion while some

CIM faculty joined the Board members in an informal setting

over lunch to discuss issues and concerns.

H.E. the Rector hosted a dinner in honor of the Board members

on February 8, 2015, to which many Saudi Aramco officials as

well as local business leaders were invited. On the second day,

KFUPM and Saudi Aramco signed an historical agreement to

establish a College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences

at KFUPM.

I would like to mention here that there is an IAB Preparatory

committee, appointed by the Rector, with the Vice Rector for

Academic Affairs as its Chairman and comprising of leading

administrators of the university as members. It is charged with the responsibility of reviewing the recommendations of the

Board, and preparing agenda for the IAB meetings in light of

these recommendations, and reviewing the presentations.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks and

appreciation to the IAB preparatory committee for its support

and help, which plays a key role in the success of the IAB

meetings.

A brief report on the topics discussed in the seventeenth

meeting and earlier meetings is presented below.

Dr. Samir Al-Baiyat Secretary-General, International Advisory Board

From the Secretary General

International Advisory Board

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May Allah’s Mercy be upon the late King Abdullah. He

has rapidly transformed the Kingdom education and

during his reig the KFUPM:

Increased its budget by 3 folds

Established Dhahran Techno valley, which became a leading technology center in the region

Developed numerous academic buildings and

constructed new student dorms.

King Abdullah Educational Legacy

KFUPM development journey under the

patronage of King Salman

HIGHLIGHTS

Passing away of His Majesty King Abdullah (may Allah

be pleased with him).

Welcoming new Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,

King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Appointment of new Minister of Education;

Clubbing of Ministry of Higher Education with the

Ministry of Education.

Outgoing Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khalid Al-

Anqari. His special favors to KFUPM were appreciated

and acknowledged.

Appointment of new Deans and Supervisors;

Contributions of outgoing IAB member Mr. Andrew

Gould were appreciated.

News on Alumni, SAARA, Budget, New infrastructure

in the University, Accreditation, ABET, Students

activities, Technology transfer, Innovation, DTV, etc.

Prof. Omar Yaghi of University of California,

Berkeley, a Saudi Aramco sponsored Chair Professor at

the Center of Excellence for Nano Technology of

Research Institute-KFUPM, received the prestigious

King Faisal International Award in Chemistry this year.

NEWS ITEMS

Azzam Al-Dakhil,

Appointed as the

Minister Education.

Khaled Al-Sultan,

Reappoinedt as the

Rector of KFUPM for

another four years.

Congratulations

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SAARA Signing Ceremony in Dhahran

SAARA - Saudi Arabia Advanced Research Alliance, a

Saudi-based and Saudi-staffed center of excellence for

technology development, commercialization and cultivate

ecosystem. The signing ceremony of SAARA held on 3

Dec, 2014 in Dhahran.

Mechanical Engineering Department

FACILITY DEVELOPMENT

Preparatory Year Building

Deanships Building

Innovation Center Building

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

6th

Annual KFUPM Students Scientific Forum

6th Annual KFUPM

Students Scientific

Forum was held under the patronage

of His Excellency

the Rector Dr.

Khalid Al-Sultan

from 1-2 February.

ACCREDITATION at KFUPM

National Commission for Academic Accreditation

& Assessment (NCAAA)

Programs for the College of Science and Architecture Department as well

as all programs at Dammam

Community College were accredited

in 2012 by NCAAA for the first

time. The NCAAA will visit

KFUPM from 15-19 February, 2015

for Geology and Geophysics

program accreditation site visit.

ABET Accreditation of Engineering and Computer

Science Programs

Engineering and Computer Science

programs were accredited by ABET

in 1993 for the first time. The visit of

ABET team will visit again on November 2015 and the decision will

announced in June 2016.

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Research

Papers

Innovations Entrepreneurships

361 69 37

Social

Service

Projects

Arabic

Elocution

Contests

Documentary

Films

Art

Works

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Forum Contributions

Open Day for Employment

It is one of two Career fairs events organized by KFUPM

every academic year

Arranged in campus during the period 21– 24 Dec. 2014

126 Companies participated.

Job offering > 2000

Internship offering > 350

KFUPM Participants in the Student Exchange

Program(SEP)

Summer Enrichment Program2014-2015: Mitcas

Globalink

Mitacs Globalink offers competitive

10-12 week research internships in

Canada for top students who are

currently in their 3rd year of a 4th

year undergraduate degree. Two of KFUPM students will

participate in the program.

The First KFUPM Technology Showcase was

organized jointly with MIT on Jan 6, 2015 in presense

of about 140 industry participants.

KFUPM received its first revenues from an

option/license to a US startup.

Joint Technology Development Activities started with

DTV Tenants

Comprehensive Assessment for KFUPM IP Portfolio is

Underway.

Innovation Centre Highlights

The recently developed KFUPM Innovation Centre

Building in Dhahran Techno-Valley represents the most

advanced infrastructure for supporting technology

entrepreneurship in the region. It includes:

Largest incubation area in MENA

Most progressive prototype design/development, 3D

printing facility in MENA

Developmental Spaces for Technology -Based SMEs

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, INNOVATION,

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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The 17th meeting of the IAB was held at KFUPM in Dhahran

on 8 & 9 February, 2015.

Martin Jischke chaired the meeting and On behalf of the

Board, he paid condolences on the sad demise of King

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and recalled the fond memory of some of the first Board members meeting with the late King at

the time of the establishment of the International Advisory

Board (IAB). He appreciated the late King’s remarkable

support for the education.

The board also congratulated H.E. the Rector Khaled Al-

Sultan for his re-appointment as Rector for another four years.

They appreciated and admired his leadership in facilitating the

remarkable progress of KFUPM. The board wished him all the

best to serve the University by his remarkable leadership and

rich experience. Khaled Al-Sultan thanked the Board members for their congratulations and also for their support.

Dr. Martin Jischke presented a brief summary of MIT-

KFUPM project update, as Chair of the Oversight Committee.

He informed the members about the excellent progress of the

project, how it is impacting the KFUPM faculty to increase

their publications and their serious involvement for the success

of the project. The first phase of the KFUPM-MIT

collaboration is coming to an in August 2016 and negotiations

are underway to extend it for another five years as phase two.

He said that he is enthusiastic about what is accomplished so far and hopes that the proposed phase two will be pretty

successful collaboration as well.

The following four topics were chosen for this meeting, which

were thoroughly discussed on the first day with the concerned faculty. A brief description by each of the presenters is given

below:

17th

MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD

Research Institute

Alaadin Bukhari gave a brief presentation on this topic,

wherein he highlighted the activities, present status and

future plans of the various Centers and Centers of Excellence in the Research Institute. Then Charles Elachi,

who chaired the small team of IAB members on the first

day, presented the observations and comments. The Board

held prolonged discussions and made several

recommendations for improving the activities at the

Research Institute.

College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences Abdullah Sultan made a brief presentation covering the

background of the college, its aims and how it will operate.

It’s a joint project between KFUPM and Saudi Aramco.

He presented the organizational structure as well as the

committees that would be guiding the functioning of the

College, which will start admitting students from

September 2015. Martin Jischke, who chaired the mini-

session on the first day, congratulated both KFUPM and

Saudi Aramco for their untiring effort for the establishment

of this new college. He said that this new college is a

unique opportunity for KFUPM with significant

implications for the rest of the University’s colleges. It’s the result of nearly three years of debate, discussions and

arguments between KFUPM and Saudi Aramco leadership.

He congratulated both Khaled Al-Sultan and Khalid Al-

Falih for coming to a mutual agreement to establish this

College. He mentioned that the two key issues that would

determine the success of the College are the appointment

of a Dean and recruitment of absolutely first rate faculty.

College of Industrial Management

Mohammed Al-Zahrani, Dean of CIM, made a brief

presentation on the College and its transformation plan. He

threw light on the history of the College, its vision and

mission and its aim to become one of top five business

schools in Asia.

Sitting (LtoR): Bud Peterson, Khaled Al-Sultan, Martin Jischke, Khalid Al-

Falih, Hugo Sonnenschein & John Rice

Standing (LtoR): Charles Elachi, Olivier Appert, Nam Suh, Joe Saddi &

Samir Al-Baiyat

Signing of agreement between KFUPM and Saudi Aramco to establish

the College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences at KFUPM

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He mentioned about the MBA and EMBA programs which

is considered the best in the Middle East. He also

mentioned about the problems the College is facing in attracting excellent faculty, student enrolment, etc. Bud

Peterson, who chaired the first day’s small team of IAB

members, narrated the views of the team. He said that the

vision, mission and teaching goals are very carefully

thought of and well developed. The members were also

impressed the transition plan developed for the faculty.

Their overall observation was quite impressive. The Board

discussed the issue at length and provided recommendations

how to achieve its aim of becoming one among the top five

schools in Asia. It’s a long way to go but the transformation

plan developed will pave the way to achieve the goal.

KFUPM Endowment Fund

Saad Al-Gahtani made a brief presentation on this topic

covering department overview, target and future tasks,

development history, and endowment size, major sources of

funding, cumulative returns and alumni participations. The

fund supported KFUPM Scholarship Program, distinguished

star faculty of CIM, Solar Car Project, Innovation Centre

and the administrative expenses. Hugo Sonnenschein, who

chaired the session yesterday, briefed the Board on the

discussions his group had in the yesterday’s meetings,

which mainly focused on how to go forward and the choices

the University has to make in this regard within the framework suggested by the consultants.

BRIEF NEWS ABOUT IAB MEETINGS NO. 13, 14, 15 AND 16

Meeting # 14 was held held at Four Seasons Hotel, London,

UK on 28-29 August, 2013.

The following topics were discussed during the IAB meeting:

MIT-KFUPM Collaboration – Status Report.

Cooperation with GeorgiaTech, NUS and Caltech – An

overview.

The Evolving KFUPM Innovation Ecosystem.

KFUPM Startup Community.

Implementation of the University’s 2011-2020 Strategic

Plan – An Update.

The University Endowment Fund – An Update.

Community Service – KFUPM Experience: Current

Structure and Proposed Future Directions.

Preparatory Year – Recent Developments

On 28 August, 2013, H.E. the Rector hosted a dinner in honor

of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, Saudi

Ambassador to the United Kingdom & Ireland.

HRH Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz with the Board

members in London

MEETING 14

Sitting: (LtoR) Mohammed Al-Mady, Khaled Al-Sultan, Martin

Jischke, Khalid Al-Falih, Hugo Sonnenschein Standing: (LtoR) Charles Elachi, Olivier Appert, John Rice, Andrew

Gould, Joe Saddi, Nam Suh, Bud Peterson, Samir Al-Baiyat

IAB members & KFUPM officials at IAB meeting # 14 in London

On the second day, 29 August, 2013, the Board members and

KFUPM invitees visited Imperial College and met with the

Provost and the Dean of Business School. They viewed a

presentation on the current educational and training activities

between KFUPM and the Imperial College and toured its

facilities.

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Board members & KFUPM Officials visit to Imperial College London

on 29 August, 2013

Meeting # 15 held at KFUPM, Dhahran on 4 & 5 January,

2014.

The following topics were discussed during the IAB meeting:

MIT-KFUPM Collaboration – Status Report.

Research at KFUPM.

Interaction among theResearch Institute, Central Labs,

and DTV Partners.

KFUPM-DTV Clients Collaborative Model: Baker

Hughes an Example. Saudi Arabia Advanced Research Alliance (SAARA).

KFUPM-KAUST Cooperation and Collaboration:

Future Outlook.

Student-Centered Learning.

Coop and Summer Training.

KFUPM Campus Development and Management

Meeting # 15: (sitting LtoR): Olivier Appert, Hugo Sonnenschein,

Khaled Al-Sultan, Martin Jischke, Khalid Al-Falih, Nam Suh (standing LtoR): Chales Elachi, Mohammed Al-Mady, Bud

Peterson, John Etchemendy, Samir Al-Baiyat

Following the conclusion of the meeting, the Board members

were taken on a tour of the University campus to give them a

sense of the development projects currently under progress.

The Board members were impressed by the amazing amount

of construction taking place on Campus, and for achieving it

in a coordinated way. They said it reinforces the notion that

having a long-term plan for land makes sense. An observation

was made that the KFUPM’s architecture is unique.

MEETING 15

Board members touring the University facilities

Board members visiting student dorms and interacting with students

Graduation ceremony of the Master’s of Engineering Program in Oil and

Gas Surface Facilities (OGSF)

At the conclusion of the meeting on January 5, 2014, the Board

members were invited to a graduation ceremony of the Master’s

of Engineering Program in Oil and Gas Surface Facilities (OGSF)

where 22 students were awarded. This is the first joint degree program in Saudi Arabia, accredited by the Ministry of Higher

Education and is conducted by KFUPM and the IFP School. The

program comprises 41 modules. It is a full-time program of 16

months duration on the KFUPM Campus plus a 4-month thesis

period to conduct an industrial research project at Saudi Aramco.

The program outline includes applied process engineering, surface

production, refining, gas and petrochemical processes, and

projects safety and economics.

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NEXT MEETINGS

Meeting # Venue Date

18 To be decide 7&8 Sep, 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Special Thanks to:

Khalid Al Ankari, minister of higher education (1991 - 2014)

&

Andrew Gould, Chairman, BG Group.

Dr. Samir Al-Baiyat, Secretary-General, International Advisory Board

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P.O. Box 5040, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

Tel: +966 13 860 2329 Fax: +966 13 860 7120

Email: sbaiyat@kfupm.edu.sa, http://www.kfupm.edu.sa/oic/IAB.html

Meetings # 16 was held at KFUPM, Dhahran on 8 & 9

September, 2014.

The following topics were discussed during the IAB meeting:

MIT-KFUPM Collaboration – Status Report. Strategic Plan Update.

College of Engineering Development Plan.

IAB: Experience and Impact.

Graduate Study Plan.

Research Productivity Activation.

Lab Development and Managemenent.

During this meeting, Impact of IAB was discussed both from

the point of view of the University and the Board members.

Martin Jischke reinforced the views that the IAB’s impact is

visible on the enhanced international status of the University,

Strategic Plan, initiation of several academic programs and focus on research areas, MIT Collaboration, technology

transfer and entrepreneurship activities, and its unwavering

and persistent emphasis on outstanding faculty attraction,

retention, and development.

(Sitting LtoR): Nam Suh, Khalid Al-Falih, Martin Jischke, Khaled Al-

Sultan, Hugo Sonnenschein (Standing LtoR): Olivier Appert, Joe Saddi, Charles Elachi, Bud Peterson, Samir Al-Baiyat

H.E. the Rector Khaled Al-Sultan expressed his thanks and

appreciation to the Board members for their support,

commitment, and leadership. He emphasized that it is not an

advisory board to the Rector but to the University. From the

report he received, the attendees find it to be an excellent two-

day workshop as they learn many things and benefit from the

high level of discussions.

MEETING 16

The IAB members and some of the University officials visited

Halliburton Technology Center at DTV on September 9, 2014.

Mr. Michael Bitter gave a brief presentation highlighting the

purpose of establishment of the Center and its activities. He

mentioned that the collaboration between Halliburton and KFUPM

is very strong, and he looked forward to further strengthening this

relationship. The collaboration with the Center for Petroleum &

Minerals (RI) and the Petroleum Engineering Department is

moving forward satisfactorily. Plans are underway to hold joint

seminars for mutual benefit. Halliburton is keen on providing coop

and summer training as well as employment to KFUPM students.

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