Dr. Nauman Gilal is a Research Associate in the Arabic Language Technologies group at Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) of Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He earned his PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from Hamad Bin Khalifa University, computer vision with a focus on learning from noisy labels and imbalanced data. His doctoral research applied interdisciplinary knowledge to real-world problems across diverse domains, including food computing, and medical imaging (skin cancer and pathology).

At QCRI, he engages in developing AI-powered tools for pathology diagnostics and education, using large multimodal models (MLLMs) to analyze whole slide images (WSIs). His work includes benchmarking and fine-tuning vision language models for healthcare applications and building web-based platforms for real-time image analysis and query capabilities. His research interests focus on multimodal deep learning, medical imaging, and AI-driven tools aimed at advancing healthcare diagnostics and education.

Rama Sulaiman is working as a Research Assistant at the Qatar Computing Research Institute of Hamad Bin Khalifa University.  She is a computer science graduate with a minor in neural computation from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ). Her journey in education began as a course assistant at CMUQ, where she supported introductory programming courses and later served as a recitation instructor in functional programming. 

As an assistant to the COO of CMUQ, she led a project to digitize campus documents, streamline administrative processes, and promote digital transformation. She coordinated and led the 2022 orientation program, welcoming and guiding 130 first-year students through a well-structured, engaging week of activities.

Currently, Rama creates content and teaches programming courses developed by programs initiated by Dr. Eman, while also serving as the Creative Space Coordinator. In addition, she manages the technical aspects of various initiatives, including Python competitions, summer camps, after-class courses, and Python programming teaching. She is also involved in a Train of Trainers (ToT) study project to test the interactive usage of a programming platform with custom-designed educational content and best teaching practices. The project focuses on high school teachers and their ICT students aiming to redefine how programming is taught and experienced.

Temoor Tanveer is a Research Assistant at Qatar Computing Research Institute of Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He graduated with honors from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar in 2024, with a concentration in Computer Systems. His research interests center on federated learning, privacy-preserving machine learning, and investigating fundamental AI alignment and safety challenges.

During his undergraduate studies at CMU in Qatar, he co-developed a comprehensive federated learning framework and conducted research resulting in three published papers. His work explored the challenges and opportunities in implementing practical federated learning systems while maintaining data privacy and system efficiency.

At QCRI, Temoor is investigating critical challenges in AI safety and alignment. He looks forward to further exploring foundational challenges in AI safety and federated learning, focusing on advancing practical and theoretical understanding.

Gulnaz Serikbay is a Research Assistant at the Qatar Computing Research Institute of Hamad Bin Khalifa University. She got her bachelor's in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. She is working on healthcare analytics projects delivering personalized full-stack applications in the assistive healthcare domain. Gulnaz Serikbay participated in the ICPC 2024 World Finals, representing Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar as a competitive programmer.

Dr. Hassan S. Bazzi is the Associate Dean for External Affairs, Head of the Division of Science, and Professor of Chemistry at the College of Science and Engineering. He is a Fellow of both the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Dr. Bazzi completed the Management Development Program and the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Bazzi worked at Texas A&M University at Qatar for over 20 years, where he helped establish and manage the Qatar campus. He was the longest-serving faculty administrator at Texas A&M at Qatar, maintaining continuous tenure in leadership roles between 2006 and 2024. Throughout his career, he assumed various administrative roles, ranging from Chair of Academic Programs to multiple Assistant, Associate, and Senior Associate Dean positions. He possesses substantial expertise in leading and overseeing higher education institutions in an international setting.

Dr. Bazzi is the author and co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 150 conference presentations. His research interests include metathesis chemistry for small molecule and polymer synthesis, polymer-supported catalysis, DNA-mimetic polymers, and fluorous analogs of ruthenium-based catalysts.

Dr. Mohammad Al-Saidi is an Associate Professor at the College of Public Policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He has 14 years of continuous academic experience in Germany and Qatar. His research focuses on environmental policies, particularly in the Middle East. He has been involved in research projects in the Gulf, East Africa, Yemen, Jordan, and Egypt, among others. Dr. Al-Saidi has won a university-wide research award and was elected to the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities based in Berlin.

Before joining Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Dr. Al-Saidi was active in research and teaching at several academic institutions, including Qatar University, TH-Köln, and Doha Institute. He regularly contributes to policy think tanks on environmental issues in the Middle East. Dr. Al-Saidi strongly believes in science with tangible impacts, based on values such as sustainability, equity, and diversity. As a result, he has been actively engaged internationally in research dissemination, policy transfer, and coalition building.

Azzam Abu-Rayash is an Assistant Professor at the College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Governor at Ontario Tech University, and the founding CEO of Polaris Energy Sustainability Solutions. Dr. Abu-Rayash is licensed as a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP) by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with the Project Management Institute.

Dr. Abu-Rayash has over a decade of industrial and research experience in the energy industry and sustainability field and has published numerous books and peer-reviewed articles on the topics of energy sustainability and smart cities. He has also presented research at numerous national and international conferences. His contributions to the field have been highly recognized, with his articles ranking among the most cited since 2019 in Elsevier’s journals such as the Journal of Energy Research and Social Science.

Dr. Abu-Rayash authored the energy plan for the City of Oshawa, which was recognized by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) by receiving the Institutional Energy Management Award for 2020. He played a pivotal role in shaping Canada’s Green Building Strategy through establishing the Government Greening Fund and the Green Building Directive, leading the public sector towards Net Zero. Currently, he leads a vibrant research group working on several projects on the topics of smart cities and the sustainable built environment.

Dr. Bryant Scott is an assistant professor of practice in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, specializing in postcolonial and world literature, transnational and diasporic studies, film studies and visual culture, literary and critical theory, and first-year writing and pedagogy. Before joining HBKU, he served as an instructional assistant professor at Texas A&M University in Qatar. He has previously taught at the University of Miami and several other universities in the US and around the world. He has also worked as a travel writer in China, and his travel writing has been published in many newspapers, magazines, and online publications.

His research focuses on literature and film of and about the global south, human rights literature, and humanitarianism, with particular attention to how war, violence, and dehumanization are represented in textual and visual forms. His work considers the intersections of narrative and ethics, exploring how literary and cinematic cultural texts represent and respond to political violence, migration, war, and the legacies of colonialism. Focusing on narrative and visual aesthetics, his work considers the ethics of representation and how literature and film negotiate and challenge dominant narratives.

Anne Schmalstig is an assistant professor of practice in English at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU), where she joined after teaching literature and academic composition courses for four years at Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMU-Q).

She received a PhD in English Literature from the University of Miami, and an MA in English Literature from Purdue University. Her academic work focuses on narratives of climate change and environmental concerns in speculative fiction, with particular interests in Afrofuturism and the New Weird. Her research and teaching interests include environmental humanities, climate fiction, science fiction, writing about literature, and writing about the environment.

Dr. Naqaa Abbas earned her PhD in Comparative Literature from Western University where her research focused on representations of Islam and the other in nineteenth-century British, German, and French Romanticism. Her work on representation continues with ongoing projects that examine questions of gender, cultural identity, and linguistic identity in writing communities in the Gulf today.

Before joining HBKU, Dr. Abbas was a faculty member in English and served as the Writing in the Disciplines coordinator at Texas A&M University in Qatar. In her teaching and administrative roles, she focused on effective business communication, writing pedagogy, and writing in the disciplines for undergraduate students.

She has over eighteen years of teaching and administrative experience in North American, European, and Middle Eastern institutions. Before joining HBKU, Dr. Abbas taught a variety of composition and literature courses at Western University, Zurich University, the University of Saskatchewan, and Qatar University.

She has received multiple teaching grants at TAMUQ, including a Transformative Educational Experience Grant for three consecutive years and a Multiversity Grant. Her commitment to teaching and service has been recognized through two prestigious university-wide awards: the Early Career Faculty Excellence Award and the Distinguished Service Award.