Dr. Ayman Samara joined Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) Core Labs in 2015 as a Senior Scientist to help establish the optical microscopy lab, profilometry lab, thermal analysis lab, and thin film characterization. Dr. Samara is currently leading all analysis activities and manages the operations of these labs, supporting research at HBKU, local and global companies and educational institutes in Qatar. He obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Optical Engineering and Science from the Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, and his BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan. Dr. Samara started his career in the semiconductor industry in 2005 at Intel Corporation’s D1D Fab in Portland, OR, USA, as a Senior Process Development Engineer leading the development of metrology and defect detection capabilities for the Lithography process supporting manufacturing of the 65-32nm technology nodes. In 2009, Dr. Samara served as the Manager of the Dimensional Metrology and Defect Analysis facility in the assembly materials characterization division of Intel Corporation. Prior to Joining HBKU, Dr. Samara served as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the American University of the Middle East in Kuwait, where he established the Optics Engineering lab and taught multiple EE courses.
 

Dr. Odi Alrebei has been the Head of the Aeronautical Engineering department and the Assistant Dean for R&D Affairs at Queen Noor Civil Aviation College. Dr. Alrebei has also been an Assistant Professor (Mechanical Engineering Department) in the American University-Jordan. His current research work is with Cambridge University, Oxford University and Qatar Foundation. Dr. Alrebei received his PhD in Engineering from Cardiff University, UK and his MSc from Queen Mary University of London, UK.
 

Dr. Pillai is an Electrical Engineer by profession, with a master's degree in Power Electronics and Drives, and a PhD degree in Photovoltaic (PV) Systems. He is currently a Scientist with the Energy Conversion (ENECON) Program at the Energy Center of QEERI. With QEERI, Dr. Pillai works on various projects and activities related to the testing, standardization, and reliability of photovoltaic modules in desert climates. Dr. Pillai is also actively involved in module as well as system level reliability studies and performance assessments of various PV technologies. Dr. Pillai is an inventor of a patent and author of 24 scientific articles published in top-tier international journals (Q1) and conferences, majority of which are high impact factor IEEE transactions, IEEE, and Elsevier journals. Since 2018, Dr. Pillai is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). 

Sertac Bayhan received his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, in 2008 and 2012, respectively. His undergraduate studies had also taken place at the same university and he graduated as valedictorian. In 2008, he joined the Electronics and Automation Department, Gazi University, as a Lecturer, where he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017. From 2014 to 2018, he worked at Texas A&M University at Qatar as Associate Research Scientist. Dr. Bayhan is currently working in Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) as a Research Director and he is a faculty member with the rank of Professor in Sustainable Division of College of Science and Engineering at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. His research encompasses power electronics and their applications in next-generation power and energy systems, including renewable energy integration, electrified transportation, and microgrid.

Dr. Bayhan is the recipient of many prestigious international awards, such as the Research Fellow Excellence Award in recognition of his research achievements and exceptional contributions to the Texas A&M University at Qatar in 2018, the Best Paper Presentation Recognition at the 41st and 42nd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society in 2015 and 2016, Research Excellence Travel Awards in 2014 and 2015 (Texas A&M University at Qatar), and Researcher Support Awards from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). He has acquired $13M in research funding and published more than 170 papers in mostly prestigious IEEE journals and conferences. He is also the coauthor of two books and five book chapters.

Dr. Bayhan has been an active senior member of IEEE. Because of the visibility of his research, he has been recently elected as Chair of IES Power Electronics Technical Committee. He currently serves as Associate Editor for IEEE transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Industrial Electronics, IEEE Open Journal of the Industrial Electronics Society, and IEEE Industrial Electronics Technology News, and Guest Editor for the IEEE transactions on Industrial Informatics.

Dr. Yongfeng Tong obtained his PhD diploma at the University of Paris-Sud, France. Before joining the Core Lab of QEERI as a Scientist in September 2019, he was a Postdoc in the Laboratoire Materiaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, University of Paris Diderot, France. He has also been working in Synchrotron SOLEIL for four years and performing the synchrotron-based high resolution surface science techniques on the beamline TEMPO, including X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectroscopy(UPS), Angular-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy(ARPES), and Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS). Currently, he is under the supervision of the core lab director Dr. Said Mansour and takes charge of the XPS/UPS, TOF-SIMS characterization in the core lab QEERI. His current research interest includes organic molecules for Rectenna electronics, thiol/dithiol self-assembled monolayers and 2D novel systems. 
 

Dr. Ka Lok Yip holds an interdisciplinary PhD (summa cum laude) in International Law and International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. She also has a Bachelor of Civil Law (distinction) from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Laws (first class honors) from King’s College London. Ka Lok focuses her research on peace and conflict. She draws on a wide range of disciplines including international law, international relations, philosophy, psychology, and sociology to study the causes of armed conflicts and strategies for their management, resolution, and prevention. She has published extensively on issues related to peace and conflict and her recent monograph ‘The Use of Force against Individuals in War under International Law – a Social Ontological Approach’ won her the Francis Lieber Book Prize 2023. Ka Lok is also admitted to the practice of law in England and Wales and Hong Kong.

Dr. Dunia Bachour is a Senior Scientist at the Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar. She currently coordinates the Solar Resource Assessment Project under the Energy Management Program in the Energy Center. She received her doctoral degree in Physics from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. Her research in QEERI focuses on solar resource measurements, assessment and analysis. Prior to joining QEERI, she worked as a Scientific Collaborator in several university hospitals in Switzerland and France with the responsibilities of a radiation physicist in a radiooncology department including the commissioning of equipment for radiation therapy, radiation treatment planning and techniques, quality control, radiation measurements and radiation protection.

Ahmed Sodiq did his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria in 2012 with a research focus on Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilization. He completed his master’s degree in Chemical Engineering at Masdar Institute of Science and Engineering in the United Arab Emirates in 2015 with a research focus on Carbon Capture and Storage. He then joined Hamad Bin Khalifa University in 2015 where he completed his PhD program in Sustainable Energy in 2020 with a research focus on Flow Batteries for Large Scale Electrical Energy Storage Applications. Ahmed joined Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) as a Research Associate in 2019 under Energy Efficiency program and his research focused on Cooling Efficiency in Buildings, especially in addressing overcooling in commercial buildings in Qatar. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at QEERI with a research focus on Direct Air Capture of CO2 using the HVAC systems, especially the air conditioning systems. Ahmed has published 13 peer-reviewed articles in reputable international journals, one book chapter, a number of conference proceedings and six patent applications in different fields, such as carbon capture, sustainable energy, electrochemistry and HVAC systems. 

Dr. El Tayeb Bentria is a Scientist within the Materials Unit, leading the Biomimicry‑AI research activities at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI). His work applies nature‑inspired principles and artificial intelligence to accelerate materials discovery, prototyping, and design. He has a continued interest in multiscale corrosion modeling for the oil & gas industry. He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry of Materials from the University of Laghouat, Algeria, where he investigated the segregation effects of impurities in nickel‑based superalloys. Dr. Bentria joined QEERI at the end of 2015 as a Research Assistant and has since contributed to several NPRP‑funded projects as a Postdoctoral Researcher. His previous research includes fundamental studies of metal dusting and carbonyl corrosion, and the prediction of energy materials’ properties using density functional theory.

Dr. Kivambe is a Scientist at Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI), where he works on performance and reliability of Photovoltaic (PV) systems. He has over 15 years’ research experience in PV value chain, from crystalline silicon materials to solar cells and modules, including indoor and outdoor testing. He received his M.Sc. in Condensed Matter physics and Biophysics in 2008, and his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2012 from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), in Norway. Before joining QEERI, Dr. Kivambe worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Photovoltaic Research Laboratory, focusing on performance improvement of low-cost silicon for solar cell applications.