Record number of 17 HBKU-CSE students win QNRF’s prestigious GSRA scholarships

The programme aims to promote a world-class research culture in Qatar

THE College of Science and Engineering (CSE), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa niversity (HBK ), is celebrating its most successful cycle of the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA) programme yet, with 17 students receiving a scholarship.

The programme, now in its seventh cycle, was launched to promote the most deserving students QNRF believe will go on to promote a world-class research culture in Qatar, and who will contribute to the nation’s research and development mission.

Aisha Al Rumaihi was one of the award recipients. She said: “Ever since I graduated from my bachelor programme at CSE, obtaining a GSRA grant has been one of my biggest dreams. I hope to repay the faith shown in me by using this scholarship for the benefit of my university, society and the country in general.”

Aisha completed a master’s in Sustainable and Energy at CSE, which gave her valuable experience that has benefited her career at Qatar Petroleum. She added: “I want to become an expert in solid waste management in addition to finding the best and most sustainable techniques to be applied and adopted by countries all over the world, to better manage their waste in an environmentally safe and efficient way.”

Shehel Yoosuf, who has an MS in Data Science from HBK , said: “Receiving this scholarship award recognises the work I have done, especially in the past two years as a graduate student, and it will drive me to keep learning.

“I am currently focusing on machine learning and computer vision for crowd analysis. I have benefited from Qatar and its excellent education infrastructure since childhood so it would be a privilege for me to give back to it.”

assim Mohammed Almulla said: “It really is an honour to be recognised by such a respected organisation and it motivates me to give my best and meet the high expectations of QNRF.” assim recently graduated from HBK with a master’s in Analytics in Health Management. HE added: “I am using machine learning technologies and applying them to the field of sports athletes’ performance and injury analysis, especially those related to football.”

Bader Al Sada completed his bachelor’s degree in Computer Networks and recently added a master’s in Cybersecurity at HBK . He is currently working as part of the ICT team to create a prototype deployment of a blockchain-based transparent rewarding system to incentivise people to commit to confinement during COVID-19, using wireless location as a monitoring service.

He said: “As a Qatari citizen, it is an honor to become an active participant in achieving Qatar National Vision 2030 and I hope to accomplish something innovative on behalf of my nation.”

Maryam Haji said: “I am very proud and absolutely honored to receive a GSRA scholarship. I believe I can contribute towards the development of Qatar through cutting edge research with the potential for impact. My research project is to develop a unique ‘resource atlas’ for Qatar based on the EWF Nexus Node concept.”

Maryam earned a bachelor degree in Industrial and System Engineering from Qatar niversity before receiving a master’s in Sustainability at HBK with a GPA of 3.83.

Noora Al Emadi said: “My aspiration is to contribute to Qatar’s vision in developing people and an economy based on knowledge and science. I hope to see Qatar become a pioneer in all fields, especially research and development.”

Noora was driven to continue studying at HBK after receiving her master’s in Data Science and Engineering from the university earlier this year. She said: “As a Senior Software Engineer in the Social Computing Group at Qatar Computing Research Institute, pursuing my PhD will help me further explore and contribute to understanding various urban informatics research in road network inference from GPS traces.”

Dr Mounir Hamdi, founding dean of CSE, was delighted with the record tally of scholarships. He said: “CSE is committed to supporting the country’s endeavours in the fields of science, engineering and technology and we are proud to see so many students receiving scholarships to study with us. It recognises our efforts to make a significant positive impact on Qatar, the region and globally. In particular, it illustrates CSE’s ability to attract topnotch students into its graduate programmes.”

Dr Abdul Sattar Al Taie, executive director, QNRF, said: “QNRF would like to congratulate the 17 successful candidates and we wish them all the very best in successfully completing their proposed research towards their master’s PhD degrees. We look forward to tracking their progress and witnessing their continued success.”

The awardees are: Maryam Haji (PhD in Sustainable Energy), Aliya Banu (master’s in Sustainable Energy), Saif Al Hazbi (PhD in Computer Science and Engineering), Shehel Yoosuf (PhD in Computer Science and Engineering), Hagar Hussein (master’s in Data Analytics in Health Management), Yasmin Abdelaal (master’s in Data Analytics in Health Management), Hanaa Abbas (master’s in Cybersecurity), Osama Mousa (master’s in Information Systems in Health Management), Ali Abdelaal (PhD in Sustainable Energy), Noora Alemadi (PhD in Computer Science and Engineering), Mishal Al Thani (PhD), Maryam AlHajri (master’s in Data Analytics in Health Management), Aisha Alrumaihi (PhD in Sustainable and Energy), Bader Al-Sada (PhD in Computer Science and Engineering), Bashar Hassna (PhD in Logistics and Supply Chain Management), assim Almulla (PhD in Computer Science and Engineering), Manal Alkuwari (PhD in Logistics and Supply Chain).