News

August 2025

Congratulations to Xiuxiu Ma on successfully defending her PhD thesis

1 min read · Mon, Aug 25 2025

News

Congratulations to Xiuxiu Ma on successfully defending her PhD thesis on “Asymptotic Analysis of Precoding in Large-scale Multi-user Systems”, completed under the supervision of Prof. Tareq Al-Naffouri!
Happy to share that our paper has been accepted for publication as a SPECIAL ISSUE paper in the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing!

1 min read · Sun, Aug 10 2025

News

Happy to share that our paper "Asymptotic Analysis of One-bit Quantized Box-Constrained Precoding in Large-Scale Multi-User Systems", co-authored by Xiuxiu Ma, Dr Abla Kammoun, Prof Tareq Al-Naffouri, and Prof Mohamed-Slim Alouini, has been accepted for publication as a SPECIAL ISSUE paper in the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing! 📡 In this study, we provide a precise asymptotic characterization of the performance of a quantized precoder, obtained by applying quantization to the output of a box-constrained precoder, within the asymptotic regime where the numbers of antennas
Our paper has been accepted for presentation at IEEE GLOBECOM in Taipei, Taiwan, this December.

1 min read · Wed, Aug 6 2025

News

Our paper, "RIS-Aided Near-Field Channel Estimation under Mutual Coupling and Spatial Correlation," has been accepted for presentation at IEEE GLOBECOM in Taipei, Taiwan, this December. This work investigates how mutual coupling and subspace spatial correlation affect channel estimation in near-field RIS-aided systems. We developed an improved estimator that leverages mutual coupling information for better performance. Our findings show that by accounting for these factors, our new estimator performs significantly better than the standard method. It also achieves performance close to the MMSE

July 2025

June 2025

Building Better Backhaul for 6G Networks

2 min read · Tue, Jun 17 2025

News Impact Stories

In a recently accepted paper in IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, researchers Dr. Waqas Aman, Dr. Marwa Qaraqe, Dr. Muhammad Mahboob Ur Rahman, Saif Al-Kuwari, and Prof. Tareq Al-Naffouri explored a promising solution — a hybrid backhaul link that combines Free Space Optics (FSO) and Terahertz (THz) communication.

May 2025

February 2025

Professor Tareq Al-Naffouri named Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow

2 min read · Sun, Feb 2 2025

News

IEEE Wireless Communications

KAUST Professor Tareq Al-Naffouri has been named an IEEE Fellow, the organization’s highest distinction, in recognition of his contributions to adaptive signal processing and its applications in wireless communications.

January 2025

KAUST ECE students achieve high honors in Competition on Non-Terrestrial Networks for 6G (NTNYS'24)

4 min read · Tue, Jan 21 2025

News

6g wireless systems connectivity NTN Communication Non-Terrestrial Networks IoT

KAUST Ph.D. candidate Omar Khalifa earned an impressive second place in the global Competition on Non-Terrestrial Networks for 6G (NTNYS'24). The IEEE Future Networks Initiative organized the competition as part of the "Connecting the World from the Skies Global Forum," which took place last November in Riyadh. Second place, and a prize of $10,000, was awarded to Khalifa based on his work titled "Supplying Data for Digital Twins in Green Smart Cities: A Non-Invasive NTN-IoT Approach." The international forum, which focused on the theme “Shaping the Future of Converged Connectivity,” was hosted

December 2024

KAUST-Engineered tool drives sustainable solutions in water conservation

3 min read · Sun, Dec 1 2024

IoT devices IoT AI Smart sensors Signal processing

KAUST’s startup EcoStream cuts water waste by 50% while promoting affordability and sustainability, winning the 2024 StartSmart prize.

November 2024

August 2024

Gold-Medal Sensors: KAUST Racing Toward High-Tech Athletic Excellence For KSA

1 min read · Thu, Aug 8 2024

News Clip News

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is sprinting ahead in sports training innovations, forging meaningful collaborations and developing cutting-edge wearable sensors to revolutionize athletic regimens and injury prevention. These advancements offer game-changing insights to support peak performance and health, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030’s goal of achieving both regional and worldwide excellence in professional sports.

July 2024

New Google collaboration advances AI research in Saudi Arabia

1 min read · Mon, Jul 8 2024

News Clip News

Google has awarded $100,000 in seed research grants to KAUST's CEMSE faculty to advance multilingual, multimodal machine learning, fostering innovations in areas like health and education, with projects led by Tareq Al-Naffouri, Mohamed Elhoseiny, and Bernard Ghanem aimed at enhancing mobile networks and developing inclusive AI models.

May 2024

March 2024

Exciting News from LEAP2024!

1 min read · Sun, Mar 31 2024

News

artificial intelligence Data Analytics digital health

Exciting News from LEAP2024! We are thrilled to announce that our two innovative startup companies, Qawam and MOBiSENSE, participated in LEAP2024, showcasing their cutting-edge products and services. Qawam, known for its groundbreaking posture correction solutions, has now developed an app that utilizes sensors from Apple Airpods. This app eliminates the need for a separate clip-on device, providing consumers with a more convenient and seamless posture correction experience. MOBiSENSE specializes in extracting valuable insights for mobile network operators (MNOs) and communications services

February 2024

2nd place in the Digital Innovation Award

1 min read · Sun, Feb 11 2024

News

We are pleased to announce that Qawam won 2nd place ? out of ~2600 applications in the Digital Innovation Award by #CODE Labs and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia Qawam, a startup company stemming from the Information Science Lab, has developed a compact clip-on device that detects poor posture, addressing issues like "tech neck" and reducing back pain among office workers. Led by our former internship students Safwan Ibrahim and Mohammed Shukri, Qawam's mission to enhance posture health with AI has been recognized with this significant award

January 2024

December 2023

Congratulations to Aasim for successfully defending his MS dissertation

1 min read · Tue, Dec 12 2023

News

Delighted to share that Mohammed Aasim Shaikh has successfully defended his master's thesis titled "RIS-aided Positioning in Large-scale Networks: Performance Analysis and Design Insights” under the guidance of Prof. Tareq Al-Naffouri, Dr. Nour Kouzayha, Prof. Ahmed Elzanaty, and Prof. Mustafa Kishk. Key achievements include developing a low-complexity RSS-based algorithm for an RIS-aided system, achieving CRLB with sub-meter localization accuracy, and presenting an analytical framework using stochastic geometry tools for comprehensive performance analysis. Special thanks to the defense

November 2023

Congratulations to Lama Niyazi on Successfully Defending her PhD Thesis

1 min read · Sun, Nov 26 2023

News

Lama Niyazi celebrated a significant academic triumph, successfully defending her Ph.D. thesis in Electrical and Computer Engineering at KAUST. Her extensive research, guided by Professors Tareq Al-Naffouri and Mohamed-Slim Alouini, focused on advancing high-dimensional data classifiers using tools from asymptotic Random Matrix Theory (RMT). Lama's work filled critical gaps in understanding linear classifiers in scenarios with small, high-dimensional datasets. Throughout her dissertation, Lama meticulously outlined how asymptotic RMT provided insights into classifier behavior, paving the way

August 2023

An exhilarating day at the ISL

1 min read · Wed, Aug 30 2023

News

An exhilarating day at the Information Science Lab, KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), where we had the privilege of presenting an array of innovative projects to distinguished guests, including the Technology Research Advisor and GM of Technology Adoption and Growth from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia. Here's a glimpse of the groundbreaking solutions they witnessed: 1. MOBiSENSE: A visionary non-invasive mobility analytics solution, harnessing AI and radio access network data. Empowering mobile network operators and service

July 2023

Congratulations to Kalamkas for successfully defending her MS dissertation

1 min read · Wed, Jul 12 2023

News

Today is a significant day for Kalamkas Zhagyparova, a master's student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, as she successfully defended her thesis titled "Transportation Mode Recognition based on Cellular Network Data." The master's defense took place at the Information Science Lab (ISL) in King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where Kalamkas presented her extensive research in the field of transportation mode recognition and the challenges related to utilizing cellular network data. Kalamkas' thesis has addressed the challenge of transportation mode recognition

May 2023

January 2023

December 2022

November 2022

October 2022

Prof. Mohamed Siala joined ISL as a visiting faculty

1 min read · Wed, Oct 5 2022

News

Prof Mohamed Siala is a Professor at Ecole Supérieure des Communications de Tunis (Higher School of Communication of Tunisia, Sup’Com) where he has been teaching since 2001. His research activities are focused on reception algorithmics (channel estimation, synchronization), channel coding, OFDM and OFDM/OQAM modulations, MIMO systems and space-time coding, cognitive radio, cooperative systems, and resource allocation in CDMA and OFDMA. He joined Information Science Lab, CEMSE, KAUST in August 2022 as a Visiting Faculty member for 1 year.

September 2022

January 2022

Congratulations to our graduates in 2021

1 min read · Wed, Jan 5 2022

News

We at Information Science Lab would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the following students who have graduated during the academic year 2021/2022. Ayed Alrashdi (Ph.D. Feb’21) – Currently working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Hail, Saudi Arabia. Hui Chen (Ph.D. July’21) – Joined as a Postdoc researcher at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden. Mohammed Alsharif (Ph.D. Dec’21) – Currently working at ARAMCO R&D Ahmed Magbool (MS 2021) – He is continuing Ph.D. at University College, Dublin Muhanned Alsaif (MS July’21) – Currently working as a

November 2021

KAUST-KFUPM collaboration wins top honors at STC AIoT Hackathon

1 min read · Mon, Nov 29 2021

News

IoT agriculture artificial intelligence drones

A team composed of KAUST and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) students was one of three winning teams of this year’s Saudi Telecom Company (STC) AIoT (AI & IoT) Hackathon. The KAUST entry, AgriDoctor, a proposed autonomous, sustainable, intelligent agriculture system, was a standout pick for the competition judges from a pool of 110 project submissions and 350 participants.

June 2021

KAUST research group win inaugural MCIT Digital Innovation Award

1 min read · Mon, Jun 28 2021

News

digital innovation award smart tap artificial intelligence

A team of KAUST researchers have won first place in the Digital Research track at the inaugural Digital Innovation Awards held on Sunday, April 25, 2021. Launched by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the awards aim to “enhance the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in digital research and development” in Saudi Arabia.

March 2021

Tethered drones have wireless data covered

1 min read · Thu, Mar 25 2021

News

Flying drones connected by a cable tethered to a ground station could be a flexible solution for enhancing wireless connectivity in temporary hotspots.

October 2020

STOP WATER WASTE with AI-Driven Smart Tap

1 min read · Mon, Oct 12 2020

News

The Information System Lab led by Professor Tareq Al-Naffouri has developed an AI-driven smart tap that runs a personalized water flow and pressure profile based on each individual's actions. HOW? Check this out: https://youtu.be/5-30Z7Omugw

July 2020

Professor Tareq Al-Naffouri Colloquium

1 min read · Tue, Jul 28 2020

News

IoT Sensor array processing

On March 12th, Professor Tareq Al-Naffouri delivered an online public colloquium titled, "Sensing, Localization, and Communications to Enable Future IoT Systems". The abstract of the article can be found here