Three researchers from our Artificial Intelligence Cross-Center Unit (AICCU) have been selected to complete their master’s and PhD studies at the prestigious Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) as part of its AI program. Their acceptance into the world-renowned program is an exciting venture for the TII-sponsored students who will be able to add significant value to the Unit upon their return.
As part of TII’s Scholarship Program, all three students will receive full scholarships to pursue their respective graduate studies at MBZUAI. They will continue to receive a full-time salary throughout the duration of their study, while all course-related expenses are borne by TII.
Abdulaziz Alshamsi, an AI researcher with the perception and fusion team, will work towards his PhD in Machine Learning with a focus on computer vision at MBZUAI. Currently engaged with his team at the Unit on visual speech recognition, he believes that while the concept of AI is still new and constantly evolving, it is one of the most advanced careers one can pursue. Furthermore, he urges young Emirati nationals to prepare themselves for the future as AI technology is one of the pillars towards achieving full digitalization for the UAE.
Abdulla Alghfeli, also an AI researcher at AICCU, will work on his PhD in Machine Learning with an emphasis on computer vision. Like his colleague Alshamsi, Alghfeli’s research also relates to visual speech recognition. He hopes that the program will prepare him for the highly competitive corporate world and expand his knowledge in AI so that he can contribute to supporting TII’s efforts in boosting the UAE’s AI capabilities.
Hamza Alobeidli is an associate researcher and will pursue his master’s degree at MBZUAI. While not directly connected to a project at AICCU, he has engaged in many discussions with his colleagues and attended meetings on a Lip-Reading project. He has also participated in the NOOR project, which is the world’s largest Arabic natural language processing (NLP) model to date. Alobeidli plans to use his experience and knowledge to publish research papers on similar topics in the future.
Our heartiest congratulations to the three researchers on their acceptance into MBZUAI’s illustrious AI program! We wish them well on their journey towards academic excellence that will further advance the UAE’s efforts to achieving AI leadership.
