Fourth Arab-American Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium: A Unique Opportunity for U.S.-Arab Scientific Exchange and Collaboration

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project will provide support the fourth conference of the Arab-American Frontiers program series which will be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE from November 5-7, 2016 and is co-organized by local partners the Masdar Institute, New York University Abu Dhabi, Khalifa University and the Petroleum Institute of Abu Dhabi. The project will provide an opportunity for approximately 35 early-career US scientists to attend the three day conference of approximately 100 total attendees. Participants are selected through a competitive application process, ensuring a meeting of research-active scientists and engineers who are ready to capitalize on the ideas and relationships developed at the conference. The goals of the workshop are to: 1) Enhance scientific dialogue and exchange among young researchers in Arab countries and the United States; 2) Encourage and strengthen scientific collaboration and the transfer of techniques and approaches across disciplines within and beyond the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region and the United States; 3) Empower young scientists, engineers, and medical professionals to assume leadership roles in their fields and beyond. Given the limited opportunities for US scientists to interact with colleagues from the Middle East and North Africa, this meeting will provide an unparalleled opportunity for research-active, exceptionally promising young scientists and engineers to share their work and develop new ideas and opportunities for collaboration. The conference purposely focuses on several topics that are not directly related to encourage the participants to make connections beyond their field of study and to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue that may offer new, unexpected insights. Participants at previous workshops have highlighted this broad interdisciplinarity as an intellectual highlight of the meeting. The focus areas for this meeting were developed by the volunteer organizing committee and represent globally important topics in which the Middle East has valuable expertise and is investing important resources. All five cutting-edge topics are multi-disciplinary areas that will benefit from greater interdisciplinary dialogue. ? Solar Energy and Water for Sustainable Living ? Nanotechnology for Next Generation Electronics and Photonics ? Exploring the Brain ? Advances in Petroleum Geosciences, Oil and Gas Exploration ? New Spacecraft Technologies for Earth and Space Exploration Further development of ideas for cooperative work that develop at the conference will be facilitated by small collaboration grants for which participants may apply after the meeting. The previous three meetings have now been followed by 25 collaboration grants. Noteworthy bilateral and trilateral collaborations are underway, including work in groundwater quality assessment and purification, epigenetic cancer research, climate change impacts on plant physiology, and nanomaterials.