Teaching and Research Awards

Discover more about the faculty at AUS who are exceling in their teaching endeavors and being recognized for their research achievements.

2019–2020 
Excellence in Teaching Awards

Dr. Sherri Weiler

Dedicated associate professor of performing arts receives 2020 College of Arts and Sciences award for teaching

For Dr. Sherri Weiler, Associate Professor Performing Arts in American University of Sharjah’s (AUS) College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), the best teachers are those that teach students to teach themselves. This philosophy has seen Dr. Weiler’s students achieve momentous outcomes through their time spent with her, with students gaining the confidence to extend themselves musically and personally. Such student success has been recognized by Dr. Weiler’s colleagues and students, with the professor being named the recipient of the 2020 CAS Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr. Weiler’s award acknowledges the success of her approach, which draws upon teaching techniques that are geared towards student self-discovery. She does not lecture from a prepared script, but prefers to use the time spent with her students in class to amplify and expand student knowledge. Her students are assigned information prior to class, and are expected to attend lessons armed with an understanding of that information. That material is then augmented for Dr. Weiler’s students through the use of videos, sound files, instruments and the singing voices of both Dr. Weiler and her students.

Dr. Weiler is also a proponent of applied learning, and requires her applied voice students to sing in the university’s choir. This experience has been an advantage to students looking to pursue a future in performance, with 12 of Dr. Weiler’s former and current students accepted into the Dubai Opera Festival Chorus. All of them have sung in every one of the group’s events since March 2019. In addition, one of Dr. Weiler’s students will perform a 15-minute selection of opera arias at the G-20 Summit being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this November. Dr. Weiler is herself a renowned performer, recently singing a solo in Handel’s Messiah at the Dubai Opera House, accompanied by an orchestra from St. Petersburg, Russia.

“I believe that seeing the proof of the students’ work so skilfully staged, and their teacher performing professionally in both rehearsal and final performance, gives my students a huge boost in their own musical development,” Dr. Weiler said.

Her students also benefit from taking part in musicals held on campus. Students in her Musical Theatre Performance class have performed in the musicals Alice in Wonderland and The Addams Family, in 2018 and 2019, respectively. For students of Dr. Weiler’s Musical Theatre History class, there is an option to write a musical, working in groups. Students from across the university are involved: CAAD students design the logo; SBA students propose a budget and marketing plan; CEN students describe how the stage effects will take place; and CAS students write the lyrics and dialogue and perform the show.

“In both these classes I have succeeded in ‘teaching the students to teach themselves’ through a vibrant, hands-on process,” Dr. Weiler said.

Dr. Rana Sabouni

Active learning methodologies lead to success for CEN’s Dr. Sabouni

The College of Engineering (CEN) has named Dr. Rana Sabouni as a recipient of the 2019­­–2020 Excellence in Teaching Award, recognizing her outstanding contributions to teaching an assortment of engineering courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, and for her supervision of senior design groups and master’s students.

Dr. Sabouni’s award acknowledges her commitment to active learning and the positive impact the methodology has had on her students.  She has used the methodology throughout her teaching of chemical engineering courses, as well as in the development of two new chemical engineering courses: Fundamentals of Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technology, and Particle Technology and Fluidization.

Dr. Sabouni explains how she embeds active learning into her courses:

“To structure the course as an active-learning course, I include a number of activities such as class discussions, on-site mini projects, polling, i-clickers, group peer evaluation games and assigned readings. The lectures are given in an active-learning room setup where students are divided into groups for each class activity. I monitor the course outcomes and feedback from the course to gauge the effectiveness of the methodology. This information is then used to inform the structure of other courses across the college.”

COVID-19 restrictions have provided Dr. Sabouni with a new challenge in administering new teaching methodologies.  She modified assignments, lecture notes and assessments to suit better distance learning. Dr. Sabouni explains that students were asked to solve real-life examples in a core chemical engineering course, and prepare a three-minute video to show both their solution and their experience in coping with distance learning.

Dr. Sabouni’s strength in the field of active learning was also acknowledged earlier in the academic year, prior to the remote learning, when she was selected to represent the college at an intensive three-day workshop on project-based learning among engineering courses at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Boston, United States.  Her authority in the area of active learning was strengthened by her completion of this course, which was attended by approximately 100 other leading engineering educators from across the world.

Hala Rabeea Al-Ani

CAAD alumna honored with teaching award

Marking the end of her first year as a full-time faculty member in the College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD), AUS graduate and Assistant Professor Hala Rabeea Al-Ani has been awarded the 2019–2020 CAAD Excellence in Teaching Award.

Each year, AUS recognizes exceptional faculty across the university’s four colleges for excellence in teaching. These awards are granted to faculty who have made a significant contribution to the quality of instruction, commending examples of outstanding innovation in teaching. Recipients are selected by students from each college.

Al-Ani earned a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication from CAAD in 2009. She also holds a Master of Design in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois Chicago, USA, as well as a Master of Arts in Design from Basel School of Design, Switzerland.

Following her graduation from CAAD, Al-Ani and two of her fellow CAAD graduates co-founded of Möbius Design Studio in Dubai in 2010. With Möbius she worked with various institutions on commissioned projects, including Abu Dhabi Department of Tourism & Culture, Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, the UAE Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and Tashkeel.

Since its inception, Möbius was envisioned as a space to balance self-initiated research and projects with commercial work. The valuable experience of managing a studio provided the ideal context for Al-Ani to explore parallel streams of design practice and gave her greater agency over design decisions and their byproducts. The experience also allowed her to stay in touch with the contemporary needs and concerns of the industry and, most importantly, the community and has played a significant role in reinforcing the relationship she has with her students.

As an educator, Al-Ani’s main goal is to actively foster students' sense of discovery and an outlook towards design as an engaged process, practice and way of thinking. This approach empowers and prepares CAAD students, the next generation of designers, to innovate and conceive self-authored discoveries on how to utilize design to agitate meaningful discourse.

“I am truly humbled and honored to receive this recognition. It takes good students to make teachers better educators, and CAAD students are exceptional. It has been a privilege to continue to build on my engagement with and contribution to the institution,” she said.

As a designer and AUS faculty member, Al-Ani’s current research focuses on the role of Arabic typography in asserting a cultural identity and reclaiming cultural roots. Her work recently received global recognition by the Type Directors Club and was included in the Annual of the World's Best Typography for 2020.

Ahmad Al Nabulsi

Ahmad Al Nabulsi achieves excellence in laboratory instruction

A long-standing member of the AUS community has been recognized for his commitment to student outcomes, receiving the College of Engineering’s (CEN) 2019–2020 Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award. Ahmad Al Nabulsi, who completed both his undergraduate (Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering) and graduate (Master of Science in Mechatronics) at AUS, received the award for his contribution to student success in computing labs. The award selection criteria was based on student evaluations, department head reviews, dean reviews, teaching contributions and innovations, labs maintenance and safety improvements, as well as professional development.

One of the major labs that Al Nabulsi teaches is the Embedded Systems Design and Applications Lab for the college’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE). In this lab, under the supervision of the teaching faculty, he has designed 10 new experiments for students, all of which align with the newly updated CEN curriculum. The new experiments have been highly appraised by both students and the college’s faculty, with students describing their educational lab experiences as fun and engaging.

Al Nabulsi explains the system used by his students in his lab experiments:

“Students start by connecting basic components to the computing device in the first experiment. In the labs afterwards, they start adding to that same setup, step-by-step, until they reach a fully functioning embedded system project prototype connected to the Internet.”

In addition to his work for the Embedded Systems Design and Applications Lab, Al-Nabulsi has also developed new experiments for many of the hardware labs taught as part of the CSE undergraduate curriculum. These include COE 221 Digital Systems Lab, COE 241 Microcontrollers: Programming and Interfacing, COE 251 Introduction to Computer Systems, COE 431 Industrial Cyber Physical Systems and NGN 110 Computer Engineering Lab. He has also had a key role in developing midterm topics and assisting in the examination of students.

At a graduate level, he has also been responsible for designing the practical component of the Cyber Physical Systems course in the Master of Science in Computing Engineering program.
Al Nabulsi has been the only lab instructor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering to be awarded the department’s student appreciation award for two consecutive years.

In addition to his work for the Embedded Systems Design and Applications Lab, Al-Nabulsi has also developed new experiments for many of the hardware labs taught as part of the CSE undergraduate curriculum. These include COE 221 Digital Systems Lab, COE 241 Microcontrollers: Programming and Interfacing, COE 251 Introduction to Computer Systems, COE 431 Industrial Cyber Physical Systems and NGN 110 Computer Engineering Lab. He has also had a key role in developing midterm topics and assisting in the examination of students.

At a graduate level, he has also been responsible for designing the practical component of the Cyber Physical Systems course in the Master of Science in Computing Engineering program.

Al Nabulsi has been the only lab instructor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering to be awarded the department’s student appreciation award for two consecutive years.

In addition to his teaching achievements, Al Nabulsi also provides his services to the college on a regular basis. Roles evidencing this service include:

• camp instructor at the triannual AUS High School Computing Camp
• web coordinator for the CSE portal
• CSE alumni coordinator
• CSE media and public relations coordinator
• CSE safety contact person

In his free time, Al Nabulsi keeps up to date with the newest technologies in his field by involving himself in different research projects and attending workshops and seminars. He has also contributed to several students’ classes as well as senior CEN design projects, across various CEN departments. These projects have resulted in him coauthoring multiple journal and conference papers which have won national awards.

Excellence in Research Awards

​Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine

Study of digital technology on human communication sees Dr. Ibahrine recognized with research award

Dr. Mohammed Ibahrine of the Department of Mass Communication in AUS’ College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) has received the 2020 CAS Research Award. The award acknowledges Dr. Ibahrine’s extensive research into the adoption of digital technologies among students, youths and professionals. His most recent research has focused on the complex impact and implications of digital technologies on human communication in different social, cultural, business and professional contexts. His research has shown that the disruptive nature of digital technologies has required original thinking in conceptualizing existing and emergent phenomena, selecting the appropriate theoretical frameworks, and applying integrated research methods.

Dr. Ibahrine has a strong interdisciplinary approach to his research, noting that “it connects technology, human behavior in societal contexts, creativity, innovation, business models and entrepreneurship, which represent a significant convergent point of digital humanities, social science research and business studies.”

This interdisciplinary approach has led to a recent publication in a top-tier journal on the rise of the news ecosystem and business models in Morocco. Dr. Ibahrine believes that this was the first examination of this critical topic in the Arab region. Indeed, Dr. Ibahrine is keen to use his research to address key issues of national and regional relevance. An objective of his short- and long-term research is to generate teaching and training materials such as case studies, data visualizations, professional reports, policy papers and white papers. He hopes theses resources will be valuable to faculty and students at AUS as well as at other institutions of higher education in the UAE.

However, it is not just communities in this region who are benefitting from the dissemination of Dr. Ibahrine’s research. He has presented his research at prestigious universities and top-ranked research centers internationally, including Stanford University; Middle East Broadcasting Networks in Washington, DC; London School of Economics; and Free University in Berlin, Germany. He sums up his research philosophy as follows:

“My research philosophy derives its resourcefulness from the concrete belief that my research findings can be shared with scholars as well as large public communities such as students, business communities, journalists and policymakers.”

Dr. Ibahrine hopes that his future research will explore new horizons regarding the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and Robotics and human communication in cultural, business and professional contexts.

Dr. Mehdi Ghommem

Mechanical Engineering Professor Receives 2019-2020 CEN Research Award

Dr. Mehdi Ghommem, Assistant Professor in AUS’ College of Engineering (CEN), has been recognized for his outstanding research achievements, receiving the CEN award for excellence in research.

The accolade acknowledges Dr. Ghommem’s publication of 10 articles over the past 12 months, all of which have been published in SCI/SCIE/Scopus indexed journals. Such journals include the prestigious International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, International Journal of Non-linear Mechanics, Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures and Nonlinear Dynamics.

In addition to his published work, Dr. Ghommem also had a patent granted in April of 2019 which deals with novel methods for measuring air flow around flying vehicles. Plans are also afoot for a further patent for Dr. Ghommem in the coming months.

Dr. Ghommem’s research achievements over the course of 2019-2020 also include extensive collaborations with professors and researchers from across the world. He has worked with multidisciplinary researchers in universities including University of Waterloo (Canada), New Mexico State University (USA), Stevens Institute of Technology (USA), Curtin University (Australia), and University of Western Australia (Australia). Such collaborations have resulted in joint research proposals (both internal and external) and papers published in top tier journals.

Speaking of his research plans for the future, Dr. Ghommem says;

“My plan is to continue the successful collaboration with my AUS colleagues and external partners, diversify further my research portfolio, search for novel engineering applications related to emerging technologies, and seek external research funding opportunities”.

Dr. Ghommem, who is now a faculty member of CEN’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, completed his PhD in Engineering Mechanics at Virginia Tech in the United States. Since completing his PhD he has worked as a research scientist with Schlumberger, an international leader in the provision of technology and services to the global energy industry. He also conducted postdoctoral study in the Center for Numerical Porous Media at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.  His research interests include nonlinear dynamics, model reduction of large dynamical/energy systems, modeling and simulation of MEMS, and flow in porous media.

Dr. Amjad Tuffaha

CAS professor recognized for work on the mathematics of fluid-structure interaction

Partial differential equations, mathematical fluid dynamics, fluid-structure interactions and control theory are just some of the areas Dr. Amjad Tuffaha of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at American University of Sharjah (AUS) has been investigating through his recent research endeavors. In recognition of his extensive research output across these fields, Dr. Tuffaha, associate professor in the college’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has been honored with the 2020 CAS Research Award.

Dr. Tuffaha has been honored for his pursuance of an ambitious research agenda, focusing on both the analysis and control of fluid-structure interaction in various models. Of particular interest to Dr. Tuffaha is the mathematics that governs the natural phenomena of airflow, and the interaction between the flow and structures such as beams, airfoils and elastic membranes, among other things. In addition to studying the mathematical properties of these models, Dr. Tuffaha is also interested in control analysis, where the dynamics of the natural phenomena may be steered to a more desirable state, for instance, in stabilizing the motion of an airfoil while in airflow. Dr. Tuffaha’s research has also looked at the development of abstract frameworks for control of interactive systems involving the interaction of more than one physical phenomenon such as heat diffusion and wave propagation, or fluid flow and structural vibration.

Over the past decade spent looking at these questions, Dr. Tuffaha has worked collaboratively with researchers from across the world. An AUS master’s student who assisted Dr. Tuffaha with his research—Mohamed Serry—has gone onto pursue a related PhD at the University of Waterloo in the United Kingdom.

“I am humbled to receive this award for my research and the recognition it brings to the research I have been undertaking for some time. The award is encouragement for me to continue to pursue my passion for research and to uncover more about the fascinating ways in which mathematics works in nature," Dr. Tuffaha said.

Excellence IN FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE

SBA First Year Experience Awards

Faculty’s dedication to first-year experience recognized by AUS School of Business Administration

Retention among first-year students within the university’s School of Business Administration (SBA) at American University of Sharjah is the highest in years, largely attributed to a new student-centered initiative led by faculty members at SBA. The school’s first-year experience initiative was launched in Fall 2019, designed to make the experience of incoming students not only enriching and transformative, but also comfortable and enjoyable. As mentors, faculty members provide advice to their first-year students regarding courses, career paths, and student life within SBA and AUS, and establish the roots of a lifelong connection between students and the university. Academically, the initiative introduces first-year students to different areas of study within the business field, helping them to choose a major best suited to their talents, interests and future aspirations.

The SBA first-year experience initiative is part of the university’s wider efforts to ensure the transition to university for first-year students is as seamless as possible. SBA’s efforts have seen an overwhelming response from students, who were largely keen to communicate with their assigned faculty member, sharing their experiences and asking questions—both big and small. SBA Associate Professor Dr. Feras Salama said of the initiative:

“I had some students come to my office to discuss career paths and degree options while others like to discuss different topics. Consequently, this has led to establishing a relationship with students built on trust and respect which is aligned with one of SBA's most important core values, inclusiveness.”

The initiative has seen retention rates improve among SBA’s first-year students as it helps students to become more deeply involved in student life and make new friendships faster. It also makes students more likely to succeed academically, as they know where to go for help, and are more comfortable asking for assistance.  

Given this success, SBA has decided to extend the program to the coming semester. It has also sought to recognize some of the faculty members involved. These faculty are Dr. Ashraf Khallaf, Karen Hawa, Dana Masha’al, Somia Anwar, Alaa Hamade, Dr. Khusrav Gaibulloev, Dr. Hamid Baghestani, Dr. Dina Tasneem, Dr. Ilker Kaya, Dr. Yass Alkafaji, Dr. Feras Salama and Dr. Ramon Cano.