Issue 3 - December 2025 | KU Explorer

Summary

Published: 12/18/2025

What's in this issue?

ABOUT THE COVER Seen through an AI lens, this issue’s cover visualizes a hyperconnected future shaped by AI-powered infrastructures and represents the seamless integration of cybersecurity, communication, transport, and energy—the systems rewriting how we live, work, and connect.
On-demand shopping just got smarter
Fear rewired: using VR to treat phobias
Microgrids promise decentralized power and a greener future
Smart power for remote communities
AI that sees and speaks
A tiny molecule could clean the world’s most polluted waters
The future is now: Inside Khalifa University’s 2025 Innovation Day
AI learns the language of code to outsmart cyber threats

Download PDF

Start reading

View magazine

In this edition

Research Spotlights

On-demand shopping just got smarter

Aerial drones and a new bidding system for delivery jobs promises faster gratification.

Features

Fear rewired: using VR to treat phobias

An innovative virtual reality therapy platform combines cutting-edge technologies and secure data to help patients face their deepest anxieties—and take control of their lives.

Features

Microgrids promise decentralized power and a greener future

High costs are limiting the widespread adoption of small-scale energy generation, but getting AI involved could revolutionize our energy future.

Research Spotlights

Smart power for remote communities

An algorithm that optimizes the integration of renewables and diesel generators could help provide cleaner, more reliable power to rural communities.

Inside views

AI that sees and speaks

Naoufel Werghi, Professor of Computer Science at the Centre for Cyber-Physical Systems, Khalifa University.

Research Spotlights

AI learns the language of code to outsmart cyber threats

A software vulnerability checker with the potential to become a repair shop could keep critical computer systems one step ahead.

Research Spotlights

A tiny molecule could clean the world’s most polluted waters

Researchers are using cutting-edge catalysts to destroy persistent toxins in our waterways.

Features

The future is now: Inside Khalifa University’s 2025 Innovation Day

From drones to desalination, a celebration of ideas reveals how innovation is shaping the UAE’s sustainable future.

Features

Making a splash in the water industry

Faisal Al Marzooqi is unlocking hidden riches in the UAE’s desalination waste.

Lab to Life

From desert to table: Saving fresh food from going to waste

A data-driven initiative aims to cut postharvest food loss through smart farming, cooling innovation, and training farmers.

Lab Insights

Harnessing heritage and science for the UAE’s food future

From camel milk to dates, Khalifa University’s Food Security and Technology Center is redefining how the UAE transforms its local resources into global food solutions.

Inside views

Innovation meets food security

Aligning heritage with science, Prof. Fawzi Banat aims to foster multidisciplinary collaboration and ensure his team’s research contributes directly to the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051.

Research Spotlights

Cleared for takeoff: The algorithm behind safer air traffic

An algorithm that predicts trajectories of air taxis and other small aircraft could help avoid collisions and get air travel off the ground.

Inside views

The many faces of robotics

At the forefront of research into embodied intelligence, Irfan Hussain's work spans a remarkable breadth of real-life applications as he fuses physical and cognitive intelligence into wearable and field-based robotic systems.

Lab Insights

Farming the future

At Khalifa University's Center for Autonomous Robot Systems, an ambitious partnership with agri-giant Silal is revolutionizing farming, using smart machines to tackle climate change and grow food in the desert.

Research Spotlights

From brine to batteries

A single atom of nitrogen leads a research team to mine lithium from brine, turning desert waste to wealth.

Research Spotlights

Can we curb global warming without shutting down factories?

Heavy industry can be part of a low-carbon future, but only if suitable technologies and policies are embraced.

Inside views

A rock solid plan for a greener future

Dr. Emad Walid Al Shalabi, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering and a member of the Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and Hydrogen at Khalifa University.

Inside views

Beyond the network: How 6G will transform our daily lives

Merouane Debbah, Professor at Khalifa University’s Department of Computer and Information Engineering, Director of the 6G Research Center, and Ambassador for KU’s Digital Future strategy.

Research Spotlights

Could sea squirts be the next big thing in nanotech?

High-quality nanocellulose networks can be extracted from sea squirts by a simple method.

Research Spotlights

Strategic AI predicts cyberattacks long before the strike

Accurate forecasts of future cyberthreats enable the tactical development of defensive countermeasures.

Research Spotlights

Trust issues: How AI picks its teammates

In a world where AI increasingly learns from our devices, a dynamic, trust-driven framework promises security, scale and reliability without risking privacy.

Research Spotlights

Resilient nations start with sustainable choices

New insights show that a country’s ability to withstand crises hinges on its commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Research Spotlights

A 6G bottleneck breakthrough

As wireless systems grow crowded, one clever design may hold the key to faster, smarter communication.

Research Spotlights

Stopping the sulfur shuttle helps batteries go the distance

Porous materials may unlock longer life for lithium-sulfur batteries.

Research Spotlights

How smarter behavior could slash greenhouse emissions

Analysis of energy demand and use highlights the need for tailored location-based strategies.

Research Spotlights

Smart windows that generate power, cool rooms and heat water

Two energy-harvesting technologies in one window triples the impact on energy performance, promising more affordable comfort.

Research Spotlights

Age matters: model predicts how ancient walls will withstand earthquakes

Accounting for how masonry ages could sharpen seismic risk models and guide smarter preservation of historical buildings

Research Spotlights

Precision control comes to bendy, twisty robots

Modeling the motion of robots with soft and rigid components opens the door to applications in dynamic and unstructured environments.

Features

Sustainability autopilot optimizes home comforts

A mathematical model that balances a household’s need for water and energy could become one of the building blocks of sustainable cities.

Research Spotlights

Making hydrogen a viable auto fuel

Hydrogen refuelling stations could become financially viable if fitted with multiple tanks and control systems that enable hydrogen trading.

Research Spotlights

Smart materials for more advanced wastewater treatments

Stimuli-responsive membranes offer more efficient ways to capture and break down persistent organic pollutants, ensuring cleaner water and a healthier environment.