Hello again. Let me now pick up where I left off last month. As a continuation of that email, I am going here to move away from philosophical and strategic talk into facts on the ground. Hence, we move from theory to application. After all, we are an academic institution, right? Our courses often have, in their moniker and content, theory and applications. So, the first letter was the theory, but let us now discuss what we have done over the past year, and what we have done in general since the onset of the transformation a few years ago.

Sectors of focus: We start by talking about the “what.” What is it that we wanted to do? The first thing we did four years ago was to outline our areas of focus. We went into a lengthy endeavor in which we consulted with all faculty, conducted surveys, looked at the issue of the sectors in which we wanted to specialize, and looked at important dimensions, such as: the level of technological disruption needed for the future, demand for qualified technical graduates, IR 4.0 demands, technological intensity, KFUPM strengths, and so on.

We decided to focus on ten sectors going forward:

Energy and Minerals, and in this case, energy encompasses everything, including unconventional hydrocarbons, nuclear energy, geothermal, renewables, and so on.

Chemicals and Materials, because materials represent the future prosperity of humanity and an alternate way of using hydrocarbons without burning them.

Environment and Sustainability, especially when it comes to the circular carbon economy, climate change adaptation, biodiversity, pollution, water security, hunger, and so on.

Manufacturing, including things like mobile robotics, 3D printing, and so on.
Design and Built Environment, from sustainable cities to smart buildings to heavy industrial equipment, and so on.

Aerospace and Defense, including satellite communication, earth observation, avionics, lunar missions, all the way to interstellar exploration and Mars mineral harvesting.

Digital Economy, including IoT devices, cybersecurity, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, etc. 

Biotechnology, including gene therapy, bioreactors, bioelectronics, biosensors, vaccines, pharma, and so on. 

Mobility and Logistics, including electric vehicles, advanced logistics, and smart sharing, and to establish the Kingdom as a hub for supply chain, rather than its neighbors.

Financial Technology, with fintech, quantitative finance, financial engineering, crowdsourcing, and so forth.

These are the ten sectors in which we chose to specialize and which directly serve and are aligned with not only Saudi Arabia and Vision 2030 but also with where the entire world is moving.

New programs: These sectors then formed the basis for us going forward, in terms of creating new programs, both academic and research. Let us review exactly what we have done in this regard. We created a total of 92 exciting programs since the onset of the transformation. Yes, this is not a typo: 92 exciting programs. How can that be possible? First, we tackled the question of why it is difficult to launch new programs at KFUPM. We found that the chain of developing a new program had been exceptionally bureaucratic and lengthy, starting from a professor, to the department counsel, college counsel, dean, deanship of academic development, and so on.
 
Not only that, but the process was often not linear, as programs are bounced back between these entities sometimes several times. Those in architectural or civil engineering know that the biggest delays in any project often stem from rework. Building a wall only to change one’s mind and demolish it to relocate it; or changing the layout of rooms, architectural styles, etc., cause delays. Rework is indeed a very costly practice time-wise – in everything. We decided that the process must be streamlined such that the department works in parallel and with the deanship of academic development. Once done, the programs need not even go to the dean or college council. And just like that, the process was streamlined and rework removed – and the floodgates opened for new programs (and then competition between the departments also helped – competition can be a very powerful force indeed).

And with the help of our astounding faculty members, we were able to create all of these exciting programs. Some of them are full-fledged undergraduate programs, including Control and Instrumentation Engineering (which previously existed in a limited form), Material Science and Engineering, Bioengineering, Environmental Science and Engineering, Smart and Sustainable Cities, Integrated Design, Electrical Engineering and Physics (as one program), and Mining Science and Engineering.

I go back now to my earlier letter, when I said that to be a tech-leaping institution we have already graduated cohorts in Quantum Computing. You see now how Electrical Engineering and Physics matters? It is going to be the basis upon which quantum computing is built. Let us take a diversion and review what quantum computers do (I hope this is not going to be boring).

Quantum computing: This is a new field that uses the physics of quantum mechanics with electrical engineering and cryogenics to perform computational operations that are not possible with classical computers. The principal building blocks of quantum computers are the so-called quantum bits or qubits, which can assume values that are a superposition of two states, whereas bits in classical computing can only be zero or one. Another important feature of quantum computing is the principle of entanglement, which allows two qubits to become entangled and intertwined, no matter what the distance between them, within the quantum processor. Both of these features allow computation operations at much faster speeds than classical computing. Overall, research in quantum computing can be divided into: 1) physical principles of quantum behavior (mostly Physics), 2) translation of these physical principles into computer hardware (mostly Electrical and Computer Engineering), and 3) developing effective algorithms to harness the power of quantum computers, such as in cryptography and AI (mostly Computer Science).

KFUPM realized the importance of quantum computing early on, from the onset of the transformation, and created both an undergraduate concentration and a Master’s degree in this field, thus leaping most global institutions. The University is now in the process of fully establishing this program by building a quantum computing lab that has the necessary cryogenic refrigeration and quantum processors to be able to conduct effective research in this field and train a new generation of students to lead this sector. We will focus on all three branches of quantum computing mentioned above, and hence the new major, Electrical Engineering and Physics, will support this direction. Moreover, as this field promises to revolutionize computing, it is starting to face increased export restrictions from abroad. It is therefore paramount that the Kingdom gains an early lead in it.

Quantum computing relies on extreme refrigeration (cryogenic) to enable its quantum behavior. However, unlike refrigeration, the fabrication of the integrated circuits constituting the quantum processor requires highly sophisticated clean rooms that cost hundreds of millions. Luckily, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) has already built such clean rooms and has expressed interest in allowing KFUPM to utilize them. It is worth mentioning that the lab specification, assembly, and integrated circuit fabrication will be performed and supervised by two promising young alums of KFUPM: Mohammad Al-Ghadeer (currently pursuing his graduate degree in Quantum Computing at the University of Oxford) and Ahmed Hajar (currently pursuing his graduate degree in Quantum Computing at the University of California at Berkeley). Mohammad was a student in the first cohort of graduates in the Quantum Computing concentration that was launched three years ago as part of our transformation. This fact alone signifies how these new programs are critical to building future sectors in the Kingdom and fostering Vision 2030 aspirations.

Many people misunderstand pictures of quantum computers. The image here shows Google’s quantum computer, which has 70 qubits. Most of its structure is just the cryogenic refrigeration system, as the quantum effects need a very low temperature to activate, around absolute zero, or -273.15°C. This is required for qubit stability, reducing thermal noise, and superconducting zero resistance. IBM announced recently its quantum computer with 1,000 qubits, and mentioned that it aims to build a one-million-qubit computer within the next decade.

Quantum Computing at KFUPM exists both as a concentration and a Master’s degree. I am sure everyone at the University already knows what an undergraduate concentration (CX) is. Basically, itis a subspecialty that is interdisciplinary, and that you take in a field within your discipline, or close to your discipline, including things like Renewable Energy, Hydrogen Mobility, Nonmetallic Materials, Quantum Computing, Nuclear Power, etc.

The demand for these concentrations has been exceptional from the industry. KFUPM graduates are already attractive to employers, but the concentrations allowed employers to reach out to our students even before they graduate and agree with them on a plan that would result in their employment upon graduation. For this reason, the University launched the Student Early Employment and Development (SEED) program, through which a company would come to KFUPM and offer select students in their Junior year a scholarship and a promise of employment upon graduation, assuming the student undertakes a certain undergraduate concentration. This is a successful model in many concentrations, such as Electronic Defense Systems, Cybersecurity, Hydrogen Mobility, and others, especially for futuristic areas like these, since it de-risks employment in these areas for the students. Participating companies and agencies in this program include SAMI/GAMI, Halliburton, Nesr, NTIS, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger, and Taqa, to name a few. Ma’aden recently pledged to sponsor 30 students every year in programs such as Mining Science and Engineering.

Before I go on to discuss other things, I notice that this letter has already become long! I plan to continue the discussion in a future letter. Stay tuned! :).