Understanding how natural environments respond to human activity is critical for sustainability. For ocean environments, this requires monitoring sea life, a goal that requires a new generation of sensors that brings wearable technology underwater.

The world’s first fully integrated and functional microchip based on exotic two-dimensional materials has been fabricated at KAUST.

Crystalline silicon solar cells dominate the global photovoltaic market with module efficiencies of around 20-22%. However, the field of solar energy is wanting for innovative materials and approaches that yield even higher efficiencies in support of global renewable energy goals.

Researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology successfully build high-speed and low-energy consumption microchips by incorporating two-dimensional materials.

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is launching ‘Dear AI,’ an International Women’s Day campaign and hackathon to tackle gender bias and the under-representation of women, Saudi, and Arab people in AI software.

Emerging forms of thin-film device technologies that rely on alternative semiconductor materials, such as printable organics, nanocarbon allotropes and metal oxides, could contribute to a more economically and environmentally sustainable Internet of Things (IoT), a KAUST-led international team suggests.

An electrically conductive hydrogel that takes stretchability, self-healing and strain sensitivity to new limits has been developed at KAUST. “Our material outperforms all previously reported hydrogels and introduces new functionalities,” said Husam Alshareef, professor of materials science and engineering. Smart materials that flex, sense and stretch like skin have many applications in which they interact with the human body.

  Vibrating mechanical switches that can be cascaded to perform complex computational operations could take computing significantly further than today's technologies. KAUST researchers have demonstrated an alternative technology based on mechanical vibrations.

The healthcare industry forecasts that future wellbeing will be monitored by wearable, wirelessly networked sensors. Manufacturing such devices could become much easier using decal electronics. A KAUST-developed process prints these high-performance, silicon-based computers on soft, sticker-like surfaces that can be attached anywhere. Fitting electronics on to the asymmetric contours of human bodies demands a re-think of traditional computer...

Energy storage units that can be integrated into wearable and flexible electronic systems are becoming increasingly important in today's world. A research team from KAUST has now developed a microsupercapacitor that exploits three-dimensional porous electrodes. These micropower units are expected to enable a new generation of "smart"products, such as self-powered sensors for wearables, security, structural health monitoring and "internet of thing...

A nanocrystalline material that rapidly makes white light out of blue light has been developed by KAUST researchers. While Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are now well established technologies, there are several advantages gained by shortening the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves used for transmitting information. So-called visible-light communication (VLC) makes use of parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that are unregulated and is potent...

As the number of mobile devices grows along with demand for faster connections and larger data volumes, wireless networks can easily exceed capacity, resulting in severe network slowdowns and outages. While engineers have developed various sophisticated signal processing methods to accommodate sudden changes in network loads, it has been challenging to evaluate and compare the performance of different approaches in realistic network environments.

Smart nanomaterials that respond to an external stimulus are a new breed of material that could shake up almost every area of science from healthcare to heavy industry. A research team led by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, has cooked up a way to make magnetic-field-responsive nanowires whose properties can be tailored for a specific task simply by adjusting the length of time they are baked in an oven.

A novel synthetic membrane produced by researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, is stronger and more stable than previous examples made by the same technique. The material could fulfill the commercial potential that previous block copolymer membranes have shown. Porous synthetic membranes are used for filtration in research, industry and biotechnology.

An understanding of why tungsten-doped thin films degrade so rapidly in air may lead to better designs for semiconductor technologies. A combination of experiments and theory have helped researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to improve the understanding of fundamental physics questions about molecular doping—these will underpin the development of organic solar cells and field effect transistors.

Fabrics containing flexible electronics are appearing in many novel products, such as clothes with in-built screens and solar panels. More impressively, these fabrics can act as electronic skins that can sense their surroundings and could have applications in robotics and prosthetic medicine. Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, have now developed smart threads that detect the strength and locat...

Cell phones and Wi-Fi devices typically transmit data using radio waves, but as the demand for wireless data transfer increases, congestion in the radio spectrum is expected to become more of a problem. One way to solve this problem is with VLC, a technology that uses visible light rather than radio waves for data transmission. VLC uses lasers or LEDs that look just like traditional lights, but by rapidly switching on and off faster than the eye ...

Everyday materials from the kitchen drawer, such as aluminum foil, sticky note paper, sponges and tape, have been used by a team of electrical engineers from KAUST to develop a low-cost sensor that can detect external stimuli, including touch, pressure, temperature, acidity and humidity.