About

2001

Ph.D., Information Science
Japan Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan
Dissertation: An Architectural System Design for Cooperative Shared Haptic Virtual Environment. Advisor: Prof. Susumu Horiguchi

1998

M.Sc., Computer Science & Application
Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Thesis: Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMPv3) Security and Administrative Framework. Advisor: Prof. Huang Ling Gong

1992

B.Sc., Electronic Engineering
Damascus University, Damascus, Syria
Thesis: Digital Impedance Measurement

Jan. 2020 - present

Associate Professor, Qatar University
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering — Doha, Qatar

Sept. 2010 - Jan. 2020

Assistant Professor, Qatar University
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering — Doha, Qatar

April 2006 - Sept. 2010

Assistant Professor, Iwate University
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering / Department of Design and Media Technology, Graduate School of Engineering — Morioka, Japan

April 2003 - March 2006

Researcher, Gifu University
Virtual System Laboratory (VSL) — Gifu, Japan

Jan. 2002 - March 2003

Fujitsu Endowed Chair (Research and Educational Personnel), Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
School of Knowledge Science, Fujitsu Endowed Chair for Sciences of Complex Systems — Nomi, Japan

March 1998 - Sept. 1998

Research Student, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
School of Information Science — Nomi, Japan

Sept. 1992 - Sept. 1995

Software Engineer, National Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC)
Network security and system analysis; ciphering/key-exchange algorithms; RSA, DES implementations — Damascus, Syria

• 2025
  Top 2% Scientists Worldwide Recognized among the World's Top 2% Scientists (Stanford University & Elsevier, 2025), based on citation impact and research productivity.
• 2025
  Best Prototype & Most Creative Design Contest — 3rd place Transforming Hand Rehabilitation: The Development of Soft Actuators, Extended Reality (XR) Environments, and Doctor-Patient Interaction Platform. College of Engineering, Qatar University, May 26.
• 2024
  Best Short Paper Award Nicograph International Conference: Few-Shot Learning Approach for Avatar Action Identification in the Metaverse. Tokyo, Japan, June 13.
• 2023
  Best Poster Award International Symposium on Intelligence Design: Virtual Reality Wearable Telexistence System Development and Evaluation Environment (V-TX). Fukui, Japan, March 13.
• 2023
  Certificate of Appreciation In recognition of significant contributions to providing high-quality teaching to the Honors Program, Qatar University, Spring.
• 2022
  Best Poster — ICT discipline, Faculty/Postdoc category The Development of Emerging Virtual Reality (VR) System for Analyzing Pedestrian Safety Perception on Road Infrastructure. Qatar University Annual Research Forum & Exhibition, October 3.
• 2022
  Best Poster — ICT discipline, Undergraduate category Assistive Telexistence System Using Motion Blending. Qatar University Annual Research Forum & Exhibition, October 3.
• 2022
  Senior Design Contest Award — 1st place Assistive Telexistence System Using Motion Blending. College of Engineering, Qatar University, May.
• 2021
  Best Abstract Poster Presentation Award — 2nd place Using Virtual Reality to allow paramedics to familiarize themselves with a new ambulance patient compartment design. Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar, Jan 21.
• 2020
  Senior Design Contest Award — 3rd place 3D Digital Modeling and Virtual Reality for Rich Interaction with Cultural Heritage Sites. College of Engineering, Qatar University, May 10.
• 2019
  Elsevier Recognized Reviewer In recognition of reviews contributed to the Display journal and Informatics in Medicine Unlocked journal.
• 2018
  Best Paper Award 2018 IEEE Conference on e-Learning, e-Management, and e-Service (IC3e 2018): A Virtual Reality Nutrition Awareness Learning System for Children. Malaysia, November 21-22.
• 2018
  Senior Design Contest Award — 1st place Tactile Footwear Interface to Create the Illusion of Walking on Different Surfaces. College of Engineering, Qatar University, June 25.
• 2018
  Outstanding Research Project Driver Activity Recognition from Sitting Posture and Vibrotactile-based Warning System for Making Driving More Safe. Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), April 5.
• 2017
  Excellence in Services Award College of Engineering, Qatar University, June 5.
• 2017
  Finals Winner — Microsoft Imagine Cup Middle East and Africa Self-Powered Smart Water Monitoring System using IoT and Cloud Computing. Lebanon, May 18-20.
• 2017
  Qatar National Winner, 1st Place — Microsoft Imagine Cup Qatar Final Self-Powered Smart Water Monitoring System using IoT and Cloud Computing, April 17.
• 2017
  Best Research Paper Award Driver Activity Recognition in Virtual Reality Driving Simulation. The 8th International Conference on Information and Communication Systems (iCICS 2017), April 4.
• 2016
  Best Service Award Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Qatar University, May 30.
• 2016
  Best Faculty Poster Award for Science & Engineering Qatar University Annual Research Forum, May 3.
• 2015
  1st Prize for Course Project Award Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Qatar University, June 4.
• 2015
  Senior Design Contest Award — 3rd place IMVIRISM: Immersive Virtual Reality in Improving Communication Skills in Children with Autism. College of Engineering, Qatar University, June 4.
• 2014
  Senior Design Contest Award — 1st place Investigation of Haptic Seat and High-Fidelity Driving Simulator in Making Driving Safer. College of Engineering, Qatar University, June 18.
• 2014
  Appreciation Award For invaluable contribution to the Stars of Science TV program, May.
• 2014
  Outstanding Research Project Incorporating Haptic and Olfactory into Surgical Simulation (iHOOS). Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), March 20.
• 2013
  Qatar National Winner, 1st Place — Microsoft Imagine Cup, Innovation Category ARTOUCH: Interactive Digital Haptic Artifacts System, March 25.
• 2012
  Service Excellence Award Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Qatar University, June 21.
• 2012
  Teaching Excellence Award Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Qatar University, June 21.
• 2012
  Qatar National Winner, 1st Place — Microsoft Imagine Cup, Software Design Category 3D-Kindio: Navigation Aid for Blind and Visually Impaired, April 26. (World Top 20)
• 2012
  Runner-Up Award Platform Expos, Create an App competition: Find my shadow, April 18.
• 2011
  Best Award — Competition for Art & Technology Tohoku 2011 Different games to test your memory, July 16.
• 2010
  Best Paper Award — 1st Place, 26th NICOGRAPH Paper Contest Enhancing 3D Scenes Using a Laser Projector in Real-time, September 24.
• 2010
  Best Paper Award — 2nd Place, 26th NICOGRAPH Paper Contest Real-time shape restoration method from multiple view camera image using texture projection, September 24.
• 2009
  FUNAI Foundation for Information Technology Award The Development of Five-Fingered Haptic Interface HIRO.
• 2009
  Best Award — Competition for Art & Technology Tohoku 2009 Interactive High-contrast Visual Generation Using Hybrid Laser-Raster Projection.
• 2008
  Best Paper Prize IEEE Sendai Section, Tohoku-Section Joint Convention of Institutes of Electrical and Information Engineers: Automatic calibration of laser projector arrays.
• 2008
  Best Award — Competition for Art & Technology Tohoku 2008 Laser Graphics VJ: Dream Machine.
• 2007
  Best Paper Award — 23rd NICOGRAPH Paper Contest An efficient image-based rendering method for visual hull using LDI, November 16.
• 2002
  Outstanding Service Award For serving as a Committee Member in The International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing, Application and Technologies (PDCAT'02).
• 1998-2001
  Monbusho PhD Scholarship Ministry of Education, Japan.
• 1995-1997
  M.Sc. Scholarship Ministry of Education, China.
• 1995-1997
  SSRC Scholarship Award Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), Syria — awarded for an excellent engineer to pursue studying abroad.

Boards & editorial roles (9)

• 2026-present
  Editorial Board Immersive Media and User Experience (Nexus Academic Press, UK)
• 2026
  Evaluation Panel Member 10th Surgical Research and Innovation Ideas Symposium
• 2019
  Evaluation Panel Member 10th Surgical Research and Innovation Ideas Symposium
• 2010-present
  Board Member (Associate Councilor) The Society for Art & Science, Tohoku Section
• 2009-2013
  External Reviewer The Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong
• 2008-2013
  Editorial Board The Open Virtual Reality Journal
• 2007-2010
  Steering Committee Art & Technology Digital Contest Tohoku
• 2006
  Guest Editor Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics
• 2006-2010
  Steering Board Art & Technology Society (Tohoku)

Conference committees (37)

• 2009–2013, 2016–2018, 2023–2026
  Technical / International Program Committee NICOGRAPH International Conference
• 2019–2025, 2027
  Technical Committee International Conference on Computer Graphics and Virtuality (ICCGV)
• 2018, 2021–2023, 2026
  Technical Committee IEEE International Conference on Computer and Communications (ICCC)
• 2018–2021, 2024, 2026
  Technical Committee International Conference on Education Technology and Computers (ICETC)
• 2017–2020, 2022, 2025
  Technical / Technical Program Committee International Workshop on Pattern Recognition (IWPR)
• 2024–2025
  Technical Committee ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Virtual-Reality Continuum and its Applications in Industry (VRCAI)
• 2016, 2018–2019
  Technical Committee EMENA-ISTL / EMENA-TSSL (Europe, Middle East & North Africa Information Systems & Technologies to Support Learning)
• 2021, 2023–2024, 2027
  Technical Committee International Conference on Software and Information Engineering (ICSIE)
• 2021–2022, 2024
  Technical Committee International Conference on Behavioural and Social Computing (BESC)
• 2025–2026
  Technical Committee Computer Graphics International (CGI)
• 2007, 2009–2010, 2015, 2017, 2026
  Technical / Program Committee International Conference on Advances in Information Technology (IAIT)
• 2016, 2018
  Technical Committee International Conference on Computer and Applications (ICCA)
• 2025–2026
  Technical Committee International Conference on Educational Technology (ICET)
• 2026
  Technical Committee ETECOM — International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Computing
• 2025
  Technical Committee Asia Conference on Information Engineering (ACIE)
• 2024
  Technical Committee IEEE International Symposium on Embedded Multicore/Manycore SoCs (MCSoC)
• 2022
  Technical Program Committee International Conference on Machine Learning and Soft Computing (ICMLSC)
• 2022
  Technical Program Committee International Conference on Software Engineering and AI (SEAI)
• 2021
  Technical Committee International Conference on Applied Mathematics, Modeling and Computer Simulation (AMMCS)
• 2021
  Technical Committee International Conference on Haptics and Virtual Reality (ICHVR)
• 2017
  Technical Committee International Conference on Virtual and Augmented Reality Simulations (ICVARS)
• 2019
  Technical Committee International Conference on Network Technology (ICNT)
• 2018
  Technical Committee International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning (ICL)
• 2023
  Technical Committee ACM International Conference on Image, Video and Signal Processing (IVSP)
• 2015
  Chair of Organization Committee & Program Committee International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• 2014
  Track Chair, Program Committee ACS/IEEE International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications (AICCSA)
• 2013
  Technical Committee International Conference on Information and Communication Technology (ICICT)
• 2013
  Scientific Committee Palestinian International Conference on ICT (PICICT)
• 2013
  Mentor Startup Weekend Doha (Community College of Qatar)
• 2007
  Program Committee IEEE World Haptics Conference
• 2009
  Reviewing Committee Haptics Symposium
• 2002
  Session Chair (Distributed VR session) VRAI — Virtual Reality and its Application in Industry
• 2002
  Arrangement Committee PDCAT — International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing, Applications and Technologies
• 2020
  Organizing Committee IEEE International Conference on Informatics, IoT, and Enabling Technologies (ICIoT)
• 2020
  Judges Committee (poster award) Qatar University Annual Research Forum and Exhibition
• 2026
  Technical Committee IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Systems, and Emerging Technology (ICAISET)
• 2025
  Technical Committee International Conference on Robotics & Automation

Reviewer service (13)

• 2023-present
  External Proposal Reviewer Mitacs Accelerate Research Program (Canada)
• 2022-present
  Reviewer IEEE Transactions on Haptics
• 2022-present
  Reviewer Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds
• 2021-present
  Reviewer Frontiers on VR; International Journal of Medical Informatics; JTUMED (Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences)
• 2020-present
  Reviewer Thinking Skills and Creativity; Transactions on Haptics
• 2019-present
  Reviewer The Visual Computer; Informatics in Medicine Unlocked
• 2018-present
  Reviewer IEEE Access
• 2017
  Reviewer Advanced Robotics Journal
• 2016
  Reviewer IEEE VR Conference
• 2014
  Reviewer The Journal of the Society for Art and Science
• 2013
  Reviewer Display Journal
• 2012
  Reviewer The Journal of the Society for Art and Science
• 2009
  Reviewer Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environment Journal

Invited talks (10)

• 2024
  Leveraging Virtual Reality to Transform Teaching and Learning in Engineering Education ICETC 2024, Porto, Portugal · Sept 18-21
• 2019
  Multimodal Interaction to Enhance Risk Communications 1st International Conference on Visualization and Computer-Human Interaction (VisCHI 2019) · Nov 26
• 2016
  Improving STEM Education Through Game Development Education Conference · May 7
• 2016
  Research on Virtual Reality Big Data Management, Qatar University · Apr 3
• 2016
  Applications of Virtual Reality in Healthcare Workshop on Empowering Connected Health in Qatar through Intelligent Medical Devices and IoT, Qatar University · Apr 19
• 2016
  3D GIS Visualization of The Archaeological Sites in Qatar Workshop on Digitization of Arabic Manuscripts and Cultural Heritage, Qatar University · Mar 10
• 2016
  Galaxy Lecture Iwate University, Japan · Jan 18
• 2015
  Virtual Reality World Robotic Olympiad, Al-Shaqab, Doha, Qatar · Nov 6
• 2015
  Multimodal Interaction for Warnings and Its Application Qatar University · May 14
• 2011
  Virtual Reality round table National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges Forum · May 9

Invited exhibitions (11)

• 2016
  VR Booth Darb Alsaai, Qatar University, Qatar · Dec 12
• 2016
  VR Game Booth QU National Day, Qatar University, Qatar · Dec 13
• 2016
  Virtual Journey in the Qatari Animals Environment (VR Demo) Environmental Day, Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Qatar · Jun 5
• 2016
  A Whale Shark Virtual Reality Underwater Environment 4th International Whale Shark Conference, Doha, Qatar · May 16-18
• 2015
  Virtual Reality Exhibition Booth for Qatar University World Robotic Olympiad, Al-Shaqab, Doha, Qatar · Nov 6-8
• 2010
  "The Dream" — Laser Art in collaboration with Professor Ken Motomura Kokaido Art Show 2010 · Feb 11-28
• 2009
  Shiwa Castle Computer Graphics Performance — multi-projection, interactive laser art and VJ Morioka City Municipal, Japan · Nov 24
• 2009
  Galaxy Express — Planetarium VJ and Interactive Visual Art Using Hybrid Laser-Raster Projection Morioka Children's Museum of Science, Science Dome research group · Nov 14
• 2008
  Dream Machine — Planetarium VJ and Laser Graphics Performance Morioka Children's Museum of Science · Jan 12
• 2007-2008
  IHATOV Science & Technology Exhibition Japan
• 2005
  Prototype Robot Exhibition (selected among best 65 robots from all Japan) World Expo (Aichi) 2005

Public service (6)

• 2019-2020
  Consultant Hamad Medical Corporation
• 2017-2018
  Reviewer and Advisor Ministry of Education, Qatar — Computing and Information Technology Curriculum
• 2015-2017
  Judge (students' research) AlBayan Scientific Research Judging
• 2015-2016
  Judge Education Conference: Research Judging Panel
• 2012-2013
  Consultant and Projects Supervisor Stars of Science TV Program, Qatar Foundation
• 2011-2013
  Challenge Referee FIRST LEGO League Robot Contest (Qatar Final)

University service (18)

• 2021-present
  Chair Student Complaints
• 2019-2022
  Member Technical Equipment Committee
• 2021-2022
  Member Evaluation Committee for QUARFE
• 2017-2018
  Member QU Strategic Initiatives Working Group
• 2018-2020
  Member College Student Affairs
• 2010-2021
  Member Curriculum and Quality Assurance
• 2019-2021
  Member Recruitment
• 2018-2020
  Chair Senior Projects Committee
• 2020
  Member CSE Wiki Website Task Force
• 2015-2019
  Member Research Committee
• 2019
  Member Industrial External Relations
• 2017-2018
  Member Student Activities Committee
• 2011-2017
  Member Computing Contest
• 2015-2017
  Chair Student Activities and Outreach Committee
• 2015-2016
  Advisory Member GCC Robotics Competition
• 2011-2016
  Chair Course Project Award
• 2015
  Member Programming Concept Course Task Force
• 2015
  Member Interactive Multimedia New Program Task Force