- KFUPM scholars are helping shape a safer, smarter digital future
jasmine bager
DHAHRAN: In a quiet corner of the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals sits a group of doctoral students. Candidates work to solve the most pressing technological challenges of our time.
They include Asma Yamani and Lina Ali Abuhajar, two researchers working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. This is an area that is increasingly shaping the future of technology.
A STEM-focused institution founded in 1963 as an all-men’s university, KFUPM opened its doors to women in 2019. The students profiled in this article are the first generation of women to study and graduate from college, and one of their early priorities was to build a community of support and collaboration.
“What we want to highlight are experts who happen to be women,” Yamani told Arab News.
This vision recently took shape through the university’s annual Women in Data Science conference, held as part of the global WiDS Worldwide initiative themed “AI-Security Nexus.” The event attracted approximately 250 participants from across the region.
This year’s organizing team was made up of five students and led by Yamani, who has been involved with the conference since the first woman enrolled at KFUPM.
“Let’s start with 2019, when female graduate students will begin enrolling,” Professor Yamani said.
“Interestingly, the speaker was already booked and was due to arrive in about three days, and then the lockdown happened.”
Like many events during the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference began as a virtual gathering, later evolved to a hybrid format, and then returned to being fully in-person.
“As AI transforms cybersecurity, it is not only strengthening our defenses, but also reshaping the threat landscape in ways we are only beginning to understand,” the conference press release states.
The poster contest received 85 entries from KFUPM and other local universities, with cash prizes awarded to the top three entries.
“KFUPM’s 7th Annual WiDS is an extension of a larger movement that started at Stanford University[in 2015],” Yamani told Arab News.
“This year has been about AI and cybersecurity. Finding people to work at intersections is difficult, regardless of gender. But specifying women gives us a very unique perspective,” Yamani added.
The one-day event featured speakers from academia and industry, including Humain’s Norah Al-Zahrani, to discuss “Safety in the Age of AI.” KFUPM’s Abrar Al Otaibi spoke about the “arms race to secure LLM” and Noha Albadi explored the theme of detecting Arabic religious hate speech on social media.
Other sessions included presentations by Saudi Aramco’s Hutun M. al-Qahtani and Shuk al-Qarni about the company’s AI-driven cybersecurity solutions. Yuan Tian from UCLA gave a keynote speech on security and privacy in augmented reality systems, and Saja Al-Julaud from Mastercard joined virtually to discuss AI governance in fintech.
Among the workshop facilitators was Abu Hajar, known as the “first female KFUPMer to launch a startup at DTV KFUPM.”
A native of Al-Ahsa, Abu Hajar founded a Dhahran-based startup company focused on developing virtual reality and AI solutions. I have a master’s degree in AI and am currently pursuing a Ph.D. KFUPM studies human behavior and interaction in virtual environments.
“We are incorporating AI into all our applications,” Abu Hajar told Arab News.
For many participants, conferences are more than just academic forums. It is also a platform for networking, mentorship and confidence building.
“We usually prefer interacting with computers rather than humans, so this conference helps women get out of this comfort zone and do what they need to do face-to-face,” Yamani said.
“What’s close to my heart is seeing people who I know are shy come out of their shell a little more,” Yamani said.
Yamani, who is scheduled to graduate in 2027, says she is proud to pass the baton to the next generation of organizers.
The conference is primarily aimed at graduate students and fourth-year undergraduates, but this year’s attendees included high school students, reinforcing organizers’ desire to encourage young girls to pursue careers in science and technology.
Besides her studies, Yamani is also a mother of three children. This role gave her a deeper perspective on the future she and her colleagues are building.
“Not everyone has a family, but all PhD students have other responsibilities, such as running a startup,” Yamani said.
She hopes more undergraduate students will take an active role in future conferences.
“They really are the fuel for the university. It’s the energy,” Yamani said.
Yamani, who grew up on the KFUPM campus where his father was a professor, believes the university is moving in the right direction. This year, that progress was highlighted by the launch of a new undergraduate program that reflects the central theme of the conference.
“This year, the AI and Cybersecurity program was launched at KFUPM as a dedicated bachelor’s degree independent of the event. It was nice to have such a coincidence,” Yamani said.
Many students enrolled in the new program attended the conference and provided enthusiastic support and positive feedback. This is further evidence of the growing community of researchers and innovators helping to shape Saudi Arabia’s digital future.
