Dr. Fadi Aloul is the Dean of the College of Engineering and a Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), UAE. He leads a college consisting of an outstanding 100 faculty, 25 lab instructors, 22 administrators, and over 2,700 students. The college offers ten undergraduate programs, ten master’s programs, and four doctoral programs. He previously served as the Computer Science & Engineering Department Head from 2016-2021.
Dr Aloul is known for his visionary, innovative, and transformative leadership, consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and inspiring others to reach new heights in their endeavors. As soon as he was appointed, he led a major revamp of all undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Engineering which was the first since their inception. In addition, he launched several new undergraduate and graduate programs and general education courses related to the latest market needs.
Six research clusters were identified in the college, reflecting the faculty’s expertise, and leading to a greater focused impact. Five of the clusters were converted to research centers: Energy, Water and Sustainable Environment Research Center (EWSERC), Artificial Intelligence, Smart Infrastructure and Robotics Research Center (AISIRC), Advanced Biosciences and Bioengineering Research Center (ABSBERC), and the Materials Research Center (MRC) which was established in collaboration with the College of Arts and Science.
Several initiatives related to improving students’ experience, empowering faculty, fostering innovation, promoting women in engineering, advancing entrepreneurship, recognizing excellence, improving media exposure, digitizing services, expanding international research network, collaborating with top universities, and engaging with industry, community, and schools were launched.
Under his leadership, the college of engineering improved by 40 points in the 2023 QS subject rankings to be placed as #356 worldwide. Furthermore, AUS engineering and computer science graduates were rated as the top choice for employers in the UAE. The overall research productivity increased by 51% and the new students’ intake increased by 56% in Fall 2024.
Dr. Aloul holds a PhD and MS degrees in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, respectively, and a BS degree in Electrical Engineering summa cum laude from Lawrence Technological University, Michigan, USA. His research and industrial interests are in Cyber Security, Mobile Applications, Teaching Innovation, and Design Optimization. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and a Certified Reviewer for the UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA).
Dr. Aloul received a number of prestigious awards including the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) Airbus Engineering Diversity Award, the Sheikh Khalifa Award for Higher Education, the Sheikh Rashid’s Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement, the Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Young Arab Researchers, and the AUS Excellence in Teaching Award. He has been consistently named among the top 2% global scientists by Stanford University/Elsevier. He has over 150 publications, 1 US patent which generated over 7500 citations and an h-index of 41 as per Google Scholar. He is senior member of IEEE & ACM and a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academy of Scientists. He is a regular invited speaker and panelist across many international conferences related to Cyber Security, AI, Technology, Innovation and Education. In 2024, he was ranked among the Top 200 Creators on LinkedIn in UAE and one of the Top 10 Voices for Higher Education in the UAE.