Commencement 2023
Welcome to commencement
Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4, 2023
Welcome graduates, family, and friends from the world’s first graduate, research university of artificial intelligence (AI).
During this two-day celebration, we will honor the hard work and achievements of the Class of 2023 including the first cohort of natural language processing (NLP) graduates.
A traditional gowning walk at our Masdar City campus will kick-off official proceedings on June 3, followed by an official commencement ceremony with the Conferral of Degrees on June 4.
With AI now a key part of the global conversation, we are committed to developing well-trained AI professionals and remain focused on its massive potential for good.
Watch the Commencement
Story of the Gowns
The graduation gown.
It is the start of a tradition.
It carries a sense of place and belonging.
The gown is resplendent gold and blue,
hand stitched to evoke Abu Dhabi's sea and sand.
Gold is an echo of the hues of the desert,
it is also evocative of wisdom and enlightenment.
Blue is from the velvety sea, rich with life,
teeming with possibility.
It also donates bold vision and leadership.
Our graduation gown is completed by a hood,
reminiscent of the Emirati bisht.
The lining holds the pattern of the UAE's national flower.
Truly, the gown is a tribute to local culture,
national aspirations, and a thirst for knowledge.
Speakers
Professor Eric Xing
MBZUAI President and University Professor
Xing is a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was the founding director of the Center for Machine Learning and Health. Xing has also served as visiting associate professor at Stanford University, and visiting research professor at Facebook Inc. He is also the founder, chairman, and chief scientist of Petuum Inc., which was recognized as a 2018 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer that builds standardized artificial intelligence development platforms and operating systems for broad and general industrial AI applications.
READ BIO
Klea Ziu
Class of 2023 valedictorian
Klea Ziu holds a bachelor of information and communication technology from University of Tirana in her home country, Albania, and a master’s in machine learning from MBZUAI. Her thesis research aligns with her deep interest in using technology to address environmental challenges. Ziu’s research contributes to the advancement and understanding of the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) process for the oil and gas industry, and provides insights that could be beneficial in the development of new catalysts and optimization of reactor design. It is focused on developing machine learning models which could potentially reduce carbon emissions by 50%. Ziu undertook a voluntary internship at ADNOC headquarters in 2022. Among her other achievements, Ziu’s team placed first in the HackforSpace hackathon held in Dubai in 2021.
Stories
Breathing new life into medical applications
Having seen the potential of computer vision to positively impact people’s lives, Ahmed Ibrahim Sharshar was determined to make a difference through his research.
Read More
Tackling media bias with NLP
Alarmed by the rise of fake and misleading news on social media, Zain Muhammad Mujahid seized the opportunity to tackle the problem as part of his M.Sc.
Read More
From Text to image: M.Sc. graduate develops cutting-edge techniques to transform T2I generation
Text to image (T2I) generators caused a buzz when they rose to prominence with the launch of tools such as Dall-E, Midjourney and Adobe Firefly. However, users quickly found that anything more than a simple prompt of a few words...
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Driving towards innovation: a visionary approach to traffic sign detection and recognition
Transportation expert Fatima Ahmed Alkhoori had already clocked up an impressive level experience when she applied to join MBZUAI to study for a master’s in ML back in 2022.
Read MoreMBZUAI M.Sc. Class of 23
MBZUAI Class of 24
Kudaibergen Abutalip
Anas Al-lahham
Reem Alameeri
Mohammed Almansoori
Maksym Bekuzarov
Yahia Dalbah
Khaled Dawoud
Abhishek Gehlot
Adilbek Karmanov
Adnan Khan
Muhammad Uzair Khattak
Gokul Karthik Kumar
Juwayni Macadato Lucman
Sahal Shaji
Sara Pieri
Jose Viera
Muhammad Hamza Sharif
Kirill Vishniakov
Farshed Abdukhakimov
Sarah Al Barri
Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Mohammed Al Nahyan
Eman Al Suradi
Hussain Alasmawi
Farha Albreiki
Talal Algumaei
Younes Balah
Ariana Bermudez
Zhenhao Chen
Nicolás Mauricio Cuadrado Ávila
Brahim Erraji
Samar Fares
Mugariya Farooq
Zhengqing Gao
Roberto Alejandro
Ashraf Haddad
Shahad Hardan
Steven Hoang
Sharim Jamal
Bokang Jia
Mohamad Kassab
Maksat Kengeskanov
Maryam Nadeem
Boyang Sun
Nurbek Tastan
Wong Yu Kang
Zunhao Zhang
Jiayi Zhu
Aigerim Zhumabayeva
Klea Ziu
Rabiatul Ab Jabar
Maha Agro
Leen Al Qadi
Dilshod Azizov
Felicia Kovacs
Muhammad Umar Salman
Sheng Zhang
Commencement in images
A message to our newest alumni
Welcome to the MBZUAI alumni community. MBZUAI alumni are trailblazers, innovators and leaders powered by intellectual curiosity in technology and enterprise. We invite you to stay connected to the university and each other through the MBZUAI Alumni program, with offerings to keep you engaged through career networks, access to special events and regular AI insights.
Lea Sublett
Associate Director of Alumni Relations
