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Welcome to Commencement 2026

With AI moving rapidly from research to real-world impact, we continue to develop the next generation of AI leaders – equipped to translate innovation into meaningful societal progress.

Today, we celebrate the latest of these leaders to graduate from MBZUAI: the Class of 2026. They will pioneer what’s next in the UAE and beyond – shaping the future of AI with a shared commitment to curiosity, purpose, and excellence.

For important Commencement information and updates for attending graduates, faculty, and guests, please click on the information button below.

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Live stream

Watch Commencement 2026 live

The MBZUAI 2026 Commencement Ceremony plans to be streamed live. Join us as we celebrate the achievements of our graduating students and mark an important milestone in the history of MBZUAI.

Click here to watch on YouTube directly.

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 denotes 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

Commencement 2026 speakers

H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak

H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak

Chairman of MBZUAI’s Board of Trustees

As a leading UAE government policymaker and influential international business leader, Khaldoon Al Mubarak has been at the forefront of the UAE’s economic transformation for more than two decades; playing an integral role in advancing the nation’s sustainable economic diversification agenda.

Khaldoon is the Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, the specialized government agency that provides strategic policy advice across a wide range of sectors – including advanced technologies – to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.

Since 2004, Khaldoon has served as a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. He is also a member of the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs. Both government entities are longstanding advocates of innovation as a cornerstone of a stable, prosperous society, endorsing policies and legislation that attract and enable a globally-competitive, technologically-driven economy.

As the Secretary General of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), and a member of the Abu Dhabi Advanced Technology Research Council, Khaldoon is instrumental in expanding all aspects of the UAE’s advanced technology ecosystem.

Khaldoon is also the Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala, the $385 billion sovereign investment firm committed to investing and partnering at the leading edge of global growth and innovation to continuously create opportunities for future generations.

In November 2020, Mubadala announced its investment in the Abu Dhabi-based, global AI champion G42, with Khaldoon appointed a member of the board. He became Vice-Chair of the UAE’s MGX when it was established by its founding partners G42 and Mubadala in March 2024. MGX’s mission is to accelerate global investment in AI and advanced technologies, and in doing so to deliver positive economic and social impact.

Khaldoon is also Chairman of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and serves on the Boards of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and L’IMAD Holding Company.

He was instrumental in establishing New York University Abu Dhabi and serves on the New York University Board of Trustees. Khaldoon is also member of the Advisory Board of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

Eric Xing

Eric Xing

MBZUAI President and University Professor

Read bio

Professor Eric P. Xing is the President of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of GenBio AI. He completed his undergraduate study at Tsinghua University, and holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

His main research interests are the development of machine learning and statistical methodology, and large-scale computational system and architectures, for solving problems involving automated learning, reasoning, and decision-making in artificial, Biological, and social systems.

Xing has served on the editorial boards of leading scientific journals including the Journal of the American Statistical Association, Annals of Applied Statistics, PLOS Journal of Computational Biology, IEEE Journal of Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Machine Learning Journal, and Journal of Machine Learning Research. He was elected as a Fellow of AAAI, ACM, ASA, IEEE, and IMS.

He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Career Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, the IBM Open Collaborative Research Faculty Award, and the Carnegie Science Award.

Hanoona Rasheed

Hanoona Rasheed

Class of 2026 valedictorian
Ph.D. in Computer Vision

Part of the University’s inaugural cohort, Hanoona Rasheed earned both her M.Sc. (Class of 2022) and Ph.D. in Computer Vision (Class of 2026) at MBZUAI.

Her research focuses on developing interpretable multimodal models that integrate visual and language understanding for real-world AI tools across many sectors.

Even at this early stage of her career, she has built a stand-out publication record that is remarkably strong for a recent Ph.D. graduate with more than 5,800 citations.

Hanoona has published papers at prestigious venues including CVPR, ICCV, NeurIPS, and ICLR. Her works GLaMM and Video-ChatGPT are widely cited – helping to shape subsequent research in multimodal AI.

She accepted internships at Meta and Adobe in San Francisco, where she co-authored state-of-the-art models such as Perception Encoder (NeurIPS Oral) and PerceptionLM (NeurIPS Spotlight), part of a broader body of research that has drawn wide attention for its quality and influence, and has generated more than 7.8 million downloads.

Her journey reflects both personal and institutional growth. She credits MBZUAI’s research-first environment and strong mentorship for shaping her into an independent researcher.

Despite opportunities in Silicon Valley, she will remain at MBZUAI as a postdoctoral researcher. She is committed to contributing globally while giving back to the UAE ecosystem that shaped her.

H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak

H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak

Chairman of MBZUAI’s Board of Trustees

As a leading UAE government policymaker and influential international business leader, Khaldoon Al Mubarak has been at the forefront of the UAE’s economic transformation for more than two decades; playing an integral role in advancing the nation’s sustainable economic diversification agenda.

Khaldoon is the Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, the specialized government agency that provides strategic policy advice across a wide range of sectors – including advanced technologies – to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates.

Since 2004, Khaldoon has served as a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. He is also a member of the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs. Both government entities are longstanding advocates of innovation as a cornerstone of a stable, prosperous society, endorsing policies and legislation that attract and enable a globally-competitive, technologically-driven economy.

As the Secretary General of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council (AIATC), and a member of the Abu Dhabi Advanced Technology Research Council, Khaldoon is instrumental in expanding all aspects of the UAE’s advanced technology ecosystem.

Khaldoon is also the Managing Director and Group CEO of Mubadala, the $385 billion sovereign investment firm committed to investing and partnering at the leading edge of global growth and innovation to continuously create opportunities for future generations.

In November 2020, Mubadala announced its investment in the Abu Dhabi-based, global AI champion G42, with Khaldoon appointed a member of the board. He became Vice-Chair of the UAE’s MGX when it was established by its founding partners G42 and Mubadala in March 2024. MGX’s mission is to accelerate global investment in AI and advanced technologies, and in doing so to deliver positive economic and social impact.

Khaldoon is also Chairman of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and serves on the Boards of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and L’IMAD Holding Company.

He was instrumental in establishing New York University Abu Dhabi and serves on the New York University Board of Trustees. Khaldoon is also member of the Advisory Board of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management.

Eric Xing

Eric Xing

MBZUAI President and University Professor

Read bio

Professor Eric P. Xing is the President of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of GenBio AI. He completed his undergraduate study at Tsinghua University, and holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

His main research interests are the development of machine learning and statistical methodology, and large-scale computational system and architectures, for solving problems involving automated learning, reasoning, and decision-making in artificial, Biological, and social systems.

Xing has served on the editorial boards of leading scientific journals including the Journal of the American Statistical Association, Annals of Applied Statistics, PLOS Journal of Computational Biology, IEEE Journal of Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Machine Learning Journal, and Journal of Machine Learning Research. He was elected as a Fellow of AAAI, ACM, ASA, IEEE, and IMS.

He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Career Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, the IBM Open Collaborative Research Faculty Award, and the Carnegie Science Award.

Hanoona Rasheed

Hanoona Rasheed

Class of 2026 valedictorian
Ph.D. in Computer Vision

Part of the University’s inaugural cohort, Hanoona Rasheed earned both her M.Sc. (Class of 2022) and Ph.D. in Computer Vision (Class of 2026) at MBZUAI.

Her research focuses on developing interpretable multimodal models that integrate visual and language understanding for real-world AI tools across many sectors.

Even at this early stage of her career, she has built a stand-out publication record that is remarkably strong for a recent Ph.D. graduate with more than 5,800 citations.

Hanoona has published papers at prestigious venues including CVPR, ICCV, NeurIPS, and ICLR. Her works GLaMM and Video-ChatGPT are widely cited – helping to shape subsequent research in multimodal AI.

She accepted internships at Meta and Adobe in San Francisco, where she co-authored state-of-the-art models such as Perception Encoder (NeurIPS Oral) and PerceptionLM (NeurIPS Spotlight), part of a broader body of research that has drawn wide attention for its quality and influence, and has generated more than 7.8 million downloads.

Her journey reflects both personal and institutional growth. She credits MBZUAI’s research-first environment and strong mentorship for shaping her into an independent researcher.

Despite opportunities in Silicon Valley, she will remain at MBZUAI as a postdoctoral researcher. She is committed to contributing globally while giving back to the UAE ecosystem that shaped her.

Stories

Stories of our graduates

Lara Hassan

Computer Science master's graduate, Lara Hassan, explains how a passionate approach to life and work has helped her build systems that can make people's lives easier.

Read more
MBZUAI

Class of 2026

Abdulaziz Mousa Ibrahim Alblooshi
Abdulaziz Mousa Ibrahim Alblooshi
Ali Omar Aljaberi
Ali Omar Aljaberi
Esraa Bayomi
Esraa Bayomi
Dastan Bekmukhanbetov
Dastan Bekmukhanbetov
Mohamed El Zeftawy
Mohamed El Zeftawy
Lara Hassan
Lara Hassan
Arina Kharlamova
Arina Kharlamova
Arham Riaz
Arham Riaz
Hanoona Rasheed
Hanoona Rasheed
Muhammad Maaz
Muhammad Maaz
Chao Qin
Chao Qin
Asim Miqdad Ukaye
Asim Miqdad Ukaye
Baheyeldin Tharwat
Baheyeldin Tharwat
Karina Abubakirova
Karina Abubakirova
Ghazi Shazan Ahmad
Ghazi Shazan Ahmad
Omar Hussain Alawadhi
Omar Hussain Alawadhi
Zainab Ali Ahmed Aldhanhani
Zainab Ali Ahmed Aldhanhani
Khawla Ali Hasan Ali Almarzooqi
Khawla Ali Hasan Ali Almarzooqi
Alya Almsouti
Alya Almsouti
Ahmed Khamis Alshamsi
Ahmed Khamis Alshamsi
Aamna Alshehhi
Aamna Alshehhi
Ahmed Atef Ahmed Aly
Ahmed Atef Ahmed Aly
Jason Banks
Jason Banks
Gustavo Bertolo Stahl
Gustavo Bertolo Stahl
Abdul Ahad Butt
Abdul Ahad Butt
Nazira Dunbayeva
Nazira Dunbayeva
Sensen Gao
Sensen Gao
Minghao Guo
Minghao Guo
Seung Hun Han
Seung Hun Han
Ahmed Heakl
Ahmed Heakl
Kevin Henry
Kevin Henry
Beknur Kalmakhanbet
Beknur Kalmakhanbet
Yuyang Liu
Yuyang Liu
Liang Ma
Liang Ma
Hazza Mahmood
Hazza Mahmood
Ilmuz Zaman Mohammed Zumri
Ilmuz Zaman Mohammed Zumri
Amal Saqib
Amal Saqib
Muhammad Abdullah Sohail
Muhammad Abdullah Sohail
Yongqiang Yu
Yongqiang Yu
Haoze Zhao
Haoze Zhao
Artem Agafonov
Artem Agafonov
Abdulla Almansoori
Abdulla Almansoori
Chengqian Gao
Chengqian Gao
Mariam Mohamed Amin Kashkash
Mariam Mohamed Amin Kashkash
Mai Ahmed Shaaban
Mai Ahmed Shaaban
Tianjun Yao
Tianjun Yao
Aljalila Salem Mohamed Khalfan Aladawi
Aljalila Salem Mohamed Khalfan Aladawi
Ali Humaid Saeed Al Ali
Ali Humaid Saeed Al Ali
Mohammed Aldahmani
Mohammed Aldahmani
Amna Mohammed Abdulla Alhammadi
Amna Mohammed Abdulla Alhammadi
Ayesha Abdulla Alhammadi
Ayesha Abdulla Alhammadi
Shaikha Jasem Alhosani
Shaikha Jasem Alhosani
Rames Nagib Aljneibi
Rames Nagib Aljneibi
Naema Mohamed Alkhzaimi
Naema Mohamed Alkhzaimi
Muhra AlMahri
Muhra AlMahri
Shamsah Hamad bin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan
Shamsah Hamad bin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan
Bashayer Abdulla Saeed Alsereidi
Bashayer Abdulla Saeed Alsereidi
Maryam Alshamsi
Maryam Alshamsi
Maryam Salem Obaid Musallam AlShehyari
Maryam Salem Obaid Musallam AlShehyari
Abdulla Khalid Alzaabi
Abdulla Khalid Alzaabi
Anish Ambreth
Anish Ambreth
Albert Baichorov
Albert Baichorov
Tameem Alaaeldeen Sayed Bakr
Tameem Alaaeldeen Sayed Bakr
Sushil Bohara
Sushil Bohara
Arman Bolatov
Arman Bolatov
Sondos Mahmoud Bsharat
Sondos Mahmoud Bsharat
Jiacheng Cui
Jiacheng Cui
Pham Anh Cuong
Pham Anh Cuong
Yunlong Deng
Yunlong Deng
Bishnu Dev
Bishnu Dev
Abdelrahman Elmay
Abdelrahman Elmay
Maiya Goloburda
Maiya Goloburda
Dongli He
Dongli He
Pengfei Hu
Pengfei Hu
Albina Ilina
Albina Ilina
Ainur Khamitova
Ainur Khamitova
Anjali Khantaal
Anjali Khantaal
Giorgi Kituashvili
Giorgi Kituashvili
Hazem Lashen
Hazem Lashen
Yan Li
Yan Li
Xuanjie Liu
Xuanjie Liu
Mukul Ranjan
Mukul Ranjan
Vladislav Ryspayev
Vladislav Ryspayev
Yasmeen Fozi Saeed
Yasmeen Fozi Saeed
Semen Semenov
Semen Semenov
Yahia Salaheldin Nasser Saad Mohamed Shaaban
Yahia Salaheldin Nasser Saad Mohamed Shaaban
Devaganthan Sivakumar Srirangan
Devaganthan Sivakumar Srirangan
Darya Taratynova
Darya Taratynova
Mukhammed Togmanov
Mukhammed Togmanov
Cong Zeng
Cong Zeng
Aigerim Zhusubelieva
Aigerim Zhusubelieva
Tarek Mahmoud
Tarek Mahmoud
Sarfraz Ahmad
Sarfraz Ahmad
Momina Ahsan
Momina Ahsan
Muhammad Cendekia Airlangga
Muhammad Cendekia Airlangga
Iman Andrea King Al Sikaiti
Iman Andrea King Al Sikaiti
Haram Altaf
Haram Altaf
Ahmed Attia
Ahmed Attia
Mena Attia
Mena Attia
Mariam Amr Barakat
Mariam Amr Barakat
Sholpan Bolatzhanova
Sholpan Bolatzhanova
Wang Chen Xi
Wang Chen Xi
Hoai Nhi Doan
Hoai Nhi Doan
Rania Hossam Elbadry
Rania Hossam Elbadry
Bilal Elbouardi
Bilal Elbouardi
Omar El Herraoui
Omar El Herraoui
Alaa Ahmed Elsetohy
Alaa Ahmed Elsetohy
Mohamed Maged Elsetohy
Mohamed Maged Elsetohy
Kareem Elzeky
Kareem Elzeky
Erland Hilman Fuadi
Erland Hilman Fuadi
Junjie Gao
Junjie Gao
Rifo Ahmad Genadi
Rifo Ahmad Genadi
Sama Mahmoud Mohamed Hadhoud
Sama Mahmoud Mohamed Hadhoud
Besher Hassan
Besher Hassan
Atharva Abhijit Kulkarni
Atharva Abhijit Kulkarni
Nurkhan Laiyk
Nurkhan Laiyk
Ali Mekky
Ali Mekky
Daniil Orel
Daniil Orel
Salsabila Zahirah Pranida
Salsabila Zahirah Pranida
Ivan Rodkin
Ivan Rodkin
Askhat Sametov
Askhat Sametov
Amina Tariq
Amina Tariq
Diana Turmakhan
Diana Turmakhan
Ali Abouzeid
Ali Abouzeid
Sumaya Abdulrahman Abdulla Alameri
Sumaya Abdulrahman Abdulla Alameri
Maitha AlGhaithi
Maitha AlGhaithi
Noora Saeed Alhajeri
Noora Saeed Alhajeri
Asma Salah
Asma Salah
Abdulaziz Ahmed Alkamali
Abdulaziz Ahmed Alkamali
Salamah Almazrouei
Salamah Almazrouei
Mohammed Hamad Almozahmi
Mohammed Hamad Almozahmi
Ibrahim Jamal Aldin Alsarraj
Ibrahim Jamal Aldin Alsarraj
Ramy Mohamed Yousef Kachwaa
Ramy Mohamed Yousef Kachwaa
Malak Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamed Mansour
Malak Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamed Mansour
Nakul Vijay Nibe
Nakul Vijay Nibe
Pham Phuoc Minh Quang
Pham Phuoc Minh Quang
Tunpitcha Raiprasert
Tunpitcha Raiprasert
Konstantin Smirnov
Konstantin Smirnov
Dequan Yang
Dequan Yang
Haobo Yang
Haobo Yang
A message to our newest alumni

A message to our newest alumni

Somewhere in the world right now, someone is deciding whether to apply to MBZUAI. They’re nervous, second-guessing themselves, with no idea that someone like them already made it – and is standing exactly where they hope to stand.

You are someone else’s proof that it’s possible.

You are no longer a student of MBZUAI. You are part of it: permanently, unconditionally, forever. The alumni community you’re joining is not a mailing list or a LinkedIn group. It is a family who sat in the same seats, felt the same doubts, and chose to keep going. They are your people now.

Wherever you go, whatever you build, you will never stop belonging to this community. And this community will never stop belonging to you.

Welcome home, Class of 2026. You are one of us now.

Rawdha Almeraikhi
Assistant Vice President, National Engagement and Outreach

MBZUAI Alumni arrow right icon

Commencement archive

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