Introduced by the Mother of the Nation, Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi, in 2015 to elevate and inspire women’s empowerment in the UAE, Emirati Women’s Day (August 28) is the ideal occasion to shine a light on local women who are pushing the boundaries across all areas of society.
It is observed to recognize Emirati women’s efforts and to honor their devotion, fortitude, ambitions, and accomplishments. This is particularly the case at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), where Emirati women are excelling in their selected specializations of artificial intelligence (AI), from natural language processing (NLP) to its ethical use in industry implementation. Currently, 34 female Emirati students are studying at the university with the total student body totaling 381 from 49 countries (30% female:70% male overall).
Here are five Emirati women who are either current students, alumni, or faculty at MBZUAI who are having a positive impact while inspiring others across the UAE and tech industries to fulfil their dreams.
1) Fatima AlKhoori, studying Ph.D. in machine learning, MBZUAI
Returning student Fatima AlKhoori received her second master’s as part of MBZUAI’s Class of 2024 in June, receiving her master’s in machine learning to add to her master’s in sustainable critical infrastructure from Khalifa University. The transportation engineer is highly experienced in both industry – having worked as an R&D expert for Etihad Rail – and research.
She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in machine learning with MBZUAI to continue her research on transformer model architecture to increase the overall accuracy with which autonomous vehicles recognize traffic signs. Her research area is vital to the safe development and integration of autonomous and self-driving vehicles, which need to be able to identify and interpret signs in real-time to ensure that their navigation is safe and effective.
AlKhoori was pleased with the accuracy of the UAE dataset available from the Abu Dhabi Integrated Transport Center combined with a larger publicly available German dataset. Together, the datasets helped teach the algorithm to extract the most relevant data and variables to help machines comprehend traffic signs properly, including the viewing angle, variations in lighting and reflection, shadows, and proximity to other signs. She remains passionate about repaying her home country and using AI and the power of machine learning to solve key transport and infrastructure challenges in the UAE.
2) Dr. Hanan Aldarmaki, assistant professor of natural language processing (NLP), MBZUAI
Dr. Hanan Aldarmaki, who joined MBZUAI as an assistant professor of NLP in 2022, is an expert on Arabic speech and language processing including speech recognition and synthesis. With a background in computer science, software engineering and statistics, Dr. Aldarmaki explores various AI methods including unsupervised learning, transfer learning, and distant supervision to adapt text and speech models to low resource languages and dialects.
Dr. Aldarmaki is currently working on speech processing for standard Arabic and dialects, particularly the Emirati spoken language. She aims to document the diversity of Emirati dialects and improve their representation in AI models. She also works on speech and language disorders, such as stuttering and developmental language delay, in addition to sign language processing.
She is passionate about teaching and supporting students to conduct rigorous and impactful research. Dr. Aldarmaki has been representing MBZUAI on the steering committee for the UAE Graduate Students Research Conference (GSRC) – an interdisciplinary annual event which provides opportunities for graduate students to share their research among their peers, receive scholarly feedback, and network professionally across universities in the UAE and with their international partners.
3. Maha Alblooki, studying master’s in NLP, MBZUAI
Maha Alblooki is a standout master’s in NLP student at MBZUAI who is addressing the rich cultural heritage of Arabic proverbs. As part of her thesis research, she is developing a large language model (LLM) designed to preserve the cultural heritage of Arabic, with a focus on preserving Emirati proverbs.
Alblooki has dedicated much of her time to researching Arabic NLP with Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT); a language model introduced in October 2018 by researchers at Google. She has already achieved substantial contributions in this complex area by fine-tuning BERT models specifically for the Arabic language, significantly improving tasks such as sentiment analysis and machine translation.
Alblooki is pioneering Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for Arabic text, addressing the unique challenges posed by the script’s cursive nature and diacritical marks. Her innovative approach utilizes deep learning techniques to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of OCR systems, facilitating better digitization and preservation of Arabic documents.
4. Maitha Alshehhi, studying master’s in machine learning, MBZUAI
Maitha Alshehhi is a full-time master’s student at MBZUAI, focused on advancing the responsible deployment of AI technologies. With a strong commitment to ethical AI innovation, Alshehhi was recognized as a top innovator at G42 Cloud in 2023, where she previously worked as a specialist for automation and management systems.
Her research at MBZUAI focuses on implementing systems that leverage data for enhanced context, enabling AI to be more reliable, contextually intelligent, and adaptable to various scenarios. By ensuring that these technologies are grounded in ethical principles, Alshehhi’s approach significantly strengthens AI governance and risk mitigation and aligns with the UAE’s AI strategy, which prioritizes the responsible and sustainable development of AI to drive progress across industries.
As a woman in AI, Alshehhi is keen to shape a future where AI serves humanity’s best interests, promoting transparency, fairness, and inclusivity. She also wants to inspire and empower the next generation of innovators to embrace AI with integrity and a strong sense of purpose.
5) Wafa Alghallabi, studying Ph.D. in machine learning, MBZUAI
Wafa Alghallabi is an MBZUAI alumna with a master’s in machine learning who is returning to pursue her Ph.D. She has dedicated her research to the transformative potential of AI in the medical domain. Her work centers on advancements in medical imaging, with the goal of enhancing diagnostic accuracy and improving patient outcomes.
Beyond her research and publishing papers at some of the world’s leading AI and medical conferences, Alghallabi has embraced the spirit of entrepreneurship by co-founding a startup that aims to bring AI-driven solutions to the healthcare sector. This startup recently won first place at the MBZUAI Incubation and Entrepreneurship Center (MIEC) Pitch Day, where a team from Microsoft formed the judging panel.
For Alghallabi, this achievement was not just a personal milestone but also a reflection of the broader vision of the UAE’s leadership to empower women to rise, lead, and make significant contributions to their nation and their field.
