Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Dr. Shadi Al-Barqouni - leader of a research group on artificial intelligence topics at the Helmholtz Institute Munich, Germany, obtained a professorship in the topics of artificial intelligence and medical imaging at the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Bonn, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
It is worth noting that the percentage of researchers who have obtained this prestigious academic degree and who are of Middle Eastern and North African origins (non-naturalized) did not exceed 0.02% of the total number of professors working in German universities, according to statistics issued by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). German University Research and Science Center (DZHW).
A simple overview of Professor Al-Barqouni:
It is noteworthy that Professor Al-Barqouni, a Palestinian (Gaza)-German computer scientist, is married to engineer Reem Shamiya and is the father of two children, Alma (10 years old) and Nabil (4 years old). He had obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering with a very good grade from the Islamic University of Gaza. , Palestine, in 2005 and 2010 respectively, before he gained many experiences through his work in the government sector as a network engineer and then as head of the Information Technology Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Health and as a teaching assistant and then as a lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza and the University College of Applied Sciences in the academic sector. Professor Al-Barqouni volunteered his expertise in the field of engineering and information technology to serve the Palestinian and Gazan society in particular, through his work on qualitative projects related to telemedicine, remote work (Outsourcing), and solar energy, which targeted sectors Vital and important, such as health, work, and alternative energy sources, to contribute to easing the siege on the people of the besieged Gaza Strip.
His lofty goal to ease the siege on the people of the Gaza Strip, especially in the health sector, prompted him to research the issues of processing medical images related to oncological diseases. His passion for seeking knowledge and achieving his lofty goal received great support from his parents and his wife, so the couple decided to leave their permanent jobs in the Gaza Strip, all of them determined and determined to return to the homeland with qualitative experiences. In 2012, Professor Al-Barqouni’s research was crowned with success after he was awarded a prestigious research grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to complete his doctorate in computer science, specializing in computer-assisted medical procedures, at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. During his studies, Professor Al-Barqouni worked on developing machine learning algorithms for processing medical images, which enabled him to publish more than 12 peer-reviewed papers in prestigious scientific journals and first-class conferences, as a result of which he obtained a doctorate degree in computer science and informatics with distinction with honors in the year 2017.
His post-doctoral career
Professor Al-Barqouni began his career as a senior research scientist and research team leader at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany, working on developing deep learning algorithms in the medical field. During his work, Professor Al-Barqouni managed several projects with his partners in industry and the medical field, which included his supervision of several doctoral students working on specific research projects related to various diseases such as brain tumors, heart and chest diseases, eyes and skin diseases, which rely on medical images with patterns. Various images, such as X-ray images, CT scans, MRI, ultrasound, and color images of tissues. During his work at the university, Professor Al-Barqouni devoted his time to lecturing several courses in machine learning and software project management, and many students from different nationalities studied under him and completed their theses under his supervision (more than 40 master’s theses in artificial intelligence and machine learning). . He also succeeded in attracting funding and research cooperation with several prestigious universities and research centers around the world, such as Stanford University, Oxford University, and Facebook AI Research, among others.
Professional advancement in the best international universities and research institutes (Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany)
As a result of his academic excellence, in 2019, Professor Al-Barqouni received a P.R.I.M.E fellowship (acceptance rate less than 12%) funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to be on sabbatical leave. During which Professor Al-Barqouni held the position of visiting scientist in the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (D-ITET) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Zurich, Switzerland, before joining in August 2020 as a visiting scientist in the Department of Computing at Imperial College London. In the United Kingdom. After that fellowship, Professor Al-Barqouni returned to the German city of Munich to be selected and assumed the position of leader of the group of young researchers in artificial intelligence at the Helmholtz AI Institute, which comes with generous funding (estimated at 1.8 million euros) from the Helmholtz Association to support young scientists. The goal of the group he leads is to develop Federated Deep Learning in Healthcare algorithms that can acquire knowledge and share it among AI algorithms in medical centers in an efficient and privacy-preserving manner.
Adapting his expertise to serve the Palestinian people
This prestigious scientific position in the world, which Professor Al-Barqouni acquired in a record time compared to his peers, made him a role model and an inspiring success story for many ambitious young people. Which prompted the German media to shed light on his success story and publish it on the German print (Tagesspiegel Background) and audio (Bayerischer Rundfunk) media stations. This success also resonated in local circles, as it was hosted at the nation’s universities in Bethlehem, Nablus and Gaza to share its success story and discuss ways of joint cooperation and transfer of knowledge and technology.
In order to strengthen the Palestinian presence at the national, regional and international levels, Professor Al-Barqouni, along with a group of his academic colleagues in the homeland and the diaspora, launched the initiative to establish the Palestine Young Academy, through which he and his colleagues aim to provide a platform and a strong voice for young Palestinian researchers in The homeland and the diaspora to participate effectively in shaping and influencing the future of Palestine and the Palestinians by generating creative ideas and enhancing confidence in science. This initiative was widely welcomed in local circles, as it was adopted and supported by the Palestine Academy of Science and Technology, headed by Professor Dr. Marwan Awartani. Professor Al-Barqouni was also invited to be a member of the founding body of the Higher Council for Creativity and Excellence in the Diaspora, with the aim of enhancing joint cooperation between Palestinian researchers and creators in the homeland and the diaspora.
Through his current position as a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University Hospital and the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Bonn in Germany, Professor Al-Barqouni aspires to intensify his research cooperation with various universities and research and medical centers to adapt this expertise to serve the health sector and society in general and the Palestinians in particular. Professor Al-Barqouni also aspires to establish a national research center for artificial intelligence, through which he can work with Palestinian universities on joint research projects that can be applied in the health sector to improve the medical services provided to the Palestinian people.
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Achievements and Awards
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