Visual Computing Center

The Visual Computing Center is a dynamic research center that drives innovation across various disciplines. It is affiliated with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and was established to contribute to scientific research in multiscale modeling. The center aims to enhance its capacity for conducting fundamental and applied research in various fields while empowering students, postdoctoral researchers, and scholars to become future leaders in visual computing.

The Visual Computing Center aims to gain international recognition in the field by fostering a collaborative, interdisciplinary team of researchers, leading to valuable scientific outcomes that address significant challenges in the domain. Additionally, it seeks to create business opportunities through startups, secure patents, and establish licensing agreements.

The center also focuses on developing algorithms and computational tools for challenges relevant to KAUST, Saudi Arabia, and the global community. Special emphasis is placed on imaging, remote sensing, urban planning, and scientific visualization. As a key hub for interdisciplinary research, the center engages in areas such as modeling, analysis, algorithm development, and simulation for emerging challenges across diverse fields, including energy, environment, biosciences, earth sciences, materials science, and other disciplines.

The Visual Computing Center at KAUST draws expertise from multiple disciplines, including computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and applied mathematics.

- Multidimensional modeling and simulation techniques: These are among the core areas of focus at the Engineering Modeling and Scientific Visualization Center at KAUST.

- Visual computing: This involves sensing, modeling, simulation, processing, understanding, visualization, and displaying all forms of visual information. Over the past decades, visual computing has become a key enabling technology for a wide range of applications, including scientific discoveries, medicine, and electronics.

In October 2023, two research papers by scientists from the Visual Computing Center were recognized among the best papers at the IEEE Scientific Visualization Forum (IEEE Vis 2023), an annual event organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the United States. The forum is the leading platform for cutting-edge research in visualization and visual analytics. This six-day event is attended annually by representatives from academia, governments, and industry worldwide.