UAE: Meet the Emirati scientist who designed an award-winning clean fuel alternative – News

Her invention turns carbon dioxide into methane, an environmentally friendly natural gas

Emirati scientist Ayesha Abdulla Alkhoori, who was recently awarded the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Award for her research on converting carbon dioxide into clean fuels, said she was excited to be doing work that impacts people’s lives.

The doctoral student also hopes that her design is not far from commercialization. “The results we achieved are remarkable when you take into account production costs and energy use,” she said.

Ayesha has designed a catalytic material to convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into natural gas methane to mitigate global warming. She is currently applying for a patent on her discovery.

Catalysts are cost-effective, green and can be used to produce clean fuels to power rockets, turbines, car engines and even home ovens.

driven by curiosity

According to Ayesha, her work has always been driven by curiosity and problem solving. “As a UAE PhD student in materials science and engineering, I strive to come up with solutions to the problems of global warming, energy shortages and environmental pollution,” she said. “My research is in line with global efforts to limit temperature rise to well below 2°C and the UAE’s 2050 strategic initiative to bring net-zero emissions as close to zero as possible.”

Ayesha found her passion as an undergraduate, evaluating the properties of ceramic materials, and then became a mechanical engineering graduate student working on designing fuel cell catalysts and teaching undergraduates. This work inspired her to pursue a career in academic science, and in 2019 she applied for a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Khalifa University.

She said it was a great honor to win the L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science. “This is a testament to my dedication and hard work, and affirmation that I have chosen a career path that I am truly passionate about,” she said. “With this award, I will be able to develop new materials, and understand the properties of the underlying materials.”

The Emirati researcher said she is now working towards a bigger goal. “The next steps are to focus on optimizing the current systems I’ve designed and testing them on a larger scale close to industrial conditions,” she said.

L’Oréal-UNESCO Award

Established 24 years ago, the L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science honors women scientists, who remain underrepresented in the research community, accounting for just 33% of researchers worldwide.

In the GCC, the project successfully supported the power of Arab women scientists, with 5 of the 45 winners receiving international recognition.

Laurent Duffier, managing director of L’Oréal Middle East, said there was a rigorous process to pick the winner. “The selection process was led by a jury of eminent scientific experts from prestigious institutions in the Middle East,” he said.

“The jury considers certain criteria, such as the candidate’s outstanding academic performance, project quality, research innovation approach and expected outcomes, and adherence to international ethical norms, among others.”

This year, five female scientists were recognized for their research, including three from the UAE. Hessa Ebrahim Ali Alfalahi was awarded for his research on the use of AI for the early detection and diagnosis of depression and Parkinson’s disease, while Dr. Raefa ​​Abou Khouzam was awarded for his research on new treatment strategies for pancreatic cancer.

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