Jehad El-Demellawi

Jehad is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Functional Nanomaterials and Devices Laboratory (FNDL) at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He holds a Ph.D., an M.Sc. in materials science and engineering from KAUST, and a B.Sc. in materials engineering from Ain Shams University. Jehad has been successfully leading multiple interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with nearly 20 local and international research groups, focusing on developing novel nanomaterials for an array of real-life applications. Capitalizing on these often-self-initiated collaborations, Jehad developed a wide breadth of knowledge and a holistic approach to tackling scientific challenges, unusual for his age. Jehad’s work has led to remarkable breakthroughs in diverse fields, including plasmonics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, desalination, transparent electronics, and energy harvesting. For example, by developing and optimizing their synthesis and processing strategies, Jehad managed to adapt transition metal carbides, a family of two-dimensional nanomaterials initially invented for energy storage applications, into numerous photonic devices, such as photodetectors and solar cells, offering device performances comparable to those obtained using expensive and less abundant materials, like silver. In addition to his several US patents and tens of peer-reviewed publications, Jehad has repeatedly presented his work at world-renowned meetings and conferences, reaping various presentation awards.