Boon Ooi, professor of electrical and computer engineering
Born in Malaysia, Professor Boon Ooi began his academic career in the very different surroundings of the University of Glasgow. Despite the cold, wet weather in the Scottish city, he continued his studies there for more than six years, eventually becoming a postdoctoral researcher. After an assistant professorship in Singapore, a private business venture and an associate professorship at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, Ooi joined KAUST as a founding faculty member in 2009.
Ooi’s main research interests are optoelectronics and photonics. One of the biggest projects the professor of electrical and computer engineering is working on is bringing the internet to undersea environments, which will enable autonomous underwater operations without putting human life at risk.
Ooi hopes his research will continue impacting industry. He is proud to have been given the opportunity to teach students and help them become leaders in their fields over the past 20 years. He will continue to advise students to acquire new skills that can be applied to real-world problems so that their work can have the kind of impact that his has had.
When Ooi is not imparting knowledge to his students, he can often be found on the badminton court. After joining KAUST, he quickly set up the university’s badminton club, which now has about 100 members. Aside from writing research proposals, his favourite aspect of his time at KAUST is squeezing in a few sessions each week with racket in hand.
Find out more about Boon Ooi's research at KAUST.
