Short biography
Khaled Nabil Salama designs chips and sensing systems for the real world, and builds the research programs and teams that carry scientific ideas into practice. He is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at KAUST and will join VinUniversity in Hanoi, Vietnam in December 2026 as Provost's Chair Professor and Chief Scientific Officer, leading the Trusted Sensing Systems lab. He joined KAUST in 2009 as founding faculty, and was founding chair of its Electrical Engineering program. He studied at Cairo University and Stanford University.
Long biography
Khaled Nabil Salama designs chips and sensing systems for the real world, and builds the research programs and teams that carry scientific ideas into practice.
He studied electronic and communications engineering at Cairo University, graduating in 1997, and took his MSc and PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford University under Abbas El Gamal. His doctoral work produced a CMOS luminescence-detection lab-on-chip. In 2007 he co-founded Ultrawave Labs in California and served as its chief technology officer. He taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 2005, and joined KAUST in 2009 as founding faculty, where he was founding chair of the Electrical Engineering program, led the KAUST Sensors Initiative and served as Associate Dean for Students in the CEMSE Division.
He will join VinUniversity in Hanoi, Vietnam in December 2026 as Provost's Chair Professor and Chief Scientific Officer, leading the Trusted Sensing Systems lab. He is an associate editor of IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine.
His group's work spans wearable and microneedle sensors, gas sensing, in-memory and neuromorphic computing hardware, and self-powered underwater probes. He has supervised 40 PhD students and is an inventor on more than 30 granted US patents (56 with applications). His Google Scholar profile lists 23,664 citations and an h-index of 83 (12 October 2026).
Three topics
Why sensors must know when they are wrong. Why accuracy in a demonstration is not trust, and a six-level scale (VTRL) for how far to believe a sensor.
Putting AI inside the device. When it makes sense to process data where it is collected, and when it does not. See the essay.
Building research capacity from scratch. What it takes to turn talent, infrastructure and ambition into working technology, from founding a department to starting again in a new country.
Past talks and media
Advancing Monitoring Capabilities: Role of Wearable Sensors in Healthcare, Environmental & Marine Recorded talk for the IEEE Sensors Council Egypt Chapter on wearable sensors for healthcare, environmental and marine monitoring. Talk · IEEE Sensors Council Egypt Chapter · 23 September 2026 · 1 h 15 min
Seeing Google Launch in a Basement & The Truth About PhD | Prof. Khaled Salama | Convos on Campus #15 Long podcast conversation about his path from childhood in the UK and Egypt to Stanford and KAUST, and his work on neuromorphic computing. Podcast · Tayeb | الطيب · 2 December 2025 · 2 h 19 min
Distinguished Lecture - Prof. Khaled Salama Invited lecture on sensors built with integrated circuits, with a plant-wearable electrochemical sensor among the examples. Lecture · Sydney Nano, University of Sydney · 21 February 2023 · 1 h 15 min
Faculty in Focus: Khaled Salama KAUST Faculty in Focus video series. A two-minute profile, with a focus on mentoring students. 108,294 views on 12 October 2026. Video · KAUST · 20 October 2022 · 2 min
Interview with Khaled Salama Sciencetown, the KAUST podcast, in conversation with Ben Stevens as part of a series on personalised medicine. Recorded as co-chair of the 2020 KAUST Winter Enrichment Program. Interview · KAUST · 22 January 2020 · 11 min
Sensing a heart attack before it strikes KAUST video on the research toward a wearable device that warns of an imminent heart attack. Video · KAUST CEMSE · 14 April 2020 · 47 sec
Professor Khaled Salama: Paper sensors remove the sting of diabetic testing KAUST video on inkjet-printed paper sensors as an alternative to routine blood tests for diabetes. Video · KAUST CEMSE · 7 January 2019 · 29 sec
Sci-Café: Sensing the Environment Panel on biology and sensors with Carlos Duarte and Sahika Inal. Panel · KAUST · 27 March 2018 · 57 min
In the news
Provost Tan Yap Peng: From NTU to VinUniversity, One Year of Transformation Interview with the VinUniversity Provost. It names Khaled Nabil Salama, VinUniversity Provost Chair Professor, as leading the Trusted Sensing Systems lab, one of two flagship interdisciplinary research labs. VinUniversity · 12 September 2026
Wearable microneedle patch could improve drug monitoring Feature on the wearable that monitors the antibiotic vancomycin continuously in the fluid under the skin. KAUST · 27 August 2026
KAUST researchers develop wearable technology that could help monitor medicines in real time Press release on the same microneedle patch, which sends drug-level data wirelessly to a smartphone. KAUST · 14 July 2026
Smart patch detects allergies before symptoms strike Feature on AllergE, a microneedle biosensor that detects the allergy antibody IgE from the fluid beneath the skin. KAUST · 7 December 2025
Sensing stress to keep plants safe Feature on a minimally invasive sensor that measures two plant stress hormones continuously. KAUST · 3 July 2025
Gold-Medal Sensors: KAUST Racing Toward High-Tech Athletic Excellence For KSA Feature on wearable sensors for athletes, including work with a global motor racing team. Salama is quoted. KAUST · 8 August 2024
Giving voice to the voiceless through assistive technology Feature on the magnetic-skin system that reads mouth movements to help people with voice disorders communicate. KAUST · 21 February 2024
Real-time dopamine biosensor empowers next-gen neurodiagnostics Feature on a dopamine biosensor that gives visual and digital signals in under two minutes. KAUST · 14 June 2023
Perovskites used to make efficient artificial retina Feature on an artificial electronic retina that recognised handwritten digits with about 70% accuracy. KAUST · 2 March 2022
Plant probes make sense for sustainable farming Feature on ultrathin plant sensors for precision farming. KAUST · 20 June 2021
Saudi researcher’s magnetic skin research garners widespread attention Feature on the magnetic skin and its use for people with disabilities and paralysis. KAUST · 7 April 2020
In the Arabic press
«كاوست» تطور أجهزة استشعار بدنية لتحقيق التميز الرياضي عالي التقنية في الرياضات الاحترافية Arabic coverage of KAUST wearable sensors for sports. Al Madina · 8 August 2024
«كاوست» تطور تقنية لرصد الأزمات القلبية قبل وقوعها Arabic coverage of the KAUST heart-attack warning sensor. Ajel · 4 May 2021