A founding faculty member of KAUST, Husam brings to the role more than three decades of combined industrial and academic experience spanning the United States and Saudi Arabia. He joined KAUST in 2009 and currently serves as director of the Center of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Storage Technologies (CREST). His research in advanced materials for energy and electronic applications has positioned KAUST at the forefront of next-generation technologies, including batteries, semiconductor materials, and nanoelectronics.

Husam’s scholarly impact is exceptional. He has published more than 640 peer-reviewed papers and 100 conference papers, and he holds 80 issued and pending patents — several of which have been commercialized. He has been recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in Materials Science for several years (2019 to 2023). His pioneering work has earned him global recognition as a Fellow of the MRS, APS, IEEE, NAI, RSC, IoP, and IMMM. He has received numerous awards, including the Kuwait Prize in Clean and Sustainable Energy Technologies, the A.H. Shoman Prize for Excellence in Energy Research, and the KAUST Distinguished Teaching Award.

At KAUST, Husam has held numerous leadership roles, including chair of the Materials Science and Engineering Program and chair of CREST. His leadership has been instrumental in shaping KAUST’s educational excellence, mentoring more than 30 Ph.D. graduates and 30 postdoctoral researchers, and advancing collaboration across academia, industry, and national stakeholders such as Saudi Aramco, SABIC, KACST, GADD, and KAU.