Dr. Tariq Alkhalifah is a professor of geophysics in the Earth Systems Science and Engineering program at KAUST, with specialization in seismic acquisition and processing of near-surface data for better near-surface treatment. Before joining KAUST in 2009 as a founding member, he served as the director of the Oil and Gas Research Institute at King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), and held additional positions as associate research professor, assistant research professor and research assistant. Concurrent to pursuing his Ph.D. at the Colorado School of Mines, Alkhalifah worked as a postdoctoral researcher for the Stanford Exploration Project at Stanford University, USA (1996 to 1998). He has received numerous accolades throughout his career for his impactful contributions to the field of seismic anisotropy, including the Conrad Schlumberger Award from the European Association for Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE). He is active as a member of EAGE and other professional groups such as the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. ​

Dr. Alkhalifah’s research explores imaging and velocity model building and the development of new partial differential equations to simplify seismic modeling, imaging and inversion, with a focus on media that exhibits anisotropic behavior of wave propagation. His research extends to using machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop methods for waveform inversion and imaging, and enhance applications pertaining to subsurface environmental hazards such as pipeline leakage and ground failure (sink holes). Much of this computational research is driven by his consortium, Deepwave, funded by more than 10 industry sponsors and on developing machine learning tools to help improve imaging and inversion of the subsurface for applications in exploration to subsurface monitoring.​