Faculty from Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) are sharing their knowledge and expertise with the local community through the new Al Maerifa virtual seminar series of 45-minute seminars to promote knowledge on topics centred around Qatar’s grand challenges and research pursuits. 
HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, former minister of energy and industry and the chairman of Tamuq Joint Advisory Board, will introduce the Al Maerifa Seminar Series before the inaugural talk tomorrow. 
Dr Eyad Masad, professor at Tamuq and Texas A&M’s main campus in Texas, will deliver the first talk on the main factors that influence road safety, including road design, driver behaviour, vehicle condition and condition of infrastructure. During his talk, “Road Design and Safety: Recent Developments and Future Directions,” he will discuss the outcomes of research studies that were performed in Qatar to assess and improve road design and safety. The presentation will also cover expected changes in traffic characteristics, road design, and technologies that could influence and hopefully improve road performance and safety. 
Dr Masad is an expert in the areas of road design and development of innovative materials. He is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is co-author of a book, Pavement Design and Materials, which has been adopted for teaching pavement courses in many universities around the world. 
The Al Maerifa talks will be presented in English with simultaneous Arabic translation. The live seminars are designed for a general, nontechnical audience, and participants will be invited to ask questions at the end of the presentation.  Anyone who would like to watch the talk may visit https://knowledge.tamu.qa for more information and registration. 
Dr Cesar Octavio Malave, dean, Tamuq said “We are living in extraordinary times, but our work continues. Our mission is to create and share knowledge, and this includes the Qatar community that has been so welcoming to us. 
Technology is allowing us to continue this valuable work and we hope to be able to offer more online learning for the community in the future.” 
Tamuq is also offering online learning for  about 350 school students in grades 7-12 from across Qatar are currently participating in the online IDEA: Innovate, Design and Engineer an App STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programme developed by Tamuq’s STEM experts.

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