Amani Alonazi, a Boeing artificial intelligence scientist, works in a visual computing center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. She’s part of a multidisciplinary Boeing Research & Technology team developing methods that will detect ground hazards for airplanes in airport environments. The work involves the convergence of high-performance computing and AI.

“A new level of intelligence will appear,” said Alonazi, new to Boeing in 2019. “I met with scientists from Seattle, Madrid, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and I was very excited to see it this diverse. I really wanted to be part of that.”

Alonazi occupies a computing workstation at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a glistening research facility on the shores of the Red Sea.

She and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s first coed institution of higher learning have grown up together. Three years after it opened, Alonazi became a scholarship student there. In 2019, she went to work on its campus as a Boeing artificial intelligence scientist.

“It has a beautiful focus on computer science, technology and innovation,” she said of the school. “It’s kind of home for me.”

Alonazi’s role is twofold: She is part of a global Boeing Research & Technology team advancing aerospace, and she contributes to university research projects.

She has access to the university’s supercomputer, Shaheen, which translates to “fastest bird in the Arabian culture.” She finds inspiration amid a diverse student population that counts 102 nationalities and a faculty that holds international credentials. 

Boeing hired Alonazi after she completed a master’s degree and a doctorate at KAUST and obtained a master’s degree from University College Dublin, in Ireland, all in computer science.

Her work involves using AI with high-performance computing to detect airport ground hazards. She is highly motivated to create machine-learning methods.

“I heard the Boeing code: What others dream, we do,” she said. “I’m very excited for my journey ahead.”

She also mixes math and music. Alonazi picked up a violin in a college office one day and decided she would learn to play it. She became proficient enough to join an orchestra and participate in two concerts.

Alonazi sees a strong connection between her two interests, noting that sounds are often created by computations.

“I felt if I learn this, I will be Mozart,” Alonazi said. “It was a good way to distract myself so I come back to work with a fresh mind.”

Boeing and local industry partners in Saudi Arabia previously agreed to a sustainment services deal, which involves modifying F-15 jet fighters for the Saudi Air Force. The joint venture also will provide for service maintenance for other fixed- or rotary-wing military aircraft.

Plants grow in the Middle East desert using saltwater. Seeds extracted from these plants produce oil. The oil converts into jet fuel.

Enter into this equation Mohamed Al Ghailani (below), a Boeing strategy development specialist from the United Arab Emirates. He’s one of those responsible for the next step.

Al Ghailani works with researchers to show how a 100% biofuel blend can effectively power commercial airplanes as an alternative fuel source.

“We keep seeing improvements,” he said. “It’s something I’m very passionate about. It’s very exciting. It makes me feel I can have an impact on the future.”

Al Ghailani left the oil and gas industry as a chemical engineer to join Boeing, drawn to the biofuel project because it involved engineering, sustainability and aerospace.

He works in Boeing offices in Dubai and at the Sustainable Biofuel Research Consortium — founded by what is now Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Etihad Airways, Honeywell, and Boeing — in Abu Dhabi.

As a student, he worked daily with the plants grown as both a fuel and food source in the SBRC research lab. “Boeing has made a commitment to the Middle East and wants to see these kinds of projects work,” said Al Ghailani, whose brother is a 787 pilot for Oman Air. “There is a general interest to see the industry grow together.”

Adjacent to the UAE’s Dubai International Airport, among the world’s busiest, Boeing operates a steadily expanding parts distribution center, one of eight worldwide. The company’s warehouse space includes inventories of its ever-expanding distribution capability, including subsidiaries Aviall and Boeing Distribution Services Inc., formerly known as KLX Aerospace Solutions.

Distribution Services salespeople such as Rajini Jayathilaka and Mandar Kamat streamline orders for Middle East carriers from a consolidated inventory of 20,000 parts.

“We are One Boeing and we do joint bids and proposals,” Kamat (above) said. “It’s the benefit of having a one-stop shop where you can purchase everything in Boeing, including heritage Aviall and KLX parts.”

A second and newer Dubai airport, Al Maktoum International, will be the one of the largest globally when fully operational, further increasing aftermarket services needs for the region and the region’s ability to support global customers.

“It’s a very good place to do business — the Middle East,” Jayathilaka (above) said. “It’s amazing how many flights are moving every minute in Dubai. It’s a top marketplace for aviation. We can see it growing every day. We want to satisfy the customer to the maximum level.”