Welcome To KFUPM Physics

Welcome to the Department of Physics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. I invite you to explore our website where you can find information about our academic programs, courses, research activities, and faculty members. Physics has always been at the forefront of exploration. This is accomplished through cognitive enhancement by education transmitted through academic courses as well as carrying out research at the cutting-edge frontiers of human knowledge. The Physics department offer courses that are solidly based on the American system to meet international quality assurance requirements, which has placed the Department as a world-class regional center in a leading international institution. Our student body includes pure-physics students and double-major students, which reflects the interdisciplinary nature of our program. In addition, our research facilities span various fields of physics including condensed matter physics, lasers, materials research, magnetism and superconductivity, nuclear physics, and nonlinear and computational physics. Over the past five decades, our faculty members have conducted research using in-house facilities as well as collaborative research with national and international centers.

Mohammad Al-Kuhaili,
Professor & Chairman, Physics Department

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SEMINAR

SAHAB: A Compact X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Environmental Monitoring Payload for Suborbital Platforms


Speaker:

Dr. Ashraf Mohamed Samir Farahat

Date: Monday, September 21th, 2026
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Location: Bldg. 6/Room 125

Abstract:

We present SAHAB, a balloon-borne radiation detection platform jointly developed by King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), and approved to fly as part of NASA’s Balloon Observation and Operations Platform (BOOP) program. SAHAB is a low-cost stratospheric balloon payload designed to measure gamma rays, X-rays, and atmospheric radiation at high altitudes.

The payload integrates multiple scientific instruments, including a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector coupled to a photomultiplier tube for gamma- and X-ray detection, a Geiger counter for total radiation counting, a wide-field visible/infrared (IR) camera, and an environmental sensor for measuring temperature, pressure, and humidity. A Raspberry Pi 3B serves as the central data acquisition and control unit, enabling real-time acquisition, logging, and processing of data from the onboard sensors.

Biography:

Dr. Farahat is a Professor of Physics at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the Florida Institute of Technology, USA, and completed his postdoctoral research with the Canadian Department of National Defence. He has extensive experience in spacecraft data analysis, space instrumentation, and payload design through collaborations with Boston University, the University of California, Berkeley, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

In 2023, he served as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the “Cloud Seeding in Microgravity” experiment, which was launched to the International Space Station in collaboration with the Saudi Space Agency (SSA). He is also the PI of SAHAB, a stratospheric radiation-monitoring payload selected to fly on NASA’s Balloon Observation and Operations Platform (BOOP) in 2026.

 All faculty, researchers and students are invited to attend.

    Location and Time

  • Building 6, Room 125

  • 21 Sep, 2026

  • 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM