Dr. Ahmad Sami Abushaikha is a founding faculty member. He received his BS in Petroleum Engineering and his BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004. In 2006, he received his MS in Reservoir Geosciences and Engineering from "Institut Français du Pétrole". From 2007 to 2009, he worked at TOTAL Research Centre at Pau, France and at Qatar Petroleum. In 2013, he received his PhD in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College London. From 2015 to 2017, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University specializing in discretization schemes for fluid flow in porous media.

Ra'ed is a Senior Advisor at QatarEnergy, he is currently leading strategic growth project, in addition to providing domain expertise in digital transformation and talent management.Before joining QatarEnergy, Ra'ed worked for 22 years at Shell, where he held various roles across the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, and the UK. His last position at Shell was the Principal Technical Expert and lead for Integrated Reservoir Modelling, where he advanced reservoir modelling standards and practices.Ra'ed holds a Ph.D. from Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and Executive MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management, Netherlands, focusing on strategy and digital transformation.

Mansour Belhadj is a seasoned business leader with extensive expertise in the energy industry, particularly across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He currently serves as the General Manager at Microsoft, where he is responsible for driving business growth in the energy and resources sectors across CEMA regions (Central/Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa). With over 30 years of experience, Mansour held regional, pole and global executive roles in major engineering, technology and software corporations before joining Microsoft. Mansour holds a master’s degree in computer engineering and a master of advanced studies in engineering sciences from EFREI engineering school and Paris East university. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Executive EducationGeneral Management Program.

Dany Rahal is a highly experienced professional with over 20 years of expertise in digital technology and its implementation within the energy sector. He holds a postgraduate degree in engineering, specializing in telecommunications, from École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Beyrouth (ESIB Beirut). Additionally, he has earned two master's degrees: one in networks and cybersecurity from École Nationale Supérieure des Telecommunications (Telecom ParisTech) and another in management for the oil and gas industry from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Since joining SLB in 2000, Dany has taken on various roles in technical consulting and project management throughout Europe and Africa. In 2010, he was appointed Deployment Manager for SLB's next-generation reservoir simulator, INTERSECT, a global position based in London. From 2014 to 2018, he led SLB's software business in the Middle East, later transitioning to the role of Global Deployment Manager and Head of Product Management for SLB's Cloud offering, Delfi, also located in London. As of July 2022, Dany holds the position of Vice President, overseeing SLB's digital business in the Middle East and North Africa region from Dubai. In his personal time, Dany enjoys fine dining, outdoor activities, and traveling with his family.

Vincent Natoli is the president and founder of Stone Ridge Technology(SRT). He is a computational physicist with 30 years experience in the field of high-performance computing. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from MIT, a PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Masters in Technology Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He worked for ten years in research at ExxonMobil before founding SRT in 2005. Stone Ridge Technology pioneered the use of GPUs in commercial reservoir simulation. Its flagship product, ECHELON, leads the industry in performance. 

Ahmed has 20+ years of experience on subsurface development. Worked for 10 years in QatarEnergy’s operated onshore and offshore fields, in various roles in the operations and studies teams, including integrated reservoir models studies with various consultants and IOC partners. He joined Maersk Oil Qatar (Maersk Oil Research andTechnology Team MORTC) to work in the Long Horizontal Well Modeling team in 2013. In 2015, he joined QatarEnergy’s Non-Operated Field Development team as Head of Al-Shaheen Development, therefore overlooking the full cycle of Al-Shaheen operator ship transition/transfer to North Oil Company (NOC). He joined NOC in 2020 and took over the role of VP Reservoir andGeosciences in Oct 2020. Assigned back to QatarEnergy as Manager, Non-Operated Oil Development & Tech Support as of May 2022. He was appointed as Manager, Offshore Operated Oil Field Development in May 2024.

With an exceptional background in geosciences and reservoir management, Christophe Soyeur is a key leader at TotalEnergies EP Qatar. In his current role, he oversees vital assets such as the Al Shaheen and Al Khalij fields, as well as the North Field non-operated assets. Christophe ensures the flawless execution of major projects, focusing on the optimal deployment of cutting-edge technology while upholding the highest standards of health, safety, and environmental compliance. His role is central to fostering collaboration among internal and external stakeholders, driving the strategic development and operational efficiency of TotalEnergies’ assets in Qatar. Christophe’s extensive international career, with assignments spanning the Middle East, West Africa, and the North Sea, reflects his dedication to continuous learning and the development of talent, in line with TotalEnergies’ vision for transformation and growth. Highly regarded by his peers, Christophe’s leadership and expertise play a crucial role in TotalEnergies’ ongoing success in the region and in fostering TotalEnergies’ ambition to lead the energy transition in the region, aligning the company’s operations with its long-term sustainability goals.

Mr. Mohammed Ali Al-Buainain has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, holding various technical and leadership positions in geosciences, development planning, production and reservoir engineering. He has worked for major energy companies in Qatar, including Maersk Oil and QatarEnergy LNG preceding companies; RasGas Company Limited, and Qatargas Company. He began his career at Maersk Oil Qatar, where he gained significant expertise in reservoir and production engineering. Then he joined RasGas Company Limited, where he progressed through the technical ladder to Head of Reservoir Engineering. Following the merger of RasGas and Qatargas in 2018, he was appointed Production Engineering Manager. Currently, he serves as the Petroleum Engineering Manager at QatarEnergy LNG. In this role, he leads all aspects of reservoir management and development through supporting NFPS and NFXP projects for sustainment the current production plateau of 77 MMTPA and the expansion to 142 MMTPA. His responsibilities include comprehensive support to drilling/completion operations, planning and execution of North Field Baseline Bathymetry Survey and NF3D-South Seismic Acquisition, overseeing reservoir management strategies and reservoir studies for maximization of the asset value. Mr. Al-Buainain holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Qatar University.