AUST Alumnus among the World’s 500 Most Influential Arabs

For the second consecutive year, Eng. Mohamed Osman Baloola, alumnus of the College of Engineering, Ajman University of Science and Technology, and current teaching assistant at AUST Department of Biomedical Engineering, was named among the World's 500 most influential Arabs in 2013 in the “scientist inventor” category for his outstanding contributions in the areas of innovation, research and community service.

The annual listing published by ITP, covers 20 fields namely business, finance, economy, culture, society, art and science. A jury of reputed researchers is tasked with assessing and selecting the most influential Arab personalities across the world throughout a period of nine months starting July 2012. The initial list of 1960 nominees was shortened to 500 individuals who have been most influential during the previous year.

Eng. Mohamed Baloola’s inclusion in the 2013 Arabian Business Power 500 owes much to his winning  innovation of ''Remote Monitoring and Control System for Diabetes Patients via Mobile Phones," an artificial pancreas which helps stabilize glucose levels in diabetes patients, in addition to his numerous researches in this field. Besides, Eng. Baloola is also an active player in community service. He recently organized an effective UAE-wide health awareness campaign in which thousands of free blood sugar measuring equipment and check-up discounts were provided to diabetes patients. The AUST alumna hopes to establish a charitable research foundation bearing his own name, the mission of which will be to look after deprived patients around the Middle East and help solve their health issues by conducting and supporting medical research that would be of benefit to all mankind.

Unsurprisingly, Prince Al Walid bin Talal topped the list for the ninth year in a row thanks to his achievements in finance and business and his influential work in charity. Second in the 2013 list is Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, CEO and Chairman of Emirates Group. The list also included a number of well-known Arab scientists such as Prof. Farouk Al Baz and Prof. Charles Elachi, two prominent space scientists, Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub, the world's leading transplant surgeon, and the Noble Prize laureate in Chemistry, Prof. Ahmad Zewail.

With 155 new figures entering the competition this year, it will be harder to remain on the list next year.