Al-Khawarizmi Tour

About the Initiative

The Al-Khawarizmi Tour connects global experts with Arab talent in HPC, AI, and QC, inspiring innovation and empowering the next generation to shape the digital future.

Our Mission

The Al-Khawarizmi Tour (AKT) bridges global excellence and local potential in High Performance Computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Quantum Computing (QC).

By connecting world experts with emerging Arab communities through seminars, dialogues, and networking, AKT aims to empower students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers to embrace transformative technologies, drive innovation, and build sustainable knowledge ecosystems.

The mission of AKT is to ultimately inspire the next generation to contribute actively to the digital economy and global scientific progress.

Our Vision

We envision the Arab world’s workforce as a global contributor in HPC, AI, and QC [1]. By sparking curiosity, inspiring young scholars, and linking local talent with international leadership, AKT accelerates the region’s path toward digital transformation, entrepreneurship, and scientific discovery. Named after Al-Khawarizmi—the father of algebra and algorithms—the initiative connects the region’s historic ingenuity with its future role in global technology, reminding new generations to carry this legacy forward.

Reference:
[1] David Keyes. The Arab world prepares the exascale workforce. Commun. ACM 64, 4 (April 2021), 82–87. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1145/34477 37

Guest of Honor

Prof. David E. Keyes

David Keyes is a professor of Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering at KAUST, where he was a founding Dean and founder of the Extreme Computing Research Center. For 18 years, he has thoroughly enjoyed discovering and promoting MENA computational talent. Keyes previously taught at Columbia, Old Dominion, and Yale Universities. He is a Fellow of SIAM, AMS, and AAAS, a Member of the European Academy of Engineering, received the ACM Gordon Bell Prize in 1999 and 2024, an Outstanding Service and Contributions Award from IEEE TCPP in 2025, the Sidney Fernbach Award from IEEE CS in 2007, and the SIAM Prize for Distinguished Service to the Profession in 2011. On its 35th anniversary, HPCWire named Keyes one of 35 “legends” of High Performance Computing. He earned a B.S.E. in Aerospace and Mechanical Sciences from Princeton in 1978 and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard in 1984.

Learn more