At this annual event, leaders of today come to debate with students selected and invited from around the world (Leaders of Tomorrow). The resulting intergenerational discussions are enlivened by intercultural exchanges, which give unique insights into “how the young generation views the world, what it expects, what it dreads and what attracts it.”
Facing Risk was the theme of this year’s two-day Symposium in May. The theme, with applications in business, science and technology, is directed to many basic questions for humanity and many decisions taken daily by scientists, managers, teachers and others.
Four KAUST students were invited to attend this year’s Symposium: Ahmad Showail (PhD CS), Bingmu Xiao (MS ErSE), Kiran Narayanan (PhD ME), and Luis Lujan Rodriguez (MS EnSE).
An intercultural group, they represent four countries: Saudi Arabia, China, India, and Mexico. Extremely enthusiastic, they have expressed many ideas about future contributions to the student experience and the student voice at KAUST. For all four, attendance at the St. Gallen Symposium has been a high point in their graduate student careers, and they convey their ideas with excitement and freshness. They look forward to working with Orientation 2012 and introducing new students to the campus.
Left to right: Luis Luján, Kiran Narayanan, Bingmu Xiao, Ahmad Showail