Hazem Ali Hiary

Dr Hazem Hiary is Dean of King Abdullah II School of Information Technology at the University of Jordan. In 2008 he graduated from the School of Computing, where he carried out his PhD in utilising digital image processing in the field of extracting watermarks in paper. Hazem said:

“I learned to be self-dependent. I improved my skills in research and in communication with others. I believe that with knowledge you can achieve what you want.”

“My PhD was funded by a scholarship from The University of Jordan. I thank them very much, without this fund I wouldn’t be what I am today.”

View Hazem’s Google Scholar profile.

Academic and professional achievements

Since graduating, Hazem became a Professor of Computer Science at King Abdullah II School of Information Technology at the University of Jordan, specialising in Image Processing, with other research interests in Computer Vision and Multimedia Applications. Hazem described his journey:

“After finishing my PhD, I was appointed in the Computer Science department as an Assistant professor in 2008, to Associate professor in 2013, and to full professor rank in 2018. I also worked in administrative positions; I worked as Dean Assistant for Labs Affairs during 2009-2010.”

“Then as Chairperson of the Computer Science department between 2010-2012 and 2016-2017. I also worked as Deputy Dean between 2018-2020, leading up to my current position as Dean.”

PhD research in image processing

Hazem’s PhD research focused on using digital image processing to extract paper watermarks. He was supervised by Dr Kia Ng and Professor Roger Boyle from the School of Computing.

“After the first year of my studies with Dr Kia Ng, Professor Roger Boyle also joined as a co-supervisor,” explained Hazem. “Combining his expertise with our work in watermark extraction, we progressed to research watermark classification.”

“This involved using historical manuscripts of huge value, such as a hand written copy of the Qur’an, available at Special Collections of the University of Leeds Library. I thank my supervisors and respect them for their efforts, knowledge, and their continuous help and support.”

Life in Leeds

While at Leeds, Hazem enjoyed being an active member of the University’s postgraduate community. He also appreciated the attractions Leeds has to offer, including historical sites. Hazem said:

“I enjoyed developing my skills through activities such as weekly Computer Vision group meetings in the School of Computing, as well as seminars, events, conferences and social gatherings.”

He added: “I enjoyed living at Leeds so much with my wife (Samah) and son (Aws). We had fun in visiting parks, lakes and historical places around Leeds. We also enjoyed shopping, as the University campus is just a few minutes’ walk from City Centre.”

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