"Professor Salah Obayya is currently the city's Vice Chair for Academic Affairs, Professor of Photonics at the University of Science and Technology, and Director of the Center for Photonics and Smart Materials at Zewail City. Obayya’s academic background started in 1991 when he received his Bachelor of Science degree in electronics and communications engineering from Egypt's Mansoura University. In 1994 he earned his Master of Science degree from the same university. Obayya then obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree under a joint supervision scheme between City University London and Mansoura University in 1999. Before joining Zewail City, Obayya worked at City University London’s School of Engineering as a senior research fellow. From 2003 to 2006, he served as a senior lecturer at the School of Engineering and Design in Brunel University, West London. He was also appointed to a readership position at the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds (U.K.). In 2008, he held a full professorial chair of photonics and led the establishment of the Nanophotonics Research Centre at the University of Glamorgan, U.K. Obayya’s research efforts are related to the area of green nanophotonics. His focus is on intelligent computational modeling of modern nanophotonic devices. This line of research will enable technologies for the efficient generation, distribution and utilization of sustainable energy- ultimately contributing towards a low-carbon, green society. His efforts enabled him to secure $2 million in research funds from research councils and major photonics industry players in Egypt and the United Kingdom. Obayya’s continuous scientific contributions have greatly served the international photonics community. In addition to publishing 110 papers, mostly in journals belonging to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Institute of Engineering Technology and the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Obayya has published 130 conference papers and has delivered 20 keynote lectures and invited talks at major conferences. He is also the author of Computational Photonics published by Wiley, New York. Obayya has been selected to be an associate editor-in-chief of the IEEE Photonics Technology Letters and a guest editor-in-chief of the Journal of Optical and Quantum Electronics. He also served on the technical committees of many photonics conferences. The Egyptian government awarded Obayya the Incentive State Award for Engineering Sciences and the State Award of Excellence for Engineering Science. He was also the recipient of the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation Award for Arab Researchers in Engineering Sciences in 2013. He was also awarded the the Arab Creativity Award 2015 for science, offered by the Arab Thought Foundation. He is a member of several leading scientific institutions such as the Institute of Engineering and Technology, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Optical Society of America and the International Society for Optical Engineering. In addition to being elected as a fellow of the highest two scientific institutes in the United Kingdom, the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and the Institute of Physics (IoP), Obayya is also a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering."

Obayya’s research efforts are related to the area of green nanophotonics. His focus is on intelligent computational modeling of modern nanophotonic devices. This line of research will enable technologies for the efficient generation, distribution and utilization of sustainable energy- ultimately contributing towards a low-carbon, green society. His efforts enabled him to secure $2 million in research funds from research councils and major photonics industry players in Egypt and the United Kingdom.