Welcome IBK Fellow: Mnerh Alqahtani

We are pleased to introduce one of our new IBK Fellows, Dr. Mnerh Alqahtani. She is an assistant professor at the University of Hafr Albatin (UHB). Dr. Alqahtani earned her PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Warwick. Before this, she earned her BSc and MSc in mathematics from King Faisal University. She plans to do her IBK Fellowship research in Prof. Themistoklis Sapsis’ lab in MIT’s department of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Alqahtani is interested in stochastic dynamical systems and their real-world uses. Specifically, she plans to utilize and employ reinforcement learning, a machine learning technique, to optimally control the dynamical system under consideration. This approach aims to either minimize potential risks or achieve a desirable outcome. The specific application she has in mind is public health resource optimization. The objective of a decision-making problem within treatment programs is to determine the best possible value or outcome based on the initial circumstances.