Gulf Research Meeting
Afreen Siddiqi
Dr. Afreen Siddiqi is a Visiting Scholar with the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She is also a Research Scientist in the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Siddiqi received her Ph.D. in Aerospace systems, a Master’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work is at the intersection of technology, management, and policy. Her research is centred on natural resources planning and education & human capacity building in transitioning economies. Dr. Siddiqi’s current research is on the technical and policy dimensions of global change driven by emerging challenges of education, research, and innovation capacity and issues of natural resource management for water, energy, and food security. She has been studying national systems of education, research, and innovation in Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, 6 and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, she is currently engaged in quantitative modeling and analysis of water sector planning in Jordan, hydropower development and agricultural production in Pakistan, and investigation of the water, energy, food nexus in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Her past work has focused on modeling and analysis of system architecture, performance, management, and logistics of a wide range of complex socio-technical systems that include space exploration and urban infrastructure. She has authored over 45 publications in leading journals of policy, technology, and engineering. She has also taught at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels in the US and Switzerland, and has worked with major corporations (Schlumberger, National Instruments, BP, Aurora Flight Systems, Orbital Sciences) and government institutions (Jet Propulsion Lab, Draper Labs, Kennedy Space Center).
