In 2009, a young engineer stepped through the gates of a newly built university on the Saudi shores of the Red Sea. KAUST was a bold vision brought to life by King Abdullah, and this engineering student was among the pioneers who recognized its potential. In the King’s dream, he saw the promise of a new Dār al-Ḥikma for all—an international house of wisdom, and the perfect place to launch his career.
Sixteen years later, that early investment has paid off. The same engineer returns—not as a student, but as an established scientist and mentor. On , Dr. Alfonso Caraveo officially joined KAUST as Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. A proud founding class alumnus, he’s come full circle—with a lab to build and projects that could change the way we see and use materials.
Materials, Markets, and Momentum
After earning his master’s and PhD from KAUST (2010 and 2013), Alfonso joined SABIC’s Corporate Research and Innovation Center. There, he led efforts in advanced materials development such as polymer composites, for sensing and actuation devices, system integration, and triboelectric and piezocomposite technologies. He worked on thin-film technologies and developed devices such as touch and force sensors, haptic feedback systems, and thin-film circuitry, pushing several technologies from early R&D through the innovation pipeline to near-commercialization.
By 2018, he was leading a research group at the University of Texas at Dallas, developing all-solid-state radiation detectors and overseeing technology transfer activities. He secured funding from major U.S. agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Energy (DoE). In 2020, he was awarded Mexico’s National Researcher distinction and became a member of the National Council of Science and Technology.
Deeply committed to translational technology, Alfonso has published 26 peer-reviewed papers, holds 14 granted patents—some already licensed or in commercial use—and has filed 28 U.S. patent applications. He also played a key role in the successful sale of a startup to a global leader in high-performance electronics.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Multifunctional Materials with a Twist
Now back at KAUST, Alfonso is launching the Advanced Sensing and Actuation Laboratory (ASAL), where he’s focusing on multifunctional materials and ferroelectrets—two areas poised to redefine sensing technologies.
Multifunctional materials combine several properties—flexibility, conductivity, responsiveness to temperature or light—into one system. This allows for compact, energy-efficient sensors that can detect multiple signals at once. Think of materials that sense both heat and pressure—perfect for wearables or smart building systems. Some even respond to humidity, pH, or light, opening doors to applications in medicine and industrial automation. By integrating features like energy harvesting or self-healing, these materials are paving the way for next-generation smart technologies across healthcare, IoT, and beyond.
Ferroelectrets are a lesser-known class of lightweight, flexible materials with a surprising inner life: tiny, balloon-like voids charged with static electricity. When bent or pressed, these voids shift, generating a signal. Similar to piezoelectric crystals but cheaper, softer, and easier to mold, ferroelectrets are ideal for flexible sensors—like bandages that read vital signs or buildings that “feel” structural stress. All these potentials, however, are limited by their intrinsic weaknesses: their charges fade, and their structure degrades with use. That’s the puzzle Alfonso is tackling—tuning the molecular design, stabilizing the charges, and creating a new generation of tough, adaptable materials.
For now, he remains firmly rooted in the Materials Science and Engineering program within KAUST’s Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division. True to form, however, he’s keeping the door open to future interdisciplinary collaborations.
The Circuitous Path of a Straight Thinker
For Alfonso, materials science is more than a career—it’s a way of shaping the world, and giving back to KAUST and the Kingdom. From smart cities to human health, energy, and beyond, Alfonso’s goal is to contribute to Vision 2030 reinventing the materials we use in our everyday lives.
“By engineering materials at the atomic scale, we’re not just improving technologies—we’re shaping the future.”
Alfonso blends vision with action, pairing a knack for turning ideas into real-world products with the momentum to bring them to life. He brings both creativity and timing to everything he does. But perhaps his rarest quality is this: the belief that discovery is not a one-time breakthrough—it’s a daily practice.
And now, that practice continues—where it all began.
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