Emtenan Alotaibi

Biography

Emtenan Alotaibi is a Ph.D. student in Applied Physics at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and a Lecturer in the Department of Physics at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU). Her research focuses on photonics and nanophotonics, with current work focusing on metasurfaces, structural color, label-free pathological imaging, optical and spectroscopic characterization, and AI-assisted image analysis. She is also involved in passive radiative cooling research, particularly spectrally engineered materials and textiles for thermal management. Alotaibi holds an M.S. in Physics with a concentration in Health Physics and brings experience in radiation physics, biomedical applications, experimental characterization, and computational modeling to her interdisciplinary research.

Research Interests

Current research focuses on photonics and nanophotonics, particularly plasma-enhanced metasurfaces, structural color, and multimodal optical approaches for label-free pathological imaging and diagnostic analysis. It also investigates passive radiative cooling materials and textiles through spectral engineering of solar reflectance and mid-infrared thermal emission for personal thermal management and wearable cooling applications. The research work combines optical characterization, spectroscopy, image analysis, and computational methods to develop practical photonic platforms for biomedical and energy-related applications.

Selected Publications

1	Bawazeer O, Albakri H, Makkawi K, Aga ZB, Alomari A, Adil SF, Algethami M, Assiri N, Alsubhi A, Qutub M, Alotaibi E, et al. Evaluation of X-ray shielding performance of Bi/PMMA and Bi/PMMA–TiO₂/PMMA nanocomposites. Radiation Physics and Chemistry. 2025;231:112596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2025.112596
2	Khan K, Al-Harbi A, Fallatah A, Alasmary M, Bokhary Y, Alhazmi M, Al-Qahtani S, Ajlouni A, Alotaibi E, et al. The establishment of local diagnostic reference levels for computed tomography cerebral angiography in Jeddah city of Saudi Arabia. Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. 2025;56:24. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43055-025-01435-y
3	Bawazeer O, Almutairi H, Almutiri K, Fallatah A, Alasmary M, Bokhary Y, Abuzaid M, Ajlouni A, Bawazir S, Al-Qahtani S, Qutub M, Alotaibi E, et al. Radiation protection in dental imaging: Evaluating the impact of the SABA thyroid shield during panoramic and cone beam computed tomography. Journal of Radiation Research and Applied Sciences. 2024;17(4):101102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrras.2024.101102

Education

2026–Present	Ph.D. Student	Applied Physics	King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
2012	M.Sc.	Physics (Health/Medical Physics)	East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
2008	B.Sc.	Medical Physics	Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

KAUST Affiliations

PSE Division

Research Interests Keywords

Photonics Nanophotonics Structural Color Radiative Cooling Thermal management