Income Tax-Free to Taxed: Assessing the Socioeconomic Impacts of Potential Income Tax in the UAE

A Master of Business Administration (MBA) by Syeda Mahbuba Ayesha Munni entitled, “Income Tax-Free to Taxed: Assessing the Socioeconomic Impacts of Potential Income Tax in the UAE”, submitted in May 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Taisier Zoubi and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Sanket Roy. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Approval Signatures, Completion Certificate, and AUS Archives Consent Form).This research investigates the potential impacts of introducing an income tax on different economic and social parameters in the United Arab Emirates. The United Arab Emirates’ historically income tax-free environment has been a cornerstone of its attractiveness to expatriates and a driver of robust economic growth, making it a unique case for exploring the socioeconomic implications of income tax. While several studies have examined Value Added Tax in the United Arab Emirates, there is a notable absence of research on corporate tax or personal income tax in the United Arab Emirates or across the Gulf Cooperation Council region. This study addresses that gap by investigating residents’ perceived acceptance of income tax—both with and without associated public service benefits. It also explores views on the fairness of progressive income taxation and identifies the income tax thresholds at which the United Arab Emirates may become less attractive to potential immigrants, using a structured survey methodology. Responses are analyzed using multinomial logistic regression, correlation and Fisher’s exact test to uncover trends and acceptable thresholds. Findings reveal that demographic variables such as education, income, ethnicity, and employment status significantly influence tax acceptance. Additionally, acceptance is strongly tied to perceived value: residents are more likely to support income tax if it is linked to tangible public benefits like healthcare, education, and infrastructure. The study also finds that beyond a 10% tax threshold, residents increasingly consider emigration, underscoring the importance of careful policy calibration. By providing data-driven insights, this research offers policymakers valuable guidance on designing equitable and sustainable fiscal policies that balance revenue generation with fairness, service delivery expectations, and the United Arab Emirates global appeal as a hub for residents, businesses, and economic activity.School of Business AdministrationDepartment of Management, Strategy and EntrepreneurshipMaster of Business Administration (MBA

Formal Verification of a Security Protocol in Vehicular Communication

A Master of Science thesis in Computer Engineering by Mohamed Adel Almaazmi entitled, “Formal Verification of a Security Protocol in Vehicular Communication”, submitted in April 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Dana Dghaym. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).Vehicular communication systems enable vehicles to exchange critical information with other traffic participants, infrastructure, and networks, offering significant benefits for road safety and transportation efficiency. However, designing secure Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) protocols presents unique challenges as they must simultaneously ensure message authenticity, protect user privacy, prevent attacks, and maintain low computational overhead for time-sensitive applications. Formal verification of these protocols is essential but traditionally complex, as it requires reasoning about both cryptographic mechanisms and system-level properties. This thesis presents a novel complementary verification approach that combines two formal verification tools, Tamarin Prover for cryptographic analysis with Event-B for system refinement to comprehensively verify V2X security protocols. Using the Anonymous and Efficient (AEE) protocol as a case study, we develop a systematic methodology for translating between formal models, leveraging Tamarin's strength in adversarial reasoning and Event-B's structured refinement capabilities. Our refinement-based approach moves from abstract communication to concrete protocol mechanisms, with Tamarin serving as a cryptographic extension of the most concrete Event-B level. Through this methodology, we verify the AEE protocol's anonymity, traceability, event linkability, and unlinkability properties, while identifying critical requirements not explicit in the original protocol specification, including token-event binding constraints and authority separation mechanisms. The dual-method verification reveals structural insights that would be difficult to obtain using either method alone, providing implementation guidance for secure V2X deployments and establishing a generalized approach for verifying security protocols with complex system interactions. Our results demonstrate that complementary formal methods can provide stronger verification assurance than single-method approaches for safety-critical V2X security protocols.College of EngineeringDepartment of Computer Science and EngineeringMaster of Science in Computer Engineering (MSCoE

Assessing the Impact of Sustainability Risks on Disaster and Pandemic Vulnerabilities: A Global Perspective

This study examines the impact of failing to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on disaster and pandemic vulnerabilities, providing a country-level perspective to inform resilience planning. The study introduces the concept of SDG-related risk, defined as the probability of not achieving the desired SDG, and classifies these risks into three categories: high, medium, and low. Using a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) framework, two probabilistic models were developed to evaluate the influence of SDG performance on disaster risk and COVID-19 vulnerability across 165 countries. The results highlight that shortcomings in SDGs such as ‘quality education’, ‘sustainable cities and communities’, ‘no poverty’, and ‘affordable and clean energy’ significantly increase disaster and pandemic risks. Conversely, strong performance in ‘peace, justice, and strong institutions’ and ‘life on land’ enhances systemic resilience, reducing vulnerability. Countries with very high disaster risk are particularly exposed to deficiencies in SDGs related to ‘peace, justice, and strong institutions’, ‘sustainable cities and communities’, and ‘good health and well-being’. For COVID-19 risk, ‘affordable and clean energy’ emerges as the most critical SDG influencing high-risk exposure, whereas ‘climate action’ is pivotal in predicting low-risk states. These findings demonstrate the cascading risks posed by failing to achieve critical SDGs and emphasize the need for targeted interventions to mitigate vulnerabilities to disasters and pandemics, providing actionable insights for sustainable resilience strategies

Applied Theatre for Workplace Conflict Resolution in UAE

A Master of Business Administration (MBA) by Lilas Ryad Mansour entitled, “Applied Theatre for Workplace Conflict Resolution in UAE”, submitted in April 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Omar Belkhouja. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Approval Signatures, Completion Certificate, and AUS Archives Consent Form).School of Business AdministrationDepartment of Management, Strategy and EntrepreneurshipMaster of Business Administration (MBA

Machine Learning Based Maintenance Strategies for Enhancing PV System Performance in UAE

A Master of Science thesis in Electrical Engineering by Omar Abdelaziz entitled, “Machine Learning Based Maintenance Strategies for Enhancing PV System Performance in UAE”, submitted in May 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Mostafa Shaaban and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Ahmed Osman. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).College of EngineeringDepartment of Electrical EngineeringMaster of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE

Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance Factors on Financial Performance in Indian Firms

A Master of Science in Finance (MSF) by Sreemol Susan Skaria entitled, “Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance Factors on Financial Performance in Indian Firms”, submitted in April 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Abdelaziz Chazi. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Approval Signatures, Completion Certificate, and AUS Archives Consent Form).Over the past decade, environmental, social, and governance principles have become central to corporate strategy amid the rising demand for transparency. In India, Environmental, Social, and Governance adoption is still emerging, and its financial implications remain underexplored. This study investigates how Environmental, Social, and Governance performance influences the financial outcomes of listed Indian listed firms and assesses its impact on shareholder value. Panel data from firms listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange from 2019 to 2024 were analysed. Financial performance was measured using Return on Assets, Return on Equity and Tobin’s Q. Environmental, Social, and Governance scores and firm-level data were sourced from London Stock Exchange Group. This study uses panel regression models that account for differences between firms and sectors and includes past in dependent variables to deal with potential biases. The dynamic relationship was evaluated using the Generalized Method of Moments. The findings indicate that Environmental, Social, and Governance performance has no significant overall effect on Return on Assets, Return on Equity and Tobin’s Q, although sector-specific differences were observed. The result suggests that Return on Assets, Return on Equity investments may not yield short-term financial gains and may face delayed market recognition. The results support shareholder theory by indicating that Environmental, Social, and Governance initiatives offer only small short-term financial gains, while the effects in different sectors align with the stakeholder theory. This study emphasizes the need for further research on long-term Environmental, Social, and Governance outcomes and qualitative influences on corporate sustainability strategies.School of Business AdministrationDepartment of FinanceMaster of Science in Finance (MSF

Optimizing the Performance of a Microwave Tomography System for Biomedical Applications

A Master of Science thesis in Electrical Engineering by Zainab Abuowda entitled, “Optimizing the Performance of a Microwave Tomography System for Biomedical Applications”, submitted in April 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Amer Zakaria and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Nasser Qaddoumi. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).College of EngineeringDepartment of Electrical EngineeringMaster of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE

Crisis Management and Crisis Communication in the Digital Age: The Impact of Social Media

A Master of Business Administration (MBA) by Agnel Rose Thomas entitled, “Crisis Management and Crisis Communication in the Digital Age: The Impact of Social Media”, submitted in May 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. John Katsos. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Approval Signatures, Completion Certificate, and AUS Archives Consent Form).Social media has transformed crisis management and communication by enabling organizations to engage with consumers and address crises in real time. However, the rapid spread of information on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X (previously known as Twitter) presents significant challenges, including the spread of misinformation and difficulties in maintaining narrative control. This study investigates United Arab Emirates consumers’ perceptions of organizational crisis response strategies using a hypothetical crisis scenario. Using a quantitative methodology, the research adopts the "corporate response continuum" model to analyze consumer perceptions of 4 types of corporate responses to crises. Data was collected through an online survey. The study aims to provide insights into effective crisis communication approaches, emphasizing the importance of transparency, accountability, and timely engagement in maintaining organizational reputation and consumer trust. The study involved 50 participants. The key findings present that morality violation emerged as the strongest predictor of consumer outcomes. Higher perceived morality violations were significantly associated with lower purchase intention and increased likelihood of secondary crisis communication on social media. Although crisis response type did not significantly affect outcomes, descriptive trends suggested that the “Super Effort” response strategy may reduce perceived immorality and slightly improve purchase intention. Informational social influence was notably high among participants, while normative influence was lower. Correlation analyses showed that participants who favored rapid crisis communication were more supportive of using social media for response. Overall, the findings highlight the central role of ethical perceptions and peer influence in shaping consumer reactions during crises and emphasize the importance of transparent, responsible, and socially aware communication strategies.School of Business AdministrationDepartment of Management, Strategy and EntrepreneurshipMaster of Business Administration (MBA

Adaptive Hybrid Sensor Fusion for Enhanced Outdoor Vehicle Localization in Complex Environments

A Master of Science thesis in Mechatronics Engineering by Mohammad Khaled Abdelazim Rashwan entitled, “Adaptive Hybrid Sensor Fusion for Enhanced Outdoor Vehicle Localization in Complex Environments”, submitted in April 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Mamoun Abdel-Hafez and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Mohammad Jaradat. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).College of EngineeringMultidisciplinary ProgramsMaster of Science in Mechatronics Engineering (MSMTR

Electric Grid Resilience Enhancement During Natural Disasters: An Optimization-Based UAV Inspection and Dynamic Crew Dispatch Model

A Master of Science thesis in Electrical Engineering by Yousef Serag entitled, “Electric Grid Resilience Enhancement During Natural Disasters: An Optimization-Based UAV Inspection and Dynamic Crew Dispatch Model”, submitted in April 2025. Thesis advisor is Dr. Mostafa Shaaban and thesis co-advisor is Dr. Mahmoud Ibrahim. Soft copy is available (Thesis, Completion Certificate, Approval Signatures, and AUS Archives Consent Form).Natural disasters pose significant challenges to power grid resilience, often resulting in prolonged outages and substantial economic losses due to inefficient restoration processes. Traditional methods primarily focus on optimizing repair crew (RC) sequences while neglecting the critical inspection phase, leading to delayed fault detection and increased costs of interruption . This thesis introduces a holistic, UAV-assisted framework that integrates unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspections, dynamic RC dispatch, and strategic charger placement to address these shortcomings. The approach leverages probabilistic failure analysis to prioritize high-risk lines, optimizes UAV inspection sequences with battery-aware path planning, and dynamically coordinates repair efforts to minimize COI. The framework’s efficacy is evaluated using three distinct methods: Optimization based Approach, (GA), and Deep Learning (DL). OPTIMIZATION BASED APPROACH provides high accuracy in simplified scenarios but lacks scalability for real-time applications. GA offers a balanced trade-off between accuracy and computational efficiency, while DL delivers rapid, scalable solutions with acceptable accuracy, making it ideal for urgent disaster response. Tested on a 33-bus system, the framework achieves a 56.34% reduction in COI compared to conventional strategies, demonstrating its superiority in reducing downtime and enhancing resilience. The novelty of this work lies in its comprehensive integration of inspection and repair processes, utilizing advanced technologies for real-time adaptability. By addressing the overlooked inspection phase and optimizing resource allocation, this thesis presents a scalable, data-driven solution that significantly advances post-disaster grid restoration, offering a practical approach to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of power outages in large-scale disaster scenarios.College of EngineeringDepartment of Electrical EngineeringMaster of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE