ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin and Khalifa University announced they have signed a formal research partnership agreement aimed towards improving Lockheed Martin's LM Wisdom® tool, a customizable Web and social media analytics tool.

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Representatives from the university and Lockheed Martin met at the Abu Dhabi Campus of Khalifa University for a signing ceremony Wednesday, in addition to meeting with the involved faculty and students.

The LM Wisdom® tool monitors and analyzes rapidly changing open source data, such as newspaper feeds and social media content, in near-real time, and distinguishes noise from high value information. It captures cultural context, trends, sentiment and influence, providing deeper situational awareness to customers. The tool is especially beneficial to first responders, security and law enforcement agencies.

"Big data analytics is one of the most important emerging research areas worldwide. We are very excited that our faculty and students will be engaged in this groundbreaking research jointly with an international industrial leader such as Lockheed Martin," said Dr. Mohammed Al-Mualla, senior vice president of research and development at Khalifa University. He added, "This will no doubt enrich the experience of our faculty and students and will make their research of direct relevance to industry and the society. The research fits very well within the Security priority area of our strategic plan, which is closely aligned with the Abu Dhabi 2030 vision."

The agreement will provide Khalifa University with funding over a period of two years, during which time faculty and students will use computer engineering and other relevant techniques to perform comprehensive studies and analysis of the Arabic language and dialects. These analyses will help to build a detailed lexicon from which Lockheed Martin can build a Linguistic Feature Filter for LM Wisdom®.

"We are excited about this partnership, not just for the present but for the potential follow-on work we may be able to continue with Khalifa University," explained Bob Eastman, vice president for Lockheed Martin's Information Systems and Global Solutions. "Our partnership with the university is an investment in not only our future growth, but in helping to build local talent pools with the UAE."

About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion.

About Khalifa University
Khalifa University was established in February 2007 by a decree issued by the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to complement Abu Dhabi's 2030 vision, which aims to build a knowledge-based economy that effectively contributes to the development of the UAE.

Khalifa University's main campus is located in Abu Dhabi, while it operates another campus in Sharjah.  Presently, Khalifa University offers bachelor's degrees in Computer (with optional concentration in Software Systems), Communication, Electrical and Electronic (with optional concentration in Power Systems), Mechanical, Aerospace, Civil, Industrial and Systems, and Biomedical Engineering, Master's degrees in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Information Security and International and Civil Security, in addition to a Doctorate degree program in Engineering with the option to specialize in Mechanical, Aerospace, Nuclear, Biomedical, Electrical & Computer, or Robotics Engineering.

In the future, Khalifa University will also offer degrees in other disciplines of Engineering, Science, Logistics and Management and Medicine and Health Sciences.

Moreover, Khalifa University is establishing research centers in priority research areas such as Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Energy and the Environment, Aerospace, Transport & Logistics, Security, and Health.

Khalifa University is open to men and women from all nationalities with particular emphasis being placed on educating young UAE nationals. For more information, please visit www.kustar.ac.ae

SOURCE Lockheed Martin