KSU adds another milestone to its achievements

The Riyadh-based King Saud University (KSU) has added another milestone to its logbook of achievements by winning 19 prestigious medals and prizes in the “International Exhibition of Inventions in Switzerland.” The KSU bagged several gold medals for its innovations at the Geneva exhibition, an internationally acclaimed event for scientists and inventors, organized by the Swiss federal government and the World Intellectual Property Organization. “The KSU pavilion in the exhibition generated great interests and enthusiasm among visitors in Geneva,” said Abdullah A. Al-Othman, KSU rector, yesterday in Riyadh. The KSU pavilion attracted huge crowds and won several laurels, despite the fact that this international exhibition was featuring more than 1,000 inventions from 45 different countries, he noted. The total number of exhibitors exceeded 750 at the expo, which was visited by hundreds of thousands of people. The event concluded late last month. “The laurels won by the KSU are indicative of high research standards and academic performance,” said Al-Othman while referring to new research initiatives launched by the Ministry of Higher Education and by the university recently. A number of research institutions, including King Abdullah Research and Consulting Institute, King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, Deanship of Scientific Education, Center of Excellence for Science and Biotech Center besides several research chairs, are part of the new initiatives. Referring to the participation of other Saudi organizations in the Geneva innovation exhibition, a KSU statement said that King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals were other major organizations that participated in the Geneva event. On the exceptional performance of the KSU, the statement said that an international jury consisting of 82 specialists judged each invention and selected the winners. The KSU was represented in the exhibition by its Innovation Center, which exhibited 19 inventions. These included eight inventions by students and four inventions by the women sections. Saudi Consul General in Geneva Nabil Mohammed Al-Saleh visited the KSU stand to watch and congratulate the inventors. During an honoring ceremony hosted by the Geneva exhibition’s administration, the KSU received its ample share of awards. Three KSU participants received greetings and congratulations from the jury. They are Amani S. Awaad from the College of Science, Khalid Al-Hezaimi from the College of Dentistry, and Mohamed E. Zain from the College of Science. The KSU, in fact, received eleven gold medals. The gold medal recipients include Abdulrahman A. Al-Rabiah, Abdulrahman M. Al-Hozaimy, Mohammad Iqbal Khan, and Mohammad El-Sayed Ali of KSU College of Engineering; Amani K. Awaad and Mohamed E. Zain of the College of Science; Khalid Al-Hezaimi of the College of Dentistry; and Saad Al-Mohizea of the College of Medicine. Abdulaziz bin Saeed of the College of Medicine, Rifaat Al-Sheikhy of the College of Engineering, and Wafa Al-Zawad of the College of Business Administration also bagged gold medals for their exhibits. Fours silver medals were won by Ahmed Al-Khazim of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Mohammed Taher Bukhary of the College of Dentistry, and Sofien Gannouni and students Motazz Breika and Abdo Jamai of the College of Computer and Information Sciences. Nassim Ammour of the College of Computer and Information Sciences, Ebtesam Al-Olayan of the College of Science, Muhammad Abulaish of the Center of Excellence in Information Assurance (COEIA), and student Sultan Turkistani of the College of Computer and Information Sciences won the bronze medals. The selection of the exhibits was made on the basis of a competition announced by the KSU Innovation Center earlier. The participating projects of the KSU faculty and students had never taken part in any international competition before. Innovation Center officials gave the priority to deserving student inventions including four inventions coming from the female section. In a statement, Naif Al-Ajlan of the Innovation Center thanked the KSU leadership, in particular Al-Othman and Vice Rector Ali Al-Ghamdi, for their efforts to promote KSU’s potentials and innovations. He said this victory of KSU would go a long way in spreading the culture of innovation in Saudi Arabia. The move is also in line with KSU’s drive to turn the Saudi economy into a knowledge-based economy. The Innovation Center in KSU was established in 2008. Its main mission is to transform innovative ideas into products with an economic value. The Innovation Center acts as a conduit between students with bright ideas, companies and faculty. It also provides scientific assistance and resources.