King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: A Catalyst for Technology-based Economy

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King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), was founded in the year
2009 as a research-based private University. It is located in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Since its
establishment, this University has continually provided research and graduate programs using
English as the main language. In the history of Saudi Arabia, KAUST has been recorded as the
first mixed-gender University. Performance wise, 2013 statistics listed this university among the
top 500 Universities in the country which were growing at a very high rate. In 2016 again, the
Nature Index Rising Stars ranked it 19 among the world-class rising Universities which were
outputting high-quality research (Alshumaimri et al, 590). As an approach to realize the Saudi
vision 2030: modernizing and diversifying the economy of Saudi Arabia, KAUST has signed a
collaboration agreement with a number of semi-private digital solution companies to facilitate it
in research areas like IoT technology.
The history of this University is traced back in 2006 when the Saudi Aramco sat to draft
the way forward in building and planning academics. The Washington Advisory Group, Frank
Rhodes and Frank Press were given the mandate to design the academic structure, the SRI to
come up with the four research institutes proposed, while the HOK architectural firm was
supposed to produce the campus masterplan which included solar panels and wind towers.
Groundbreaking later took place in 2007, which led to an award of 178 scholarships at the start

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of 2008. The university was later opened in 2009 at an inauguration ceremony led by King
Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Alshumaimri et al, 585).
One of the main objectives of KAUST has been to help Saudi Arabia in realizing a
diversified economy which is technology-based. To some extent, this has been achieved through
its state of the art outdoor and indoor labs as well as it's testing and innovation cluster stations of
strategically connected programs. For instance, KAUST has accelerated its commercialization
technology efforts through the Proof-of-Concept (POC) Funding Program (Alshuwaikhat, Habib,
and Ishak, 408). The program has allowed entrepreneurs, students, partners, and researchers to
initiate more POC projects with an aim of testing and prototyping new technologies and
innovations for commercial markets without necessarily sourcing additional capital to acquire
basic and special lab equipment or finding manufacturing spaces.
Through its projects like the Kilo Lab project, KAUST aims at accelerating
commercialization and that has seen the university commissioned to assist in scaling up fine
chemicals, which includes organic-based products and pharmaceutical active ingredients. Being
the first project of this kind in the region, Kilo Lab has shown its potential in helping industries
to develop products through training and other kinds of technical work. It is expected to be
pivotal in centralizing new technologies in the market and attracting pharmaceutical and
chemical companies to test their innovations (Chae, 422).
Also, the University aims at supporting the early investments in the country through the
new business technology. It has also been transferring technologies to the market through its own
innovation funding programs. The programs are slowly nurturing the nascent capital venture
scene in Saudi Arabia and the surrounding regions.

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Further, KAUST aims at advancing science and technology in Saudi Arabia. To achieve
this objective, the University has embarked on attracting people from Saudi Arabia and around
the world to create impacts which are beyond their individual achievements. It has constantly
encouraged collaboration among researchers, students, scientists and staff members from
different nationalities, cultural backgrounds and disciplines. It has also leveraged on global
partnerships in order to achieve excellence in supporting the country’s aspirations and addressing
its internal challenges.
Finally, KAUST has expressed its aim in addressing national priorities. A good example
is its pursuit in line with Saudi’s Vision 2030 (Gackstatter et al, 295). According to Saudi vision
2030, the country is expected to become a free kingdom from its longtime dependence on oil
exports and establish a sustainable and prosperous economy with future by paying more attention
to the country’s strengths and policies. KAUST’s contribution towards this vision can be
observed from its efforts to realize a diversified technology-based economy in the country.
List of the objectives identified
1. Help Saudi Arabia to realize a diversified technology-based economy (from an official
document)
2. Accelerating commercialization (My own)
3. Supporting the early investments in Saudi Arabia through the new business technology
(from an official document)
4. Advancing science and technology in Saudi Arabia (from an official document)
5. Addressing national priorities ( from an official document)
KAUST Balance Scorecard