Essay: Impact of KAUST on Saudi Arabia - ECO514 Homework 4

This essay, written by Magda Ageel for ECO514 Homework 4 in 2019, investigates the direct local impact of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) on Saudi Arabia, focusing on the university's objectives related to food, environment, and energy. The essay analyzes KAUST's contributions to improving food quality and hygiene, enhancing the environment through waste management and environmental outlook, and developing new energy sources, including wind energy. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are established for each objective, and the essay concludes that KAUST has significantly impacted Saudi Arabia across these key areas. The essay also includes bonus exercises, discussing the author's preference for time travel and favorite place in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah, highlighting its cultural and geographical significance. References to supporting research are provided. The essay showcases how KAUST is driving advancements and contributing to the nation's progress.

Impact of KAUST on Saudi
Arabia
Essay By: Magda Ageel
ECO514: Homework 4
2019

Introduction:
KAUST refers to King Abdullah University of Science and Technology located in Thuwal Saudi Arabia.
It is a private University that was established in 2009 to serve as a research institution with English as the
primary language of communication. According to the university has core laboratories, where research
teams receive training and services to propel their research objectives. KAUST aims to be one of the
leading universities in scientific, technological education and research.1This essay will discuss the local
and direct impact of KAUST in Saudi Arabia according to specific goals, which are related to water,
food, environment, and energy. However, since you talked about water in “your assignment” I will
complete and analyze the rest of the objectives.
The mission and vision of KAUST are to enhance the welfare of Saudi Arabia by focusing on
specific objectives:
Food
Objective A: To improve the quality of food in a Saudi household. The aim is a direct local impact as it
affects the quality of the food in Saudi Arabia because the quality of food is a crucial determinant of the
health status of the society.
Objective B: Conduct research on the hygiene of the sources of food in Saudi Arabia. The aim is a direct
local impact as it tries to verify the sanitary conditions of the causes of food.
Fleetwood (2019) infers that if the food is processed, the sanitary conditions of the industry should be
examined and on the other hand, if the food is natural, assess the sanitary conditions of the growing
environment of the food.2
1 KAUST Vision - https://kaust.edu.sa/en/about
2 Fleetwood, J., Rahman, S., Holland, D., Millson, D., Thomson, L., & Poppy, G. As clean as they look?
Food hygiene inspection scores, microbiological contamination, and foodborne illness Food Control,
2019.

Environment
Objective A: Improve the outlook of the environment in Saudi Arabia. The objective has a direct local
impact on the climate of Saudi Arabia. According to Song (2016), the aim aims to equip the environment
with enough trees and reduce the number of contaminants to create a conducive environment.3
Objective B: Conduct research on new methods of disposing of non-biodegradable waste. The objective
has a direct local impact on the environment of Saudi Arabia
This objective aims to recycle non-biodegradable waste to useful products that can promote the economy
of the nation. Thus, plastics and polythene bags can be re-processed to valuable products and in the long
run prevent pollution of the environment.
3. Energy
Objective A: To provide new ways of generating electricity in Saudi Arabia. The objective has a direct
local impact on the energy sector of Saudi Arabia. This objective aims to devise new ways of harnessing
energy to substitute the existing methods. Additionally, new plans should be designed to exploit natural
resources to the maximum and also secure the nation against depletion of the existing resources.
Objective B: To conduct research on how to harness the clean solar energy in Saudi Arabia. The
objective has a direct local impact on the energy sector of Saudi Arabia. The objective aims to produce
power energy through the windscreen to reduce the reliance on the electric plants which are affected when
there is an inadequate amount of water. Thus, wind plant is a better source of power energy.4
Key Performance Indicators:
3 Song, Q., Li, J., Liu, L., Dong, Q., Yang, J., Liang, Y., & Zhang, C. Measuring the generation and management
status of waste office equipment in China: a case study of waste printers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2016.
4 Sivaram, V. The Dark Side of Solar: How the growing solar industry empowers political interests that could
impede a clean energy transition, 2018.

Both part 3 and part 4 are combined in this section, it shows the KPI’s and the required data for each one
to be computed.
Food:
Objective A: Oil polarity. That is the change in oil polarity of food. According to Li (2016), oil polarity
is bound to change due to the presence of contaminants. If contaminants are present, the frying oil can go
rancid. Thus, the change in rancidity of the oil shows the extent of the quality of the food, which is
required to be measured. 5
Objective B: Assess food handling. The food handling assessment is used to assess the sanitary
precautions of the food handlers because food can be contaminated during processing, storage, and
distribution. The data required can be received from cities municipalities reports in the Kingdom related
to food handling. They usually use sampling methods, where they visit locations, where food is handled
to take samples and check health conditions of those who handle the food.
Environment:
Objective A: Assess critical parameters. The outlook of the environment should be free of contaminants;
it should have enough number of trees to support the biodiversity, free of pollutants such as litter,
stagnant water and noise. Thus, if an environment has enough amount of the critical parameters, it means
the situation has improved its outlook. It is calculated as new outlook-previous outlook.
Objective B: Reduce non-biodegradable waste. Non-biodegradable wastes are nasty pollutants because
they cannot decompose. Thus, KAUST has obliged to devise effective ways of recycling non-
biodegradable waste to prevent more pollution in the environment. It is calculated as the proportion of the
number of means of recovering the trash to the amount of waste.
5 Li, J., Cai, W., Sun, D., & Liu, Y. A quick method for determining total polar compounds of frying oils using
electric conductivity. Food analytical methods, 2016.

Energy:
Objective A: Device new methods. New methods of generating electricity and fuel energy should be
devised to act as supplements of the existing sources. It is calculated as the final – initial. An affirmative
answer indicates that KAUST is committed to generating new ways of obtaining energy in Saudi Arabia.
Objective B: Number of wind plants. According to Ramli (2016), new wind plants should be developed
to harness wind energy to supplement the hydro-electric power.6 Thus, the more the number of wind
plants, the higher the commitment of KAUST to harness wind energy. It is computed according to the
amount of wind energy available.
Conclusion
The above objectives show the commitment of KAUST in impacting the nation of Saudi Arabia. The
environment, food, and environment are affected following the laid down goals of the main parameters.
Food is broken down into quality and hygiene. On the other hand, environment is simplified into outlook
improvement, non-biodegradable waste and recycling of the waste materials whereas energy is broken
into new sources of energy. Generally, KAUST has affected Saudi Arabia in significant ways.
6 Ramli, M. A., Hiendro, A., & Al-Turki, Y. A. Techno-economic energy analysis of wind/solar hybrid
system: a Case study for the western coastal area of Saudi Arabia. Renewable energy, 2016.

Bonus Questions Answers:
Bonus Exercise 1
I’d rather travel to the past because the future is unpredictable, and it is not fixed. The past will never
change and will remain a source for humans to learn and reflect on their future.
I recently read a book about a place called “Iram of Pillars” as mentioned in The Holy book Quran. Some
books mentioned that it is also known as Atlantis of The Sand
I would like to travel to the past to at least 6000 B. C. because this place is idealized as an advanced
society, where we can learn a lot from, yet it had wisdom that could bring world peace. What surprised
me is that different sources that discuss this place mentioned that people who lived there had so many
advanced technologies and inventions, which were ahead of their times! The debates are still going on.
Therefore, I want to go there, I believe in 1 hour I will be able to observe and document everything I see,
to help contribute to solving many mysteries related to this place.
The Book is in Arabic, but this is the translated name: Revealing the mysteries of The Kingdom of
Atlantis by Osama Hamed Murai
Bonus Exercise 2
My favorite place in Saudi Arabia is Jeddah, for so many reasons, which I will state below:
 It is where I was born and raised.
 I am more active at night and this city is live 24/7.
 It is located on the red sea, and it has a lot of beautiful corniche locations and great reassorts
 It has a very diverse culture
 It has the country’s most important Red Sea port
 It has King Fahad Fountain, which is known as the tallest fountain in the whole world
 There are so many things to do and see in this city (activities, communities, … etc.)
 Finally, and the best thing about Jeddah is that it is the closest city to KAEC 😉

References:
 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: https://kaust.edu.sa/en/about/vision
 Fleetwood, J., Rahman, S., Holland, D., Millson, D., Thomson, L., & Poppy, G. As clean as they
look? Food hygiene inspection scores, microbiological contamination, and foodborne illness. Food
Control, 2019.
 Li, J., Cai, W., Sun, D., & Liu, Y. A quick method for determining total polar compounds of frying
oils using electric conductivity. Food analytical methods, 2016.
 Ramli, M. A., Hiendro, A., & Al-Turki, Y. A. Techno-economic energy analysis of wind/solar hybrid
system: a Case study for the western coastal area of Saudi Arabia. Renewable energy, 2016.
 Sivaram, V. The Dark Side of Solar: How the growing solar industry empowers political interests that
could impede a clean energy transition, 2018.
 Song, Q., Li, J., Liu, L., Dong, Q., Yang, J., Liang, Y., & Zhang, C. Measuring the generation and
management status of waste office equipment in China: a case study of waste printers. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 2016.