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Partnering with Japan to Study the Depths of the Red Sea
by KAUST
TRAINING THE KINGDOM’S NEXT GENERATION OF ENTREPRENEURS
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KAUST hosts the world’s first online Arabic MOOC on entrepreneurship
TONY CHAN President of KAUST
THE CONDITIONS FOR STARTUPS IN SAUDI ARABIA ARE INCREDIBLY FAVORABLE AND THERE IS HUGE DEMAND FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION IN THE KINGDOM. WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT THIS COURSE WILL HELP FLOOD THE MARKET WITH NEW IDEAS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVENTURES.
Between July and October 2021, KAUST ran its rst Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), titled Entrepreneurship Adventures and hosted on the global education platform edX.org. The program was a breakthrough in online learning and is the only entrepreneurship course delivered in Arabic on the platform.
The program received wide acclaim, with 17,000 learners completing the virtual 10-week course. The MOOC generated a signi cant amount of early interest after the news of its launch was shared during a virtual event called “Who Will You Be?”, featuring inspirational youth stories and several industry experts, including Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco; Lubna Olayan, Chair of Saudi British Bank and Deputy Chair of Olayan Financing Company; Kathy Pugh, Vice President of Content Strategy and Partner Success at edX; and Andrew Liveris, Former Chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical Company. Within days, more than 71,000 learners – of which 81% were from Saudi Arabia – had registered, highlighting the popularity of entrepreneurship among the young local population.
KAUST’s award-winning Entrepreneurship Center developed the course over a three-year period with the aim of equipping participants with the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, guiding students through the startup lifecycle and navigating the real-world scenarios entrepreneurs face when starting a business.
In addition to KAUST lecturers, the masterclass featured a line-up of high-pro le entrepreneurs, angel investors and venture capitalists who brought rst-hand knowledge and expertise to the learning process. Experts included Mohammed Aldossary, an entrepreneur behind the rapid growth of the Dubai-based ride-hailing app Careem; Amal Dokhan, a partner at 500 Startups; Faris AlRashed, Founder and Chairman of Derayah Ventures; and Maan Eshgi, a partner at VentureSouq.
According to a post-course survey, 74% of participants felt the program had given them the con dence to join a startup team, and 60% of respondents expressed a desire to pursue entrepreneurship in the future. When the course concluded, 136 startup ideas were submitted, including solutions for parking, farming, therapies and queue management. Building on this initial success, the second Entrepreneurship Adventures MOOC started in January 2022.
Offered for free and open to aspiring founders and anyone interested in turning their business ideas into reality, the Entrepreneurship Adventures course broke down traditional barriers to learning – namely, language, accessibility and cost. It is yet another example of KAUST’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs and driving economic impact through talent development in the Kingdom.
edX
REUSING SAUDI ARABIA’S PRECIOUS WATER RESOURCES
KAUST professor partners with MODON for a new sustainable wastewater treatment process
KAUST Professor Peiying Hong has developed a new innovative wastewater treatment method that uses less energy and renders water safe to use for agriculture. The technology is currently being piloted with industry partner MODON (Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones) in Jeddah.
Water reuse is one of the objectives of Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia’s climate is extreme, and requires it to maximize and reuse its most precious resource – water. That includes wastewater. Increasing the use of treated wastewater reduces the need for desalinated water, which is costly to produce and very energyintensive, leading to higher CO2 emissions. Future urban environments around the world will need to be more sustainable and recycle water more ef ciently to cope with a warmer climate and the water stress caused by growing populations. At present, most of Saudi Arabia’s treated wastewater is cleaned using an aerobic process. Oxygen is added to waste, which breaks down organic matter. Chlorine is then added to disinfect the waste. However, a major issue with aerobic treatment is that it is energy-intensive, and chlorine-treated water cannot be used for agricultural needs. Professor Hong’s new method uses an anaerobic process, employing anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology that uses microorganisms to convert organic carbon into methane. Water is then ltered and disinfected using UV light and hydrogen peroxide. The output is clean water suitable for growing crops.
Earlier this year, Hong partnered with MODON to turn a prototype of the new technology into a pilot program for anaerobic wastewater treatment, which is currently operational at MODON’s site in Jeddah. The pilot plant will treat 23,000 liters of wastewater per day. The biomass produced by the system can also be used as agricultural fertilizer. The new system has a smaller site footprint than existing processing plants and is decentralized, which minimizes energy costs related to distribution and transport. The technology has the potential to be deployed as a commercially viable and innovative decentralized wastewater treatment system. By one estimate, AnMBR could produce about 15% of the country’s agricultural water needs. The technology could also be exported to other countries when it is proven.
AnMBR is an example of a practical technology developed by KAUST, and the university’s ability to partner with major industrial players to implement technology at scale so it can be calibrated in real-world conditions.
MODON
KEVIN CULLEN Vice President for Innovation
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KAUST AND MODON IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF HOW UNIVERSITIES AND INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS CAN WORK TOGETHER TO SOLVE CHALLENGES AND IMPROVE EXISTING PROCESSES AND TECHNOLOGY.
