MORE than 150 university students from across the Jeddah area in the Western Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have participated in a three-day innovation challenge, and come up with solutions to address major real world challenges that impact KSA and the broader Middle East region under the themes of Living Spaces, A Better World and Energy.
The three-day ideation event held last Jan.19- 21, was led by the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center in coordination with leaders and subject matter experts from The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) in the Middle East and Europe. The students came from King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST), King Abdul-Aziz University, the University of Business and Technology (UBT), University of Jeddah, Effat University, Umm Al-Qura University and Dar AL-Hekma University.
The students selected for the STEAM Challenge have background in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM). With between four to six members on each team, a total of 30 teams were formed with students from different universities and with different majors so they could benefit from the diversity of background and perspectives.
At the end of the event, teams presented to three different panels of judges and a winning team was selected in each theme. Then the three teams made a final presentation to a new panel of judges and they picked the final winner. The teams were judged on how well that they understood and explained the problem that they were trying to solve, articulated the solution to solve some or all of the problem; and explained what is needed in terms of the execution of their idea in the real world.
The winning team came up with a comprehensive and innovative proposal to improve energy efficiency in the KSA utilizing state of the art technologies by Dow, coupled with relevant incentives and education to the public. A key feature is a digital platform that connects the government, property owners, construction companies and insulation manufacturers to promote insulation of residential homes. The first runners up developed a solution to improve and increase shelf life and maintain quality of fish and fish packaging. The second runners up presented a proposal on how to improve energy efficiency at homes in KSA.
Chuck Swartz, president of Dow Saudi Arabia, said: “The themes of the STEAM challenges are designed to align closely to Saudi Vision 2030, Dow’s 2025 sustainability goals, and the strategic objectives of Dow in Saudi Arabia. We are truly impressed with the passion and creativity of the students as well as the solutions proposed by them. I want to thank the students for their dedication and participation and the KAUST and Dow teams for their outstanding effort in putting the event together.”
“I was particularly pleased to see the high level of energy and enthusiasm from the participating students. This, coupled with the excellent and strong support and engagement from Dow, one of KAUST’s founding strategic partners, proved to be an extremely effective way to tap into the imagination and creativity of this diverse group ” said Tristan Walker, vice president for KAUST Innovation & Economic Development. “The STEAM Innovation Challenge provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to work in interdisciplinary teams alongside students from a number of partnering Saudi Universities, to develop and present well-defined solutions to major real world challenges. This event provides a flavor of what can be achieved from successful and innovative university and industry partnerships.”
Said Margherita Fontana, global marketing director, Dow Building & Construction, said: “The STEAM Innovation Challenge has been a great event providing a fresh perspective on how Dow businesses can approach and implement Innovation in the Kingdom. I’m overwhelmed by the number of great ideas brought forward to generate demand for energy efficient homes in Saudi Arabia. We look forward to supporting those ideas to the next level of implementation.”
Dow has a strong history of partnering with KAUST. In June 2009, Dow became a founding member of KAUST’s Industrial Collaboration Program. In June 2011, Dow established an R&D Center in the Innovation Cluster at KAUST, focusing on ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) technology for water treatment, oil and gas technologies, as well as infrastructure materials such as coatings. A new, dedicated Dow Innovation Center is currently under construction at KAUST and is expected to be in operation in 2018.
Wiltrud Treffenfeldt, chief technology officer for Dow Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, said: “It’s a pleasure to see how eager the students are to develop sustainable solutions for energy efficiency in buildings, water supply and renewable energy to contribute to a better future of KSA and the region. The STEAM Challenge is a unique event that has strengthened the excellent partnership between KAUST and Dow for the benefit of the entire country and will have a lasting impact.” — SG
