Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Higher Education, Khaled bin Mohammad Al-Anqari, visited KAIST on October 26 to sign a joint agreement. The Minister was accompanied by Presidents of some of the most prestigious universities in the Middle East, including President Abdullah bin Abdularhman Al-Othman (King Saud University), President Osama bin Sadiq Tayeb (King Abdulaziz University), and President Khalid bin Salih Al-Sultan (King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals).

Through the signing of this agreement, King Saud University and King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals will collaborate with KAIST through joint research projects, mutual exchange of research professors and academic programs, and joint seminars. In particular, King Saud University and KAIST agreed on promoting joint research projects dealing with topics on “Solar-Ocean Thermal Exchange Desalination,” “Developing New Energy Management Service for Residential and Commercial Customers Using Smart Metering and Sensor Network Information” and “Superior Production of Lactic Acid from Saudi Dates Using Bioprocess Technology.” These projects will be funded by the Saudi government, but the scale of the projects is yet to be determined.

“I hope KAIST will continue to lead diverse interactions like this joint program with universities in the Middle East,” stated Professor Jong Hyung Kim, a visiting professor of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST. In addition to overseeing the KAIST-KUSTAR nuclear joint collaboration, Professor Kim will be conducting the “Smart Metering and Sensor Network Technology” project with the Electrical Engineering Department at King Saud University.

Minister Khaled bin Mohammad Al-Anqari showed keen interest towards KAIST’s innovative research and high-technology development and expressed his will to expand such mutual exchange between institutions in the Middle East and Korea.

The KAIST-KUSTAR collaboration, in addition to the first Joint Robotics Workshop, is a prime example of previous cooperation between KAIST and the Middle East.

Copyright © The KAIST Herald Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution prohibited