JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz University won seventeen awards and medals for its innovations at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions.
The twenty-six Saudi universities that entered — 19 public, two independent, and 5 private institutions — displayed 113 inventions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s pavilion, with applications in different scientific, theoretical, medical and other fields.
Spokesperson and Director of the KAU Media Center Mosab bin Faleh Al-Harbi said that the competition boosts the importance of scientific research and innovation in academia, according to Arab News.
He underlined the university’s commitment to fostering innovation and research among students, stating that the university’s contributions came from the colleges of computer science, medicine, information technology, and engineering.
Among the awards won by KAU were the Malaysian Organization for Research Scientists Prize for a continuous monitoring invention and the National Research Society of Thailand Prize for a date classification application.
Jeddah University also participated in the exhibition, winning two bronze awards. These were for a tool for detecting and preventing distributed denial of service attacks (malicious attacks on a network or server) and a computer-vision-based smart building health inspection system.
Qassim University claimed a silver medal for its system for desalinating water using halophytic plants, developed by a research team from the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences. The university also won a bronze medal for a project to use date palm waste in the production of pharmaceutical excipients in nano-sized tablets, presented by another research team.
Jazan University claimed 2 gold medals. Asim Najmi from the College of Pharmacy won a medal for his work on derivatives of benzylidene 4, and 2 thiazolidinones, and their use in diabetes treatment. Mohammed Mashiki from the College of Dentistry, meanwhile, received gold medal for his modification of a dental crown used in endodontic retreatment.
Mohammed Abu Rasin, the university’s acting president, said these achievements showed the institution’s dedication to fostering innovation and promoting a culture of invention through consistent support for inventors.
Geneva Exhibition
The Geneva Exhibition is a major international event, drawing researchers, inventors, and innovators from around the world. It was held from April 17 to 21 and attracted over one thousand innovations from over 50 countries.
