May 10 2010
As King Abdullah inaugurates a package of development projects worth SR14.039 billion (approx. $3.7 billion) at King Saud University (KSU) today, King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology, affiliated with KSU, announced that it has registered two nanotechnology patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The two products are the initial seeds in developing nanotechnology research in the Kingdom, especially in the water studies.
Abdullah Al-Othman, President of KSU, said the Kingdom has of late enlarged its scope of technology research and economic strategy to focus on a knowledge-based economy.
He said that the Riyadh Techno Valley of KSU, a substantial science park, has been established to satisfy the demands of the knowledge-based industries, and to commercialize its research outcomes, building the gateway for spin-off knowledge-based companies.
Department of Anatomy of the College of Medicine at KSU has been granted research funds by a medical research program funded by the European Union to continue its scholarly work on using nanotechnology to develop stem cells, said head researcher Mustafa Qassim.
The research proposal Advanced Functional Nanomaterials for Programming Stem Cells has won five million euros in research funds.
Regardless of the euro amount, the research fund has proved the scientific strides at KSU, said Abdullah Al-Dahmash, assistant researcher.
The projects to be inaugurated by King Abdullah include a university city for female students in Deraya worth SR7.5 billion to accommodate 30,000 students within three years, completion of the medical city at SR1.8 billion, teaching staff housing complex at SR2.1 billion, faculty buildings at men’s campus at SR1.1 billion, the National Center for Diabetes Research at SR150 million, the administration building for SR150 million, phase one of KSU endowments for SR1.15 billion, and Riyadh Technology Valley including electronics education center at SR89 million.