The Seed Fund is delighted to announce the winners of the 2012 Fall Round – in this round, 35 applications were submitted and went through a comprehensive selection process. In the end, four teams were selected as winners. The successful teams include one faculty member, two graduate students, four researchers, one postdoc, and two staff members. The winning teams will be provided advisory support and capital funding for up to two years. The four winning projects and their team members are:
- Hybrid Osmosis Process for Water Desalination and Reuse
Membrane-based technology to recover fresh potable water from wastewater effluents and seawater with a 50% less energy consumption
Team: Gary Amy, Lijo Francis, Rodrigo Valladares, Muhannad Abu-Ghdaib, Zhenyu Li - Multi Stage Membrane Distillation Desalination Unit
A multistage membrane distillation unit for water desalination with low cost, scalable, and environmental friendly solution
Team: Ahmad Alsaadi, Lijo Francis, Noreddine Ghaffour - Manufacturing of Nanoparticles Using Flames
A commercial prototype to produce several kgs of nanoparticles and a detailed roadmap for developing a viable production facility
Team: Nasir Memon, Majed Al Refae, Amir Memon - Makkah Window
A mobile app using Augmented Reality and 360 degree panoramas, providing interactive contents for historical sites and museums in Makkah.
Team: Peter Rautek, Abdulwahid Al-Zaydi, Mohammed Al-Zaydi
We thank all the applicants who applied and also look forward to seeing the above teams develop products and go to market soon.
The Seed Fund is a product development funding mechanism that can help move promising ideas further toward commercialization, and ultimately lead to the formation of a new business. We continue to work with our scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs and encourage all to apply for future seed funding. The next round will be open in February 2013. For more information visit the Seed Fund website or email: seedfund@kaust.edu.sa.
