KAUST saw eighteen of its SRSI 2015 participants compete in this past week’s IBDA’A National Olympiads and, again, they took top places. Eight KAUST Saudi Research Science Institute (SRSI) alumni won top positions. Students who were successful at IBDA’A are now being considered for places on the team that will go on to compete at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world’s largest international pre-college science competition, to be held in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
Three of the 2015 alumni were also chosen to participate in I-SWEEEP, the International Sustainable World (Energy, Engineering, and Environment) Project, the largest science fair competition of its kind world-wide. Held annually in Houston, Texas, USA, I-SWEEEP promotes engineering inventions and energy efficiency/management discoveries that will nurture environmentally friendly technology concepts.
Congratulations to these dedicated students who not only gave up their summer vacations to immerse themselves in research but continued their work evenings and weekends throughout the academic year in the pursuit of academic excellence and greater experience with research. Special recognition goes to the faculty mentors and their research teams, under whose excellent guidance and mentoring they were inspired to continue on with their work and achieve these outstanding results.
Under the auspices of Saudi Initiatives, SRSI is one of KAUST’s young talent development programs. It was first launched in 2011 with 25 students and has grown to a program of 40-45 students annually, attracting the best and brightest students from across the Kingdom. SRSI is a holistic experience that combines academics with social events, giving students a solid grounding in science and technology with research experience.
Saudi Initiatives looks forward to its 6th institute from July 16 to August 27. The International Admission Committee recently selected this year’s students; a total of 42 students including 24 girls and 18 boys. Admitted students are currently being matched with their faculty mentors and projects.
KAUST is proud of the all the students’ accomplishments and the dedication of all our faculty mentors and their teams.
Below are this year’s SRSI winners
IBDA’A National Olympiads – Female Winners
| Name | Mentor | Place |
| Danah Hussein AlAwami | Samir Hamdan | 2nd |
| Fatimah Abdulmonem Alshaikh | Salim Al-Babili | 3rd |
| Zahraa Hussain Alsaggaf | Klaus-Viktor Peinemann | 3rd |
| Munyrah Fahad Alamro | Aamir Farooq | 4th |
| Sara Adnan Alghamdi | Peiying Hong | 5th |
IBDA’A National Olympiads – Male Winners
| Name | Mentor | Place |
| Mohammed Bader Alhammadi | Aram Amassian | 3rd |
| Mansour Ali AlDabbagh | Husam Alshareef | 3rd |
| Omar Abdulrahman Alhazzaa | William Roberts | 4th |
I-SWEEEP Qualifiers
| Name | Mentor |
| Fatimah Alshaikh | Salim Al-Babili |
| Haifa Alsheikh | Muhammad Hussain |
| Waad Magram | Takashi Gojobori |