A passion for fencing took Gamal Amin all the way to the Beijing Olympics, where he represented Egypt in the saber competition.

Now his love of the sport could thrust Amin – who is studying for an MS in electrical engineering at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) – into the world of business.

He is developing an economical wireless scoring system that could be used by fencing clubs in the three disciplines – saber, foil and épée. To help him on his way he is receiving funding from the KAUST Seed Fund Program. He is one of eight applicants awarded a total of almost $1 million in the first round of this Economic Development Department initiative.

Fencers using a conventional electronic scoring system wear metallic clothing that covers the target area on the body and is connected to an electric scoring machine by a bulky cable on a reel. The weapons are also connected to the scoring machine through the cables, and when a competitor scores a hit an electric circuit is completed and a light flashes and a buzzer sounds.

A common problem, however, is that the cables can restrict the fencers' movements – and this is where Amin's project comes in. He plans to replace the cable with a wireless link, allowing the unencumbered competitors to move freely and train more effectively.

Such systems already exist for competition use, but Amin's economical design would bring the technology within the price range of fencing clubs for the first time.

"I would like to see my scoring system in most of the fencing clubs around the world," he said. "My system has a transmitter unit attached to each fencer and when a valid hit is detected a signal is sent to a receiver connected to the normal scoring board, which indicates the hit.

"It has the advantage of using wireless connections to give the fencers the freedom to play without being bound by wires. Also, it reduces the cost and hassle of using the wired system, which is inefficient and expensive to maintain."

Amin's love of the sport runs in his family.

"My uncle was a fencer who became a coach and he made me realize how good fencing is. It is a sport where you use your mind and have plans and strategies like in chess. In addition it involves physical exercise, so it is a sport that works out both the mind and the body.

"I have competed since I learned to fence 16 years ago. I joined the Egyptian national team in 2001 and participated in many local and international championships. I was ranked number one in Egypt, I was 49th in the world in 2008 and I represented my country at the Olympics in Beijing.

"I always had the dilemma of whether to follow an academic career or become a professional in sport. I had a problem deciding because I liked both and I was good at both. I was among the top graduates in my university and became an Olympic athlete.

"Because of this I tried to apply my academic knowledge to sport and I saw this project as a way to merge the two things that I love in life – science and sport.

"Before joining KAUST I started to build a wired scoring machine of the type that is common in the market to test my capabilities, and I managed to produce a prototype that would cost half the price of existing systems.

"That gave me the guts to apply to the Seed Fund Program for help in building, on a reasonable budget, a club-level wireless scoring machine. This would solve the problems of the wired version and at the same time solve the problem of price that pushes existing wireless systems beyond the budgets of fencing clubs."

Though Amin, from Cairo, competed in the Olympics he does not envisage his system being used in the Games or at other top-level events.

"The market I am targeting is the training market. It is a bigger market and has a need for such a system, unlike the tournament market which already has a solution to this need. I believe my product satisfies a current need in the fencing training market so I believe I will achieve large sales. I hope to attract business partners and investors to my project.

"I aim to complete a prototype in nine months and hope to take my product to the market after a further year. Fencing is widespread in Europe and the US. Interest is moderate in Asia but the sport is booming in North Africa and the Gulf region."

Amin is sharing his enthusiasm for fencing with fellow students at KAUST.

"I started a self-directed group in February to teach fencing in the university and I now have around 15 students that I teach. I have applied for funding to purchase fencing equipment for our club and am working now to register it with the Saudi federation so we can compete in the Kingdom.

"My target is to represent KAUST at the World University Games in the summer of 2011 at Shenzhen, China. It is a really big event, similar to the Olympics but for universities." Amin, 25, has a BS in electrical engineering from the American University in Cairo. He was among the first intake of students to arrive at KAUST last September and is due to receive his MS in December. He is majoring in communication and signal processing.

Science and sport are not the only loves in his life – he recently married and says of wife Dina: "She is a great support to me in all that I do."

Help for Enterprising Innovators

The Seed Fund Program offers finance and support to students, faculty and staff at KAUST who wish to develop their ideas and discoveries into commercial ventures.

The first eight recipients will share a total of $988,000 and receive additional funds from the university to cover administration costs. Gamal Amin was awarded $52,000 plus an additional $54,000 for administration.

"It is a really good program that uses the research that is being done at the university to build real business applications," said Amin. "This is what I believe science should be about – using our knowledge to satisfy people's needs."

Applications are now being accepted for the second round of grants and should be submitted through the KAUST Portal. Inquiries about round two and the program should be sent to seedfund@kaust.edu.sa and further information is available at www.kaust.edu.sa.