KAUST Groundbreaking Ceremony

Mr. Nadhmi A. Al-Nasr

Mr. Nadhmi A. Al-Nasr

Interim President, KAUST
Chairman, KAUST Non-Academic Leadership Search Committee
Member, KAUST Academic Leadership Search Committee


Presented at the KAUST Groundbreaking Ceremony
October 21, 2007 - Thuwal, Saudi Arabia


Your Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,
Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince,
Your Highnesses and Excellencies,
Honorable Guests,

It’s a great pleasure for me to welcome you to Thuwal, this peaceful and promising village on the shores of the Red Sea, where Your Majesty’s aspirations for a bright future of scientific achievement in our country, our region, and the world will become reality.

All of us who have had the good fortune to be involved in this project, including stakeholders and contributors from around the world, are honored by your presence at this special national event. Guided by your wise direction, and working together as one team, we have been able to build this knowledge-based institution to be a beacon of thought for mankind… an institution that uses modern science to allow mankind to apply his knowledge for the benefit and welfare of all.

Today Your Majesty will lay the foundation stone for this University. But more than a simply a part of a building, it is in fact the essence of discourse among civilizations through the language of reason and innovation. The foundation stone you place here today represents a turning point in the history of this Kingdom, placing it in a position of prominence in the area of global scientific research.

This day, and the scientific and developmental significance it carries, is reminiscent of other historic moments in the history of our beloved country, such as that day on which the Kingdom’s founder, your father His Majesty the late King Abd Al-Aziz, launched the first tanker carrying Saudi oil from Ras Tanura terminal to ports around the world 70 years ago. And that day on which the first Saudi petrochemical cargo set sail to the world’s markets. And, not so long ago, when Your Majesty founded economic and industrial sites throughout the Kingdom. One of the largest and most important of these is adjacent to us here in Thuwal, in fact.

When we began planning for the construction of KAUST, guided by the date Your Majesty set for opening the university in September 2009, the prominent scientists, and academicians of the world with whom we have worked were astonished at the timeline. Some of them considered it impossible to implement a fully-developed research university within just three years. We were told that we are establishing an unprecedented benchmark by establishing such a university in less than a generation. But we have full trust first in God, and then in the experience, ability, and enthusiasm of our global team, led and empowered by Your Majesty’s generous support. We are confident that we will meet here again two years from now to celebrate the launching of KAUST and its ambitious slate of activities.

Your Majesty,
Distinguished guests,

The extraordinary vision on which KAUST is based has been reflected in the scope of the project in terms of both its construction and academic elements. The project covers an area of 36 million square meters and includes the construction of four large centers for research in advanced science disciplines. These include water, environmental, bioscience and engineering, and nanotechnology research. These centers constitute the core of the university campus. The project scope includes also the construction of complexes of academic and administrative buildings, advanced IT and communications network and support facilities, and a university community that will accommodate about 10,000 of the university’s students, scientists, researchers and their families.

In designing the university, environmental preservation was a primary concern. And, to foster an atmosphere that integrates work and life, traditional Arabic and Islamic architecture in a modern, attractive style was used to cater to the comfort of the university’s people and their families.

Despite the challenges inherent in a construction project of such immense scope, the greatest challenge is the development and implementation of an effective academic and research organization that achieves its ambitious goals. Allow me, Your Majesty, to shed light here on the progress made in the academic and research areas, and in the engineering and construction of the university town.

Work is progressing quickly in the Kingdom and in locations around the world to meet our pledge to complete the university on schedule. I can safely say that the sun never sets on this important scientific project as work continues to develop and integrate its diverse elements. The university’s engineering designs have been completed, major construction contracts have been awarded, and the first phase of site preparation, earth moving and backfill works is being completed. Work also has started in the construction of the site’s infrastructure, including equipment and utilities.

I believe it’s also important to note that as the project progresses, it is gratifying to see worksites teeming with efficient Saudi engineers and technicians, who hold leadership positions in the project and work in various administrative and construction jobs. Those young Saudis convey to us the sense of pride which every one of them feels when they see themselves forming an important part of a project supported by Your Majesty’s vision and patronage, and of such importance to the nation.

In terms of academic and research development, we have completed work through three main focuses that ensure realization of our objectives. These focuses are: the organizational structure, the research collaboration program, and the scholarship program for students, professors, and researchers.

KAUST has adopted an organizational structure that allows researchers to address topics through teams of scientists in various integrated disciplines. Experts agree that this approach is one of the best academic and research models to facilitate innovative solutions to the most complex technological and scientific problems we face today.

The second academic focus is the research collaboration program. We have so far entered into agreements with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the USA; Institut Français du Pétrole, in France; the National University of Singapore; the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay; and the American University in Cairo. KAUST is also expected to enter into partnership agreements with other universities such as Imperial College in the U.K. and the University of California in Berkeley.

Also, KAUST has launched its Global Research Partnership program, through which it will sign agreements by 2008 with five research centers, twelve principal investigators, and twenty researchers working in scientific and engineering areas of critical importance to the mission of KAUST.

The Student Scholarship Program is the third academic focus of the University. The KAUST Discovery Scholarship has been launched, and is designed to ensure that the university attracts outstanding undergraduate students who have demonstrated talent and research potential to continue their study at KAUST when it opens in 2009. Similarly, KAUST has launched the King Abdullah Scholar Award program to provide support to doctorate students.

Recipients of this award are expected to have a strong impact on the future of science, engineering and information technology as driving, innovative forces in these areas. KAUST also has launched the King Abdullah Professor Award program, which is offered to university professors who have demonstrated excellence in scientific research in areas of interest to KAUST, and who have made outstanding contributions to the global research community. King Abdullah Professors will be ambassadors for KAUST in international academic circles, and will, as some of the world’s top minds in their fields, communicate and exchange ideas freely for the advancement of research and discovery.

Honorable Guests,

With the existence of the academic organizational structure supported by our research collaboration agreements and awards programs, we can say that KAUST already exists. The university has a real presence in various parts of the world, including students, faculty, scientists, research projects and a management team, all scheduled to move here once the campus construction is complete.

There is no doubt that this innovative strategy will pave the way for a smooth and rapid start of the university’s academic and research life within the scheduled timeframe. The integration of the university’s facilities, with its novel operational model and its focus on applied research, will help the Kingdom to produce knowledge and apply it industrially, and to diversify national economic resources. Stemming from Your Majesty’s wise vision, we strive to transform our economy from its dependence on natural resources, toward one that is predicated on, and led by, the intellectual and innovative capacities of our people. This promise of a knowledge-based economy will help our country realize its aspirations for the prosperity of its future generations.

Your Majesty,

To conclude my comments on this remarkable day for our nation and citizens, I would like to express the deep gratitude which all of the individuals involved in KAUST extend to the inhabitants of Thuwal, who have lived in this area for generations, and who now are witness to an extraordinary developmental leap for their hometown.

We at Saudi Aramco are proud that Your Majesty has placed such trust in us to implement your vision and develop this prestigious university. Standing here before Your Majesty, on behalf of all of my KAUST colleagues, is an honor and a privilege. All of them in KAUST, both Saudis and expatriates, have asked me to convey their deep gratitude to Your Majesty. I would like also to express my gratitude to members of the International Advisory Council and members of the Founding President Search Committee, whose presence at this ceremony is a source of great pleasure to us. Their deep belief in the University’s mission, their marvelous efforts and valuable expertise have played a major role achieving the progress at KAUST.

I would also like to express my appreciation and gratitude to this distinguished group of international academics who answered our invitation to attend this event, and have by their presence enhanced our sense of accomplishment. It goes without saying that the presence of rectors of Saudi universities at this ceremony has made it yet more delightful and meaningful; I therefore thank them for their presence, and for their participation in and interaction with KAUST.

Through this pioneering project, we have all become partners in setting the foundation of this immense scientific base, through which we will advance our knowledge and enhance our development, a goal all nations of the world share.

I wholeheartedly thank you all for sharing with us this milestone scientific event, and hope that we will see each other again at other occasions of momentous import to the progress and prosperity of our beloved country. We have recorded many achievements throughout our history, and we now work to record ever more as we strive for an even brighter future.

Thank you.