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(From left to right): Sadeem co-founders Esteban Canepa, Ahmad Dehwah and Mustafa Mousa began their startup during their Ph.D. studies at KAUST, with a goal to mitigate damage and save lives from floods. Photo by Caitlin Clark.
This year, major Hurricane Harvey produced catastrophic, historic and life-threatening flooding when it hit south and southeast Texas, U.S., from August 25 to 30. In this image, a Houston, Texas, street floods from the storm. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Sadeem co-founders Esteban Canepa (left) and Ahmad Dehwah (right) work on installing one of their company's flood and traffic sensors on the KAUST campus. Photo by Lilit Hovhannisyan.
(From left to right): Sadeem co-founders Mustafa Mousa, Ahmad Dehwah and Esteban Canepa work in the KAUST lab on modifying their technology for their traffic and flood sensor system. Photo by Nicholas Demille.
The technology for Sadeem began as the three co-founders' Ph.D. project at KAUST. Photo by Nicholas Demille.
The Sadeem team (from left to right: Esteban Canepa, Mustafa Mousa and Ahmad Dehwah) worked with former KAUST Assistant Professor Christian Claudel on specific independent projects during their Ph.D.s that, by 2014, became Sadeem. Photo by Nicholas Demille.
Sadeem won the award for best IP-based technology startup at KAUST from the University’s Entrepreneurship Center on March 10, 2016. Photo courtesy of Sadeem.
The Sadeem co-founders (from left to right: Mustafa Mousa, Ahmad Dehwah and Esteban Canepa) note that team spirit is an important part of their success. Photo by Nicholas Demille.
Sadeem's sensors can be installed anywhere, as they feature solar-powered batteries and their own transceivers. Photo courtesy of Sadeem.
Sadeem co-founders Esteban Canepa (left) and Ahmad Dehwah (right) work on installing one of their sensors on the KAUST campus. Ten nodes currently operate on-campus. Photo by Lilit Hovhannisyan.
The Sadeem team displays their KAUST-developed sensor on the University's campus. Photo by Nicholas Demille.
The KAUST Entrepreneurship Center has been a crucial component of the four co-founders’ Sadeem journey. The three Ph.D. graduates received mentorship from the Entrepreneurship Center team and were also part of the KAUST Hikma IP-based Startup Accelerator program, a precursor to the new, expanded all-Kingdom TAQADAM startup accelerator program.
(From left to right): Sadeem co-founders Esteban Canepa, Ahmad Dehwah and Mustafa Mousa note that support for their startup from the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center has been 'priceless.' Photo by Caitlin Clark.
Sadeem co-founder Mustafa Mousa pitches for the startup at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in May. Photo courtesy of Sadeem.
Sadeem co-founder Mustafa Mousa traveled to the United Arab Emirates in November of 2016 to pitch for the startup at the UAE's Ministry of Finance. Photo courtesy of Sadeem.
On October 10, Sadeem won the Best Global Startup award at the 37th GITEX Technology Week in Dubai, UAE, taking home a prize of $100,000.
"This means that our team's hard work is really paying off, and it also puts a lot of commitment on our shoulders to deliver the projects we have and bring more cities to a safe scenario for floods," Mousa noted.
Co-founder Esteban Canepa presents Sadeem to the UN at the UNISDR 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Cancun, Mexico, in May. Photo courtesy of Sadeem.
The three Sadeem co-founders Mustafa Mousa, Ahmad Dehwah and Esteban Canepa (pictured, front row, second, third and fourth from left) received their Ph.D.s from KAUST together at the University's seventh Commencement ceremony in 2016. Photo by Helmy Al Sagaff.
The Sadeem team aims to give back to and benefit Saudi Arabia—and the world—through their lifesaving flood mitigation technology. Photo by Nicholas Demille.