Thousands Celebrate KAUST Inauguration

THUWAL, September 30, 2009- More than 3,000 heads of state, industry leaders and academics joined the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz last week for the inauguration of his dream of 25 years: the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

The university, he said in his inaugural address, was the realization of a “persistent desire” of his and part of the legacy of Muslim scholars from centuries past. The ceremony took place on the Kingdom’s 79th National Day and was symbolic of what the occasion meant to the King and the country.

“This university … is a continuation of what distinguished our civilization in its golden age,” the King said

He mentioned the influences of Ibn Al-Nafees in medicine, Jaber bin Hayyan and Al-Khawarizmi as just a few examples. The work done at the university builds upon their foundations: Al-Khawarizmi popularized the zero, which has made the binary code used by computers such as Shaheen, the university’s supercomputer, possible. Ibn Hayyan separated alkalis and acids, which is the foundation of the chemistry done at the university’s Catalysis Center

“The Islamic civilization historically has played an enormous role in serving humanity,” the King said.

The discoveries made at the university will have applications that benefit the globe — from alternative energy to stem-cell research that could regenerate tissue.

That sort of science is the backbone of powerful nations. “Throughout history, power has attached itself — after God — to science,” said the King. “The Islamic nation knows too well that it will not be powerful unless it depends on — after God — science.”

The university will also be a great benefit to the Kingdom and is part of plans to diversify its economy.

“This university is expected to lead many aspects of economic development in the Kingdom,” said Ali. I. Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and Chairman of KAUST Board of Trustees, in his speech. “Much of the research conducted by the university will benefit the Saudi industry and investment sector.”

The university will achieve this through the partnerships it will form with local and international businesses through its Economic Development Program. Forty such partnerships are already in effect, including one with the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and, most recently, Dow Chemical.

The university will also have a research park and innovations cluster to help start up businesses in the Kingdom. “We know that economic opportunities in the long term become narrow if they remain dependent on a limited resource,” said Al-Naimi at the inaugural press conference.

“This is specifically what made the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques embark on a series of educational and economic initiatives to build a knowledge-based society in the Kingdom.

“This university provides an elegant environment of learning that is all-inclusive, not exclusive, that brings benefit, not harm, and provides the greatest minds from around the world with all the ways and means to reach their scientific goals,” Al-Naimi said, “no matter … how different the civilizations and cultures are.”

“I didn’t know anything about Saudi Arabia; it was never a place I thought about for an academic career,” said Dr. David Ketcheson of Applied Mathematics. “I think that is what KAUST is about — Saudi Arabia didn’t used to be about academic research.”

That has opened the door to the university’s third role: to unite people from a variety of backgrounds under one purpose. “Scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first line of defense against extremists,” said the King. “We cannot fight them unless we learn to coexist without conflict – with love instead of hatred and with friendship instead of confrontation.”

University president Choon Fong Shih agreed, saying the university would unite not only new knowledge with old, and eastern with western, but it would also bring together people from around the world — from academia and industry — in pursuit of scientific knowledge and technology.

“This is a new ‘House of Wisdom’ that will uplift lives and meet challenges facing humanity,” said Shih in his own address, referring to the learning institute in Abbasid-era Baghdad from which KAUST derives its pet name. “This is a gift for our children and our children’s children.

And with that, the university’s ambitious agenda was set. “Today, this university will become a ‘House of Wisdom’ to all its peers around the world — a beacon of tolerance,” the King said.

He then placed his hand on the touch-screen podium, triggering the lighting of the university’s Breakwater Beacon and a display of fireworks that ushered the university into the new era.