King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST; ar, مدينة الملك عبدالعزيز للعلوم والتقنية) in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

is an organization established in 1977 as the Saudi Arabian National Center for Science & Technology (SANCST); in 1985, it was renamed King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

History

In 1977, the ''Saudi Arabian National Center for Science and Technology'' (SANCST) was established, with Prof. Rida M.S. Obaid being the president. This center was created as an independent scientific organization that is responsible for the promotion of science and technology in Saudi Arabia. However, the name was later changed to ''King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology'' (KACST). In 1987, KACST has joined the International Council for Science (ICSU) as a National Member. In 1984, Abdul Rahman Al-Athel was named as the President of the city. In 2007, Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel, who used to be the KACST vice president for research, became the president. HH Dr. Turki Al Saud is the KACST vice president.

Organization

Institutes

The research complex is divided into the following research institutes: *Atomic Energy Research Institute *Computer and Electronics Research Institute *Petroleum and Petrochemical Institute *Energy Research Institute *Resource and Development Institute *Astronomy and Geophysics Institute *Space Research Institute

Centers

KACST has many different research centers, including: *GIS Innovation Center *National Center for Nano Technology Research *The National Robotics and Intelligent Systems Center *The National Center for Water Research *The National Center of Mathematics & Physics *Technology Development Center *The National Center for Astronomy *The National Center for Biotechnology *The National Center for Agricultural Technologies *The National Centre Environmental Technology *The National Center for Radiation Protection *The National Center for Radioactive Waste Management *Center of Excellence for Wireless Applications - CEWA (Working with

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

) *Center of Excellence for Software Development (Working with IBM) *Saudi Lunar and Near-Earth Object Science Center (Working with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

) *Center of Excellence for Space and Aeronautics (Working with Stanford University) *Center of Excellence for Wildlife Research (Working with the Saudi Wildlife Authority) *Center of Excellence for Nanotechnology (Working with IBM) *Center of Excellence for Nanotechnology Manufacturing (Working with Intel) *Center of Excellence for Green Nanotechnology (Working with

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

) *Center of Excellence for Bionanotechnology (Working with

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

) *Center of Excellence for Nanomedicines (Working with

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

) *Center for Excellence in Biomedicine (Working with Brigham and Women's Hospital) *Media Center *Middle East Center for Energy Efficiency (Working with Intel) *Joint Center for Genomics (Working with

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

) *Advanced Sensors & Electronics Defense (ASED) Center *Center for Complex Engineering System - CCES (Working with

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

)

Programs

KACST is now working in the following programs: *National Satellite Technology Program *National ECP Program *National Program for Advanced Materials and Building Systems *National Program for Automobile Technology *Aviation Technology National Program

Projects

The National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan

''The National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan'' (NSTIP) is a collaboration between the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Economy and Planning. This program was approved by the Council of Ministers in 2002. This program has fifteen strategic technologies that will help the future development of Saudi Arabia. These plans are:

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

Oil and Gas A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and combustion, burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, petroleum, oil, and natura ...

, Petrochemicals Technology,

Nanotechnologies Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

, ECP (

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

Photonics Photonics is a branch of optics that involves the application of generation, detection, and manipulation of light in form of photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification, and sensing. Though ...

), Space and Aeronautics Technology,

Energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

Advanced Materials ''Advanced Materials'' is a weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering materials science. It includes communications, reviews, and feature articles on topics in chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, ceramics, metallurgy, and biomaterial ...

, Environment, Mathematics and

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

and

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

Agricultural Technology Agricultural technology or agrotechnology (abbreviated agtech, agritech, AgriTech, or agrotech) is the use of technology in agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture with the aim of improving yield, efficiency, and profitability. Agricultural tec ...

Building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fu ...

and

Construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

King Abdullah's Initiative for Arabic Content

' is a project that aims to provide high-quality Arabic contents in all disciplines. To achieve this goal, KACST started to work with the local and international organizations. For example: *'' Nature Arabic Edition'': KACST has collaborated with the

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...

to translate ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' journal into Arabic. The print issues are freely available to qualified subscribers. Also, the contents of this journal will be available online for free. *''Wiki Arabi'' ( ar, ويكي عربي): This is another project initiated by King Abdullah's Initiative for Arabic Content. This project aims to improve the content of the Arabic Wikipedia by translating the high-quality articles from other languages of Wikipedia such as

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, French and Hebrew Wikipedia. The first Wiki Arabi event was in 2010, where over 2000 articles were translated into Arabic. The second Wiki Arabi was in 2012.

Nuclear technology

In 1988, KACST starts planning to develop nuclear technology in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, KACST decided to open the ''Atomic Energy Research Institute'' (AERI). This Institute will help Saudi Arabia to develop the

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

along with '' King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy''. The AERI has four different departments: Radiation Protection Department, Industrial Applications, Nuclear Reactors and Safety, and a Materials Department

Scientific achievements

* KACST's Space Research Institute has designed some satellites that are used in scientific purposes. Such as: SaudiSat 5A,5B, SaudiComSat-1, SaudiGeo-1 and the

Geostationary Satellite A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitude ...

SGS-1 ( 1/Hellas Sat 4) and

Arabsat-6A Arabsat-6A is a geostationary communications satellite operated by Arabsat. The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems on a modernized A2100 bus. The satellite was successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center LC-39A aboard Falcon ...

which was recently launched on 4 February 2019. * In 2006, KACST signed a collaboration agreement with CERN to participate in the construction of LINAC4 project. KACST engineers constructed a warm prototype of it. This prototype was then qualified at CERN. And now, KACST is working build up a

high-energy physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) a ...

community to participate in future CERN programs. * On September 30, 2008, KACST funded the science team of ''

Gravity Probe B Gravity Probe B (GP-B) was a satellite-based experiment to test two unverified predictions of general relativity: the geodetic effect and frame-dragging. This was to be accomplished by measuring, very precisely, tiny changes in the direction of ...

'', helping them to complete the project. * In 2012, KACST announced the first electrostatic accelerator in Saudi Arabia. This accelerator has been designed by the ''National Center of Mathematics and Physics''. * In April 2013, KACST announced the creation of WaferCatalyst, which is a Multi-project Wafer (MPW) consolidation initiative, which aims to promote Integrated circuit design and related technologies in Saudi Arabia and surrounding regions.

Information Technology Unit (ITU)

Information Technology requirements for research center and city staff is fulfilled by the ITU section situated in building No. 1.

Internet proxy for Saudi Arabia

The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology operates the

Internet backbone The Internet backbone may be defined by the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected computer networks and core routers of the Internet. These data routes are hosted by commercial, government, academic and other high-ca ...

in Saudi Arabia as well as the local registry address space. According to

RIPE Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE, French for "European IP Networks") is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet. The RIPE community's objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical coor ...

, "all Saudi Arabia web traffic will come from heIP block" registered to KACST.

Board Membership

Ahmed Alsuwaiyan Ahmed Mohammed Alsuwaiyan (Arabic: أحمد بن محمد الصويان) was appointed governor and board member of the Digital Government Authority (DGA) in May 2021. He is also a board member of the National Center for Government Resources S ...

(March 2017 – December 2019).

References

External links

*
The National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan website

King Abdullah's Initiative for Arabic Content

KACST high resolution logo (text in black)KACST high resolution logo (text in white)GIS Innovation Center
{{Authority control 1977 establishments in Saudi Arabia Government agencies established in 1977 Science and technology in Saudi Arabia Scientific organisations based in Saudi Arabia Government agencies of Saudi Arabia Organisations based in Riyadh Members of the International Council for Science Members of the International Science Council Censorship in Saudi Arabia