The KAUST Entrepreneurship Center in partnership with Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference 2022, hosted KAUST Ignite, a regional ideathon event, in Riyadh, December 9 - 10, 2022. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) announced the same on Wednesday. Approximately 130 participants had the opportunity to present their ideas for solving challenges surrounding this year's theme: smart grid and sustainable smart systems. At the end of the event, teams shared their creative solutions, next steps, aims and the ultimate benefit of solving these common global problems.
The United Nations projects that by 2050, 68% of the world's population will live in urban areas. Through innovation and digital transformation, smart cities and the homes within them need to be dynamic and have the ability to adapt. Sustainable smart grid systems are a collection of technologies that look to usher in this new era of energy stability, availability and efficiency. Future-forward technologies such as smart homes and sustainable power/water grids support any nation's economic and environmental health.
KAUST Ignite is an intense one-of-a-kind innovation challenge for students, innovators and entrepreneurs. Participants devised solutions for some of the world's most pressing issues by working in mixed teams to solve real-life challenges presented by partner Saudi Smart Grid.
The event creates a youth platform to inspire the next generation of innovators across Saudi universities to solve real-life, industry-based challenges, stimulate their problem-solving skills, and explore their creative talents. It also strengthens relationships with industry partners and adds value to them by solving their unique industry-specific challenges and promoting participation.
"The participants at Ignite in Riyadh came from 15 universities across the Kingdom. These young talents had the opportunity to tackle some challenges in the smart grid, join the conference and connect with ecosystem players within the energy and water sectors. The participants had a closer insight about the hot topics, challenges and trends as part of the challenges and contributed to the solution while exploring their future potential," said Hattan Ahmed, Entrepreneurship Director at KAUST.
Three challenges:
The first of the three challenges that teams were tasked with solving was in response to a smart home and intelligent meter question, "How might we leverage the massive amount of data currently being collected by the 10 meters being deployed by the Saudi Electricity Company? And how can it be used to add value to the homeowner."
The second challenge — water leak detection and prevention in an intelligent water grid scenario — tackled the question, "How can we use AI, sensors and automated controls to reduce 83% of the water leaks that happen at the junction between the distribution network and the home?"
The third was an impact challenge focused on smart consumer and behavioral and consumption insights, answering the question, "How can we empower the consumer and leverage incentives and gamification techniques to manage their consumption in a more responsible way to save lives, energy and the environment?"
The teams with the most forward-thinking ideas were awarded for their solutions. First place was given to 'Droplet,' a connection to absorb the water shock by simple material elastic robber and solid cover. Second place was for 'Waie,' an app and electrical panel that could be upgraded and scaled to manage electrical waste in the home. Finally, third place was given to 'The Bits' — a solution to detect energy consumption using security cameras.
The Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference's Chairman of the Organizing Committee Eng. Bander Allaf said, "After a successful journey of nine editions of our industry-leading conference, we decided to sponsor an ideathon to augment our role in advancing the power sector and innovation as part of the 10th Saudi Arabia Smart Grid conference. By partnering with KAUST Entrepreneurship Center and our industry partners, the outcomes of the KAUST Ignite ideathon were truly exceptional.
He went on to say, "The winning teams' innovations possess a huge potential value. Through our platforms, we hope to connect these innovators with the private sector to better utilize these innovations by turning these ideas into real products and services that serve the Saudi market, which will hopefully transform the Saudi energy sector and contribute to achieving Vision 2030's goals."
Sustainable smart grid systems support both economic and environmental health in Saudi Arabia and the world. By hosting this type of ideathon program, KAUST displays a commitment to advancing innovation and nurturing the Kingdom's entrepreneurial ecosystem. KAUST will continue to promote advanced technologies that address common issues such as climate, food and energy to "spark the future" into a more sustainable reality.
