Overview
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)
This leading Saudi research institute is being awarded for its development of effective new techniques for irrigation water conservation.
These techniques include the employment of soil moisture sensors, automatic weather stations, and remote controlled tensiometers to achieve water conservation by automatic scheduling. KACST also explored the use of infrared telemetry to acquire data and for automatic irrigation scheduling and effective tele-control under arid conditions.
Winner Profile
King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) is an independent scientific organization of the Saudi Arabian Government, established in 1977 under the name of Saudi Arabian National Center for Science & Technology (SANCST) and later in 1985 renamed as 'King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST)'.
KACST is governed by a Supreme Committee, which is chaired by the Prime Minister (the King) and is composed of the ministers of the major ministries to which science and technology are of greatest relevance as follows:
Prime Minister (Chairman)
Deputy Prime Minister (Vice Chairman)
Minister of Defense & Aviation & Inspector General (Member)
Minister of Interior (Member)
Minister of Higher Education (Member)
Minister of Agriculture & Water (Member)
Minister of Industry & Electricity (Member)
Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources (Member)
Minister of Planning (Member)
Minister of Finance & National Economy (Member)
Head of General Intelligence (Member)
President of KACST (Member)
In addition, the Prime Minister nominates three other members.
VISION:
To be a world-class research organization vital to Saudi Arabia's future and a vital source of S&T for national societal mission which combines technology with human touch.
From its inception in 1977, KACST had been carrying out its mission in the promotion of science & technology in the Kingdom by coordinating and cooperating with various universities, agencies and institutions concerned with research and technology, and encouraging Saudi experts to undertake research that will help promote the development and evolution of the society. Besides this, KACST, through cooperative agreements with international science and technology institutions/organizations, encourages closer ties with friendly countries. The cooperative research programs have successfully completed several solar energy research projects, the establishment of a Saudi Center for Remote Sensing, the establishment of national observatory and an aquaculture research station and other projects. KACST has established several national research institutes. Among the institutes are the Institute for Petroleum and Petrochemicals Research, the Institute of Energy Research, the Institute of Natural Resources and Environmental Research, the Institute of Arid Lands Research, the Institute of Astronomy and the Institute of Atomic Energy Research, etc.
Winning Work
1. Al-Amoud, A.I., F.S Mohammad, M.O. Ghandoorah, A.S.E. Ahmed, H.M. Hathout and H.M. Al-Ghobari. Water Conservation by Automatic Scheduling Via Soil Moisture Sensors for Center Pivots. Saudi Arabia: KACST (2003).2. Al-Amoud, A.I. and F.S Mohammad. “Scheduling Irrigation Using an Automatic Weather Station – 1: System Components, Implementation and Operation. Journal of King Saud University - Agricultural Sciences. 4(1) 15-28 (1992).
3. Mohammad, F.S and A.I. Al-Amoud. “Scheduling Irrigation Using an Automatic Weather Station – 2: Field Experiment. Journal of King Saud University - Agricultural Sciences. 4(1) 29-43 (1992).
4. Ahmed, A.S. and A.I. Al-Amoud. “Infrared Telemetry for Data Acquisition and Telecontrol in Automatic Irrigation Scheduling”. International Journal of Computers and Electronics in Agriculture. 8(1). 73-85 (1993).
5. Mohammad, F.S and A.I. Al-Amoud. “Water conservation through irrigation scheduling under arid climatic conditions”. Agricultural Water Management. 24 251-264 (1993).
6. SharafEldin, A., and A.I. Al-Amoud. “Microcomputer Control of Automatic irrigation Scheduling Based on Soil Water.” 5th International Conference on Computers in Agriculture. Florida, USA (1994).
7. Al-Amoud, A.I. and F.S. Mohammad. “Automatic Irrigation Scheduling by Remote Controlled Tensiometers under Arid Climatic Conditions. Agricultural Engineering Journal. 4(3) 131-145 (1995).