DHAHRAN: A seminar titled “Strategic Venue for Knowledge Creation” was held under the banner of the Institution of Engineers Pakistan, Eastern Province (IEP-EP) in Alkhobar. A large gathering of engineers, scientists, business executives and professors from Damman, Jubail, Ras Tanura and Bahrain attended the seminar.
The rector of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) had given Halim Hamid Rehwi, vice president of Dhahran Techno Valley Company, the task of designing and developing a science park in KFUPM. The objective was to have research and development programs here, with international petroleum and mineral companies.
“The science park was to be developed on the lines of the ones in Western universities,” said Rehwi.
In 2001 the science park was established, based on the model of a British university with the guidance of UNESCO, an international consultant and Saudi Aramco.
In 2003, it was named King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Science Park. In 2006, Dhahran Techno Valley Company (DTVC) was incorporated as the only company in Saudi Arabia working in collaboration with a university in developing a research and development culture in the country.
Rehwi said such a research and development unit in Saudi Arabia was crucial for the country's economic growth, as oil in the country will deplete in the future. As knowledge creation and collaboration between universities and industries is essential, DTVC was designed as a corporate organization working as the link between KFUPM and international companies.
The main objective of DTVC is the integral development of Saudi Arabia’s ecosystem. DVTC wants to achieve this aim through building a community for technology development and aligning the R&D agenda of KFUPM, the science park and industry players and to drive knowledge economy in the country. DTVC has been allotted 770,000 square meters of land, of which 80 percent has been built up already or is under construction.
Rehwi called on international companies to join DTVC to enhance knowledge creation, R&D and the technological development of the Kingdom. He said IEP is playing a very important role in knowledge sharing and technological advancements through seminars, conferences and communities in different fields of engineering.
