With plans to expanding its industrial base, Saudi Arabia is exploring ways to come up with smart solutions to meet its growing energy needs. In this regard, the Kingdom is considering using all options from renewables to nuclear energy.
Recently, the 9th Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference was held in Jeddah during which energy experts from the region and abroad discussed emerging technologies and sustainable solutions to address the issue of increasing energy needs.
Naif Al-Abbadi, a renewable energy and energy efficiency expert, was also part of the event. He has been the director general of the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center at the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) since 2011.
Al-Abaddi obtained a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at King Abdul Aziz University in 1985. He went to the US to pursue higher education and did a master’s in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado in 1990 and obtained a second master’s degree in the same area at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Al-Abaddi did his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Iowa in 1996.
During his engineering career spanning 34 years, he worked with several organizations at key positions.
Al-Abaddi is considered a trusted researcher at the KACST, where he began his career as such in 1985 and continues to conduct valuable studies.
Between 2005 and 2010, he acted as the director of the Energy Research Institute at KACST.
