RIYADH, 25 February — The Institute of Natural Resources, an affiliate of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, has won the best educational and research institution award from the Gulf Cooperation Council for its pioneering role in the promotion of environmental causes.
The prizes were announced by GCC Secretary-General Jameel Al-Hujailan, who is also the chairman of the panel that nominated the winners of the "GCC Prize for Best Environmental Works".
Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation won the prize for conducting the most relevant researches on the environmental subjects in Saudi Arabia. Academic and research institutions from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait have also won the prestigious GCC environmental prizes this year.
Meanwhile, Prince Fahd ibn Abdullah Al-Saud, assistant minister of defense and aviation for civil aviation affairs and chairman of the Kingdom's Offset Program Committee, will open a major technology seminar to be held later this year by KACST in cooperation with Lucent Technologies.
Dr. Rumaih Muhammad Al-Rumaih, chairman of the seminar organizing committee, said here yesterday that the two-day event, to be inaugurated on May 14, would feature the research expertise of the renowned Bell Labs Technology (BLT). Eleven BLT scientists have won Nobel Prizes for their pioneering works since 1925. The BLT is the research and development arm of the Lucent Technologies.
Dr. Rumaih said BLT's 2001 presentation would focus on the state-of-the-art technology in the field of telecom and networking. He said BLT's scientific leading experts had helped transform the 20th century world with the invention of transistor, the solar cell, the laser, communication satellites, long-distance television transmission, cellular telephony and fiber-optic communications.
Muhammad Ali Al-Dhallan, Lucent's public relations director said a technology seminar was organized by Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry last year with the support of Prince Mishal ibn Majed, governor of Jeddah. Two similar events were held in Riyadh and Dhahran earlier.
