Prince Turki bin Saud, Vice President of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) for Research Institutes, took over as its president on Sunday.

The prince succeeds Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel, who was appointed telecommunications and information technology minister by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Thursday.

Abdullah Alawad, manager of the National Center for Stem Cell Technology, said KACST will embark on a new era under the able leadership of Prince Turki, who has been serving the organization since 1997.

Abdullah Al-Mansour, manager of public relations, said the new president had a staff meeting on Sunday to brief his plans of action.

Prince Turki received his Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University.

He joined KACST in 1997 as director of the Space Research Institute and subsequently became the vice president of research institutes in 2004.

Among the organizations he is currently serving as chairman are the Scientific Council of KACST, Supervisory Committee for the National Science and Technology and Innovations Plan, Supervisory Committee for King Abdullah Initiative for Solar Water Desalination, Supervisory Committee for Technology Incubators and the Board of Directors of the Technology Development and Investment Company.