Who’s Who: Dr. Ahmad Alsinan, head of strategic opportunities at NEOM

Dr. Ahmad Alsinan
Short Url
Updated 09 June 2024
Follow

Who’s Who: Dr. Ahmad Alsinan, head of strategic opportunities at NEOM

Dr. Ahmad Alsinan has been head of strategic opportunities at NEOM’s deputy CEO’s office since September 2023.

Alsinan is responsible for strategizing, coordinating, and executing business opportunities. He leads a dynamic team, collaborates with internal and external stakeholders, and plays a pivotal role in shaping business opportunities, including investments, strategic partnerships, and alliances.

In 2022, Alsinan moved to NEOM as the head of strategy and business development at NEOM Mobility, where he led a multibillion-dollar scale partnership proposal to deliver the future sustainable mobility ecosystem at NEOM.

He played a pivotal role in closing a transformative $100 million joint venture deal with Pony.ai, a leading autonomous vehicle company, and led the green hydrogen mobility project deployment at NEOM.

He was also nominated as NEOM’s corporate representative on Saudi Arabia’s Governance and Regulatory Framework Committee for Modern and Future Mobility Enablement.

In 2020, Alsinan joined Aramco Ventures as a corporate venturing principal and head of sustainability investments, where he initiated and led global business deals related to hydrogen, e-fuels, GHG emission detection, energy storage, renewables, and carbon capture, utilization and storage. He also developed venturing strategies in the digital transformation domain.

In 2019, he became a senior scientist of technology development in the research and development carbon management division, leading the execution team of the Saudi Aramco-Hyundai strategic collaboration on hydrogen, non-metallics, and futuristic automotive technologies.

Alsinan’s professional journey began as a research scientist at SaudiAramco’s Research and Development Center, where he worked on computational modeling of three-phase crude oil separation processes.

He later moved to the technology strategy and planning department, where he conducted a study on oil to hydrogen techno-economic assessment and led the development of Saudi Aramco’s Oil to Hydrogen Strategy.

He also represented Saudi Aramco in the development of the National Hydrogen Strategy and led the sustainability business vertical in the National Circular Carbon Economy program under the leadership of Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Kingdom’s minister of energy.

Alsinan holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a master’s degree in computer science and high-performance computing and simulations from the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s degree in software engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.


Saudi scientific organization celebrates 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Omar Yaghi

Updated 30 January 2026
Follow

Saudi scientific organization celebrates 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Omar Yaghi

  • King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology honors him with a reception at its headquarters in Riyadh
  • Yaghi, the first Saudi recipient of a Nobel Prize, shared the Nobel Prize with 2 other scientists for their pioneering work in molecular chemistry

LONDON: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh honored Omar Yaghi, the Saudi scientist and recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with a reception at its headquarters in Riyadh on Thursday.

Yaghi is the first Saudi scientist awarded a Nobel Prize. He received it in December, alongside two other scientists, for their pioneering work in the field of molecular chemistry, and for contributions to energy, the environment and advanced materials.

He is also supervisor of the Center of Excellence for Nanomaterials for Clean Energy Applications, a collaboration between KACST and the University of California, Berkeley.

Munir Eldesouki, the president of KACST, said that the Kingdom is keen to recognize its scientific talents, in keeping with Saudi Vision 2030 and its goals relating to the fostering of scientific research. 

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in Riyadh honored Omar Yaghi, the Saudi scientist and recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (SPA)

Yaghi said he appreciated the support he had received from Saudi leaders during his career, and praised them for creating an enabling environment in which scientists are able to pursue world-class research, development and innovation.

Investment in national talent has created a research ecosystem that positions Saudi Arabia among the leading scientific nations, he added.

Thursday’s event, attended by the organization’s staff and students, also honored the winning teams from the recent “GenAI for Materials Discovery Hackathon,” which KACST organized in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, and Academy 32, a nonprofit Saudi organization dedicated to research, development and innovation.

The celebration concluded with an interactive discussion session during which Yaghi talked with students and researchers, reflected on key milestones in his scientific journey, and shared insights into the factors that helped shape his career, the Saudi Press Agency reported.