RIYADH, 4 December 2007 — The Center of Excellence for Research in Engineering Materials (CEREM), set up by King Saud University’s College of Engineering, is inviting proposals from researchers to study ways of protecting metals and alloys against environmental pollution — a major problem faced by the Kingdom’s engineering industry.
The announcement was made at the Seventh Saudi Engineering Council by the directorate of CEREM, which said it would provide grants for research.
According to the compensation package unveiled by CEREM, principal researchers will be eligible to receive a grant of SR5,000 per month, while assistant researchers will be paid SR4,000 per month.
“However, 50 percent of this amount will be withheld until studies are published. Studies will be published in journals that appear in the International Science Index and especially in the Material Science Citation Index,” the announcement said.
It added that the equipment procured through this grant would be the sole property of CEREM and would be located at the center unless otherwise decided.
One of the criteria used by CEREM in evaluating the proposals includes the extent to which the center is contributing to the development of the local industry. The other parameter would be the extent to which the center is interacting with industry clients and also advancing global state-of-the-art technologies related to engineering material.
Explaining the significance of the project, Muhammad Usman of the College of Electrical Engineering at KSU told Arab News that the construction industry has a problem with engineering material, such as semiconductors, being non-environmentally friendly. He added that the thrust of the engineering research program was on producing material that is corrosion-proof.
Interested parties can submit proposals electronically to [email protected] by Dec. 31, 2007. Proposals in other areas of engineering will also be considered. They should be original and innovative, and intended to serve as a catalyst for the economic development of the Kingdom through new technology.
Inaugurating the seventh Saudi Engineering Conference in Riyadh on Sunday, Interior Minister Prince Naif praised KSU’s efforts to recruit top research scientists as well as creating chairs to conduct research with the cooperation of leading universities and multinational companies.
He said the new emphasis on research and development marks a new phase in the Kingdom’s march from infrastructural development in the past to human resource and scientific development.
