NU has hosted a delegation from Saudi Arabia for an introduction to its commercialization projects and innovation ecosystem.
Among them is Kazakhstan’s first-ever chip, developed by a team led by NU Professor Nursultan Kabylkas. Also featured is Artisan Education, a web platform created by NU alumni to foster engineering thinking in children. Arlan Biotech, another alumni-led initiative, has developed AI-powered software capable of generating antibody and nanobody sequences tailored to specific tasks. The final presentation, from the Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI), has showcased a real-time speech translation solution – the Soyle app.
NU President professor Waqar Ahmad has welcomed representatives from the National Technology Development Program (NTDP), a Saudi government initiative aimed at facilitating the country’s transformation into being a global technology hub by 2030.
Professor Waqar noted the impressive growth of higher education in Saudi Arabia, while highlighting the need for stronger industry-university collaboration in both countries. “Partly it is our responsibility to educate and cultivate those kinds of partnerships. The knowledge we create must turn into innovations that support this fantastic country and the broader region”, – he said.
Talal Al-Hathal, Vice President of NTDP, emphasized the shared ambitions of both nations: “I believe both countries have similar resources with even almost the same population. Both are looking to diversify and double down on the young generation and cutting-edge technologies”.
Earlier in March, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Science and Higher Education, Sayasat Nurbek, announced plans to create a joint venture fund with Saudi Arabia to support DeepTech startups. The fund is intended to stimulate commercialization in advanced technologies, and deepen technological cooperation between the two countries.
