Promoting High-Performance Composite Materials

New initiative aims to share knowledge, drive innovation, and boost Saudi Arabia’s petrochemicals and advanced industries

LAWRENCE CARIN Provost

THE LEADERSHIP OF PROFESSOR GILLES LUBINEAU IN FOSTERING THE SAUDI ARABIAN SOCIETY FOR COMPOSITES IS A PERTINENT EXAMPLE OF HOW LEADING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AT KAUST CAN IMPACT SAUDI RESEARCHERS OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITY. STRENGTHENING LINKAGES BETWEEN KAUST AND OTHER LOCAL INSTITUTIONS IS A MAJOR PRIORITY, AND THE SUCCESS OF SASCOM SERVES AS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE.

A new KAUST initiative seeks to boost Saudi Arabia’s role in global petrochemicals and advanced industries, including aeronautics, civil engineering and automotives. The newly created Saudi Arabian Society for Composite Materials (SASCOM) aims to facilitate collaboration among scientists, engineers, academics and the private sector to drive innovation, promote the adoption of composite materials that play an important role in the Saudi economy and address the challenges of modern society. The group was founded by Gilles Lubineau, professor of mechanical engineering and associate dean for faculty for the Physical Science and Engineering Division.

Since its founding in May 2021, SASCOM has conducted seminars, introduced short online courses and provided an online platform for scientists to share their work with others. It envisions itself as a platform for experts to connect with each other and industries, and to help industries find the right people for projects requiring composites expertise. As of December 2021, the group had attracted 122 members from 12 countries: Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the US. SASCOM’s scientific board features key players in the engineering of composite materials, such as Dr. Fahad Al-Khodairi of SABIC and Dr. Khaled Almuhammadi of Aramco. The board also includes prominent international scientists who are members of key academies.

SASCOM aims to help Saudi Arabia meet its Vision 2030 goals by localizing high-level in-Kingdom expertise, supporting the training of the necessary workforce as well as making Saudi Arabia a leader in composite engineering. Indeed, composite materials are a key enabling technology to many segments that are critical to the future of the Kingdom. “Composites create opportunities in applications ranging from oil and gas, renewable energy and alternative energy sources such as hydrogen,” said Dr. Nikhil Verghese, corporate fellow at SABIC. “The key to their adoption, however, is training and practical experience. The creation of SASCOM is a major step in this direction.”

SASCOM’s founder, Lubineau, is also the principal investigator for the Composite and Heterogeneous Materials Analysis and Simulation laboratory on the KAUST campus, a facility he founded in 2009 to offer both modelling and experimental expertise in one place.

Wind turbines are a good example of the importance of composites in today’s economy, as well as the climate challenge – the materials will be crucial to deliver lightweight and durable solutions that drive energy efficiency.

SABIC

“Non-metallic solutions such as composite materials have significant potential in a time of decarbonization. It is important to ensure there is awareness and knowledge creation in Saudi Arabia for such solutions, and SASCOM will help in that regard. Similar associations in the US and Europe have played crucial roles in bringing the value chain together.”

Bob Maughon, Executive Vice President of Sustainability, Technology and Innovation, and Chief Technology and Chief Sustainability Officer at SABIC