The Evolution and Journey of WakeCap

By Hassan Albalawi

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In 2015, I was selected to join Season 7 of the Stars of Science show where I developed WakeCap. Inspired by a personal experience, I reflected on safety in the construction industry and explored cutting-edge technology to create a safer environment. WakeCap was a device that read brain signals to detect drowsiness in workers and drivers, aiming to prevent accidents caused by sleep deprivation. As a result, I secured third place in the competition.

The experience opened so many opportunities that two years later, in 2017, I started WakeCap with co-founder Ishita Kochhar. Today we are proud to have more than 80 employees in over four countries, and work with the biggest names in construction.

Today, WakeCap is a leading digital technology solution for the construction industry. Our ‘smart hard hat’ solution conveniently integrates with pre-existing construction site infrastructure and does not require additional staff training or disrupt workflow. The hardware is a small knob powered by a long-life battery that can be easily attached to a worker's safety helmet to measure their movements, location, and time. Data is transmitted via a mesh network installed in the site.

Our mission continues to be centered around supporting site owners and contractors with the use of technology - to improve productivity, reduce wastage, and achieve higher levels of operational efficiency on their sites.

We are grateful that our efforts are being recognized as our journey continues, thanks to the support of government agencies who believed in us and our product. Through our participation in the Dubai Smartpreneur, a competition organized by Dubai Startup Hub, we showcased our innovative technology concept and made it to the top ten. In Saudi Arabia, programs like the Tomoh Slingshot Scale-up and Growth Institute "Scaling up" have helped us grow. Additionally, initiatives like TechCrew, Talent Acquisition, and HRDF subsidies have been instrumental in our development.

We work with some of the largest companies in construction. We recently signed a long-term agreement with ENPPI (Engineering for the Petroleum and Process Industries) KSA. Our solution will be coupled with ENPPI’s expertise in delivering engineering, procurement, construction management, and project management solutions.

We are also given multiple platforms to present our innovation to industry leaders. Over the summer, I attended the Global Project Management Forum in Riyadh to present ‘The Future of Project Control.’

We also signed an MOU with Project Management Institute KSA.

?More recently, I represented WakeCap at the Leaders in Construction KSA Summit where I addressed the productivity challenge in megaproject and spoke about leveraging time and motion studies for efficient measurement.

We also joined the Global Entrepreneurship Congress; WakeCap was fortunate to be selected as part of the Saudi delegation that traveled to Australia and looked for investment opportunities.

Today, we continue to work towards setting the industry standard for data-powered site visibility. I’m happy to report that we now have more than 80 employees from diverse backgrounds across our offices in Riyadh, Dubai, and San Francisco.

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Dr. Hassan Albalawi is a highly driven innovator and entrepreneur with a strong background in electrical engineering. Born and raised in Tabuk, Hassan received his Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Duke University. During his Ph.D. studies, he developed machine learning algorithms that could be used in ultra-low-power devices. This groundbreaking work inspired him to create an embedded wearable solution for use in safety helmets, leading to the founding of WakeCap in 2017.