Inspiring a Culture of Ideation & Innovation for Saudi University Students: The KAUST STEAM Innovation Challenge

What is the STEAM Innovation Challenge?

The STEAM Innovation Challenge is a unique, intensive, experiential ideation event for Saudi university students which is run over one, two or three days. The program was created, designed and is delivered by the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center team in partnership with organizations including companies and non-profits.

This initiative offers an opportunity to both engage and showcase Saudi student-led innovation, as it pertains to real world problems. Over 500 students from Saudi universities have participated in STEAM Innovation Challenges over the last year since it’s launch, with over 60% being female students. These events have been delivered in KAUST and in Jeddah.

Students from universities such as KAUST, King Abdul-Aziz University, the University of Jeddah, Effat University, the University of Business and Technology, Umm al-Qura University, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and Dar AL-Hekma University have participated.

What the STEAM Innovation Challenge Offers Students

The objective of these events is to come up with a solution for the problems or opportunities laid out by the challenge theme. This solution must be realistic while also being innovative and where the value proposition can be clearly defined, articulated and communicated. The majority of the activity at these challenges involves the students working in teams that have been pre-designated based on ensuring a mix of universities and disciplines in each team.

There are however a number of key topics covered in a teaching format during the STEAM process but these are short, sharp lectures. The topics include how to use an innovation process successfully, how design thinking and empathy maps can be applied, managing ideation and framing of ideas, as well as how to communicate solutions to an audience. The whole challenge starts with putting to the students a simple but ultimately core principle: 'Ask Why.'

In terms of the learning outcomes, participating students can:

? Envisage the impact of their ideas on the lives of people by creating solutions to real world problems.

? Learn and live the principles of ideation, innovation and design thinking.

? Connect with experts from our partner organizations as well as the KAUST Entrepreneurship Center team and the KAUST International Mentor Group, through the mentor-supported process used.

? Meet and work with students from different Saudi universities, backgrounds & disciplines.

? Learn team building, time management and collaboration techniques.

In the final pitch competition on the last afternoon, students must show how their proposals could be implemented, with specific reference to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while also suggesting how it might be scaled or implemented in other countries.

The Challenge Partners

A key part of the preparation for a STEAM Innovation Challenge is the collaboration that occurs with partners and sponsors. These partners begin working with the Entrepreneurship center team months in advance to provide the critical inputs for the challenge development. Challenge partners have included Dow Chemical, Islamic Development Bank and the Office of Saudi Affairs at KAUST. The participating organizations receive a variety of benefits from their involvement, not least the excitement of being part of a high pressure but invigorating student-led ideation process. 

As Chuck Swartz, President of Dow Saudi Arabia stated recently: “The themes of the STEAM challenges are designed to align closely to Saudi Vision 2030, Dow’s 2025 sustainability goals, and the strategic objectives of Dow in Saudi Arabia. We are truly impressed with the passion and creativity of the students as well as the solutions proposed by them.”

Partners can also include large non-profit organizations in the Kingdom. After the March challenge at IDB headquarters in Jeddah, the Islamic Development Bank Director of the Cooperation and Integration Dr. Abdulhakim Elwaer said “The event provided students with a great opportunity to learn about global challenges, build networks with students from other universities, and use their creative minds for generating new innovative concepts in order to quickly come up with feasible solutions.”

These partners and sponsors get the opportunity to engage the youth of the Kingdom in problem solving directly, through participation of their own mentors. “It’s a pleasure to see how eager the students are to develop sustainable solutions for energy efficiency in buildings, water supply and renewable energy to contribute to a better future of KSA and the region. The STEAM Challenge is a unique event that has strengthened the excellent partnership between KAUST and Dow for the benefit of the entire country and will have a lasting impact” said Wiltrud Treffenfeldt, Chief Technology Officer for Dow Europe, Middle East, Africa and India.

Most recently as part of the Innovation to Impact (i2i) Roundtable held in KAUST, a ‘super’ one-day version of the STEAM Innovation Challenge was run in parallel with this larger international event. The challenge for this particular STEAM was ‘Reimaging Education in the Digital Age’ and over eighty-five students from seven Saudi universities participated.

Other recent STEAM Innovation Challenge topics have included:

? Living Spaces: How can we drive the creation and adoption of sustainable buildings for people?

? A Better World: Driving Innovations into People’s Lives.

?  Energy: How do we embed new sustainable energy systems in the Kingdom and the region?

?  Challenges relating to emerging health issues.

?  Challenges in food and water security.

What’s Next for the STEAM Innovation Challenge?

The success of the recent STEAM Innovation Challenges ensures that we will continue to design and deliver new variations of the program, with existing and new partners. We also hope to widen the number of Saudi universities beyond the eight universities whose students have participated to date. The objective is to continuously improve the STEAM Innovation Challenge format and engage ever increasing numbers of Saudi students, helping them to articulate the ideas, passion and innovation that exists so strongly in each of them.

To find out more about KAUST STEAM Innovation Challenge including partnership opportunities please email us at: [email protected]

The KAUST Entrepreneurship Center is part of the Innovation and Economic Development department at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). For more information: https://innovation.kaust.edu.sa