Students and teachers from Thuwal schools visited KAUST for computer-oriented activities on February 7. The activities included a practical computer coding lesson inspired by "Hour of Code," where participants used Mac computers to work through an online tutorial. Students and teachers also toured the supercomputing facilities in the KAUST Core Labs led by Bilel Hadri of the ECRC. Why it matters: Such outreach programs help promote STEM education and engagement with advanced computing resources among local students.
KAUST hosted the first SAP Mobile Hackathon on its campus from February 7-9, with 38 developers and designers participating. The hackathon focused on creating mobile apps for future smart cities and was the result of a partnership between SAP, KAUST Innovation and Economic Development, KAUST IT, and the KAUST Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Science and Engineering division. Approximately 55% of the participants were women. Why it matters: The event highlights KAUST's commitment to fostering innovation and developing talent in Saudi Arabia, particularly in areas like software development and AI, to support the growth of smart cities in the region.
KAUST held its second hackathon and third NVIDIA workshop. Attendees listened to lectures from international experts. Participants worked on porting their scientific applications to a GPU accelerator. Why it matters: Such events help build regional expertise in accelerated computing and attract international collaboration.