Congratulations to MS/PhD Student Nawaf Alghamdi who has been awarded a graduate research program (GPURC) grant from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)

KACST is the Saudi government's national laboratory and funding agency for scientific programs across the kingdom. It fosters innovation and promotes Saudi Arabia's knowledge-based society while supporting and enhancing applied scientific research. GPURC is a new strategic program intended to expand the national research and development support ecosystem through skills development in selected graduate students to enable them to conduct world-class research. It is a long-term strategic investment aimed at developing the scientific skills needed among outstanding graduate students to boost Saudi Arabia's position among leading countries in the fields of science, technology and innovation.

Nawaf earned his chemical engineering degree from the University of Wisconin-Madison as part of KAUST's Gifted Students Program. He is now an MS/PhD Student in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Program at KAUST under the Supervision of Professor Mani Sarathy.

He was awarded the grant for his work entitled "Upgrading Low-Grade Feedstocks Using Catalytic Pyrolysis" and will receive support from KACST for two years to work on his PhD research at KAUST

We are proud that Nawaf is one of the first KAUST graduate students to be awarded this grant.