Mohanned Al Ghamdi
Optimizing the Water Desalination Process
mohanned.ghamdi@kaust.edu.sa
Mohanned Al Ghamdi came to KAUST in 2009 as one of KAUST’s founding students. He is originally from Al-Baha, which is located in the southwest area of the Kingdom, but says his life has been split equally between London, Jeddah and Riyadh.
“When I heard about KAUST in 2008, and that it was the dream of our king to build a world class university that would become the new house of wisdom on the shores of the Red Sea, I believed in that dream and decided to be part of it,” Mohanned said.
Before coming to KAUST, Mohanned, completed his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering in King Saud University in Riyadh. He then continued his studies at KAUST where he received his M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering. He is now working on his Ph.D. degree in the same academic area.
Mohanned’s current research focuses on innovative cleaning methods for low-pressure hollow-fiber membranes. He says these membranes are becoming the new standard in the pretreatment step of seawater desalination plants, and because Saudi Arabia is the largest desalinating country in the world, research in this area is important. “By having this kind of research, I am contributing to the optimization of the desalination process and keeping it more friendly to the environment,” he said.
In the future, Mohanned hopes to use the knowledge he gained at KAUST to contribute to the development of the desalination industry in the Kingdom. “I also hope to make each and every person in the Kingdom value and appreciate every drop of water, knowing that it is very expensive to desalinate one liter of water,” he said.
In his spare time, you’ll find Mohanned playing a variety of sports. He says keeping active helps relieve his stress and keeps him healthy. “Also, I like to engage in some enriching discussions from time to time with some friends in KAUST’s Discovery Square,” he said.
“When I heard about KAUST in 2008, and that it was the dream of our king to build a world class university that would become the new house of wisdom on the shores of the Red Sea, I believed in that dream and decided to be part of it,” Mohanned said.
Before coming to KAUST, Mohanned, completed his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering in King Saud University in Riyadh. He then continued his studies at KAUST where he received his M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering. He is now working on his Ph.D. degree in the same academic area.
Mohanned’s current research focuses on innovative cleaning methods for low-pressure hollow-fiber membranes. He says these membranes are becoming the new standard in the pretreatment step of seawater desalination plants, and because Saudi Arabia is the largest desalinating country in the world, research in this area is important. “By having this kind of research, I am contributing to the optimization of the desalination process and keeping it more friendly to the environment,” he said.
In the future, Mohanned hopes to use the knowledge he gained at KAUST to contribute to the development of the desalination industry in the Kingdom. “I also hope to make each and every person in the Kingdom value and appreciate every drop of water, knowing that it is very expensive to desalinate one liter of water,” he said.
In his spare time, you’ll find Mohanned playing a variety of sports. He says keeping active helps relieve his stress and keeps him healthy. “Also, I like to engage in some enriching discussions from time to time with some friends in KAUST’s Discovery Square,” he said.