The Consulting Research and Studies Institute at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) has signed an agreement with Energy Care company to build the first specialized Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) and Smart Meters Lab in Saudi Arabia to train national cadres on installing, operating and maintaining smart meters.

Students of the College of Engineering and Islamic Architecture’s Department of Electrical Engineering will benefit from the lap, considered to be the first of its kind in Saudi universities.

The lap will be the nucleus for consulting studies and creative researchers in the field of smart electricity grids.

The global tendency towards renewable energy requires moving to smart electricity grids and the subsequent use of smart meters, which are currently not widely available in the kingdom.

But progress necessitates that the kingdom catches up with that global tendency within the coming ten years, which would open many job opportunities in the field of installing smart meters, despite the current lack of national cadres able to do the job.

Signing the agreement on behalf of the Consulting Research and Studies Institute was its Dean Dr. Ali bin Mhamed Al-Shaari while Energy Care was represented by its Executive Director Sultan Al-Amoudi.

After the signing of the agreement Dr. Al-Shaari asserted that the Consulting Research and Studies Institute is shouldering its role in transferring knowledge through creative and developed methods and achieve the message of Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in serving the community.

He extended his thanks to Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) President Dr. Bakri bin M’atooq Assas and University Vice-President for Business and Innovation Dr. Nabeel Koshak for their continued support and keenness on activating the role of community partnerships and the transfer of knowledge.