Saudi Arabia Celebrates as Local Inventor Wins Two Gold Medals Internationally
A young Saudi scientist has brought international recognition to the Kingdom, securing two gold medals at the 16th International Invention Fair in the Middle East (IIFME), held in Kuwait earlier this month. Duaa Nizar Khudry, an inventor and researcher, was honored for her innovative device designed to filter materials and recycle used liquids—a technology with significant implications for environmental protection and sustainable resource management.
A Device with Purpose
Khudry’s invention addresses a critical challenge in regions where water scarcity and industrial waste demand smarter solutions. The device improves efficiency in liquid purification and reuse, offering potential applications in environmental conservation, industrial processing, and water management. For countries like Saudi Arabia, where sustainable resource management is a national priority, such innovations carry both scientific and practical weight.
Recognition from Multiple Fronts
The fair’s organizers awarded Khudry her first gold medal in recognition of the device’s ingenuity and potential impact. She also received the IFIA Best Invention Award from the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations, which singled out her work as one of the most outstanding entries among hundreds of participants.
Khudry represented Saudi Arabia with the support of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), which has been participating in the IIFME for the third consecutive year. As a member of the Mawhiba Alumni Program, she embodies the foundation’s mission to nurture Saudi talent and bring it to the world stage.
A Journey of Persistence
This international recognition did not come overnight. As a student in 2013, Khudry won first place nationwide at the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity (Ibdaa) for the same recycling device, competing against tens of thousands of students across the Kingdom. More than a decade later, she obtained an official patent for the invention in 2024—a formal validation of its scientific merit and commercial potential.
Today, Khudry is pursuing graduate studies in materials science and engineering under the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program. Her academic research focuses on environmental sustainability, advanced materials, and liquid purification technologies—themes that flow directly from her award-winning invention.
A Platform for Innovation
The IIFME, organized annually by the Kuwait Science Club since 2007, has grown into one of the region’s largest specialized invention exhibitions. It provides a platform for inventors from across the Middle East and beyond to present their work to international audiences, investors, and industry experts.
For Khudry, the fair offered not only recognition but connection—a chance to place her work in a global context and engage with fellow innovators confronting similar challenges.
Looking Ahead
Khudry’s success is both personal and national. It reflects years of individual effort, but also the ecosystem that supported her: Mawhiba’s training and mentorship, the scholarship program enabling her advanced studies, and a national vision that increasingly values scientific creativity as essential to the Kingdom’s future.
In a statement following her win, Khudry expressed gratitude to those who supported her journey and hope that her invention might contribute to solving real-world problems. For Saudi Arabia, watching one of its own stand on an international stage, receiving gold for an idea born in a classroom more than a decade ago, the moment carried a deeper meaning.
The future, in this case, has been a long time coming. And it is just beginning.
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