Engineer Tarek Al-Kasabi Award for Excellence in Civil Engineering in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

1.      About Eng. Al-Kasabi Award

The Eng. Al-Kasabi award was established in 2015 by the endowment of Engineer Tarek Al-kasabi. This prestigious award is annually given to those scientists, engineers or researchers who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the fields of Civil Engineering. Currently, a new award for undergraduate students has been added to the Eng. Al-Kasabi award to recognize students with excellent academic performance at the College of Engineering at King Saud University (KSU) The award is administered by the Department of Civil Engineering at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

2.      Award Sponsor

Eng. Tariq Othman Al-Qasabi graduated from King Saud University in the field of Civil Engineering in 1976.  Eng. Al-Qasabi began his work as a project engineer at Kara Corporation during the period between 1976 and 1977. He was later promoted to a project manager in 1978 and continued in this position for 3 years. Eng. Al-Qasabi held the position of the vice president from 1981 to 1988.

Eng. Tariq was then appointed as General Manager of Makkah Construction and Development Company, where he held that position from 1988 to 1990. In 1990, Eng. Al-Qasabi joined Dallah Hospital, where he worked as the CEO of the company and continued in that position until 1994. During the period from 1994 to 1995, he held the position of Managing Director of Dallah Health Services Company, and later as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company.

List of other positions that Eng. Al-Qasabi has held:

• Member of the Board of Directors of Bank Al Jazira (from 1998 until 31/12/2015).

• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Al-Jazira (from 01/01/2016 to date)

• Member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Disabled Children (from 2000 until 2011)

• Chairman of Ataa Educational Board (2003 to date)

• Vice President of the Riyadh Municipal Council (2005 until 14/12/2014)

• Chairman of the Riyadh Municipal Council (14/12/2014 until 31/12/2015)

• Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aseer Company for Trade, Tourism and Industry (from 2007 to date)

• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Jazira Capital (28/2/2008 until 30/6/2013)

• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al Jazira Capital (13/10/2015 until 26/01/2016)

• Supervisor of the prince Fahd Bin Salman project for charitable organization of the care of patients with kidney failure (2007 to date).

 3.      Eng. Al-Kasabi Award Mission

Ø  Keeping up with the global developments in the technical field of Civil Engineering through applied scientific research in order to achieve applied scientific excellence.

Ø  Service and development of community through directed scientific research to meet the requirements of industrial development.

Ø  Preparing distinguished undergraduate engineers to meet the needs of the engineering sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

4.      Eng. Al-Kasabi Award Objectives

Ø  Developing a spirit of creativity and innovation and to stimulate talent and capabilities through encouragement of applied scientific research in the fields of Civil Engineering in kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ø  Strengthening the relationship between Saudi universities and the industrial/ private sectors.

Ø  Contributing to the localization and transfer of expertise and technology in the field of Civil Engineering.

Ø  Motivating undergraduate students through the creation of competitive environment to achieve excellent academic performance.

5.      Eng. Al-Kasabi Award Fields

·        The Eng. Al-Kasabi award is given for demonstrating outstanding contributions to any of the following fields of Civil Engineering: structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, water resources engineering, environmental engineering, transportation engineering, construction management engineering, and surveying engineering.

·        The award for the outstanding undergraduate students includes all departments of the College of Engineering at King Saud University only. 

6.      Eng. Al-Kasabi Award Categories

Ø There are two categories of the Eng. Al-Kasabi award:

·        In the first category, a research paper published in a peer reviewed scientific ISI journal.

·        In the second category, excellent academic performance at the undergraduate level of the College of Engineering at KSU.

7.      Evaluation Criteria

Ø The Eng. Al-Kasabi award will be given based on the total score gained:

·       In the first category, the score of the submitted research will be calculated based on the value of the research to the Kingdom; the journal’s Impact factor; number of citations of the research.

·       In the second category, the score is obtained based on the academic performance, approved by the Vice Deanship for Educational and Academic Affairs, College of Engineering - King Saud University.

8.      Award Management

The Civil Engineering Department of the College of Engineering at King Saud University is responsible for supervising the award, reviewing standards and regulations, and nominating members of the Scientific Committee.

9.      Eng. Al-Kasabi Award

·        The total award money for Research Excellence in Civil Engineering is one hundred and seventy-five thousand (175,000) Saudi riyals distributed among civil engineering branches as follows:

Ø  The winner for the best research in Structural Engineering receives twenty-five thousand (25,000) Saudi Riyals.

Ø  The winner for the best research in Construction Management Engineering receives twenty-five thousand (25,000) Saudi riyals.

Ø  The winner for the best research in Environmental Engineering receives twenty-five thousand (25,000) Saudi riyals.

Ø  The winner for the best research in Transportation Engineering receives twenty-five thousand (25,000) Saudi riyals.

Ø  The winner for the best research in Water Engineering receives twenty-five thousand (25,000) Saudi riyals.

Ø  The winner for the best research in Geotechnical Engineering receives twenty-five thousand (25,000) Saudi riyals.

Ø  The winner for the best research in Surveying Engineering receives twenty-five thousand (25,000) Saudi riyals.

·        In case the quality of the submitted research in any of these branches do not meet the minimum criteria, the submitted research will be disqualified for this branch. The second best submitted research among the different branches will be awarded.

·        The financial award should be distributed equally among all members (if any) of the winning research.

·        Only the winning researcher in each branch is awarded a plaque of recognition.

Ø  Scientific Committee 

The organizing committee for the award, located in the College of Engineering at King Saud University, and in the current circuit, it consists of:

10.  Eligibility Rules

Eligible Candidates:

Ø  The eligible candidates for Eng. Al-kasabi award are:

·        University faculty members, researchers, and graduate students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

·        Engineers who are licensed to practice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

·        Saudi graduate students studying abroad whom research works are related and applicable to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Ø  The eligible applicant for Eng. Al-kasabi research award:

·        Must be the main author.

·        Has not been awarded Eng. Al-Kasabi award for the last two rounds as the main author.

·        The specialization of the main author must be aligned with the area of the submitted research.

Eligible Researches

·        The submitted research must be an applied research and had made a significant contribution to the field of Civil Engineering.

·        The submitted research has not been awarded previously by Eng. Al-Kasabi award or any other awards and it is not under consideration for any award anywhere else.

·        The research must be published in a peer review scientific ISI journal not prior to 2021.

·        If the research includes a case study, it must be related to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

·        Applicant is not allowed to participate in more than one work.

·        The majority of the authors involved in the submitted research must be from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expect for graduate students studying abroad. 

11.  Annual Ceremony

·        The ceremony for The Eng. Al-Kasabi award is annually held in December at King Saud University. This ceremony is sponsored by Eng. Tarek Alkasabi.

·        The award is given to the main author only during the ceremony with attendance of Eng. Tarek Alkasabi.

·        The winners of the award are notified one month before the due date of the ceremony. 

12.  Application Process

Submitting the following documents to the Head of the Scientific Committee of the Award electronically at the address alqasbiprize@ksu.edu.sa on or before 31/8/2024, through the official author’s email (personal emails are not accepted):

Ø   Filling out the Nomination Form as word file only  (Note: incomplete submission of the form or submission as a pdf file will result in excluding your application)  

Ø  A copy of the published research in a PDF format.

Ø  A brief CV of the 1^st author.

13.  Contact Information

For inquiries please contact the Head of the Scientific Committee on:

King Saud University

College of Engineering

Civil Engineering Department

Email: alqasbiprize@ksu.edu.sa;

Mobile: 0545788000

Telephone:11    4676998