Innovative solutions dominate Aramco Tech Quest 2022

How can document review be automated using AI? Can quality control be improved at the source? And how do we keep solar panels on our roofs dust free? These are some of the questions at the Aramco Tech Quest hosted at the end of September, in conjunction with its upstream research center in Delft, the Netherlands.

A keen supporter of STEM (science technology engineering maths), Aramco and leading start-up incubator Yes!Delft challenged students from both TU Delft and Erasmus University to come up with creative, innovative and scalable solutions to the above problems. In total, five teams of selected students competed for first place assisted by mentors from both host organizations.

Critical thinking was center to day-long event, held at Yes!Delft's purpose-built facilities, which culminated in each team then pitching their submission to a panel of judges, who then selected a winner.

“Critical thinking is a key part of our work in energy and it is reassuring to hear that you have been exposed to real life challenges the industry faces,” said Khalid Al-Moaili, manager of Technical Services at Aramco Europe, ahead of the team pitches. “Tech Quest could be the first step towards your journey as energy professionals, and I assure you that our industry is always looking for new talent.”

This year winner was team ClearSun, with their solution for self-cleaning solar panels, which impressed the jury for being simple, innovative and scalable. Second prize was awarded to Skynet who focused on automated document review by using AI, while third prize went to Rockwall, for their tag to guarantee the authenticity of products and fight counterfeit.

“The quality of the solutions provided at the 2022 Tech Quest has been beyond our expectations, with several innovative ideas now being considered to be followed-up upon,” said Roald van Borselen, Senior Research Science Consultant at Aramco’s upstream research center and Tech Quest mentor.

Repeated support for Tech Quest is just one of many initiatives the company supports around the world to boost levels of STEM participation across students of all ages. In Europe, the Company has supported many academic initiatives designed to get future generations thinking about energy related subjects, while also supporting teachers themselves, when delivering STEM education.