Director's Message

Innovations in materials are crucial to overcoming many Grand Challenges, technological limitations, disruptive technology, and breakthroughs and putting Saudi Arabia at the forefront of future industries. The IRC-AM aspires to be a leading national center, recognized globally, for impactful interdisciplinary research in advanced and disruptive materials that leads to new knowledge creation as well as innovative and practical solutions to the Grand Challenges which contribute substantively to the Kingdom’s economy and help build an ambitious nation to improve human conditions. The center aims to engineer materials with novel properties that enable superior performance in technological applications for energy, oil & gas, defense, water desalination, chemical & petrochemical, metals, construction, automotive, packaging, and other strategic national sectors.

The IRC-AM conducts research to address grand challenges such as i) sustainability and circular economy by developing cost-effective technologies to produce value-added products from solid wastes; ii) develop solutions to mitigate materials degradation (corrosion, wear, etc.) and extend product durability in emerging applications, such as hydrogen, carbon capture, membrane, and next-generation batteries; iii) reduce energy/fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by developing surface engineering technologies to reduce friction and wear, lightweight materials that withstand harsh conditions, and advanced joining technologies for lightweight hybrid structures; iv) increase polymer utilization by increasing the maximum operating temperature of polymer composites by 10%, and reducing flammability, toxicity, and cost of polymer composites; and v) facilitate the localization of promising manufacturing within KSA and allow the production of high-quality and durable parts that can sustain the harsh environments at KSA. The IRC-AM focuses mainly on advanced coatings and surface engineering, lightweight alloys, polymer composites, 2D materials, smart materials, computational materials, and corrosion inhibitors. Since its establishment, the center has steadily achieved its goals by expanding its capacities and competencies in material areas with distinguished researchers and state-of-the-art facilities.