THUWAL — A batch of students from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has completed a two-week interactive course titled "Entrepreneurship for All," developed by the Stanford University faculty. The course, designed for education in leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation through design thinking, was developed through the Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD). This is the first of its kind courses being offered by SCPD at a higher education institution in the Kingdom. The course aims to provide the next generation of leaders with an innovative and pioneering thinking, developing major core skills, enhancing students' ability to act in accordance with emerging ideas emanating from their studies or research, and to teach them how to apply design thinking to create prototypes and develop them into products ready for the market. In this course, students also learn negotiation skills, how to communicate with best practices to enable the foundations of strong business partnerships, and ways to approach all aspects of their lives with an entrepreneurial mindset. Students gain a broader understanding of leadership mechanisms with an emphasis on teamwork and leadership skills. KAUST President Tony Chan said that it always gave him pleasure to repeat that entrepreneurship is the new mathematics. "The innovation skills that students acquire by building a new company and then marketing it will remain with them throughout their career. KAUST will partner with SCPD to make available course material for all KAUST students." KAUST focuses on enhancing the incubating environment for innovation in the Kingdom through education, as the transforming force that unleashes the potential of students by changing the way they see the world. The new interactive course is an important milestone in KAUST's contribution to developing an economy based on innovation and knowledge in the Kingdom. The Kingdom's Vision 2030 goals focus on promoting entrepreneurship and building of new companies in sectors with high added value. KAUST has supported more than 240 startups through its entrepreneurial programs, and expects that this program will help stimulate the next generation of deep technology companies in the Kingdom.
