KAUST: The Saudis' New Tech University

While we were all watching the Q and A (Qadhafi and Ahmadinejad) show yesterday, the Saudis were opening the King ‘Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Operated by Saudi Aramco, it's meant to be the tech school of the future, and it's coeducational (BBC calls it "mixed-sex" which may be a Britishism but probably exaggerates the mingling: only 15% of the students are female). But women won't be required to veil. Press coverage here and here and here and here and here and here and here. (And I'm being conservative: no Arabic sites, and for some reason the Saudi Gazette hasn't updated for several days.) It has the "world's 14th fastest supercomputer" according to one report. The new university is about 50-some miles/80 km north of Jiddah on the Red Sea Coast at a place called Thuwal. The 71 faculty members so far include 14 from the US, seven from Germany and six from Canada; I'm guessing that means English is the language of instruction.

It's an ambitious move and an apparently well-founded one, and the liberal approach to women seems innovative. Let's wish it well.