KAUST Inks First Royalty-Bearing License

Last week, KAUST signed its first royalty-bearing license agreement for NOMADD, the “No Water, Mechanical, Automated, Dusting Device.”

Licensing this technology to NOMADD Desert Solar Solutions, a startup spun out of the university, establishes an important basis for the future of photovoltaic solar panels in the Kingdom. The company was conceived three years ago by founder Georg Eitelhuber, former physics school teacher at KAUST, who received a Seed Fund grant, a tool provided by KAUST to financially support its entrepreneurs.

“We are very proud to be KAUST’s first licensee,” said Eitelhuber. “We are very thankful for all the hard work the Economic Development team has put into this project and all the support they have given to the NOMADD team.”

The NOMADD is a robot designed for cleaning solar panels in arid desert environments. Powered by the solar panel it is cleaning, it eliminates the need for water or dedicated manpower.

The license signed on the 26th of this month grants NOMADD Desert Solar Solutions the exclusive right to manufacture, use, and offer for sale the product with the underlying patent-pending technologies.

“The NOMADD technology makes the generation of power from photovoltaic panels practical for use in desert environments,” said Elizabeth Horton, senior technology portfolio manager at KAUST. “We are especially pleased that NOMADD Desert Solar Solutions will be taking the product into the Saudi market and into desert regions around the world.”

Learn more about intellectual property protection and commercialization at the KAUST Technology Transfer & Innovation program, and about seed funding and entrepreneurial support at the New Ventures & Entrepreneurship program.