Energy chiefs, last week,  signed a deal to set up the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s first specialized equipment test lab in Saudi Arabia at the 9th Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference in Jeddah. Dr. Essam Al-Ammar, who has been a member of the International Sustainable Organization, since October 2011, was part of the technical committee of the conference.  Al-Ammar is an associate professor at King Saud University’s (KSU) electrical engineering department. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at KSA in 1997. He worked at Lucent Technology Co. as a power/software engineer until August 1999.  Al-Ammar went to the US to pursue higher studies and obtained a master’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Alabama in 2003. He did his Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 2007. On his return to the Kingdom, he worked as an energy consultant and adviser at different organizations, including Riyadh Techno Valley, Ministry of Water and Electricity and Saudi Aramco. He also worked at the Saudi Electricity and Co-generation Regulatory Authority as the organization’s adviser for over seven years until July 2019. Al-Ammar joined KSU as an assistant professor in October 2007 and in January 2012 he was promoted as associate professor. He is also a senior member of the Institute of Electronic Engineers since October 2001. He has authored nearly 100 research papers and has 20 patents in energy and water.