The College of Engineering and Petroleum at Kuwait University has inaugurated the Internet of Things (IoT) Laboratory in the Department of Computer Engineering and launched a two-month series of training workshops. The establishment of the laboratory was funded by Siemens through the Offset Program, running from 11 November to 16 December 2025, under the supervision of the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA).
The opening ceremony was attended by a delegation from Siemens, including Farah Al-Sheikh, Business Development Manager and Manager of Electrical Automation Solutions; Patrick Kobart, Cloud Solutions Engineer at Siemens Software; Abbas Jumaa, Electrical Automation Projects Manager; and Ahmad Al-Shaoush, Industrial Control Systems Solutions Manager. From the Department of Computer Engineering, attendees included the Department Chair, Prof. Saed Abdul, and the supervisor of the laboratory establishment, Dr. Mohammad Khattar Awwad, Associate Professor and Director of the Master’s Program, in addition to several faculty members, engineers, and students.
The workshops provide the latest technical skills necessary to equip young computer engineers with strong competitiveness in local and global job markets in the field of industrial programming. Many factories and companies rely on these technologies to maximize productivity and enhance operational efficiency. Moreover, these technologies are considered key enablers of smart city development and digital transformation. Therefore, they play a vital role in achieving Kuwait Vision 2035, “New Kuwait,” aimed at transforming the country into a regional financial and commercial hub.
The Department of Computer Engineering at the College of Engineering and Petroleum aligns with “Kuwait Vision 2035” through the establishment of the IoT Laboratory, which facilitates student learning in various areas such as IoT engineering, algorithm development, machine learning, and data analytics. The laboratory thus contributes to preparing computer engineers capable of supporting the development of a New Kuwait.
It is worth noting that this laboratory is the first of its kind in the country, as it is not available in any other local educational or research institution in Kuwait. The laboratory consists of miniature factory models, oil-well drilling machines, components of modern smart cities, and cloud-computing platforms. It enables students to design computational algorithms and software to collect data from the available models and to make decisions that improve their performance. For example, a student may design an algorithm to measure traffic flow and control traffic lights to reduce congestion; develop an algorithm for monitoring the condition of oil-well drilling equipment and predicting faults; or build and manage a model of a small factory and control its processes. All these practical experiences support the teaching of core and elective courses in the Computer Engineering Program at the College of Engineering and Petroleum at Kuwait University.