02:35It also, I think the prize allows us to, especially the emerging generation, to open their eyes to what is possible.
02:50I think it enhances the science, it encourages the youth, and it brings the science up front and center in society.
02:59I think those are very, very important for building an educated society.
03:07I can imagine, Anna, and I will get back to that in just a moment.
03:09Professor, now, as the first scientist carrying the name of Saudi Arabia to receive a Nobel in Chemistry,
03:15how does this reflect on the significant advancement Saudi Arabia is witnessing in the fields of research, development, and as well as innovation?
03:23Well, first, I want to thank His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz,
03:30and I also want to thank the Crown Prince, His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman,
03:38for the support that they've shown me during the last years, for supporting my research, encouraging me.
03:48I think this is important to mention, science cannot be done in vacuum.
03:54It requires a lot of different contributions from different sides, and they have done a tremendous job in supporting me.
04:03I also want to thank CAXT, King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology, for their collaboration, scientific collaboration, over the last many years.
04:16These two aspects have helped me craft our research and direct our research in directions that benefit society,
04:29and we've taken the basic science all the way to applications and to commercialization through these collaborations
04:39and through the support of His Majesty and His Royal Highness in this regard.
04:48And I just want to mention that and thank them very much.
04:51This is an important time to acknowledge the people who have contributed to my success.
04:58In terms of its impact on society, I think the kingdom is going through an amazing transformation
05:06to become an important contributor to the world scene of science, and not just science, but also technology.
05:18And you can see every day different initiatives, such as the 2030 initiative, which is an important initiative for evolving the science in the kingdom.
05:32This is very important.
05:35The kingdom has a lot of smart people, and especially in universities,
05:42and these initiatives are very important at providing them opportunities, opening the door for them to experience and achieve their potential.
05:54Beautiful. Completely agree, Professor.
05:56Now, let's talk a little bit science.
05:59When you first imagined materials molecule by molecule,
06:04did you ever think it will lead to drinking water from air desert?
06:08I mean, such a radical transformation, at least for me.
06:12Very good question.
06:16When I set out to do research, I really just, I wanted to build materials like one would build Legos,
06:25or take molecules like building blocks and put them together to make different forms.
06:32And that was very, very exciting.
06:34And I did it, honestly, I did it because I love molecules, and I love the beauty of molecules.
06:39Their molecules is what attracted me to chemistry when I was 10 years old.
06:46I discovered drawings of molecules.
06:50We call them stick and ball diagrams.
06:51And I didn't know what they were at 10 years old, but certainly I figured out in future that these are molecules.
07:01And I became more and more interested in them, and I became deeper and went into the knowledge deeper and deeper.
07:12And finally, I had my independent position at Arizona State University back in 1992.
07:20And there I was free to exercise my ideas.
07:24And again, we wanted to implement the concept of building materials from molecular building blocks, and we succeeded.
07:35And that was an amazing moment.
07:38But once you build materials, and you, and in this case, we have basically opened a gold mine, where any molecule could be stitched together to make a new material.
07:52So the possibilities are almost endless.
07:56Now, it's not just beauty of what you've created, but also now we have to ask questions about what are they useful for.
08:04And that's when we embarked on applying the chemistry to taking water out of desert air to make drinking water, taking CO2 out of the air to clean the air, and storing hydrogen into the pores to make clean energy.
08:23So all these things are a progression of the initial success that we've had in assembling materials from the molecular building block approach.
08:33And that's what the committee has cited for the development of metal organic frameworks.
08:41Well, it is an amazing accomplishment indeed, Professor.
08:46Now, will MOFs one day allow entire cities to run on captured water and recycled air?
08:53I mean, is that science fiction or an engineering deadline, so to speak?
08:58Well, it sounds like science fiction.
09:02In fact, there were movies made about trapping water from air.
09:07But the power of these materials is that they can make dreams come to reality.
09:15And this is the beauty of it.
09:17We have a startup called Atoko in the south of Los Angeles in Irvine that is already testing devices that would deliver 2,000 liters a day from trapping water out of the air and requiring very little energy.
09:40They also have another product that would deliver 850 liters a day of water, clean drinking water, using only ambient sunlight.
09:55No electricity, just no power input, just ambient sunlight.
10:00So this means that these products will be widely deployed in cities, villages, everywhere where there is a need for clean water.
10:12So this is not science fiction anymore.
10:14It is reality, and it's made so by metal organic frameworks.
10:19Beautiful, beautiful.
10:20And we look forward to having that implemented in many, many other cities around the world, especially in countries of need.
10:28So, Professor, allow me to ask you this.
10:31Is there a discovery you dream of that science hasn't yet caught up with?
10:39Yes, I dream a lot about the future.
10:42And you have, as the saying say, you have to have a dream for a dream to come true.
10:48And scientists in general, and especially me, I was taught by my father and then by my PhD mentor that you have to do something completely new, okay, completely new as a scientist.
11:02And that's what we strive for.
11:04Yes, right now, I have dreams, I have ideas on how we can take this chemistry to the next level, which is, could we design MOFs that operate like DNA, meaning that they have sequences of information that code for very specific properties?
11:21It could be carbon capture and conversion of carbon to useful materials.
11:27That could happen in just one material.
11:29That's what we're working on now.
11:31It's a big challenge.
11:33If we can solve it, then we would have completely changed further the way people think about making materials.
11:40So, that's one direction.
11:42The other direction is that we have many ideas on how we can accelerate discovery using AI, using machine learning and large language models.
11:55AI tools that allow us to take things that we research for two to three years to achieve a result and reduce that time down to just weeks.
12:06We have already preliminary results that show that we can speed up the discovery of new materials so that we can achieve new materials that have very specific applications much quicker, 50-fold faster than what we have been doing.
12:29So, the future is very bright, so the future is very bright, and we only scratch the surface.
12:33There's a lot more work to do.
12:36And we have many, many ideas about how these materials can be modified further and with the use of AI, completely transform the way material science and chemistry work.
12:49This is something that, I might add, is a significant part of my collaboration with CAXT in Saudi Arabia.
12:57Amazing.
12:59I'm glad to hear that you have the support for that amazing vision that you have, Professor.
13:03Now, allow me to end with this.
13:05After winning this prize, what messages do you have to all the youth?
13:10I mean, you mentioned earlier how important this prize is for the youth, and especially the youth of Saudi Arabia,
13:15that you made this possible for every single child in Saudi Arabia to look up to having a Nobel one day in their lives.
13:21And not only in Saudi Arabia, but all the Arab children look up to you in that.
13:24So, what are your messages to them?
13:27Well, my message for Saudi Arabia is that you live in an amazing country that has tremendous resources
13:34and leadership that has the will to put those resources behind your education and behind the development of science and technology.
13:44This is a time in the history of science where it's never been better to do science.
13:51We have amazing equipment, amazing facilities that provide amazing opportunities for young people to engage in science.
14:00And as I mentioned with AI, this becomes even transformative to one's opportunities and for them to plug into solving societal challenges
14:14and developing technologies and developing technologies to make better standards of life for not just Saudis, but everyone in the region and the world.
14:25So, my advice to them would be science allows you to get to the top the quickest.
14:32Okay, it just requires patience and you have to do the experiment.
14:37If you do the experiment, you have the possibility to discover.
14:41And when you discover, you discover it could transform the world.
14:45So, I think that my message is to do the experiment and to be bold and not afraid to try new things.
14:55So, the experiment is paramount to discovery.
14:59I agree.
15:00I think having the courage to experiment unknown things is absolutely the key to some amazing adventures and findings.
15:07Professor Amar Yaghi, congratulations again.
15:10The first Saudi scientist to get a Nobel Prize in chemistry.
15:15It's been an honor.
15:18Thank you so much.
15:19Thank you for your interest and for this wonderful interview.
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