Mohammed Ahmad S Al-Shamsi () is known for his work as an inventor, professor, and a formal delegate in Saudi Missions in selected United Nations meetings and agreements since 2013 such as Climate Summit, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Paris Agreement of 2015, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has worked to protect the Saudi interests in the international negotiations. He also was a formal representative of King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) in several international forums such as East Africa Environmental Risk & Opportunities Summit (The Republic of Djibouti) andÃÂ The meeting of The Global Leaders of Innovation FundersÃÂ (Manchester, UK).
Mohammed received his B.Sc. in 2005, and M.Sc. in 2007 from King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, and received his Ph.D., (Civil Engineering) in 2013 from University of Waterloo (UW), Canada. He received a multiple management credentials and executive educations from top ranking schools and accredited associations around the world including Stanford University, Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Project management Institute (PMI), and American Academy of Project Management (AAPM).
He started his career as academic researcher in 2006 in the laboratories of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) since he got his bachelor's degree. He then held a faculty position of assistant professor (civil and environmental engineering) in 2013, and associate professor in 2019. Al-Shamsi was temporary worked in 2015 as adjunct professor in Civil Engineering Department, Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh.
Since 2013, he held several management roles starting from a supervisor of laboratories in the national center of environmental technologies, acting manager of several research national centers. Then, he was appointed a deputy director for scientific affairs in the Life Science and Environmental Research Institute (LSERI) in 2015 until 2018. In 2019, he was appointed deputy director-general for the General Directory of Research Grants in KACST.
In his management role, he structured and restructured several departments and units and set financial & non-financial incentive-based-performance programs, human resources development plans, auditing and risk management plans and project management restructuring plan. He was leading the hiring team in the appointments for over 300 candidates. He had designed and developed the training pathways for over 100 employees.
One of his publication, where he was the first author, was cited over 100 times in many prestigious journals, where he and his co-workers proposed a new chemical equation to illustrate the behavior of quick passivation of nano iron particles in contact with the persulfate chemical oxidant.
Al-Shamsi published many scientific articles in high impact peer-reviewed journals. One of his publication, where he was the first author, was cited over 100 times in many prestigious journals. He was a co-author for the 3rd National Communication that was submitted by the government of Saudi Arabia to United Nation body (UNFCCC). His name was indicated in the section of Appendix X2: Contributors & Reviewers for "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK 6th edition)" and "The Standard for Portfolio Management, 5th edition".
Alshamsi was an official examiner for several scientific prizes including the outstanding awards for the King Abullah Prize for Inventors & Gifted (2013 round), and Almarai Prize for Scientific Innovation (Research Unit Prize in the field of Environment-2013). He also serve as a reviewer for several scientific journals and organizations including Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Advances, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Chemosphere, Nanoscale (RSC), and Environmental Research.
Al-Shamsi co-invented several technologies and software in the field of carbon capture and storage, climate change, desertification, groundwater remediation, and nano synthesizing machines and techniques. Over 17 patents were filled with his name as a first inventor with other co-inventors in several patent offices including the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), Saudi Patent Office, and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The book "Research Sub-Contractor: Models for The Decline of The National Research and Innovation System" criticizes the misconduct of research and research funding in Saudi Arabia and the like countries.
One of the biggest obstacles the author notes is the country's current system of funding subcontractors to conduct research. Far too often, subcontractors divert their funding to foreign researchers and academic institutions for self-promotion and publication in prestigious international scientific journals. This undermines the Saudi research and development system by using limited government money to support foreign institutions.
For Al-Shamsi, economic independence and homeland security will only be guaranteed by local and homegrown innovation.
The author proposes various ideas on how the Saudi government could foster homegrown innovation. These include the creation of new government councils that report directly to the prime minister, new patent laws and greater protections on intellectual property, and the funding of Saudi industrial expositions and scientific journals.
The book is a step-by-step playbook for maximizing research and innovation, not just for countries, but with a little out of the box thinking, the same ideas could be re-purposed to improve businesses.