Muscat – Omani innovator Mohammed Saud al Balushi has bagged a gold medal at the 34th International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX) held in Malaysia from May 11 to 13.

ITEX is an annual exhibition that brings the best innovations from Asia and beyond under one roof and offers them the best audience.

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Balushi, HSE specialist and instructor, said, “The annual international invention exhibition attracts the best inventors/innovators from around the world. This edition saw 700 participants from many countries.”

He informed that the GCC Secretariat General nominated him to represent the sultanate in the exhibition.

“This year, I also won a gold medal at the 13th International Invention Fair in the Middle East (IIFME), organised by the Kuwait Scientific Club from February 12 to 15.”

Balushi described his project as “a novel method of flow assurance for transporting heavy crude oil in pipelines”.

Flow assurance is a relatively new term in the oil and gas industry. It refers to ensuring successful and economical flow of hydrocarbon stream from reservoir to the point of sale.

Balushi informed that the objective of developing the project “is to accelerate oil production, preserve the environment and the safety of workers, and reduce the cost of oil production”.

“I developed the project using solar energy instead of electricity, making it sustainable.”

Balushi obtained a patent for his path-breaking invention in 2021 from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion.

“I faced financial constraints to complete the project, but the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation helped me,” he said.

Balushi is now working on developing the project further after getting support from the International College of Engineering and Management to implement his project on a bigger scale.