The Physics Department organized a scientific visit for students to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) on Wednesday, 07/13/1437 AH, corresponding to 04/20/2016 AD. The visit was for the Medical Devices Sector in particular.
The delegation included a group of the Department's best students accompanied by a selected number of faculty members, including Dr. Raed Hussein Al-Hathlool, Vice-Dean of the College for Development and Quality, Dr. Osama Abdulrahman Al-Daghri, Vice-Dean of the College for Administrative and Financial Affairs, Dr. Khaled Hasan Bin Awf, and Dr. Kamal Abduljawwad Bradah.
At the beginning of the visit, Mr. Rami Al-Tuwaijri presented an overview of SFDA and its different sectors. He also clarified that the main purpose of establishing SFDA is to regulate, control, and supervise food, drug, medical and diagnostic devices, as well as to set mandatory standard specifications thereof, whether they are imported or locally manufactured. The control and testing activities can be conducted in the SFDA or other agency's laboratories. Moreover, the SFDA is in charge of consumers' awareness on all matters related to food, drug and medical devices and all other products and supplies in order to achieve the main objectives of the SFDA.
Afterwards, Eng. Muhammad Al-Saleh presented a detailed explanation about the Medical Devices Sector. He pointed out that the main objectives of the Sector lie in the protection of public health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through applying procedures and requirements that ensure the safety of patients, medical devices operators and users, and other parties, as well as taking actions and determining the necessary responsibilities to ensure that the offered medical devices and products for marketing and/or use in the Kingdom meet all the requirements of SFDA according to the regulatory controls and supplementary rules of medical devices and products.
Eng. Abdulmajeed Al-Yemni concluded the introductory presentation by clarifying the role of SFDA in the field of radiation protection. He discussed at length the responsibilities of the Executive Management of Radiation Protection and Safety. The Department aims to ensure compliance of radiation emitting devices, radioactive substances, and radiological institutions to national and international standards aiming at the protection of workers, patients, and public from radiation hazards.
At the end of the visit, Dr. Raed Hussein Al-Hathlool thanked the SFDA and its members for having the delegation of the Physics Department and giving students the opportunity to discover scientific and research fields in this research and scientific edifice. The focus was on the importance of this visit, whereas it provided the students with the information regarding many practical and professional aspects that they can join as Physics graduates in the future. In addition, the visit had a significant importance with respect to strengthening cooperation relations in the field of training and research between the members of the two institutions and conducting students' graduate research projects.
This activity is part of the Scientific Committee activities in the Physics Department, which aims to introduce leading national institutions, contribute to the development and promotion of the scientific level of students, and enhance their engagement and knowledge about their scientific specialization. These activities also aim to open up broad prospects for students, whether scientific or practical ones, before or after graduation to prepare them to be distinctive individuals in order to build a positive society in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The group of students who participated in the visit are: Muhammad Muslih Al-Zahrani, Sultan Saleh Al-Duraibi, Abdulaziz Sa`ad Al-Ajroush, Abdullatif Salim Al-Yamami, and Abdullah Jam`an Al-Zahrani.
The participating students expressed their happiness and gratitude for organizing this visit and gave credit to the level of benefit they had and great impact of the visit, which will reflect positively on their academic performance and develop their future prospective after graduation.
It is noteworthy that the Physics Department thanked both Dr. Raed Al-Hathlool and Mr. Abdullah Al-Funaisan, Secretary of the Vice-Deanship of the College for Development and Quality, for their concrete efforts in organizing and coordinating this successful visit. Extended thanks were addressed to Dr. Muhammad Marashdeh, Academic Advisor of the Department, for coordinating and organizing participating student affairs.
With this visit, the Physics Department concluded the series of visits that were organized this academic year 1436/1437 AH, which were supervised by Dr. Raed Hussein Al-Hathlool, Head of the Scientific Committee in the Department. The visits included many scientific and research entities, including: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, Mishkat Interactive Center, SABIC Plastic Applications Development Center, Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, Saudi Food and Drug Authority, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal.
