In 2017, Meshal Al-Harasani made headlines across the region for a project he and his team designed for Saudi Arabia’s mega-city project, NEOM. Al-Harasani and eight other team members were in the news for their attempt to create energy generators that draw power from the motion of vehicle tires rolling over specially designed roads. This year, Al-Harasani is making headlines once again, this time for announcing that he is creating a digital mus’haf for the visually impaired to facilitate reading the Holy Qur’an.
Speaking to Arab News, Al-Harasani explained that the digital version of the Qu’ran he is working on is an electronic board with 28 characters and each character has six braille letters, and the board page contains 28 rows. “The visually impaired can read the Qur’an easily and navigate through the pages easily as the entire Qur’an is registered on the board,” he explained.
He also went on to discuss how his version of the digital mus’haf would make it easier for the visually impaired compared to current versions of the Qur’an in braille, saying, “The visually impaired read the Qur’an in braille in six large volumes that make it difficult for them to reach the page, passage or Surah. Carrying them and storing them is difficult too because of the size.”
Al-Harasani is a multiple degree holder, inventor, and an adviser at King Abdul Aziz University. According to Kawa News, he studied at the Grenoble School of Management in France, Middlesex University in London, and the prestigious King’s College London. He is also a member of the American Society of Inventors since 2015, and, while in France, he developed a patented needle that might revolutionize modern medicine.
NEOM Project
Although still in his thirties, Al-Harasani already has more than 50 inventions under his belt. Speaking to Saudi Gazette back when he was working on the NEOM project, the young inventor was very hopeful about the future of young Saudis with regards to becoming inventors. He explained that there are in fact thousands of Saudi inventors today and all they need is encouragement and mentoring.
“With Saudi Vision 2030, our country is on its way to the first world. Our government believes in the Saudi youth. We are passionate about developing our country,” he explained.
