Tuesday 15 / April / 2025
Muscat : Cerbal, a student startup from Sultan Qaboos University, offers an advanced technological solution to the problem of iron corrosion.
Empowering youth, enhancing their innovation, providing educational environments for them, and encouraging creativity are vital issues that play a pivotal role in developing societies. In light of the many and increasing challenges facing the world, it is essential to prepare a generation that is aware and capable of facing these challenges in order to build a better future for youth and society.
In light of the national trend toward empowering youth and promoting innovation in educational institutions, "Cerbal" stands out as one of the inspiring models of student startups born from within the walls of Sultan Qaboos University. It offers an advanced technical solution to a problem facing many industrial sectors around the world: iron corrosion. This step contributes to industrial innovation and raises awareness of the importance of exploiting local resources.
Aya bint Ahmed Al Balushi, the project's development and production manager, said that Cerbal is a student-led startup that aims to develop an anti-corrosion, heat-insulating, and electrically insulating coating composed of 70 to 80 percent neglected natural rocks from the Omani environment. This is an innovative and environmentally friendly contribution to protecting metal structures from corrosion, especially in harsh environments.
Al Balushi added that the idea for the project came after observing the challenges facing industrial sectors in the Sultanate of Oman, such as oil, gas, and water, due to corrosion, which causes significant financial losses and environmental damage. This led to the question: Can we find an effective solution in nature?
Aya Al Balushi noted that the startup targets companies operating in industrial sectors such as oil and gas, desalination plants, construction companies, and seaports, in addition to government agencies involved in infrastructure and maintenance.
As for the challenges facing this project, Al Balushi explained that there are several, including a lack of specialized expertise in the field of industrial coatings.
She emphasized that the team working on this project received tangible support from Sultan Qaboos University, in terms of providing the necessary laboratories and equipment for conducting experiments and analyses. Faculty members from the College of Science also provided project supervision and scientific guidance, which helped develop the idea systematically.
Discussing the risks associated with this innovation, their assessment, and the development of effective solutions to manage them, Al Balushi explained that this innovative paint may face some rejection as a new product in the market due to unfamiliarity with it and reliance on previous traditional paints, in addition to competition from other companies with more experience in this field.
Aya noted that the team conducted extensive testing on paint samples in various environments that simulate real-world conditions, gathered the opinions of specialists and potential customers to improve the product, and developed a marketing plan that takes into account market feedback and promotes the product's environmental and economic value.
The team behind the project emphasised that their vision is not limited to developing a technical product alone, but rather seeks to transform university knowledge into sustainable economic solutions that serve society and reduce reliance on imported materials.
