Medad Technologies is an NUS spin-off company that applies adsorption desalination technology to power desalination and cooling systems. Jointly developed by NUS, King Abdullah University (Saudi Arabia) and Kyushu University (Japan), this technology harnesses low-grade waste heat (55-85°C) to generate pure water from sea water or waste water. Medad signed exclusive licences for key patents from both the NUS and King Abdullah University (KAUST) and continues to further develop adsorption desalination technology internally.

In 2014, a collaborative project commenced between Medad, KAUST and TAQNIA (a Saudi investment company). This led to the setting up of the world’s first water desalination and cooling plant using adsorption technology, in 2016, located at Solar Village, near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The plant has a cooling capacity of up to 1MW and desalinated water production of up to 100m3 per day. A larger, second plant will be commissioned by KAUST, as Medad continues to generate more projects.

​NUS Enterprise provided Medad with incubation and mentorship support and simplified the licensing process to speed up commercialisation of the technology. One of the co-founders, Joseph Ng, is a serial entrepreneur.