LES awarded Deals of Distinction™ in five industry sectors at the LES Annual Meeting Business Luncheon on October 20, 2025. The sectors included: High-Tech, Brands as a Business, Industry-University-Government Interface, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences. Now in its twenty-first year, the annual program recognizes companies that orchestrate the year’s most outstanding licensing and business deals in each sector. Key dealmakers were on hand to provide insights on their winning deals.
Dealmakers: Saudi Aramco Technologies Company, King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology, and AIR6 Systems
Presented by Nicki Kennedy, Co-Chair, LES Physical Sciences Sector, to Omar Abalkhail, Alexander Fraess-Ehrfeld, Robin Vargehese and Riddhi Shukla.
Why it won…
This award-winning deal recognized the collaboration, development, and licensing of a groundbreaking pipe inspection technology that utilizes hybrid drones. The innovation stood out for its ability to tackle major challenges in the energy sector—improving safety, reducing costs, and promoting sustainability.
According to the parties involved, the technology has already demonstrated significant benefits, including reduced reliance on scaffolding, lower inspection costs, fewer safety risks associated with working at height, fewer delays caused by scaffolding unavailability, and a more sustainable inspection process overall.
Nicki Kennedy noted, “ It addresses several critical issues in the energy sector, including safety hazards for people climbing high on scaffolding or other dangerous and frankly terrifying methods.”
“King Abdullah University and Saudi Aramco formed a master research agreement where both parties would own the outputs, along with giving Aramco the right to commercialize,” said Riddhi Shukla of KA University.
Alexander Fraess-Ehrfeld of AIR6 described the collaboration process, “The idea was originated by KA University and it was then licensed to Saudi Aramco Technologies Company. They commissioned the systems from AIR6. We are a company based in Austria, asked to develop and deliver the product.”
He added, “The core of the technology is a drone, which is used for pipe and metal inspections to check the thickness of pipe, walls, or vessels. The drone basically transports the actual measuring device, a magnetic crawler, to a pipe to measure thickness.”
LES Deals of Distinction Award for the Physical Sciences in 2025 was awarded by Nicki Kennedy, LES Sector Chair (left) to Omar Abalkhail (Saudi Aramco), Alexander Fraess-Ehrfeld (AIR6), Robin Vargehese (Saudi Aramco), and Riddhi Shukla (King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology).
Representatives for each party were present to accept the award.
LES Deal of Distinction Criteria
The Licensing Executives Society’s Deal of Distinction Award recognizes agreements that:
- Solve business problems creatively
- Feature novel licensing structures
- Represent “seismic events” within their industry sector
LES Deals of Distinction Award for the Physical Sciences in 2025 was awarded by Nicki Kennedy, LES Sector Chair (left) to Omar Abalkhail (Saudi Aramco), Alexander Fraess-Ehrfeld (AIR6), Robin Vargehese (Saudi Aramco), and Riddhi Shukla (King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology).
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