Innovation for Impact
Hessa fe Qessa (A Lesson in a Story) – Salma Elbarbary ’22 With Egypt’s illiteracy rate reaching 27% in 2020, Hessa fe Qessa is an educational app that teaches illiterate individuals how to read, employing an interactive story that discusses relevant social issues. The app includes an audio guide, exercises and an information bank. Gowa El Hadota (Inside the Tale) – Salma Elbarbary ’22
Cop-tivating a City
When Issa Shahin (YAB ’94, ’96*) first came to study abroad at AUC in 1994, he was eager to finally spend time in the city that colored his father’s stories. “He would tell me about sneaking his sisters and brothers into the movies, how lively Cairo is and how everybody looked out for each other,” Shahin said.
Enter the CAVE
Hesham Ismail ’04, ’07 wanted to document an afternoon riding electric scooters with his wife in downtown Los Angeles, California, but he couldn’t take his hands off the handlebars to reach for his phone. Instead, he said, “Hey Facebook, take a video!” and the Ray-Ban sunglasses he was wearing began to record.
Finding the Superpower Within
While working as an intern at Alexandria University hospital, Sara Nasr, a graduate student at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology (I-GHHE), witnessed constant misfortunes. However, the young physician-in-training found herself particularly touched by the stories of children suffering from hemophilia. “Not only were they burdened with their sickness, but they also had to deal with the way the community views them,” Nasr explained.
‘Mostakbal’ of Urbanism
On a windy afternoon in February, AUC students from the Urban Design and Landscape Architecture course, taught by Momen El-Husseiny, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, piled out of a bus and onto the sandy grounds of Mostakbal (Future) City — one of Cairo’s up-and-coming satellite cities located in the desert about 55 kilometers east of Tahrir Square.
Creativity with Compassion
By integrating design thinking into the curriculum, AUC is teaching students to approach complicated problems with a sense of empathy, creativity and resilience, explained Hoda Mostafa, professor of practice and director of the University’s Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT).
When Language Becomes Art
Can humans communicate through a single unified language? Yes, according to Haytham Nawar, associate professor and chair of the Department of the Arts, who is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop a universal pictographic language that could bridge divides and enhance cross-cultural understanding. Why pictographic?
Metaverse: Pervasive or Invasive?
Here are some of the technologies AUC students have contributed to in just the last several years: a self-navigating wheelchair, applications that route traffic more intelligently and a smart mirror capable of determining a person’s vitals.
In Photos: AUC's Eye-Catching Senior Art Exhibition 'Liquid Gaze'
Towering in the middle of AUC’s Tahrir Cultural Center (TCC) is a metal sculpture containing intricate shapes made of iron, accompanied by three paintings on a nearby wall. Visual arts major Nour Tawfik ‘22, describes the installation, “Nostalgia is a Dirty Liar…” — which took her a year’s worth of research and creativity to make for her senior project:
AUC Awards 13 Alumni at 2022 Alumni Awards Ceremony
From entrepreneurial giants and athletes to the young superstars powering our favorite startups, thirteen alumni were awarded at AUC's 2022 Alumni Awards Ceremony last week. The ceremony, hosted by AUC's Office of Alumni Engagement, was the first awards ceremony since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Najla Badran Two-Time Winner at Granshan Type Design Competition for Collaboration with Renowned Egyptian Calligrapher
Najla Badran, adjunct professor in AUC’s Department of the Arts, won third prize and received an honorable mention during the 12th Granshan Type Design Competition for her work in digitizing the typefaces of Egyptian calligrapher Moussad Khodeir, known as Khodeir Al-Borsaidy.
Meet the ‘People of Now’: Seven Alumni Awarded at 2022 Egypt Entrepreneur Awards
Seven AUC alumni emerged triumphant at the 2022 Egypt Entrepreneur Awards. Honored for their innovation, risk-taking and business savvy, the awardees are among the country’s brightest and most promising entrepreneurs, called the ‘People of Now’ by the event’s website.
Higher Education Minister Honors AUC Students for Self-Luminous Concrete Thesis Project
Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar awarded the ministry shield to four undergraduate students in the Department of Construction Engineering who have developed self-luminous concrete to light up roadways and pavements at night without using conventional energy sources.
Eve Troutt Powell, Maya Morsy '95 Named Keynote Speakers for June Commencement
Maya Morsy '95, president of Egypt's National Council for Women, will be the keynote speaker at the graduate commencement taking place on June 21, and Eve Troutt Powell, the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and a former presidential intern at AUC, will be the keynote speaker at the undergraduate commencement taking place on June 22.
Hesham Sallam Leads Egyptian Team’s Discovery of Bizarre Meat-Eating Dinosaur in Egypt’s Bahariya Oasis
Hesham Sallam, associate professor at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology in the School of Sciences and Engineering and founder of Mansoura University’s Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP), led an Egyptian team’s discovery of a new kind of large-bodied meat-eating dinosaur revealing important secrets about the Prehistoric Era in the region.
