AUC Hosts MIT-MENA International Internship Program

AUC's Additive Manufacturing Centennial Lab (AMCL) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering is one of the first academic host sites in Egypt for the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MITSI) MENA program, welcoming two Massachusetts Institute of Technology students for a three-month internship.

Guided by Hanadi Salem ’83, ’87, professor of mechanical engineering as well as founder and director of AMCL, the students worked on advanced manufacturing technologies in the lab, gaining hands-on exposure to new research and development.

“This experience exposed me to a niche aspect of mechanical engineering, which is manufacturing, and it made it clear to me what I am and am not interested in,” said Yusef Primus, a mechanical engineering sophomore at MIT interning at AUC this summer.

Since 2017, the MITSI MIT-MENA  program has matched MIT students with internship and research opportunities at the region’s leading universities. “We believe our students are one day going to lead companies, projects and maybe countries. We want them to have this global experience so that they will be well-rounded individuals,” said Maye Elqasem, program administrator for the MISTI MIT-MENA program.

This collaboration provides an important opportunity for the MIT interns to engage with AUC’s multidisciplinary research environment while contributing to and learning from the innovative work being conducted at AMCL. “Hosting talented MIT interns at AMCL is a significant milestone for our lab, the mechanical engineering department and AUC," said Salem. "It strengthens our global academic and research engagement through international collaboration and knowledge exchange, while bringing fresh perspectives to our ongoing research."

Elqasem added that the MIT MENA Program hopes to expand its partnership to other AUC programs with a larger cohort of students. “AUC is a leading institution when it comes to research, when it comes to innovation, and we are very happy and proud of this collaboration between our program and this amazing institution,” Elqasem said.

MIT interns working at AUC participate in hands-on research projects, including 3D printing metals and additive manufacturing methods to address real-world manufacturing challenges. "Their hands-on experience in advanced manufacturing, robotics, process modeling, materials characterization and mechanical testing, together with training at the Eltoukhy Learning Factory as well as the Fluids and Computer-Aided Design Labs, will broaden their understanding of the relationship between manufacturing processes, material structure and performance, while providing valuable interdisciplinary preparation for their continued mechanical engineering studies at MIT," said Salem.

Anthony Nguyen, mechanical engineering sophomore at MIT who plans to research robotic interfaces for artificial intelligence, says interning at AMCL has allowed him to engage with different workflows and perspectives.

“I wanted to experience a different culture, experience life outside of the United States,” Nguyen said. “When I started this internship, I was initially interested in aerospace applications, so I'm glad to be doing something related to that right now. But I'm also open to all types of industries where [I’d be] useful, like construction, robotics, even biomedical. I see the international work experience impacting my career by making me think about where I want to work in the future, not necessarily staying in America, seeing if a different work culture would fit me as a person and my career goals better.”

In the AMCL lab, which trains new generations of engineers in cutting-edge technologies, the two interns are currently investigating how to apply wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) 3D printing using metal wire to research gaps in different manufacturing processes. Nguyen’s research investigates whether WAAM is a less wasteful and suitable alternative for computer numerical control machining in the production of turbine blades.

“I identified a research gap in literature regarding wire arc additively manufactured turbine blades, so I'm looking to test those in a wind tunnel and compare that to traditional manufacturing,” Nguyen said. “The additive manufacturing experience I've been learning here has been influencing [my perspective]. It helps to understand how parts are manufactured and what that means when you're designing parts. This experience provided me valuable insight into what I want my career to be, but at the same time, I'm still very flexible.”

Primus participated in the program not only to gain career experience but also to immerse himself in an environment to improve his Arabic, having grown up speaking the language with his family. “Quite frankly, it's not common to be able to get an internship or experience in your related field that you want to study abroad,” he said. “I also want to get better at my Arabic.”

Primus is currently conducting literature review on gaps in the performance and manufacturing process of pylons prosthetic legs amputees may wear to substitute a missing limb.

“We are going to hypothesize our own solution to that using wire arc additive manufacturing,” Primus said. “We're going to design using software at the Mechanical Engineering AMCL and CAD labs , and then print it and do some testing to see if it actually is a good product.”

Primus says working at AMCL exposed him to a new side of manufacturing in 3D printing metals, and he plans to pursue a career at the intersection of robotics and healthcare, possibly becoming a surgeon.

“In the past, I've built some things on my own time, some robots. My hope in the future is to be able to build physical AI products that can directly help someone, like humanoid robots that look like us,” Primus said. “Being in an international environment really shaped how I want to help people all over the world, not just in America. Being able to help people directly through my inventions or research would be rewarding.”