While a business school education can be the foundation for a young entrepreneur's career, nothing matches hands-on industry experience. Courtesy of AUC's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) and Shorooq Partners, one of Egypt's leading investment firms, AUC students were invited last month to test their mettle in a competitive venture capital investment simulation, the first of its kind in Egypt, and likely the entire Middle East.

The competition was designed to accurately simulate the tough, high-stakes world of private investment. Although most competitors were from AUC’s School of Business, ultimately it was Ghoroub Partners, a team of computer scientists from the School of Sciences and Engineering, who took first prize, winning an impressive $2,000. If they are as talented with computers as they are with investments, all members (Nourhan Nada, Ahmad Ashraf, Lobna Aboudoma, Tamer Osman, and Mohamed Moghazy) have bright futures ahead of them.

"It was an honor to win first place in this competition," said Nada, a computer engineering student and Ghoroub Partners team member. "Our team conducted thorough research and analysis on the startup we were investing in, putting in a lot of hard work and effort. It was incredibly rewarding to see that pay off."

Nada attributed her team's success to the experience and ability of each member. "We have participated in more than 12 competitions and have won several of them, which gave us a competitive edge," she added. 

Honorable mentions went to the second and third-place competitors, Alpha Team and Agora, who took home $1,500 and $500 respectively.

Following the announcement of the competition in January, students were invited to form teams and tasked with hypothetically investing $100,000 in real startups, just as Shorooq investors deal with in the real industry. These were summarized into memos for judges. Although the investment risks for students were merely hypothetical, the rewards were not; $4,000 in cash prizes were up for grabs for the three most talented teams.

All in all, 27 teams and four individuals, some 122 AUC students from various departments submitted memos to participate. Students had to perform their due diligence, analyze the investment prospects and devise investment plans just like any investment fund does in the real business world. Over successive rounds of elimination, students were offered industry training by professional investors at Shorooq Partners, met with real startups, and narrowed the field to 22 teams, then 16 and finally eight for the final round. At this stage, the finalists presented and negotiated their investment proposals with judges.

“Being a part of this competition was a new experience for me,” says Nada. “It pushed me to expand my knowledge of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and venture capital, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

Aside from being the first of its kind in Egypt, the CEI-Shorooq VC competition provided fantastic professional experience for students. Risk assessment; management of time, money and people; data analysis and decision making were all necessary ingredients of success for participants, just as they are for professional investors. "We were treating them as real venture capitalists like those who are hired at Shorooq Partners," says Nadine Ramadan, senior officer of performance optimization at CEI and the competition’s manager. "Accordingly, this competition gave them a chance to experience how this ecosystem works and what could be their role and daily work as venture capitalists if they are interested in pursuing their careers in that field." 

AUC's liberal arts approach to education, allowing students to pursue interests and classes across disciplinary boundaries, "enables us to know something of everything," says Ramadan. Well-rounded students like those of the competition's winning teams were able to adapt what they learned in their studies, whether in business, engineering or psychology, to new contexts and practical problems.

The 2023 CEI-Shorooq VC competition is what venture capitalists might call the "initial public offering" for something much larger and much more exciting. Organizers plan to open up the competition to public and private universities across Egypt in 2024 and beyond, bringing together more teams and more young business professionals to hone their skills, and of course, compete for the top prize.

If the competition’s first edition at AUC is any indication, it will be well worth their time.

“This competition not only honed our venture capital skills,” says Nada, “but also deepened our passion for entrepreneurship. It was an incredible experience overall."

Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties earlier this month in a negotiation mediated by China. The two countries suspended diplomatic relations in 2016 after demonstrators in Tehran stormed the Saudi embassy  in response to a Shia cleric being executed in Riyadh. Ambassador Karim Haggag '92, professor of practice and director of Middle East studies in AUC’s Department of Public Policy and Administration, explains what this development means for the region and for global powers like the U.S. and China. 

What is the original source of conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran?

The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran is historic and relates primarily to the status of these two countries as rival regional powers, going back even before the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Part of this rivalry is geopolitical and part of it is ideological. 

What is the geopolitical aspect?

It relates to security, specifically to the reliance of Saudi Arabia on American military protection, which is a clear security threat to Iran. Over the past 10 or 15 years, this rivalry has extended to other areas in the region, including Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Lebanon and Iraq. Each country’s internal conflicts were influenced by Saudi Arabia and Iran’s interests in checking each other’s power. 

What is the ideological aspect? 

The ideological conflict is seen in instances of Shia agitation in Saudi Arabia that seem to be fomented by Iran. Saudi Arabia executed a Shia cleric in 2016 which led to demonstrations in Iran at the Saudi embassy. Hopefully, the limited agreement reached last week will defuse the immediate source of tension between the two countries.

Why do you say that the agreement is only “limited”?

The agreement brokered in Beijing was not comprehensive. While it did open channels of political communication between the two countries, which should de-escalate some of the rhetorical animosity on either side, it has not broadly changed their relationship as rivals in the region. 

Since the agreement is not comprehensive, do you think it will be successful in stopping bloodshed in the high-conflict areas these two countries are involved in?

It remains to be seen. The immediate litmus test of whether this arrangement is making real change will be Yemen, as Yemen is the conflict closest to home for Saudi Arabia and presents the most immediate security threat to the monarchy. After Yemen, we will also have to look to Lebanon and Syria to see if there are real shifts in the way Iran and Saudi Arabia are engaging with each other in these proxy states. 

Can you expand on what it means for Saudi Arabia and Iran to use proxies?

Sure, it means that they are leveraging their relationship with certain groups within other countries to exert their influence against the other power. We see this in Yemen with the Houthis, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shia militias in Iraq and Syria.

How will we know if deescalation is actually happening on the ground?

Let’s look at Yemen as an example. There has been a tenuous ceasefire in Yemen since April 2022 between the Houthis and Yemeni government. If this arrangement between Saudi Arabia and Iran opens the door for a consolidated settlement to the Yemen conflict, then this will be a definite indication of the two rivals changing their approach with their proxies.

In our last discussion on geopolitics in the Middle East, we discussed China’s rising influence in the region. Why was China selected to broker these negotiations instead of the U.S.? 

The U.S. could not have mediated this discussion because it is not a neutral party; it has a major security role in Saudi Arabia and no official diplomatic relationship with Iran. China, however, has diplomatic relations with both countries and was able to frame its involvement with the conflict in almost purely economic and commercial terms, rather than in overt political or security terms. 

Why is China’s role significant?

Up to this point, China’s influence in the region has been rising steadily but has remained in the economic sphere. For China to involve itself in these regional political conflicts is a significant departure from its previous approach, but it's too early to tell if this will turn into a broader and consistently politically involved role for China.

Why is China suddenly the Middle East’s peacekeeper?

Well, let’s be clear on what happened and what didn’t happen. China stepped in to play a mediating role and achieved a narrow, transactional agreement between the two countries to open up communication. China did not fulfill any sort of broad peacemaking role and still has no involvement in regional security.

Who handles regional security?

The U.S. is still the dominant player regarding security and military presence in the region. China does not seem interested in contesting that role, even though it has been filling the diplomacy vacuum that the U.S. has left.

Do you think China’s involvement will bring U.S. focus back into the region? 

At this point, the U.S. has no interest in mediating conflicts in the region and has refocused its interests elsewhere internationally. The U.S. may be concerned with China’s expanding influence in the MENA region and that may be an incentive to pay more attention to the Middle East, but that is less about regional politics and more about countering China.

Two courses aimed at informing and empowering AUC students to lead the charge against climate change won this year’s Core Curriculum Course Competition during AUC’s 2023 Research and Creativity Convention (RCC).

“Climate change is certainly one of the most pressing concerns which urgently requires raising a new generation of educated, responsible and proactive youth who are willing to make a real change and aspire for a promising future,” explained Amina Saleh, assistant professor in AUC’s Department of Chemistry, who co-wrote one of the winning courses, Climate Change: From Interdisciplinarity to Action, with Tamer Shoeib, professor and chair of the department and Noha Omar, assistant professor in the Department of Economics. “Ultimately, we want to inspire students to conscientiously contribute to the betterment of their communities by solving problems of both global and local concern.” 

Taking place at AUC’s New Cairo campus this week, RCC is a weeklong convention that showcases research from faculty and students across disciplines, in addition to hosting competitions, performances and discussions.

“The competition is an important opportunity for faculty to engage in the process of curricular innovation to provide our students with high impact learning experiences,” explained Ghada Elshimi (MA ‘93), dean of undergraduate studies and The Academy of Liberal Arts. “In line with AUC's liberal arts mission, the competition promotes examination of human issues from the perspective of multiple disciplines and encourages faculty to employ project-based learning teaching styles and inquiry.”  

Alongside Saleh and Shoeib, Noura Wahby, assistant professor at the Department of Public Policy and Administration, and Sherif Goubran ‘14, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, co-wrote the other winning course, Sustainability in the Cracks of Urban Policy: Communities, Bureaucracies and Adaptation.

“We hope that the course will inspire both us and our students to dig into the reasons behind our relationships to our surrounding built environment and understand how socio-technical factors shape our attitudes, practices and beliefs of the environment,” the duo wrote.

Arab World Studies/Egypt Category 

Winning Course: Climate Change: From Interdisciplinarity to Action

Developed by: Tamer Shoeib, Amina Saleh and Noha Omar

With the aim of creating and empowering more environmentally conscious students, this course will explore climate change from multiple disciplines, focusing on filling information gaps about the crisis  in addition to the specific context of Egypt. “Filling these gaps would allow for a better understanding of the climate change crisis in Egypt and therefore a better management of it,” the course description reads.

A major part of this course is centered around community-based learning; students will work with different organizations and groups of people around Egypt, gaining real-life experience while leaving a lasting impact on their communities. Projects will span the industries of wastewater treatment, fish farming, recycling and waste management, among others.

“In this course, we leverage the connections that AUC has forged over the years with communities and NGOs across Egypt to provide relevant, intriguing and challenging real-life based learning opportunities for our students,” Saleh said. “Through field trips and literature-based research, students will tackle real-world issues that are of great relevance to the environment, the local economy and human health.” 

Global Studies Category 

Winning Course: Sustainability in the Cracks of Urban Policy: Communities, Bureaucracies and Adaptation

Developed by: Noura Wahby and Sherif Goubran '14

This course explores and challenges the norms, regulations, policies and laws that inform unsustainable behaviors, from the overuse of plastic at AUC and in Egypt to the pricing of water in urban areas.

“For example, although we are constantly reminded of the importance of recycling, the fact remains that not many people do,” Wahby and Goubran explained, pointing to both individual behavioral and systemic issues contributing to this problem.

“By tackling these underlying notions, we hope that we will build active citizens who better understand how sustainability works, the larger obstacles hindering more progressive policy-making, and what we can do ourselves to contribute to climate justice in Egypt,” they wrote. 

Focusing on solutions as well as problems, the course will also take into account how policy loopholes can be used for good. “It is this sense of critical reflection and activism-driven learning that we hope to explore in this AUC course,” they concluded.

The Core Curriculum Course Competition is responsible for a growing number of innovative courses offered at AUC, including a few new classes introduced last fall and this spring: The World of Naguib Mahfouz, Social Problems of the Middle East and Building for Underdeveloped Egyptian Communities.

With COP27 taking place in Sharm El Sheikh just months ago, AUC’s Climate Change Initiative is still going strong, producing  new research, projects and initiatives at a steady pace.

Explore all RCC competitions and winners here.

Learn more about AUC’s Climate Change Initiative.

From Hatshepsut and Nefertiti to everyday women from the artisan village of Deir el-Medina, a new volume edited by Mariam Ayad ‘94, associate professor in AUC’s Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology, offers a comprehensive look into the autonomy of women in ancient Egyptian society.

Women in Ancient Egypt: Revisiting Power, Agency, and Autonomy (AUC Press, 2022) is the result of a 2019 conference held at AUC, during which Ayad and fellow scholars and Egyptologists discussed their research and findings on women in ancient Egypt across multiple domains such as law, portrayal in literature and access to power. Following the conference, Ayad began compiling and editing the book. 

“The volume provides an in-depth exploration of several facets of the female experience in ancient Egypt, examining their participation in the economic domain, their professional capacity and identity,” she explained. “Many of the papers in this volume are the result of recent doctoral research by their authors, so it really is hot-off-the-press, cutting-edge research.”

Sounds interesting? Join a virtual book talk with Ayad and contributors, hosted by AUC Press on March 15.

News@AUC sat down with Ayad to learn more about the book. 

Could you describe the book in a few sentences?

The volume is a collection of about 24 essays offering a corrective perspective on women in ancient Egypt. Each chapter delves into a specific case study, focusing on a particular period in time or historical figure. The essays show plenty of evidence for female agency in ancient Egypt, spanning  the earliest eras all the way to the Late Antique period.

What piqued your interest in this project?

My interest in ancient Egyptian women started early on; I did my dissertation and my first book on the women who held the title of God’s Wife of Amun. These were women of power who had religious access, who were single, as far as we know, and yet they were on par with the king in temple ritual. So there was already this idea that women had more access to power than they're typically given credit for. 

How did the idea for the conference and book come about?

The idea for the conference and subsequent book stemmed from my frustration with gender bias in Egyptology. Although today the majority of Egyptologists are female, it’s clear that many “facts” about women in ancient Egypt are not true and were actually tailored to the preconceived notions of white, middle-aged, male Western scholars.

Can you give us an example of this bias?

Powerful women like Queen Hatshepsut are seen as pawns in the hands of powerful men who operated behind the scenes. Again, there's no evidence for that at all, not really. 

Specifically, Hatshepsut is rumored to have had a sexual relationship with her chief architect, Senenmut, who was responsible for the building of her funerary temple at Deir al-Bahari; however, there is no evidence indicating that they were connected in that way. In fact, her claim to power relied on her appointment of several key officials — not just this man — who held religious, economic and military positions in various domains, and in this way, she had a finger in each pot.

Would you say that the misrepresentation of women’s power in history is common among scholars?

Yes. A major pet peeve of mine is the scholarly bias against evidence of female agency, whether it's in ancient Egypt or Coptic Egypt. Often it is assumed that women were powerless and couldn't do anything when in fact, in ancient Egypt, women owned and inherited property, initiated divorce and sat on city councils. 

You have an impressive background in Egyptology. Did you learn anything new while working on this book? 

I learned a lot from every single contribution. Whether it's how females chose to be represented in their funerary papyri or the significance of tattoos on the bodies of female mummies, there was something new for me in each chapter. 

Do you plan to use the book in your classes  at AUC?

Yes! In fact, I am teaching a course on women in ancient Egypt at AUC this spring, and I'm using almost all of the contributions in this book as part of the readings for the course. 

What else are you working on right now?

There are two main projects. The first is an entire volume that looks into the misrepresentation of ancient Egyptian women in previous scholarship, which I am co-authoring with Jaqueline Williamson and Sue Kelly. Rather than provide a history of women from scratch, our approach is to  examine/highlight case studies where evidence pertaining to women in ancient Egypt has been misrepresented. This will be published by the Liverpool University Press.

The second project is an anthology of texts in translation that deal with women in ancient Egypt. It would be a companion to Women in Ancient Egypt. I started work on this because I wanted my students to be able to read about ancient Egyptian women in their own words.

How has living in Egypt and teaching at AUC impacted your research and work in this field?

Teaching at AUC and living in Cairo has been really advantageous for my fieldwork. I can go to Luxor for a weekend to work on the tomb of a female scribe and come back in time to teach without having to deal with the burdensome logistics of international travel, jet lag and taking time off of work.

From creating chatbots that assist instructors using online learning to helping match foster kids with new homes, the Data Science Hub (DSH) is a new interdisciplinary platform that believes in data’s potential to help shape the future. Founded in 2020 by AUC alumna Nouri Sakr, assistant professor of data science and operations research in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the hub aims to lead the way in data-driven innovation while emphasizing the responsible use of data and leveraging cross-practice perspectives. 

Coming from an interdisciplinary background herself, having studied computer science and actuarial science for her undergraduate degree at AUC, Sakr created DSH as a collaboration platform for academics, industry professionals, and research scholars from Egypt and abroad. The hub is open to anyone and includes members of the AUC community, researchers outside AUC, industry professionals and data enthusiasts in general. 

“My dream for the hub is that it will help members truly understand what data science is, so they can advance their professional careers while working on innovative solutions for the community,” Sakr said. “We take immense pride in celebrating the achievements of our affiliates and are also thankful for where the Data Science Hub is today.” 

The hub’s three pillars are research, training and coaching. For research, members of the hub collaborate with organizations, like NGO’s, banks or companies, that present a problem they would like to solve. The hub analyzes the organization’s data and then works as a consultant by designing solutions. This data analysis is also used to write research papers which students can publish to international conferences and journals. 

A prime example of the hub’s success in connecting academia and the public sector is EduPal, a faculty assistant chatbot designed to recommend best practice and tools for educators in transitioning to online learning. Developed with the AUC community during the pandemic, the hub used data from interviews of AUC faculty, instructional designers from the Center for Learning and Teaching and global experts to design the free chatbot.

For then-freshman Yehya Adelmohsen, working with the hub on the EduPal project familiarized him with research skills and ignited his interest in an academic career.

“For my part, I researched online tools and coded interviews as part of the qualitative analysis process. When needed, I also did some programming,” he says. “I think it was an important project because when we were transitioning to online learning, a lot of educators didn’t know how to best deliver an education to students, so the system was very much needed.”

Adelmohsen is now a graduating senior in the Data Science program and involved in another data science research project with Sakr.

More than 40 AUC students and alumni worked with Sakr on multidisciplinary educational projects during the summer of 2020, pooling resources and expertise from psychology, political science and economics. Sakr’s students collaborated with many other projects and people on campus, such as former Assistant Professor Gihan Osman, in the Department of Educational Studies, on the EduPal project, and Sherif Aly, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, on Dr. Proctor, a multimodal, user-centric online proctoring platform concerned with resolving network, privacy and fairness issues, as well student psychology, when it comes to taking proctored exams online.. 

“Working at the hub was the perfect start to my career; it gave me the opportunity to explore, learn, grow, and work on something valuable and important. The amount of ownership given to everyone and the great mentoring offered is something I have yet to encounter elsewhere,”  says Ahmed ElShafey ‘19, who works as a software engineer for a leading technology firm.

The hub also offers training in data science techniques and Sakr offers weekly coaching sessions that are open to anyone who wants mentorship, from career development to advice on analysis. 

“In terms of research, I try to choose thematic applications that would serve the broader community in some sense. Since my time at Columbia University, I worked with my advisor, Cliff Stein, and researchers from the US Department of Energy on cybersecurity and machine learning,” Sakr explains. “For another project, we worked with Graham Windhamto improve the success of foster care placements based on data from the children and prospective foster parents in New York. I try to make data science easy and accessible for people who are not data scientists or from STEM backgrounds…people who need those tools but are not yet experts at using them.”

Rejecting the perception that data science exists in a vacuum, the Data Science hub seems set on proving that data can indeed play a "revolutionary role in shaping future decisions."

Learn more about the Data Science Hub.

The first of its kind in Egypt, Eltoukhy Learning Factory for Innovation and Entrepreneurship brings together AUC students, faculty, entrepreneurs and industry. It will help students strengthen their multi-disciplinary and problem-solving skills, preparing them for careers in diverse professional sectors. Modelled on learning factories at other universities worldwide, the Eltoukhy Learning Factory will be located in AUC’s School of Sciences and Engineering on the New Cairo campus. 

Made possible through the generous support of AUC Trustee Atef Helmy Eltoukhy '74 and Fofa Eltoukhy, the Eltoukhy Learning Factory is a new innovative teaching and workshop environment to allow students to take ideas from the classroom and develop creative solutions to real-world problems.     

“This region presents complex challenges not limited to one professional sector or industry,” said AUC President Ahmad Dallal. “We are extremely grateful to Dr. and Mrs. Eltoukhy for this transformational gift, which will create a unique collaborative and multi-disciplinary learning environment at AUC. We are excited to see the entrepreneurship and creative projects that will result.”

As part of their “capstone projects” at the culmination of their studies, students will be empowered to develop their ideas, and bring them to fruition, by accessing the resources of the Eltoukhy Learning Factory and the expertise of AUC faculty. It will combine classroom teaching, hands-on learning and teamwork, and real-life applications. The students will also benefit from interaction with representatives from industry and other sectors that may bring partnerships or industry-sponsored challenges. 

“My family and I are proud to have had a long association with AUC” said Eltoukhy. "As Egypt's leading university, AUC plays a critically important role in preparing the next generation of leaders and problem solvers. It is essential that we provide them with the links to real-world problems and industry, well before they graduate. We are pleased to be able to support those experiences, and give students an opportunity to fully explore their ideas, and to realize projects through the Learning Factory."

If students are to have the competitive skills and knowledge that are required upon graduation, they will need experience with the latest technology and equipment. The Eltoukhy Learning Factory will allow students to develop their projects, benefiting from state-of-the-art equipment and diverse tools. The Factory will feature new equipment such as laser cutting, bench-top Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, waterjet, and 3D printing. Additional equipment will include various electronic control and testing equipment, and Internet of Things capabilities. The students will be supported by AUC faculty members from diverse departments including computer engineering, electronics and communications engineering, and mechanical engineering. Other AUC disciplines may also be involved, including arts and graphic design.

AUC graduates have a strong track record of generating successful startups. The Eltoukhy Learning Factory will be closely linked to the AUC Venture Lab that will help prototype startup ideas, and transform successful projects into new startups. AUC’s newly developed Virtual Reality lab will also be integrated with the Learning Factory, to allow for virtual prototyping prior to fabrication and testing.

An AUC Trustee, Eltoukhy is an Egyptian-American entrepreneur, former University of Southern California professor, scientist and the Founder and Chairman of Aurum Capital Management, an investment management firm. Eltoukhy has also authored many patents and publications in semiconductor and magnetic thin film technology. He is Chairman of the Eltoukhy Family Foundation, and he and his family have been philanthropic supporters of education in Egypt and the United States.    

Dean of the School of Sciences and Engineering Lotfi Gaafar, said, “We are very excited about the new Eltoukhy Learning Factory for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It will significantly improve students’ experiential learning through expert supervision and better access to materials, tools, and equipment. This promises to have a substantial impact on students in the various sciences and engineering majors, and those from other disciplines across the University.”  

Describing the transformative impact of the lab, Board of Trustees Chairman Mark Turnage said: “The Eltoukhy Learning Factory draws upon international best practices. It will empower our students and enable AUC to remain at the forefront of innovation and practice in Egypt, and relevant to the needs of industry. We are very appreciative of this visionary gift from Atef and Fofa Eltoukhy.”   

Whether in the lab synthesizing new formulas for concrete, tackling the challenges of renewable energy or igniting a passion for learning in their students, PhD students Heba Zaky and Rawnaa Yassin are fostering the values of AUC’s academic mission. 

Zaky, a graduate student in the Department of Construction and Engineering, is conducting her PhD research on a new type of concrete that aims to minimize construction’s carbon footprint.

“It’s a lot of experimental work,” Zaky states. “My research is actually split between two departments. In the chemistry department, I test how to synthesize the material for the concrete. In the construction department, I study how viable it is for building.”

With this interdisciplinary approach, Zaky aims to create a new type of concrete formula that produces less carbon dioxide. A major component of concrete is cement, which contains calcium carbonate in its traditional formula. When calcium carbonate decomposes, it emits carbon dioxide. There has been an international movement to decrease carbon dioxide emissions due to its impact on the environment, which is a major component of AUC’s Climate Change Initiative. 

“Instead of calcium carbonate, my formula uses a silica base,” Zaky explains. “So when it decomposes, it won’t produce carbon dioxide, making it a more environmentally friendly choice.” 

Zaky began exploring eco-friendly engineering while pursuing a Master’s degree at AUC. While she started with a more management-focused approach, she quickly found her passion for experimenting with construction materials.

“That’s what inspired me to look for this totally new type of material that hasn’t been explored yet,” Zaky recalls. “This material has been researched in different ways and countries before, but not how to synthesize it or use it in concrete.” 

After completing her PhD, Zaky hopes to continue her research, explaining that there are many areas left to explore. While in her graduate study program, Zaky has also had the chance to explore her passion for teaching through the new PhD Teacher Training Program. This program, which began last spring as a collaboration between the Center for Learning and Teaching, Office of Graduate Studies and the School of Science and Engineering, allows PhD students to teach their own classes while conducting their graduate research.  

Zaky was particularly interested in working with (CLT) to develop the skills that would push her from being a TA to an instructor. “The center gave us a new perspective about teaching,” Zaky states. “It’s not just about the information. It's about how you can convey that information, how you make students believe that they belong to the classroom and establish a real connection with them.”

Yassin, who researches renewable energy for her PhD, is also a member of the program’s first cohort and is enjoying the challenge of leading classes herself after being a teaching assistant (TA) during her Master’s program. This program offers Yassin the ability to follow her passion for teaching while continuing to conduct her research on green hydrogen, a form of renewable energy.

“Green hydrogen is simply hydrogen produced from renewable sources of energy,” Yassin explains. “One way is through electrolysis, which uses electricity to split water molecules, H₂O, into their individual hydrogen and oxygen components. Using water and electricity to produce hydrogen is more eco-friendly than using natural gas, coal or oil. My goal is to make green hydrogen less expensive to produce.”

While Yassin enjoyed her Master’s research, she also wanted the opportunity to be a stand-alone instructor by crafting her own lessons and facilitating her own classes.

“This program is totally different from being a TA,” Yassin says. “PhD students feel they aren’t as young as TA’s anymore, but they still aren’t professors. When I heard about the teaching program, I thought, ‘This is what I’m looking for, it sounds like a perfect fit.’ I was right, this program equipped me with all the new and innovative ways of effective teaching, it was a really unique experience.

Yassin and Zaky are great examples of the AUC’s academic mission to provide excellent education for their students by training stellar instructors and important contributors to the climate change initiative through their research on sustainability. 

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.

The winning AUCians, representing 6 Egyptian startups, were chosen out of hundreds of applicants across 17 categories this year.

Dina Aly '04 | Matter | Marcom Branding

Suhail Torky '94 | Buffalo Burger | Food & Beverage - Fast Casual

Fatma El Shenawy ‘14 | Khanza | Fintech

Sherif Boghdady ‘03 & Sherif Nashed ‘02 | Circus | Marcom Storytelling

Hussein Abou Bakr ‘05 | Mozare33 | Social Entrepreneurship 

Ahmed Ashour ‘09 | Pylon | Technology and Innovation

Photos courtesy of EEA Awards

Four undergraduate students in the Department of Construction Engineering have developed self-luminous concrete to light up roadways and pavements without using conventional energy sources.

Zainab Mahmoud, Fatma Elnefaly, Mayar Khairy and Menna Soliman created the concrete for their thesis graduation project. It is capable of absorbing sunlight and emitting light after dark and can be employed along all sorts of roads, from pathways to highways.

“The concrete helps to reduce the massive amount of energy used in lighting highways or street signals needed for safe rides,” said Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid, professor of construction engineering and project supervisor, stressing sustainability and safety as two major themes for the project.

Mahmoud explained how the project aligns with Egypt’s sustainability goals. “Using this material in Egypt in such a context will reduce heavy reliance on electricity and accordingly be an active step towards fighting climate change and saving the environment."

This, she said, is one of the major hopeful outcomes of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP 27, which will be held in Egypt this fall.

Concrete often receives criticism for its detrimental impact on the environment. Learning of this criticism is what sparked Mahmoud and her team in pursuing novel ways to utilize concrete.

“The idea of our research came from wanting to make an integral construction material like concrete more sustainable and environmentally friendly in both its creation and function,” Mahmoud recalled.

According to team members, the development process involved extensive procurement and testing of materials to determine their effect on concrete. The group also focused on using materials that were locally available.

The students presented their work earlier this year at the Transportation Research Board 101st annual meeting, held in Washington DC. At the conference, the team met with experts in the field and received recommendations on converting their project into a product, Soliman said.

Khairy noted that development is still in its early stages. “This research requires more experiments to provide reliable conclusions to plenty of crucial queries that remain to be answered.”

However, AbouZeid is optimistic about the future of the research, highlighting the need to improve and expand this work to enhance the properties of the concrete produced and minimize its capital cost at the first stage. “Future steps include producing larger quantities as pilot trials to be evaluated on actual field conditions, such as a small stretch of a highway.”

Nageh Allam, professor and director of the nanotechnology graduate program at AUC’s Department of Physics, has won the 2022 Obada Prize for Distinguished Scientists in Physical Sciences, for his multidisciplinary research on water desalination and energy conversion and storage.

Each year, the prize “recognizes and encourages innovative and interdisciplinary research that cuts across traditional boundaries and paradigms,” its website reads. “It aims to foster universal values of excellence, creativity, justice, democracy, and progress and to promote the scientific, technological and humanistic achievements that advance and improve our world.”

Allam feels honored to be a recipient of the prestigious award.

“This is a recognition of my efforts in fostering an environment where my students are inspired to exert exceptional efforts in tackling multidisciplinary science and engineering problems and finding out-of-the-box solutions,” he said. 

Though Allam is no stranger to top-level recognition — as he is among the top 2% of the world’s most impactful scientists and was recently ranked #7 in Research.com's list of top materials scientists in Egypt — the professor still draws motivation from each accolade.

“This award has inspired me and my research team to continue our journey in solving complex problems that directly affect our community and the world,” he said.  

Watch the award slideshow here (Allam at 3:20).