Mahmoud El Kady ‘21 and Tia Ashraf, anthropology graduating senior, won third place worldwide in the 2022 Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence competition.
This year, participants were asked to incorporate social science research into architecture and to outline the design process for a housing project within a disadvantaged local community.
The team’s essay — “Economic Architectonics: Local Initiatives for Live/Work Housing” — introduces Cairo’s Coptic Christian community of Hay el-Zabaleen (the garbage collectors’ neighborhood), elaborating on the area’s history and the challenges facing inhabitants today.
“Working on this essay was exciting and invigorating,” El Kady recalled. “It was liberating to write creatively and work toward a goal that I care about.”
The duo’s proposal constructs a design process that is, above all, inclusive of the residents.
“Powered by the residents themselves, the local initiative will not only provide services to the community but will also facilitate and moderate the design surveys conducted to solicit the resident’s opinions,” the proposal reads.
El Kady, who majored in architectural engineering and minored in theatre and economics, was glad to translate his work into real-life impact.
“Writing this essay with Tia was the perfect opportunity to do firsthand research and to take the readings, discussions, and design projects that shaped me the most beyond the classroom,” El Kady said. “I am grateful to have started a transdisciplinary research project before graduating — which I have wanted to pursue for a long time.”
He is also grateful for his time at AUC, attributing his success to the skills he acquired during his undergraduate studies.
“Being able to ask questions and challenge assumptions are the best tools that AUC gave me,” El Kady added. “Through my work for student government, I was encouraged to be creative, take the initiative and be persistent — all of which are qualities we practiced throughout the writing process.”
A former professor of El Kady praised his “phenomenal” project for her Spring 2021 thesis studio.
“Mahmoud exemplified the best of which AUC's architecture program has to offer — socially conscious, liberal arts-informed, technically sound and ethically responsible design for the communities most in need,” said Magda Mostafa, associate professor of design in AUC’s Department of Architecture.
Reflecting on the prize’s impact on his current and future work, El Kady concluded, “Winning has encouraged me to pursue grassroots urban and architectural development as a long-term goal.”
Emerging stronger than ever after a three-year hiatus, AUC’s Cairo International Model United Nations (CIMUN) team won Outstanding Delegation awards for the 12th consecutive year at the 2022 National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference in New York City this spring.
The team won a total of 19 awards at the conference.
“We were able to win the highest number of awards in the past 31 years of our participation at the New York conference; no other university has collected as many awards as we did with that number of delegates,” said said Youssef Ragai, a graduating senior in computer engineering and CIMUN secretary-general. “The Outstanding Delegation Award is also the highest attainable award any university can get at the world’s largest Model United Nations conference.”
In addition to 17 individual awards (listed below), the team –– made up of 32 students from different majors –– was given two Outstanding Delegation awards this year for Gabon (with Head Delegate Fayrouz Ibrahim) and for Saint Kitts and Nevis (with Head Delegates Youssef Nassef and Nada Selim), catapulting AUC to be recognized alongside 24 other top-performing universities.
“This is the 12th year in a row where AUC has won Outstanding Delegation awards, but this [win] has to be the most memorable,” said Ragai. “It has been three years since we last participated in NMUN face to face, so being able to match the University record with a completely new team means that CIMUN and AUC are stronger than ever. Our team’s hard work, perseverance and dedication led us to win.”
Walid Kazziha, professor of political science and faculty adviser to the CIMUN team, was proud of the team’s rigorous preparation despite doubts around travel.
“The students had little hope that they would be granted permission to travel to New York this year,” he explained. “Despite this, they worked with such determination — as if nothing could stop them. They proved to be mature, very self-confident, dedicated to working together and highly self-motivated. This year, our CIMUN team exceeded all expectations.”
Best Position Paper Award:
Outstanding/Best Delegate:
Awarded Chair Position in Committees:
Recognition for Participation and Exceptional Effort:
