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.

Abdel-Ghaffar met with the four students — Zainab Mahmoud, Fatma Elnefaly, Mayar Khairy and Menna Soliman — who worked on the research project as part of their graduation thesis.

The minister expressed his admiration for the project and stressed the importance of transforming research ideas by youth into reality because of their benefit to society and positive impact on the environment, which aligns with Egypt’s strategy to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

The students explained to Abdel-Ghaffar that their interest in the project stemmed from their knowledge of the negative environmental impacts of using 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.

Abdel-Ghaffar encouraged the students to complete their research to achieve the best results. The students, in turn, affirmed that they would continue their scientific endeavors.

 “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," Mahmoud said.

Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid, professor of construction engineering and the team's supervisor, expressed his happiness and pride in the four students and his optimism for the future of scientific research in Egypt. He also highlighted the need to conduct further studies to enhance the properties of the self-luminous concrete and to produce larger quantities for testing at the implementation site. AbouZeid stressed that AUC plays a crucial role in providing opportunities for its students to excel, carry out impactful research, innovate and be creative.

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, or theropod, from a celebrated fossil site in the Sahara Desert of Egypt - revealing important secrets about the Prehistoric Era in the region.  

A  paper describing the discovery was published today in the scientific journal  Royal Society Open Science. The study, led by Belal Salem of MUVP and graduate student at Ohio University, is the result of a collaboration between international researchers. 

The new fossil is a very well-preserved vertebra, or backbone, from the base of the neck of a theropod. It was recovered by a 2016 MUVP expedition to the Bahariya Oasis of the Western Desert of Egypt. 

The Bahariya Oasis has always been known for its rich fossils and the discovery of the most famous dinosaurs in the world. “However, the vertebra described in the new paper belongs to an abelisaurid, a kind of bulldog-faced, short-armed theropod that had not been discovered in the oasis before and that is estimated to have been roughly six meters (20 feet) in body length,” said Salem.

“About 98 million years ago, the Bahariya Oasis was not known by this name. Rather, it was the ‘Dinosaur Oasis’ in every sense of the word,” Sallam described. “It was an oasis teeming with life, in which bloody fights prevailed between different animals and moreover dinosaurs. The dinosaurs lived along the banks of the oasis, by an ancient river known as the ‘Giant River’ — where one of the largest carnivorous and also herbivorous dinosaurs lived.”

The oasis is renowned within paleontological circles for having yielded the type specimens (the original, first-discovered, name-bearing fossils) of several extraordinary dinosaurs during the early 20^th century, including, most famously, Spinosaurus. Unfortunately, all Bahariya dinosaur fossils collected prior to World War II were destroyed during an Allied bombing of Munich in 1944. 

Renewed interest and recent expeditions to the Bahariya Oasis led by researchers from AUC and MUVP have discovered new fossils from this classic site, helping to restore its paleontological legacy and adding additional species to its already rich fossil fauna. 

Joining Sallam in the study are Patrick O’Connor, professor of biomedical sciences at Ohio University; Matt Lamanna, associate curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (CMNH); Sanaa El-Sayed, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan and the MUVP’s former vice director; colleagues from Benha University, Egypt and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency. CMNH Vertebrate Paleontology Scientific Illustrator Andrew McAfee produced or assisted with most of the illustrations for the paper.

“More than two decades ago, when my collaborators and I started searching for dinosaurs in the Bahariya Oasis, we dreamed of the day when a homegrown Egyptian paleontological research group would continue our work. Thanks to Hesham, Sanaa, Belal, and others at MUVP, that day has finally come,” said Lamanna.

O’Connor said: “Identifying definitive abelisaurid from Bahariya is very exciting for Egypt and MUVP, as this group of predatory dinosaurs continues to tell us a lot about vertebrate communities during the Cretaceous Period, and in particular, how Gondwanan ecosystems were assembled and maintained for a large part of Earth history during the final period of the Mesozoic Era.” 

Abelisaurids—most notably represented by the demonic-looking Carnotaurus from Patagonia of Jurassic World fame—were among the most diverse and geographically widespread large predatory dinosaurs in Europe and the Southern Hemisphere continents during the later stages of the Mesozoic Era, or Age of Dinosaurs. 

The unnamed abelisaurid represented by the new vertebra, alongside Spinosaurus and two other giant theropods (Carcharodontosaurus and Bahariasaurus), adds yet another species to the cadre of large predatory dinosaurs that roamed what’s now the Egyptian Sahara during the middle of the Cretaceous Period.

Dinosaurs from the very end of the Cretaceous, shortly before the devastating asteroid impact that closed the curtain on the Mesozoic Era 66 million years ago, are vanishingly rare on the entire African continent, yet fossil-bearing rocks exposed in other Western Desert oases are beginning to reveal their secrets.

“In terms of Egyptian dinosaurs, we’ve really just scratched the surface,” concludes Sallam. “Who knows what else might be out there?”

 

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).

Graduating seniors Maha Shatta, Fatema Lokma, Mostafa Nosseir, Ahmed Elghoul and Seif Ahmed ‘21 from AUC’s Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECNG) won first place worldwide in the 2022 Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition in the digital health track for their device, GlucoClip.

“As the only Egyptian team amongst the finalists, we’re all proud to have represented AUC and Egypt at this international competition,” Nosseir said. “The impacts of the GlucoClip can be far-reaching, as the project “has the potential to influence the lives of 537 million diabetics around the world,” he added. 

Beginning as a thesis project, GlucoClip is a glucose blood monitoring device for diabetics. It was conceived and developed by the student team under the supervision of Hassanein Amer, professor at ECNG, and the SEAD group — a research group co-founded by Amer and Ramez Daoud, adjunct professor at ECNG.

GlucoClip monitors blood glucose levels with a high level of accuracy, safely and non-invasively using near-infrared spectroscopy. It aims to ultimately improve the quality of life for people with diabetes, serving as a substitute for finger pricking or other invasive blood tests. GlucoClip also connects to a mobile app, allowing more ease and convenience in the monitoring of blood glucose levels.

Lokma highlighted that traditional testing methods may “actually create a psychological barrier for many people, preventing them from making regular measurements.” GlucoClip works as a safer, less invasive and convenient alternative. 

The students worked on the project for a year, designing a prototype and then testing it on a population of over 100 people. Despite the difficulties COVID-19 presented in getting medical approval for large-scale tests during a pandemic, the team successfully completed the project, and GlucoClip showed relatively high accuracy despite the small sample size. 

Later on, it became the team’s application for the 2022 Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Competition, which attracts undergraduate and graduate students from all over the globe annually. 

This year, the competition saw 120 proposals submitted from 74 universities and 18 countries for the three tracks in total. After being shortlisted as one of the seven finalists for the Digital Design track, GlucoClip was handed first place.

“To present this project — which we have worked really hard on — to an international panel at such a prestigious university known for its intensive research programs is a very rewarding feeling,” Elghoul said.

Amer is proud of the team for their hard work and professionalism throughout the project and competition. “All five students are extremely intelligent, persevering and creative,” he said.  “It was a genuine pleasure to supervise this group, and I wish them all the best in their careers.”

Winning the award of such a prestigious high-ranking university in the world has brought hope for the expansion of the GlucoClip device. As Lokma said, “this award has encouraged me to continue developing and improving our idea until it reaches the global market.” 

Pioneering a research registry on novel biomarkers found in early stages of dementia within the Egyptian population, Shimaa Heikal (MSc '22), PhD candidate at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology (I-GHHE), is among the first 10 awardees for the 100 PhDs in Africa program. 

Heikal joined as the only candidate from Egypt, competing for the award against 850 other applicants. Her PhD project is titled “Piloting a research registry for dementia: The Egyptian Dementia Network (EDN) registry,” for which she received an honorable mention for the Master's Student Research Award at the 2022 American Public Health Association conference in December.

"This is my first international award — a major milestone for me," Heikal said. "I am grateful for the support I have received from my mentor, Hassan El-Fawal at I-GHHE and from AUC as a whole."

Heikal's journey began in 2018, when she attended one of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) conferences hosted by AUC, where Mohamed Salama, visiting associate professor at I-GHHE, was a speaker. A discussion surrounding the lack of accurate data on dementia was prompted by a neuroscience researcher in the audience. This intrigued Heikal, who began researching the topic. Eventually, she completed her MPA thesis project as the preliminary study to determine the feasibility of creating the database in Egypt, under the supervision of Ghada Barsoum, associate professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy and Administration at AUC, and Salama. 

“I did not want to stop there, I wanted to take it further — so I applied to the 100 PhDs in Africa program in hopes of implementing the project and achieving the original dream of creating a registry for Egypt,” Heikal added. 

The 100 PhDs in Africa program is run by a joint collaboration between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, aka École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco. 

EPFL is one of the top institutes in the field of technology and science, globally ranked 14^th by the QS World University Ranking, and under which the Excellence in Africa initiative established the 100 PhDs in Africa program to recruit PhD researchers in African universities. Heikal and her fellow awardees will go on to complete their research in collaboration with a co-supervisor from EPFL and then apply that research within Africa. 

Heikal’s PhD research will be the pilot phase of developing a dementia registry on Egyptian patients by targeting three sites in Egypt, and which would then eventually be expanded. This pilot phase is vital in evaluating the effectiveness of the model, in order to ultimately be able to work towards a comprehensive and nationwide registry. The Egyptian team, together with collaboration with EPFL, will, through data collection of Egyptian patients, examine the biomarkers from the first pilot and discover new tools to aid in the early detection and diagnosis of dementia in Egyptian populations. She is conducting her research under the supervision of Salama and Hilal Lashuel from EPFL.

Aside from having completed one master's at AUC in Biotechnology and nearing completion of a second in Public Administration, Heikal also took first place in the Research and Creativity Convention’s graduate poster competition at AUC in March, for her poster titled “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Chemotherapeutic Agents by OT-515 and/or S-NACH.”

This was, for Heikal, “a wonderful moment,” and she felt a renewed sense of responsibility.

“We should now continue training new students, sharing with them what we have so that they can build on it — this is the ultimate success,” she said.

Although a separate project from the registry, working on the poster aided Heikal in learning basic lab techniques and scientific research methodologies that will come in handy during her PhD. 

Similarly, completing two master’s degrees gave Heikal a more holistic, interdisciplinary perspective on dealing with health problems from a social as well as scientific perspective. 

“My experience has encouraged me to continue pursuing my PhD in global public health and combine all that I have learned to work on an interdisciplinary project that will eventually benefit Egyptian patients,” Heikal said. 

In February 2022, Heikal and Salama also published a paper in the Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience journal titled “The Impact of Disease Registries on Advancing Knowledge and Understanding of Dementia Globally” — alongside fellow researchers Yuliya Richard, Ahmed Moustafa, and Brian Lawlor. 

Having applied to the 100 PhDs in Africa program in April 2021, Heikal passed the first phase in August 2021, completed an interview for the second phase in September 2021, and was finally accepted in February 2022. The almost year-long journey resulted in an array of excitement, but now, a longer journey begins to enact the pilot phase of the registries that will potentially immensely benefit the process of detecting dementia in Egyptian patients. 

“It’s a huge opportunity for Africa. We can take on new projects that we weren’t previously able to do and didn’t have the expertise in,” Heikal said. “The EDN project could be a step in the road of developing disease registry databases in the African countries afterward.”

When Ahmed Marey '21 heard his fellow students were receiving their acceptances into the Al Ghurair STEM Scholars Program, he checked his inbox but was disappointed to find it empty.

"My friends reached out to me when they got accepted. I checked, but did not find any acceptance emails," Marey said. "It left me a bit disappointed."

The Scholars Program provides youth from 17 Arab countries with the opportunity to pursue their undergraduate or graduate studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at 15 partner universities in the region and beyond. 

Luckily, Marey thought to check his spam folder and found an email saying he was accepted. Since then, he has forged an exciting academic career in architecture at the American University in Cairo.

In March 2021, Marey and his research partner, Ahmed Barakat of Franklin & Marshall College, won the Best Presentation Award for the 9th International Conference of the Arab Society for Computer Aided Architectural Design (ASCAAD). The paper they presented, "The Customized Habitat: An exploration of personality-induced mass customization through shape grammars," explores different architectural needs based on personality traits.

"I honestly didn't expect to receive such an award at my very first conference, especially knowing that Barakat and I were probably among the youngest to join it,” Marey said. “I have to admit, I felt exquisite and encouraged to do more and more in this field."

To research the paper, Marey and Barakat focused on using computational design techniques, specifically "shape grammars," to achieve customized habitats for low-income people. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shape grammars are a category of computer systems with visual rules that can transform one shape into another. By applying these rules repeatedly, a simple shape can develop into a complex pattern.

Since previous research points to a potential impact of personality on perceptions of the architectural space, Marey and Barakat wanted to investigate this further. They used the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to survey 187 individuals, investigating the correlations between personal traits (mind, energy, nature, tactics, and identity) and preferences of architectural aspects (exposure, circulation, view, plan layout, and interior colors). 

According to their research, Marey and Barakat's findings demonstrate an actual connection between MBTI personality patterns and architectural preferences. They found that the mind influences the visual perception of architecture, and energy affects our perception of the view, plan layout and interior colors. Based upon these correlations, Marey and Barakat programmed shape grammars to provide a basis for optimized mass customization. 

In the field of architecture, it is well established that mass production, despite its economic efficiency, fails to appeal to the very people it is meant to accommodate. Mass customization, on the other hand, allows for the consideration of personal differences, which Marey and Barakat’s research supports. However, Marey noted, mass customization requires more time, effort and resources, hence the general reliance on mass production. 

Through this process, Marey and Barakat hope architects can develop a more habitable space in which neither personality traits nor valuable resources are neglected.

ASCAAD is a society that teaches, conducts research and practices in computer-aided architectural design in the Arab world. Its 2021 conference, hosted virtually in March 2021 by the Department of Architecture at the American University in Cairo, focused on addressing the major shift in the architecture field due to computational design, which is gradually renouncing the typical morphogenetic-centered associations in the architectural discourse. 

At the conference, Marey and Barakat presented their research findings to the ASCAAD Scientific Review Committee, which awarded them Best Presentation. Their paper was one of 58 accepted papers by authors representing 18 countries worldwide.

When Marey discovered he and Barakat received the award, he was elated to know that their months of research and preparation for the presentation were a success. 

The day after discovering the email, Marey took a 3-hour car ride — with a broken leg — to fill out the paperwork needed for the award.

"I have to admit,” Marey said. “The feeling of euphoria has overcome the hurt in my leg.”

Marey credits the program for making it possible for him to pursue his life-long dream of being an architect. 

“It fits perfectly with my passion for both arts and sciences," said Marey. "I have received not only financial support to continue my education, but also support with my career and personal development."

Thanks to the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, Marey was also selected to attend the World Government Summit in Dubai 2018 under the "Arab Youth Pioneers” category.

"This program is a life-changing experience that I'll always be grateful for," he concluded.

After conducting research at the University of Arizona, presenting at the World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics, and Informatics in 2020 and winning AUC’s Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award one year later, Nour-Lyna Boulgamh ‘21, an Algerian Amazigh and Tomorrow’s Leaders Scholarship recipient who majored in architectural engineering, now has her sights set on a larger feat: solving the housing crisis for displaced individuals in the Middle East and North Africa.

Boulgamh began her research during her junior year at AUC, when she studied under the tutelage of Magda Moustafa, associate professor of architecture, and got inspired by her work on designing for people with autism.  

“This experience was the lantern that illuminated my path into creating human-centered designs — those that prioritize humanitarianism over materialism,” she explained.

Boulgamh went on to earn a scholarship through AUC’s Tomorrow’s Leaders program to study abroad for a semester at the University of Arizona, where she explored the potential of using Virtual Reality (VR) in daylight design strategies, which seek to optimize the user’s perception and experience of space based on how and when daylight is allowed in.

With the help of a grant from AUC’s Undergraduate Research Program, Boulgamh published and presented her research at the 24th World Multi-Conference of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, an international forum aimed at fostering collaboration between researchers from various disciplines.

Her innovation and achievements throughout her time as an undergrad are what snagged her AUC’s 2021 Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award.

“When I won the award, I was extremely thrilled, motivated, proud and grateful for two main reasons,” she recalled. “First, because it reminded me of why I chose to be part of this institution, and second, because it supported my next academic journey in joining one of the world’s most prestigious schools of architecture: Harvard Graduate School of Design.”

Now at Harvard, Boulgamh is motivated to enact positive social change in both her professional and personal life by identifying and correcting inequities across both realms.

“Architecture isn’t pristine structures and ornate buildings; it’s ample with venues for corruption, sexism and racism, but also change,” she said. “As an undergraduate, I excelled at sketching and building structures, but as a Harvard graduate, I'll vehemently dismantle bigger structures — those of injustice.”

The young researcher expressed her gratitude for AUC and the Tomorrow’s Leaders program for supporting her along her journey.

Unable to pinpoint just one memorable moment at AUC, Boulgamh recalled how much she enjoyed the Tomorrow’s Leaders meetings, sessions and workshops. “They were the most fun and fruitful, as I had the opportunity to engage with renowned community leaders in several fields and have inventive conversations with my fellow TLers.”

The experience at AUC and in the Tomorrow’s Leaders program, according to Boulgamh, allowed her to build networking skills, become more politically aware and develop her overall resilience. Shortly after her acceptance to Harvard, a number of scholarship programs for international students were canceled worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic. With help from thousands of people worldwide, she was able to fundraise more than USD 20,000 and continue her dream.

"I am very grateful to every person who supported me," Boulgamh remarked, stressing to other students the importance of "trusting the process."

“AUC instilled in me the will to seek excellence, as it surrounded me with diverse yet like-minded leaders," she said. "The Tomorrow’s Leaders program shaped and sharpened my perspectives, opinions and leadership skills by pushing me to take action and embark on several leadership positions within AUC and beyond.”

AUC launched a new professional diploma this year for students interested in water, agriculture, and renewable energy — and more broadly, Egypt’s future. 

The Water, Energy, Food Technologies Diploma (WEF) diploma couldn’t be more timely — 2021 marked the first year of the United Nations’ Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a 10-year period ending in 2030, in line with the timeline scientists have said is the world’s last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. 

The WEF diploma was introduced this October through AUC’s Engineering and Science Services and the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES). The diploma will provide graduates with the tools and knowledge required to meet the Egypt 2030 plan’s goal to reclaim 1.5 million acres of the desert and provide solutions for water, food and energy resource challenges in the country. Its curricula also include agripreneurship” for students interested in launching environmentally sound startups. 

The diploma is a result of AUC’s participation in the SureMap project, an initiative co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union that, in part, aims to establish engineering Master of Science programs at Egyptian partner universities, including Heliopolis University, Aswan University, Alexandria University and AUC.

The ultimate goal is to bolster a new generation of graduates equipped to tackle the issues facing Egypt. 

“The diploma was curated to help provide innovative leaders with the technical skills needed to push the agenda of Egypt’s Vision 2030 targeting food security, water, and energy challenges,” said Hani Sewilam, professor at the Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology and director of CARES.

The diploma’s curriculum combines know-how in solar technology, hydrology and irrigation with mechanical, electrical and soil engineering. Courses include Modern Agriculture, Modern Aquaculture, Water Quality and Treatment. Water Desalination, Sustainable Energy Management and more. Through a multidisciplinary approach, graduates will learn to “interact and coordinate with environmental scientists and farmers” and mitigate human pressure on the environment. 

“One of our main priorities in this program is to provide students with hands-on experience to go directly from the program and implement these solutions into communities,” said Yomna El-Awamri, the community projects manager with CARES. “So instead of relying on theory only, we made sure that at least 50% of our courses are applied.”

The diploma takes commercial opportunities along with financial restraints and incentives into account.

“The program aims to provide participants with a sound technical and practical understanding of innovation, design, entrepreneurship and [management of] sustainable WEF projects in the desert,” according to the course catalog. 

“The program’s diversity is what makes it so innovative,” said SureMap’s project coordinator at CARES Natalie Tamer.

Anyone, including non-AUCIans, can enroll in the program, which is comprised of 18 credits and takes a minimum of one year to complete. Current students in the program are taking two courses for the first semester so that CARES can measure its success.

The first class of WEF graduates from AUC will be joining a country and worldwide effort to replenish and preserve the natural world, which has been so impacted by human activity. An arsenal of skills and education, combined with imagination and passion, will be necessary for their future, and ours.

___

Student recruitment for the second cycle of courses is now open. Classes start in early February, where four courses will be offered: System Automation, Sustainable Energy Resources, Water Quality & Treatment and Green Entrepreneurship & Agribusiness.

View the course catalog here.

Register here.