ACROSS

3. The original name of the Alumni Association.

7. Famed Nobel Peace Prize-winning author, whose first
English novel was published by AUC Press.

9. The first student dormitory on AUC's campus.

13. The initial plans for AUC campus were near this location.

14. AUC founder.

17. AUC's first female student, who enrolled in 1928.

18. Original name of the student newspaper, Campus Caravan.

19. In 2000, AUC's Rare Books and Special Collections Library acquired the _____ collection.

DOWN

1. AUC is the top _____ campus in Africa.

2. AUC is the first University in the region to offer a _____ degree, pairing with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education.

4. The first student organization at AUC.

5. The _____, with an emphasis on subjects outside students' majors, was introduced in 1989.

6. The committee charged in 1994 with recommending guidelines and priorities for the future development of the University, ultimately deciding on the relocation to the New Cairo campus.

8. The first play ever produced on campus.

10. The University mascot.

11. AUC's first _____ took place in 1923.

12. Acronym for the world's premier, full-immersion Arabic-language program that opened at AUC in 1967.

15. The leading University-based startup accelerator and incubator in Africa and the MENA region.

16. Sandstone for the walls of campus buildings is all from a single quarry in Kom Ombo, 50 kilometers north of _____.

17. AUC held its last undergraduate commencement in _____ Hall in 1988.

WORD BANK:

14. CHARLESWATSON, 13. PYRAMIDSOFGIZA, 8. MONSIEURBEAUCAIRE, 7. NAGUIBMAHFOUZ, 12. CASA, 15. VENTURELAB, 17ACROSS. EVAHABIBEL-MASRI, 18. THEAUCREVIEW, 9. HILLHOUSE, 11. COMMENCEMENT, 10. EAGLE, 3. OLDBOYSCLUB, 6. CENTURYCOMMITTEE, 1. GREEN, 19. VANLEO, 4. STUDENTUNION, 16. ASWAN, 2. BLENDED, 17DOWN. EWART, 5. CORECURRICULUM

 

By Claire Davenport

When Charles Watson, AUC's first president, founded The American University at Cairo 100 years ago, he originally had his sights set on a campus by the Pyramids of Giza, offering secondary and University-level education. Today, AUC has expanded into a different side of the desert, growing from 142 students when it first opened its doors in October 1920 to a thriving student body of almost 7,000 students.
 

Property initially owned by AUC in Giza, where the campus was first going to be located.

From the beginning, AUC was committed to implementing a new method of schooling in Egypt, broadening the definition of learning by striving to serve its host country and the greater international world. Founded in 1919 by Charles Watson, the University has continually proved its dedication to both American and Egyptian values. Born to missionary parents and raised in Egypt, Watson wanted to establish a University with Christian values based on American institutions and catered toward Egypt. Its original mission to be a gateway between the United States and the Middle East, to give back to its community and to endow generations of students with creativity, critical thinking and a well-rounded character makes AUC what it is today -- Egypt's global University. 
 

Liberal Arts: Reimagining the College Program
 

Watson was a man who believed that good character could be learned and that freedom of discussion promotes creativity and ingenuity. Stemming from these beliefs was his desire to establish an interdisciplinary, value-oriented University that would encourage strength of character and provide quality education. Establishing a University is no small feat, especially a private international institution with AUC's caliber. 
 

Charles Watson, AUC's founding president.

"What set Watson's ideas apart from the hundreds of other foreign-run institutions in Egypt, however, was a determination that the new institution also should be a university offering advanced professional training in such fields as education, engineering, commerce, journalism, theology and law."
 

When the University was founded, Egypt's system of higher education consisted of professional schools with specialized programs in law, the arts and the sciences. There were also no liberal arts substitutes for the specialized schools available, so Watson's vision to build AUC on the American concept of a four-year, undergraduate liberal arts curriculum was a deviation from the norm. As Lawrence Murphy noted in The American University in Cairo, 1919-1987, "What set Watson's ideas apart from the hundreds of other foreign-run institutions in Egypt, however, was a determination that the new institution also should be a university offering advanced professional training in such fields as education, engineering, commerce, journalism, theology and law."

An important element of the American liberal arts education Watson called for was diversified studies. In the early years of AUC's founding, science majors took English and social science courses, and the University's public-service-oriented curriculum ensured that students were equipped with social science skills to meet Egypt's needs. "Specialization was, therefore, discouraged," Murphy noted. "Students studied as many subjects as possible, familiarizing themselves with the major concepts of each discipline through required courses in science, literature, philosophy, and the social sciences. ... At the same time, however, each pupil was required to study Arabic to remain in contact with his own society." The curriculum also focused on character building, including moral and religious studies, as well as physical training and athletics to develop sportsmanship, teamwork and positive health practices among students. 
 

In the beginning, classes were kept small. Students had weekly meetings with professors, and essays were emphasized more than exams. As Watson explained in the University's 1933 commencement address, "It [education] calls for the abandonment of the memorizing system of education." Watson implemented these policies to ensure that students were able to get the most out of their liberal arts studies.
 

Hands-on curricula also distinguished AUC as an institution. As Murphy noted, "One AUC objective was to introduce new instructional techniques into the Middle East." Instead of memorization, AUC faculty members used a variety of methods to make their classes thought-provoking, participative and hands-on. In science classes, each student was given his own apparatus to perform his own experiments and prove the validity of scientific theories -- a costly initiative uncommon in Egypt at the time, when most science courses were taught through demonstrations by the professor. Science students also visited factories in Cairo and formed their own Science Club. Similarly, English professors encouraged students to speak in English through Speak English on Campus campaigns and a campus spelling bee that was sometimes broadcast on the local radio station. Desserts were also offered to those who spoke English during the lunch hour. In journalism classes, articles and pictures were first posted on a bulletin board, then students issued the first University newspaper, The AUC Review, in 1925 -- a four-page paper covering AUC personalities, news for the student body, official announcements and editorials on campus issues. The AUC Review also started sponsoring the Miss AUC Contest in 1931. In addition, classes and student clubs sometimes put on programs during the daily assemblies. 
 

These efforts have consistently paid off. In 1930, nearly 75 percent of AUC students who sat for the government examinations passed, and AUC graduates were admitted for advanced work in countries such as the United States, Britain, Switzerland, France and Germany. In addition, New York State recognized AUC's Junior College Certificate, issued after studying for two years at the University, as being equivalent to two years of American college work. This qualified AUC students for admission to professional schools in the United States. 
 

Today, liberal arts remains at the heart of an AUC education. Most students earn a third of all credits outside of their major or minor requirements. Through the Core Curriculum, all students take courses in writing; language and information literacy; philosophic and scientific thinking; Arab history; literature and society; and foundational classes in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Through these diversified courses, students debate new ideas and actively participate in class discussions, helping them make connections across their studies, encouraging them to think critically and develop a creative approach to problem solving, and equipping them with lifelong skills to excel in our fast-paced world. This American-style, inquiry-based liberal arts education -- emphasizing a learning-by-doing approach and teaching students not what to think, but how to think -- is what Watson had laid emphasis on from the beginning. In our modern world, as was the case in the University's early years, AUC's alumni continue to pursue graduate studies at top universities abroad. They distinguish themselves across the world as leaders, innovators and change agents, from heads of state, ministers and philanthropists to business founders, scientists, artists and global champions.
 

"AUC owes a duty to the community in which it is located."

Cocurriculars: Beyond the Classroom

AUC also offers its students something very distinct within the region: a cocurricular education. Participating in activities outside of the classroom was valued by the University's first administration, and students were expected to join at least one club in the early years. Throughout its history, AUC developed a diversity of cocurricular clubs: the Student Union, AUC's earliest organization that was mainly focused on community service as well as moral and religious issues; the Ramses and Penatur societies, which emphasized literature; the French-oriented Moliere Club in the mid-1920s; the popular Maskers Club; the International Relations Club; and the Folklore Troupe in the 1960s. 
 

Out of all cocurricular activities, theatre especially flourished. The first play ever to be produced on campus was Monsieur Beaucaire, performed during the commencement exercise of 1926. Going forward, students began to see theatre as a place to feel out new perspectives and possibilities while practicing English.
 

C. Worth Howard, the second head of AUC's English Department and after which Howard Theater in AUC Tahrir Square has been named, promoted drama to not only improve spoken English among students, but also as a form of self-expression. "Plays were presented at assemblies in conjunction with commencement, and for the general public," Murphy wrote. "Students took all the parts, with boys playing female roles when necessary. They also constructed the scenery, distributed tickets and handled all other aspects of the production." 
 

Students were also required to attend weekly assembly lectures that included anything from performances to ethical talks by distinguished visitors. An end-of-year essay contest measured what students learned from the talks, and notable speakers included Egyptian feminist Madame Bahmy Bey Wissa, boxing champion Gene Tunney and commander of the U.S. Navy Admiral Roger Welles. The assemblies also included singing, music, plays and programs by classes or student clubs. In addition, Sports Day, initiated in 1921, saw AUC students competing in drill exercises, tug-of-war, races, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, jumping, tumbling and lifting weights, as well as throwing the discus and javelin.
 

For AUC instructors, this was all evidence that some of the most significant learning experiences take place outside of the classroom. Indeed, faculty members began to take students on field trips. One year, Professor Erdman Harris took a group of students on weekends to areas within Egypt experiencing health and sanitation problems to study the relationship between these conditions and infant mortality, disease and dysentery. Another class taught by Harris surveyed the social agencies in Cairo. Years later, students who participated in these cocurricular activities noted that such projects "stimulated their first interest in solving their country's many social problems," as Murphy noted. These initiatives reflected the faculty's desire to equip students to carry on the legacy of inquiry in the future, using their studies to improve life within Egypt.
 

A century later, cocurriculars remain one of the distinctive aspects of an AUC education. AUC's 60 student-run organizations reflect the diverse interests of the student body, ranging from community service, academic, culture and special interests to student government and conferences. The University also has several student-run publications, including the Caravan newspaper and AUC Times magazine.

Emphasizing the importance of activities outside of the classroom, AUC recently launched the cocurricular transcript, the first-of-its-kind in the Middle East. A model found at U.S. universities, AUC's cocurricular transcript formalizes and officially documents the wide array of cocurricular activities in which students participate. This includes not just student organizations, but also participation in orientation, the Undergraduate Research Program, Career Center, Academic Community Engagement courses and athletics. In conjunction with traditional academic transcripts, the cocurricular transcript is intended to give a more dynamic and holistic perspective on students. 
 

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Education as a Public Service: Filling the Void 
 

AUC has always been dedicated to improving life in Egypt. Watson once said that "AUC owes a duty to the community in which it is located," and the expansion of education and commitment to philanthropy have only increased throughout the years. According to Watson's address at the graduation exercises of the College of Arts and Sciences, AUC has "a duty to perform and a service to render not merely to those who are enrolled as regular students, but to the community and the public at large." Along this line, AUC hosted a range of training programs and educational initiatives for Egyptians, mainly through its 95-year-old School of Continuing Education, which was originally called the Division of Extension.
 

In 1924, the Division of Extension was established to house evening lectures and program series that would benefit society, with a particular emphasis on public health and welfare issues. From the beginning, the Division of Extension was supposed to deal with "Mr. Public," as Watson described it, and its motto was to "educate all the people." Hosting a range of popular public lectures and cultural events, the Division of Extension strengthened AUC's impact on the life and culture of downtown Cairo. 
 

First envisioned by Watson as a public service component of AUC, the Division of Extension began as a forum for lectures by well-known speakers, such as Egyptian intellectual Taha Hussein. Speakers focused on topics of "immediate concern to Egypt," including population growth, education, and social and economic reform. In addition to lectures and film screenings, the Division of Extension worked on improving people's well-being through village health contests and a campaign to prevent blindness. 
 

In the 1940s, the Division of Extension was also referred to as the "evening college." After almost two decades, it was renamed the Division of Public Service, offering noncredit programs in business, consumer education, playwriting, language studies, accounting, fine arts, family education and secretarial administration. 
 

• Registration in the early years
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In the 1980s, the Division of Public Service grew tremendously under the guidance of Ralph Nelson, dean of adult and continuing education, expanding its offerings in Arabic and business; creating its own English-language curriculum, tailored to the needs of Arabic speakers; introducing one-year and two-year professional certificates, not just individual courses; and initiating evaluative techniques for faculty members, as well as English proficiency entrance exams for participants. 
 

• AUC's first soccer team, March 1922
• Athletics and physical exercise were a core part of AUC's curriculum

The Division of Public Service later became known as the Center for Adult and Continuing Education, and expanded during AUC President Richard Pedersen's tenure to include outreach and full-time career programs in different parts of Egypt, such as Alexandria and Tanta, as well as the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. In 2006 - 2007, the center was renamed the School of Continuing Education, enrolling approximately 20,000 students per year. With its diversity of programs and offerings, the School of Continuing Education is fulfilling Watson's vision of a University that would provide service to a wide spectrum of the Egyptian public. 
 

Out of all cocurricular activities at AUC, theatre especially flourish

The Division of Extension was not the only organization focused on delivering educational opportunities. In 1921, the School of Oriental Studies was established to offer noncredit Arabic courses to foreigners. AUC's first graduate degree in 1950, a Master of Arts in Arabic language and literature, was offered through the School of Oriental Studies, which was incorporated in the 1960s into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as the Center for Arabic Studies. In addition, in 1926, the Education Department provided teachings in modern educational philosophy and instructional techniques. The department created the Journal of Modern Education, "the first magazine in the Arabic language devoted to the general discussion of modern education and the adaptation of progressive principles to the educational problems of the Near East," as displayed on its cover in 1928. Later years saw the creation of the Management Extension Services in the 1970s for governments and companies throughout the Middle East. Management Extension Services offered custom training and courses in whatever language suited the client, "filling a significant educational void," as Murphy noted.
 

Continuing a Legacy
 

Today, AUC is still a symbol of international friendship and collaboration, with students, faculty and visitors from all over the globe. But beyond this, AUC has continually set itself apart as an institution devoted to excellence in all areas.
 

Egypt's Minister of Education at the time Taha Hussein speaks at AUC in the 1950s

Watson's original vision was a school where students gain not just knowledge, but also the ability to relate the things they learn to real life, as well as the motivation to pursue independent thinking and creativity. Looking back on the past 100 years, we can see how Watson's vision is still alive today and will continue to influence future generations of students. AUC will not only continue on the same track, but will keep progressing -- ushering in a new century of excellence, innovation and service.
 

The Early Days

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Charles R. Watson

Charles Watson led a life dedicated to the expansion of education and the promotion of Christian values abroad and specifically in Egypt. Born in Egypt on July 17, 1873, Watson received his early education in the country and his PhD from Princeton University's Theological Seminary in 1899. He began his career by taking charge of a mission church in Pittsburgh.

Later, he worked as a teacher and pastor, promoting the works of his church at home and abroad. He was an active member of the Near East Christian Council, a special representative for the Foreign Ministry Board of North America at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and was part of an Egyptian commission to study a program of national education for the country in the early 1930s. He studied the educational system in Egypt in the early 1900s, and in 1915, organized the Board of Trustees of The American University at Cairo. The legacy of his life and values are still felt through the University today.

Liberal Arts

"We must have original and creative minds. To develop such minds is to render a supreme service to the country. Yet, this is no easy task. It calls for constant encouragement of the student to think for himself. It calls for the abandonment of the memorizing system of education. It calls for examinations and research work that will encourage independent thinking. It calls for discussions in classrooms and not mere recitations."

"The Place and Program of
The American University at Cairo,"
Commencement Address
May 26, 1933

"Our institution is here to serve Egypt and the population of Egypt. ... The full recognition of this point is fundamental to any consideration of our program and plans. ... The American University at Cairo has from the beginning laid a unique emphasis on character training in education. ... Our education is directed not merely to the student's head and intellect, but also to his heart and moral character."

The Graduation Exercises,
The College of Arts and Sciences
June 5, 1925

Cocurriculars

"No one may secure the diploma of this University without doing more than merely pass examinations on a subject matter. He must give evidence of a total development of life and character that makes him worthy of being called a college graduate. This general development we endeavor to secure by what we call our extracurricular activities."

"The Place and Program of
The American University at Cairo,"
Commencement Address
May 26, 1933

"In our education here, we strive to maintain and even deepen sympathy with the outside world. Not only are our social studies organized for an examination into the problems of Egypt, but the students are taken out to visit hospitals and orphanages, villages and the poorer sections of the city, prisons and factories, so that they may possess this quality so important for every leader, namely, sympathy with the people. ... Sometimes we are criticized for the large place we give in our curriculum to character training, to studies in ethics and to extracurricular activities, but we are persuaded that no part of our training is more important or will contribute more richly to the abiding goal of an independent Egypt."

"The Student, The School, and the Nation,"
Commencement Address
May 28, 1937

Public Access to Education

"Our Division of Extension has been developed in recognition of Mr. Public and of his opinion. It not only recognizes his importance, but it also believes that he can be educated and that, if educated, he can become the greatest force [in] the improvement of a country. That is why this University, through its Division of Extension, has sought to affect public opinion by lectures, by the printed page, by the cinema, by radio, by general gatherings and, again, by smaller forums."

"The Place and Program of
The American University at Cairo,"
Commencement Address
May 26, 1933

"The Department of University Extension ... has for its motto, 'Educate all the people.' In opposition to the familiar business term, '--- Company, Limited,' it has been called 'Education, Unlimited."

The Graduation Exercises,
The College of Arts and Sciences
June 5, 1925

 

Education and Empowerment: Alumni in this category show outstanding creativity, commitment and inspiration in educational systems and empowering endeavors. They promote and advance the skills needed to produce successful 21st-century leaders.

Crossing Cultures

Freeman Hrabowski (SAB '69)

Study Abroad

President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Freeman Hrabowski's time studying abroad at AUC made him realize that "the world is not simply black and white"

Freeman Hrabowski's time studying at AUC with his girlfriend, Jacqueline Coleman, may sound at first like a typical study-abroad experience: "The people were very embracing, the students were kind to us, and we were fascinated by the Egyptian culture," he says. But, in many ways, their semester abroad was extraordinary. Hrabowski and Coleman, now his wife of nearly five decades, are African American. They arrived in Egypt during their junior year of college in January 1969, just months after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and during a time of fraught American politics at home and abroad.

The conversations they would have at AUC shifted their view of themselves, their communities back home and the world itself. "Things are never simple; that's the lesson you learn as you go to other cultures. Everyone is seeking the truth, and yet the interpretations may be different," says Hrabowski, a mathematician who has been president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County since 1992. Hrabowski has been named by TIME among the 2009 Best 10 College Presidents and the 2012 World's 100 Most Influential People. He was also named among the 2011 Top American Leaders by The Washington Post and the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership.

From an early age, Hrabowski was deeply engaged on issues of race in the United States. He was jailed as a child for participating in civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama. The conversations he had about race while in Egypt were unique. He and Coleman weren't perceived as African Americans there, he says. People often assumed that she was Egyptian and that he was Ethiopian. Meanwhile, they were meeting people from all over the world who carried their own experiences of race, culture and religion. "It was the first time we realized that the world is not simply black and white," he says. "We came to understand the commonality of the human experience."

Hrabowski felt the responsibility of being a representative of the United States. Talking with his classmates about American politics gave him an opportunity to reaffirm what he thought about his own country. "It was really good for them to see that we were proud, to say that, 'Yeah, while we have problems, we believe in our country,'" he says. "We were proud Americans who had experienced discrimination, but who had hope that things could be better."

Today, Hrabowski makes deliberate efforts to connect with people from abroad studying on his campus and to help them find a community of their own. He knows the challenges and opportunities that arise from such an opportunity. "As students come to this country or study abroad, they have the chance to understand another perspective," he says. "The people who are privileged to have those experiences also have a responsibility to become a bridge between or among cultures."

 

Window onto the World

Lisa Anderson (CASA '76)

Arabic

"What AUC does is special for Egypt"

Lisa Anderson is best known within the AUC community as the first woman to lead the University as president. But in 1976, Anderson was a summer student at AUC's Center for Arabic Study Abroad -- "far and away the most prestigious program you could aspire to attend if you studied Arabic." There was "no air conditioning," and the rooms were "really, really hot," but "the professors were so important to me, and they were major figures in the field." When she returned to her doctoral program at Columbia University, she felt transformed.

The University itself has been transformed in many ways since then -- the classrooms are cooler, for one -- but certain things hold true, says Anderson, who is now a special lecturer and dean emerita at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs: "In many ways, AUC is the world's window into Egypt and Egypt's window onto the world."

The future of higher education is global and competitive, Anderson says. The world's first-rate institutions will form a network for sharing ideas and new ways of teaching. AUC belongs among them. "The University has a responsibility, really, to ensure that the research access, the faculty mobility, the student exchanges and so forth can be sustained over time."

The University brings ideas and thought leaders into Egypt in a way that is distinct from the work of nongovernmental organizations, private businesses or government agencies. "It really is there to serve the Egyptian people," Anderson says. "What AUC does is special for Egypt, and it also serves, in a subtle way, as a kind of promoter of Egypt in the rest of the world."

 

Hoda Badran '57

Social Studies

Serving as the first secretary-general of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, Hoda Badran has received multiple awards for her impactful work, including the UNESCO Award for Distinguished Women in 1995 and the Emirates Women Union Award for Leadership in Women Activities in 1994. She was elected by more than 150 countries for two terms as the first chair of the International Committee on the Rights of the Child at the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue. She is currently chair of the Egyptian Feminist Union.

 

Iman Bibars '81, '88

Political Science

Iman Bibars is the vice president of Ashoka Global; regional director of Ashoka Arab World, which she launched in 2003; and co-founder and chair of Egypt's first microfinance organization, Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women. With a PhD in development studies from Sussex University and more than 30 years of experience in strategic planning, policy formulation and community development, Bibars has worked with a range of nonprofit organizations, including UNICEF, Catholic Relief Services and CARE Egypt. She focused her career on giving a voice to marginalized groups and strengthening the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Middle East. Her writings on gender and entrepreneurship have been published nationally and internationally.

 

Madiha El Safty '72, '76

Sociology-Anthropology

The late Madiha El Safty was a sociology faculty member at AUC for 40 years. She served as chair of the Alliance for Arab Women as well as a member of the National Council for Women's Civil Society Committee and Committee for the Development of the Minya Governorate. She has more than 90 publications, including those written for the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the Aga Khan Foundation

 

 

Maya Morsy '95

Political Science

Maya Morsy is president of Egypt's National Council for Women, which formulates and monitors national plans and provides policy solutions for the empowerment and advancement of women. With extensive experience at the United Nations Development Programme, Morsy served as the regional adviser on gender policies and programs at its Regional Centre for Arab States in Cairo and as regional gender team leader for its regional bureau in New York and regional center in Amman. She was also country manager for the United Nations Development Fund for Women and a consultant for the Girls Education and Empowerment Project of Egypt's Ministry of Education.

Digging Deep

Salima Ikram (YAB '86)

Study Abroad

Salima Ikram was a study-abroad student at AUC and is now head of its Egyptology Unit

There is no better place to study Egyptology than in Egypt itself. Salima Ikram knew this when she attended AUC as an international student in the 1980s and decided once and for all to pursue a career in the field. Now a distinguished University professor of Egyptology, she experiences the magic of Egypt each time she introduces her students to an ancient image of an object and then asks them, "Ok, would you like to go see where it is, in its original context?"

AUC offers a "unique chance to do Egyptology the way you can't really anywhere else," Ikram says, during a break in her work directing a dig at the tomb of Amenmesse in the Valley of the Kings. And it's not just about seeing the important sites. For students from abroad, it's also about experiencing the desert, seeing how a storm there behaves and how your body and mind react to it, she says. "I think that 90 percent of a culture is based on the people's reaction and interaction with the environments."

The renown of AUC's Egyptology program and the fact that courses are taught in English make it easy to attract visiting scholars who bring a wide range of expertise. "It's very important that one should not only be exposed to one's own professors, but to as many ways of thinking as possible," Ikram says. "That gives one mental flexibility."

Ikram believes strongly in the University's identity as a liberal arts University, a place where people come to think differently, read critically and argue cogently. Without a focus on those skills, "humanity loses," she says. "We must try and uphold the values and the ideals and the nuts and bolts of a liberal arts education -- and push this forward."

 

Opening Doors

Eva Habib el-Masri '31

Bachelor of Arts

Eva Habib el-Masri is the first female student to enroll at AUC

 

As the first co-ed at AUC, Eva Habib el-Masri was a pioneer, paving the way for future female students who now make up 56 percent of the nearly 7,000 students enrolled at AUC.

Born in an upper-middle-class family, el-Masri's decision to come to AUC was supported by her father, who said to his friends later on, "I believe that education is an end in itself, and not just a means to an end. Since this was her own choice, I would not stand in her way."

Born in an upper-middle-class family, el-Masri's decision to come to AUC was supported by her father, who said to his friends later on, "I believe that education is an end in itself, and not just a means to an end. Since this was her own choice, I would not stand in her way."

She recounts her first day, standing on a side street opposite AUC and becoming nervous. "I was half tempted to return home," she confessed. "Little did I know as I dashed through the crowd and ran up those stairs that I was building up my inward strength and influencing my future destiny!" After submitting her application, she recalled AUC President Charles Watson saying to her, "Upon you will depend whether we accept other girls or not."

At AUC, she was a member of the University orchestra, Glee Club, Debating Society, International Relations Club and Cosmopolitan Club. She was also editor-in-chief of The AUC Review during her time at the University. She was named valedictorian at her commencement, and later became editor-in-chief of the bi-weekly Arabic magazine Al-Misriyyah, founded by the leader of the Egyptian Feminist Union, Hoda Shaarawi.

El-Masri was the first Egyptian to join Smith College in the United States, finishing a master's in sociology in one year -- an achievement unmatched by any foreign student at that time. She later became a successful librarian at New York University. When reflecting on her life's accomplishments, el-Masri said, "God bless The American University in Cairo for all that with which it has enriched my life and the lives of the hundreds of co-eds who have entered its gates after me."

 

Nevenka Korica (MA '99)

Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language

Nevenka Korica is director of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad program at Harvard University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She previously served as executive director of CASA at AUC. She also worked as a translator and news announcer in the Arabic service at Radio Yugoslavia. She is the co-author of Media Arabic: A Course Book for Reading Arabic News (AUC Press, 2014) and Umm al-Dunya: Advanced Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (AUC Press, 2013).

 

Up and Coming

Graduates of the last 15 years (2004 onward)

 

Amin Ashraf Marei '11

Business Administration

 

Amin Marei is the associate director of Professional Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) as well as co-founder and director of the Middle East Professional Learning Initiative, one of the largest international initiatives at HGSE. A teaching fellow at Harvard, Amin developed HGSE's professional education multiplier model, the MEPLI Fellowship, and managed the development of Harvard University's first professional education courses in Arabic.

 

Seif Abou Zaid '08, '17

Political Science; Public Policy

 

Seif Abou Zaid is the co-founder and CEO of Mavericks school in Egypt, which utilizes personalized and self- directed learning, real-life experiences and hands-on activities -- celebrating student strengths. "I was always interested in education as a vehicle for liberation and empowerment," says Abou Zaid, who previously worked in two education startups, including being co-founder and CEO of Tahrir Academy, one of the region's biggest online educational platforms.

 

The Biggest Startup event of the year at AUC

 

By Nahla El Gendy

AUC was the main partner and host of #RiseUpSummit19, the one-stop-shop event connecting startups in the Middle East and Africa. Held at AUC New Cairo for the first time, the event featured more than 20 of AUC's alumni and faculty members as guest speakers.

In his speech at the opening of RiseUp Summit 2019, AUC President Francis Ricciardone emphasized the University's role in inspiring its students to utilize their education to better serve Egypt and the communities around them. "At AUC, Egypt's global University, we bring the world back to Egypt and we bring Egypt to the world -- and not only for tourism, which is a wonderful thing, but for learning, creating, researching and developing projects and products that will improve lives. That's what AUC is about. This is the right place for RiseUp Summit 2019," said Ricciardone.

In its seventh edition, the summit bustled with the region's top entrepreneurs, startups, investors, creative masterminds and Fortune 500 companies. This year's summit built on past ones, focusing on the Journey to Growth as its main theme, as well as drawing the line between the past, present and future. The three-day summit included talks and panels, in-depth workshops, boot camps, networking sessions with hundreds of investors, as well as talent matchmaking and exclusive satellite events.

Alumni in leading positions across different fields spoke at the event, including Maged Farrag '93, creative and managing director of 5dVR; Sahar Salama '95, founder and CEO of TPAY Mobile; Mohamed Rahmy '03, managing director of Endeavor Egypt; Yaseen Abdel Ghaffar '10, founder and managing director of SolarizEgypt; and Myrna Fahim '16, lead developer advocate for IBM in Egypt and Morocco.

International figures in various fields also took to the stage, including Brian Collins, chief creative officer and founder of COLLINS; Gerardo Mazzeo, global innovation director at Nestle; Karen Cheng, head of social at 9GAG; Marcel Muenster, founder and director of The Gritti Fund; Raya Abirached, TV presenter; and Samih Sawiris, board chairman of Orascom Development Holding.

"It feels very nostalgic to be back on campus for the RiseUp Summit this year," said Islam Shawky '15, CEO and co-founder of Paymob, an infrastructure technology enabler providing payment solutions. "I began school in 2008, so AUC New Cairo is the only campus I know. We started our company on this campus, as the six members of the founding team are AUC graduates -- so we are extremely nostalgic."

Among the workshops that took place throughout the entrepreneurial marathon was one held by Kim Fox, professor of practice in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, titled What You Need to Know About Starting Your Own Podcast.

"I'm such a fan of the RiseUp Summit because it brings together the vibrant community of thought leaders, creatives and more," said Fox. "The energy is contagious and inspiring. The ability to reach out to other attendees and speakers for potential collaborations and knowledge sharing is achievable and encouraging. It was nice to see so many of my former students and colleagues there."

Ramez Youssef, chief creative officer and co-founder of Tayarah, a creative production agency, also held a workshop titled From Trendsetters to Trend-Seekers. "RiseUp Summit feels so different this year being at AUC New Cairo. The content is also different," he said. "Overall, it was a great experience."

Startups from the AUC Venture Lab (V-Lab), Egypt's first university-based startup accelerator and a leading accelerator in the Middle East and Africa, also participated in the summit. In a special booth for the V-Lab, graduates of this year's cycle shared their experiences with the attendees and highlighted the impact of their businesses on the Egyptian economy.

"The AUC Venture Lab had a strong presence at the RiseUp Summit this year, with more than 24 startups presenting their innovations to the summit participants, investors and international partners," said Ayman Ismail '95, '97, Abdul Latif Jameel Chair in Entrepreneurship, associate professor at AUC's School of Business and founding director of the V-Lab. "AUC also announced that it will be launching a new platform for innovation, focusing on attracting corporate innovation labs to be based on campus and expanding collaboration with AUC faculty and students. Our end goal is to create a collaborative community of entrepreneurship and innovation at AUC and Egypt."

RiseUp Summit 2019 held a competition for the best educational applications at the event, where AGORA, a V-Lab startup, ranked first and won the African App Launchpad Cup and a monetary prize. AGORA is an ed-tech app that empowers children to explore the world around them and learn from it through augmented reality. The summit also included a Creative Marketplace featuring some of Cairo's creative startups that displayed their products, including Doodle Factory.

 

By Nahla El Gendy

A smart -- and comfortable -- hospital gown to track a patient's vital signs

 

It all started three years ago when Mariam Ibrahim '19, graphic design graduate, fell off her beach buggy and was diagnosed with brain hemorrhage, a broken collarbone and a compressed spinal cord.

"My doctors had no idea if I was going to live for the next two or three days, so they asked me to leave the Intensive Care Unit to say goodbye to my family and friends," said Ibrahim.

While taking her out of the ICU, Ibrahim's sister had to cover her back, which was bare due to the open-back hospital gown she was wearing. "That was too hilarious for me to understand," said Ibrahim. "I was under the effect of anesthesia, so I took things lighter than I should have, but I thought this was totally impractical."

Contrary to the doctors' predictions, Ibrahim recovered, and two years later, she started her graphic design thesis project at AUC. Her main drive was to design a comfortable and practical medical product for patients. "I wanted to see how far graphic design can help in the medical field," she said.

With the support of her own doctors, Ibrahim worked on designing a smart medical gown, Hale. derived from the words exhale and inhale, the name hale means strong and healthy. "It seemed like a good fit for my project, as I didn't really want to brand it. I just wanted to have a suitable name for it," said Ibrahim.

driven by her belief that a hospital gown should appeal to both the patient and medical personnel, Ibrahim conducted multiple focus groups in Egypt with patients, nurses and doctors -- formally and informally -- in order to come up with a product that caters to their needs and improves a patient's sense of well-being in the hospital.

"During my hospital stay, I had a lot of problems with the gown itself," Ibrahim reflected. "I had a problem with the gown's texture, sheerness and functionality. the nurses had to take off my gown for the simplest of procedures, which just didn't make any sense to me."

Ibrahim developed Hale as a series of garments equipped with sensors to track a patient's vital signs while in the hospital. Hale consists of three different gowns, covering the three stages of patient recovery in relation to the notion of dress. the first gown is disposable to be used before, during and immediately after surgery, and the second is the launderable gown, designed for stable patients. Finally, the upgraded sensor gown tracks the patient's blood oxygen level, body temperature, position and pulse, relaying the readings onto a web application that updates every 10 to 30 seconds, depending on the Wi-Fi signal and changes in readings. An average reading is then recorded, and a history page is available to map out the vital signs throughout the day. When the readings are outside of the normal range, a registered health care professional is notified via email.

Ibrahim's project was featured on CNN and at the Global Grad Show in Dubai. designed under the supervision of professional doctors and nurses in accordance with regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Hale is designed to meet the needs of health care professionals while considering the patient's psychological state.

"Hale tries to address issues with the currently intrusive health monitoring system," Ibrahim said. "it makes the patient feel more in control and the doctor satisfied by the continuous monitoring of vital signs."

 

By Yakin Ouederni

AUC's centennial labs tackle everything from innovation and education to technology and architecture

Additive Manufacturing

Wire-based additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, in the lab enables the manufacture and repair of medium-to-large, metallic net-shaped parts and components with high precision, high mechanical properties, high cost savings, high efficiency and sustainability, and a high production rate compared to traditional manufacturing. This technology is applicable in various industries, including aviation, automotive, marine, oil and gas, tools and molds, and biomedical implants. This is the first integrated metal additive manufacturing robotic system locally and regionally.

Digital Egyptology

At a time when Egypt's archaeological and cultural heritage is threatened by looting and destruction, this lab helps meet the needs of heritage practitioners through the integration of technology into their training to ensure that Egypt's rich cultural heritage is digitally documented -- leading to better preservation and easier accessibility. The lab also facilitates the development of new courses and provides technical support for updating existing ones.

Behavioral and Economic Decision-Making Lab

This is the first experimental economics lab in Egypt and North Africa and the second in the Arab region. Experimental economics labs provide a way to collect data in a controlled environment. The lab at AUC has three domains: academic through multidisciplinary and international research collaborations, applied research and experiential learning; public policy through implementation and testing for policy interventions; and business and NGOs through management, marketing, engagement and capacity building.

Interdisciplinary Centennial Lab for Innovation and Technology in Education

Established by AUC's Graduate School of Education, this lab addresses key issues faced by students and teachers in Egypt relating to technological, socioeconomic and geographic barriers to learning. The lab is built on the concept of "inclusive and equitable quality education," the fourth of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and is intended to reach teachers and students in public schools, as well as rural and remote areas.

Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG)

Advances in DNA sequencing technologies have led to the generation of astronomical volumes of genetic information, posing major challenges to data analysis and interpretation. The BIG lab provides AUC faculty, researchers, students, and national and international collaborators with the skill set and computational power needed to answer genomic-based research questions, from precision medicine, environmental health, water quality and food safety to renewable and sustainable energy.

Next Architecture

NextARCH Lab is an architecture and urbanism research incubator focused on bridging the gap between academia and industry in Egypt. It creates an ecosystem of high-quality research that can compete in the global market. Studying architecture and urbanism in Egypt, the lab serves as a channel for engaging academia and industry in meaningful dialogue that leads to tangible solutions for the urgent urban challenges confronting our cities today.

Systems

Conducting cutting-edge research in computational and networking systems, this lab explores contemporary topics in computer science and engineering, such as blockchain technology, mobile and pervasive computing systems, and cybersecurity. These tracks will cater to emerging applications in health care, bioinformatics, smart cities, green systems, information and communications technology and Industry 4.0 (industry automation), among others.

Education Management

The Middle East Institute for Higher Education at AUC's Graduate School of Education, in partnership with the School of Business, created this lab to serve as an incubator for education directorates in each of Egypt's 27 governorates, supporting the Ministry of Education's decentralization efforts to transform Egypt's public education system -- the largest in the Middle East and Africa. The lab empowers education leaders to promote school-based reform, teacher autonomy, and student-centered and active learning.

Alternative Innovation Management

AUC's Access to Knowledge for Development Center launched this lab to develop alternative methods for measuring innovation in developing countries, as innovation in these regions does not usually fall into orthodox measures. Innovation is typically assessed using criteria such as patents and university degrees, leaving out informal aspects in developing countries, such as informal skill development and alternate methods of intellectual property protection. Through evidence-based studies, the lab works to present its findings to policymakers and inform national innovation policy in Egypt and the region.

 

Making an impact and #MakingAUCProud

 

AUC students win first place at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Student Mechanism and Robot Design Competition in California for their novel design of a highly stable and efficient walking quadruped.

 

AUC student and Olympic athlete Haydy Morsy wins first place at the 2019 Pentathlon African Championships, qualifying her for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Morsy was honored by Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as a top Egyptian athlete and world champion.

 

 

Laila Ziko (MSc '13, PhD '19) is a winner of the Innovators Under 35 MENA award, presented by MIT Technology Review Arabia and Dubai Future Foundation, for her research on the use of microbes to cure diseases.

 

 

AUC students -- the only team made up entirely of undergraduates -- win the Omnicom Media Group MENA Inter-University Challenge, competing with students from other international universities to solve a real data science analytics problem.

 

 

 

Students from George Washington and DePauw universities as well as Westmont College visited AUC as part of the Faculty-Led Program, taking courses at AUC and visiting different parts of Cairo.

 

AUC's Cairo International Model Arab League student delegation receives the Overall Distinguished Award as well as awards in four out of eight councils at the U.S. National University Model Arab League conference in Washington, D.C., where AUC continues to be the sole representative of universities in Egypt and the Middle East.

 

Julia Viani Puglisi is the first Harvard PhD Egyptology student at AUC. A recipient of AUC's Simpson Endowed Scholarships for Year-Abroad Program in Egyptology, Puglisi came to the University as the result of a study-abroad partnership between AUC and Harvard, facilitating international collaboration between both institutions.

 

 

AUC students from the School of Business and School of Sciences and Engineering win first place in Canada's Engineering and Commerce Case Competition.

 

 

AUC's Cairo International Model United Nations student delegation receives a record-breaking 19 awards at the National Model United Nations conference in New York -- the highest number of awards in the history of the program at AUC. The students also received the Outstanding Delegation Award, the highest award at the conference, for the 10th consecutive year.

 

AUC undergraduates -- the only team from Egypt, the Middle East and Africa -- win second place at the SensUs 2019 competition in the Netherlands for developing a biosensor to measure therapeutic
drugs in patient blood.

 

 

Biotechnology PhD student Sarah Halawa '11, '14 receives the L'Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award for her doctoral dissertation on the genetics and epigenetics of cardiovascular diseases.

 

 

 

AUC student team ranks first in the NASA Space Apps Cairo hackathon and is nominated for the global competition.

 

 

Serage Amatory '19 and Radwa Hamed '17 are named 2019 Knight- Hennessy Scholars. AUC is the only University in the Middle East that has representatives in the 2019 cohort of the prestigious program at Stanford University.

 

 

Madina Mahmoud '12, '18 wins the 2019 Eni Young African Talents Award from President of Italy Sergio Mattarella for her master's research on desalinating saltwater to preserve freshwater sources.

 

KHALED TARABIEH
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

Seizing the moment for green architecture

The Inspiration

The simple truth is that the way we build our buildings will determine the survival of future generations. Our homes, our stores, our offices, our factories -- building them requires a vast expenditure of energy in the form of materials, waste, recycling, resource use and efficiency. We continue to use concrete and red bricks in the same way as decades ago. We have increased our use of building systems for our comfort, which has a devastating impact on our energy bills. Our construction waste remains high at all times, with a record number of landfills and a maximum load on our environment. Our carbon emissions continue to increase, with limited efforts to curb them. The moment for green architecture has arrived.

It's time to look carefully at our built environment, think outside the box and build a sustainable future -- not only in terms of renewable forms of energy, but also enhancing our conventional building methods and materials, adopting a greener and sustainable approach that puts efficiency as a design principle and delivering buildings with much better quality, minimum emissions and a lesser load. At the Building Sciences Lab, we're exploring a number of ways to do that.

The Process

Tarabieh with students in the Environmental Testing Chamber

All of our research projects, from smart window applications to thermal performance of building materials, are interdisciplinary. We draw faculty and students from across the University: construction engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry and psychology. We use state-of-the-art equipment, starting with our Environmental Testing Chamber, which allows us to conduct full-scale thermal testing on composite walls made with any building materials currently used in the market or under development in our labs, such as building blocks made with compressed earth, upcycled building materials made from plastic bottles or shredded waste paper and resin. In other words, instead of relying on computer simulation models alone, we can set up actual building conditions and validate or calibrate our simulation models through experimental testing and observe how they perform in real time.

We use calibrated state-of the-art measuring equipment to sense the performance of our environment in all of our work: air-quality testing devices to determine the level of gases in our air; weather stations to monitor sonic wind measurements, solar radiation, ambient temperature, relative humidity and the amount of rainfall; devices to measure the visible transmittance of our glazing systems; humidity sensors for wood characterization to develop a smarter generation of windows; and metering systems to measure campus building energy use and make us aware of our carbon emissions, enabling us to determine our environmental load as a campus and take the appropriate measures to benchmark with our peer institutions worldwide. That's the bulk of our work: testing materials and finding ways to make them energy-efficient, cost-effective and accessible, and taking action toward better building designs.

The Next Steps

We keep expanding our research to account for other links in the construction chain. The performance of our buildings doesn't depend only on the quality of the materials. It also depends on how we use, install, apply and maintain the materials and, most importantly, how we educate our students and integrate our research in the labs with knowledge in the classroom. We're looking at the process from start to finish, capitalizing on the young minds as our primary asset to mitigate the present environmental challenges and instill green buildings as a means of coexisting with the environment. We are adopting a cradle-to-cradle mindset instead of the conventional cradle-to-grave.

The IMPACT

Testing window assemblies in the Building Sciences Lab

We want to transform the built environment to show that green architecture is a smart, sustainable solution to a major problem. Here's one small example: Windows are a critical part of any effort to conserve energy in a building. Most builders choose windows based on cost, and in Egypt, they rely on word of mouth to find suppliers. We're developing a rating system for smart windows so builders can easily access information about inexpensive, energy-efficient, high-functioning windows. In effect, we're helping to create a market for green windows. If builders want these products, the industry will want to provide them. That's how transformation starts.

The Future

Because we're a liberal arts research University, because we work across disciplines, because we were founded to help solve problems and share knowledge -- this is a place where the sky is the limit. Just think of our approach to sustainability. When we built our New Cairo campus, we made sure it was a model of best practices in green architecture and landscape design. Everywhere you go on campus, you can spot environmental design thinking: in our building materials and systems, in the strategic placement of our vegetation, and in the indoor and outdoor spaces created for people to use on a daily basis. AUC produced the region's first Carbon Footprint Report for a university campus, of which I was privileged to be part of the AUC team, and using this data, we were able to drop our energy performance down by 33% in the last decade. We lead by example -- generating creative, innovative, impactful ideas and turning them into reality.

 

THOMAS SKOUTERIS
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND CHAIR
DEPARTMENT OF LAW
DIRECTOR, IBRAHIM SHEHATA MEMORIAL 
LLM PROGRAM IN INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW

Assembling the first archive of international law practice in the Arab world

 

The Inspiration

"State practice" is of great significance for international law. It refers to "what states do" in the field of international law. It includes treaties, court decisions, legislation, diplomatic practice -- the list is quite long. Knowing "what states do" is of tremendous importance for the study of customary international law and for policymaking, but also for understanding the discipline in a cross-cultural perspective. Throughout the centuries, the Arab world became the focal point of many developments in international law and politics. At the same time, our knowledge of the practice of Arab states remains fragmented. This is because, unlike other parts of the world, it has never been systematically studied. The purpose of this project is to remedy this gap. We'll collect, classify, summarize and annotate documents relating to state practice in the Arab world, and make it accessible to a global audience.

The Process

The everyday work is truly exciting. First, there is the conceptual task of organizing the practice of international law across 22 countries into categories and fields. Then, there is the Herculean task of discovering relevant data among the sea of available public documents. Third, there is the scientific work of selecting, annotating, characterizing, connecting and analyzing information. Then, there are the many pleasures and challenges of teamwork.

The Next Steps

The Next Steps During the first year, we are focusing on setting up a database for the organization of information, testing our operating procedures and focusing on the study of limited aspects of the practice. During the following two years, we will focus exclusively on the collection and processing of data across 22 Arab states. We now have a team of 10 -- AUC faculty, students, alumni and external collaborators -- which will grow and diversify as we proceed.

The Future

AUC is the natural environment for this project. Aside from our location, our faculty, students and alumni have expertise that is hard to match. This project, together with others that are currently in progress, is part of an unfolding multi-pronged strategy to affirm the position of AUC's Department of Law as a leading academic hub in the Arab world.

The IMPACT

Once the work is done, the professional community in the region and globally (governments, legal advisers, academics, law firms, international organizations and NGOs) will be able, with the click of a mouse, to access much-needed information in English and Arabic. This will be empowering for Arab states and Arab international lawyers. One of the reasons (alas, not the main one!) why the discipline is currently so Eurocentric and the Arab world so misrepresented is the lack of access to information.

 

HANADI SALEM
PROFESSOR OF MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Working at the cutting edge of a new manufacturing technology

The Inspiration

Manufacturing is undergoing a massive shift. A technology called additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is revolutionizing the industry, from motor vehicles and consumer products to medicine, the military, gas and oil, and aerospace. We're seeing breakthroughs every day in fields such as robotics, biomedical engineering, machine learning, architecture and so many more. At AUC, we're establishing an Additive Manufacturing Centennial Lab. We expect it to be the local and regional pioneer in additive manufacturing research, development and benchmarking. We'll prepare new generations of scientists and engineers to work with this essential technology. And we'll develop and share our processes and resources.

Metallic net-shaped parts manufactured at AUC's Additive Manufacturing Centennial Lab

Metal additive manufacturing is one of the fastest growing areas in the 3D printing industry, which is predicted to have an economic impact of $40 billion by 2027.

IDTechEx

The Process

Members of our team meet regularly to make plans, brainstorm new ideas and solve problems. At the completion of a project, we submit a written report and give a presentation, which leads either to refinement or approval. We also share our work at major conferences. The projects are diverse, from jet engine parts and racecar spindles to artistic statues. We build net-shaped metal parts and components. What we all share is a commitment to using additive manufacturing in ways that will benefit the industry, environment and society.

The IMPACT

Revolutionary technological advances push the boundaries of progress -- economically, socially and environmentally. Additive manufacturing not only allows for efficient use of materials and production at a relatively lower cost than traditional manufacturing, but also reduces complex assembly efforts and increases design flexibility. By embracing the full potential of additive manufacturing and integrating it into traditional manufacturing and product development processes, we'll see new applications scaling to almost every industry. Companies can limit outsourcing to third parties by developing concepts in-house. They can also create an advantage over competitors by shortening their product development cycle. Last but not least, additive manufacturing is a green process, with minimal waste and reduced emissions. This is progress for everyone. Our additive manufacturing facility offers a unique proposal: the freedom to create more, to inspire innovation and to better society.

The Next Steps

We recently received funding for establishing an integrated metal additive manufacturing robotic system -- the first locally and regionally. We're getting ready to launch our Additive Manufacturing Centennial Lab, which will be a leading facility for exploring new adaptations of additive manufacturing. That's just a small sample of the work ahead. Both Egypt and AUC have a strong entrepreneurial culture, so there's always something new.

The Future

AUC is positioned to be a global leader in this field. Our faculty members have expertise in it all -- from reverse engineering, process design, modeling and simulation to structural characterization. Our students are highly trained in the field. Our facilities are state-of-the-art. And the University is committed not simply to conducting research, but also to raising awareness and transferring the technology to the local and regional industries where it can have the greatest benefit.