What happens when a smart waste bin gets it wrong? For all their ability to identify and sort waste by material, many existing systems still struggle with the realities of what ends up in the recycling stream. Recognizing these gaps, three AUC data science majors set out to develop a smarter waste management solution: an artificial intelligence-powered bin called Greeno, designed specifically for Egyptian waste conditions.

Malak Walaa ’26, Nour Kahky ’26 and Omar Moustafa’26 developed the prototype as part of their data science graduation project.

The students began the project with a broader interest in sustainability and environmental challenges. Rather than limiting their work to existing research, they wanted to understand the realities of waste management beyond the classroom. They studied current technologies, explored the industry and spoke with sustainability professionals at Nestlé, where they began to identify challenges that existing systems often overlook. “It’s only after this conversation that we realized we can do something big and wanted to bring it to life,” Moustafa said.  

“An artificial intelligence system is only as reliable as the data it learns from.”

A plastic bottle containing leftover liquid, for example, can contaminate an entire batch of recyclable materials, increasing processing costs and reducing the quality of recycled output. Similarly, everyday items made from multiple materials, such as a paper coffee cup with a plastic lid, can be incorrectly classified because existing systems often identify only the dominant material rather than whether the item can be effectively recycled. “These challenges are critical because they directly affect whether waste can actually be recycled, not just whether it is sorted correctly,” Moustafa said.

The team also explored Egypt’s unique waste management landscape and the role played by the informal sector. Known as the Zabbaleen, Cairo’s informal recyclers have developed a system over generations in which families take on different stages of the process, from collecting and transporting household waste to sorting, processing and recycling materials. In communities such as Manshiyat Naser, waste is brought home and manually separated into materials including plastic, metal, cardboard and fabric, with further sorting and processing carried out by other families.

Understanding this established ecosystem shaped the way the students approached Greeno. As Walaa explained, collectors operate within established territories, and the waste they gather is brought back to their communities for sorting, making a publicly placed smart bin potentially disruptive to an existing network. Instead, the team is targeting controlled environments such as universities, offices and malls, where waste can be sorted before entering the wider recycling chain.

Unlike existing smart bins that primarily classify waste by material, the new system performs multiple checks before sorting an item. A camera captures an image of the waste, then the system identifies liquid and multiple-component items. After these checkpoints, the bin classifies the waste into categories, including recyclable plastic, paper, organic waste, other waste material and non-recyclable waste.

Developing the technology required the students to overcome another major obstacle: creating an AI model adapted to the characteristics of waste found in Egypt. “Existing international waste datasets are usually collected in controlled environments, with clean backgrounds, good lighting and waste items that don’t necessarily represent what we see in Egypt,” Walaa said.

Because Egyptian waste differs in packaging, local brands and disposal habits, the team needed data that reflected the environment where the technology would be used. Through their partnership with Egyptian waste management company Dawar, the students collected images of real Egyptian waste and manually labeled thousands of samples to build their own dataset. According to Walaa, this allowed their models to better understand local conditions, achieving 92.4% external validation accuracy on previously unseen samples of Egyptian waste.

“An artificial intelligence system is only as reliable as the data it learns from,” said Noha Youssef, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science and thesis supervisor. “By testing their system on real waste from Egypt, the students made sure Greeno works where it is actually meant to be used. Technology has to be adapted to our own realities before it can truly serve them.”

“Technology shouldn’t exist just because it’s impressive; it should solve problems that matter to society.”

Without an existing roadmap to follow, the team relied on experimentation, research and mentorship to overcome challenges, spending countless hours refining datasets and retraining models. “There were moments when we felt that this is so much harder than what we expected,” Kahky recalled.

The project’s success ultimately stemmed from its multidisciplinary approach. Students working in artificial intelligence and data science developed the computer vision models, trained the algorithms and created the decision-making system, while mechanical engineering classmates transformed those predictions into a functioning prototype through hardware, sensors and sorting mechanisms.

Industry partnerships were also essential. Dawar provided practical knowledge and access to real-world waste data, while Nestlé’s support helped the students move from an AI model to a physical prototype. At AUC, the Eltoukhy Learning Factory provided the facilities and technical resources needed to design, build and test the system.

“What makes this project stand out is that it did not stop at a model on a laptop,” said Youssef. “Data science students built and trained the models, graduates working at the Eltoukhy Learning Factory turned those predictions into a working bin, and industry partners brought real data and real problems. AUC gave them the mentorship and facilities to bring these pieces together. This is what we hope every student learns: The statistics and machine learning they study in class can become real solutions to problems that matter.”

Every item thrown away carries a question: Could it have been reused, recycled or recovered? By looking 
closer at what enters the waste stream, the students hope their system can help make that question less complicated to answer.

While their smart bin is still evolving, the team hopes it can eventually move beyond an academic project and become a scalable waste management solution. “Technology shouldn’t exist just because it’s impressive; it should solve problems that matter to society,” Walaa affirmed.

As a girl, Merna Soliman ’26 pictured marriage the way many do: two people falling in love and deciding to build a life together. Today, the 22-year-old political science graduate approaches marriage differently. “I think I will have 100 to 200 stipulations, minimum,” she said of her future marriage contract.

As an undergraduate, Soliman worked with two local NGOs supporting incarcerated and vulnerable women and took classes on women’s rights and Egyptian law at the University. Among these courses was Women and Gender in Egyptian Courts, offered as part of the Core Curriculum and taught by Mohamed Serag, professor in the Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations.

These experiences transformed Soliman’s views on marriage. What she once perceived primarily as a personal commitment, she now views as a legal contract that can shape her rights and responsibilities long after saying “I do.”

Marriage is often considered a private matter; however, the expectations surrounding it — who provides, who decides and what happens when things fall apart — are reinforced by Egypt’s century-old Personal Status Law. Currently, proposed amendments to a controversial article 355 of the law are making their way through Parliament. If passed, the amendments would alter many aspects of family life, from custody arrangements and divorce requirements to grandparent visitation rights.

For Soliman, the debate has personal implications. "My financial security, child custody rights and ability to leave an abusive relationship are at risk," she said. "There are too many loopholes in the current law that can trap women in injustice."

More to Lose

Bringing together students from across disciplines, Women and Gender in Egyptian Courts examines the challenges women face in accessing justice under Egypt's Personal Status Law.

“Our department has always engaged with issues that are important to Egyptian society, and this is reflected in some of the thesis projects our students undertake,” Serag said. “This course continues that approach by helping students understand their rights and responsibilities under the Personal Status Law. Hopefully, by understanding the law and its shortcomings, they can think of solutions to some of the problems we are facing.”

For Serag, those shortcomings have been decades in the making. “Egypt's family law has steadily fallen behind many other Muslim-majority countries in protecting women's rights,” he said.

While taking Serag’s course during her final semester at AUC, Soliman was particularly troubled by legal mechanisms that reinforce marital obedience, especially in cases involving physical or emotional abuse. “If a wife flees her home because of abuse but cannot prove that the home is unsafe, and then pursues khula [a divorce initiated by women], she forfeits all financial rights she would otherwise be entitled to in a divorce,” she explained. “When it comes to ending a marriage, women have a lot more to lose than men.” 

“The greatest protection many women have isn’t the law. It’s knowing their rights before they need them.”

Serag pointed to a child support case filed in 1976 but not resolved until 2001. By then, he said, the child had grown up and married, meaning the father was no longer required to support her. Even when courts award child support or alimony, payments are often based on understated income, Serag added. “We have seen cases awarding EGP 500 per month for a wife and EGP 300 per month for a child. That amount is a joke,” he said.

Helen Rizzo, associate professor of sociology and director of AUC's Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies, said these legal outcomes are connected to a maintenance-obedience dynamic reinforced by Egyptian family law. Under this framework, husbands are expected to provide financially for the family, while wives are expected to accept the husband’s role as head of the household, Rizzo noted.

This dynamic shapes how marriages end as much as how they function. A husband can generally end his marriage through verbal divorce without going to court. A wife, by contrast, must either pursue a judicial divorce — which can take years — or seek khula, through which she gives up alimony and returns her dowry.

These legal differences can create vulnerability for women even within stable marriages. “Because the divorce laws advantage men, the possibility of divorce, even if it is low, is always in the back of women’s minds," Rizzo said. “Divorce can completely upend their lives in ways that men, especially those who can provide financially, don’t experience.”

Don't Rock the Boat

As they continue to navigate a family court system stacked against them, women are left with limited options for protecting their rights. “The greatest protection many women have isn't the law,” said Serag. “It's knowing their rights before they need them.”

Although women can add stipulations to their marriage contracts — including the right to work, remain in the marital home after divorce and initiate divorce proceedings — Serag and Rizzo pointed out that many brides-to-be are discouraged by family and friends from doing so.

“The most controversial condition is when the bride wants to include her right to divorce,” Rizzo explained. “There is heavy pressure by both families not to include this — as it offends the groom’s family for appearing not to trust the groom, and the groom feels that it diminishes his role as head of the household and decision maker.”

Even in cases of abuse within a marriage, families may often prioritize maintaining appearances. Soliman recalled hearing about a woman experiencing marital rape and abuse who, after speaking up about what she was going through, was told by her family to “get over it because he is your husband.”

Being exposed to such stories throughout her life, Soliman has come to understand the limits of legal awareness alone. “I am educated, financially independent and able to stand up for myself,” she said. “I am just a small segment of society. In reality, most women do not have the education or financial support to do this.”

“If a wife flees her home because of abuse but cannot prove that the home is unsafe, she will forfeit all financial rights she would otherwise be entitled to in a divorce. If she pursues khula [a divorce initiated by women], she also loses all financial entitlements. When it comes to ending a marriage, women have a lot more to lose than men.”

The Road to Reform

Today, roughly 1.7 million divorce, khula, alimony, child custody and visitation cases are pending in Egyptian family courts, according to the latest statistics issued by the Public Prosecution reported by Al Masry Al Youm. The backlog, alongside concerns about women’s experiences within the system, has intensified calls for reform.

Serag believes that education is an important first step toward meaningful change. “The way a law is interpreted and applied can have a significant impact in practice,” he said. “If everyone involved is well educated, we are likely to have more equitable outcomes.”

Rizzo agrees that legal reform alone is not enough. While the proposed amendments may address specific issues, she argued that they leave intact a broader framework that treats husbands as providers and wives as dependents expected to obey. “Any proposals to amend these laws that do not address the underlying inequalities in the family will be piecemeal if they remain based on the maintenance-obedience dynamic,” she said.

As Parliament debates the proposed amendment, Soliman hopes that her eventual marriage will be built on an equal partnership rather than one defined by unequal rights and responsibilities. "According to the Quran, couples should have mercy toward each other," she said.

As the legal system continues to evolve, Soliman remains mindful of these considerations — and will keep drafting her stipulations.

The brain is one of the most mysterious parts of the human body, with unique chemistry for each individual. Neuroscientist Mohamed Salama, professor in the Department of Biological, Chemical and Global Health Sciences, debunks some of the commonly held myths about the difference between male and female brains. He argues that many perceived distinctions stem less from neuroscience and more from the ways society shapes our understanding of how different genders interact with the world.

Misconception: Men are better at math and spatial reasoning.

Fact: When discussing brain health, we must understand that these are complex structures unique to each person. Saying that men are naturally better at specific tasks is an oversimplification. There are many women who excel in mathematics and many men who struggle with it. There is no way to validate this statement or predict outcomes using neuroscience as justification. Differences in gender within the mathematics fields are more likely based on gendered societal expectations. In general, societal impact plays a much larger role in our behaviors and even impacts neuroscience, as social exposure affects brain health and structures. 

Misconception: Women’s brains are more emotional.

Fact: Part of this misconception comes from the idea that women experience differences in hormone levels that can interact with the brain, but that does not mean they are more or less emotional. Women's brains do go through cycles of hormonal changes, specifically during menopause, which can impact the brain from a disease perspective, but not from an emotional one. For example, women's brains have a higher vulnerability to dementia, which might be caused by the hormonal changes they experience during menopause. Even then, brain science is so complex that a number of factors could be at play, and it's hard to relate this difference to hormones alone. Either way, the influx of hormones in women's brains do not change their emotional responses.

Misconception: Men are more competitive.

Fact: This claim cannot be correlated directly to structural brain differences. It is about social exposure, contextual differences and community beliefs. It would be inaccurate to claim that there is a valid difference between women and men in terms of anatomy or molecular basis. When we are discussing cognition and brain health, it is not only about the anatomical architecture or the structure of neurons. An individual's experiences and circumstances, including their social environment and psychological trauma, can greatly shape the brain.

Misconception: Because of gendered differences in brain chemistry, men and women are suited for different professions.

Fact: This claim is not supported by brain science. Neuroscience is a challenging discipline, but many of the leading figures in the field are women. For a long time, surgery was considered a closed discipline for men only. Today, there are many excellent female surgeons. The barriers for women in male-dominated fields and men in female-dominated fields are societal. While some people might be predisposed toward a certain field, this is not attributed to gender. 

Misconception: The brains of men and women are fundamentally different.

Fact: There are no essential differences in the brain structure of men's and women's brains. There are differences in disease risk, which we are still working to understand. While these differences can affect the probability of contracting certain diseases, they do not change personality or how men and women interact with the world around them on an emotional or behavioral level. These differences are caused instead by societal factors and should not be misconstrued as intrinsic to brain chemistry.

Oases have always brought life: from ancient agriculture to modern-day buses carrying eager students across the desert. More than a popular weekend destination, the Fayoum Oasis is a record of Egypt’s rich history, where prehistoric, ancient civilization and contemporary life exist in parallel.

Undergraduate and graduate students in the Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt course — taught by Distinguished University Professor and Amelia Peabody Endowed Professor of Egyptology Salima Ikram (YAB ’86) and Henning Franzmeier, the William K. Simpson and Marilyn M. Simpson Visiting Professor in Egyptology for Spring 2026 — explored history up close during an overnight field trip to Fayoum. Visiting sites across the oasis, they saw how the natural landscape shaped thousands of years of Egyptian history.

“On-site learning makes the subjects come alive,” Ikram stated. “As we walk along a processional route, students start to understand the role and power of religion in ancient Egyptian society and culture.”

Millennia in One Oasis

Few places in Egypt capture as many layers of history as Fayoum. Once covered by an ancient sea, the oasis later became a vital agricultural center for the pharaohs, Ptolemies and Romans. Today, its fertile fields surround temples, settlements and agricultural remains spanning thousands of years, making it an unparalleled classroom for students of Egypt’s past.

Fayoum offered the rare opportunity for students to move through those layers of history in a single trip. Traveling from Karanis to Qasr El Sagha, each stop revealed how the landscape shaped daily life, religion and political power across different civilizations.

“On-site learning makes the subjects come alive. As we walk along a processional route, students start to understand the role and power of religion in ancient Egyptian society and culture.”

“There were so many beautiful temples that blended into the area. My favorite thing I got to see was Medinet Madi,” said Jena Baitelmal, biology sophomore. “It had the ruins of a small town with a temple to Sobek, the crocodile god. The engravings were lovely, and it was cool to see how it mixed with Greek-style additions, like lions and Greek sphinxes.”

For Khalil Hernandez, an American study-abroad student, the experience underscored how the oasis, despite its seemingly remote location, was deeply connected to regional trade and empires.

“Being in Fayoum, I was really able to understand the role that Egypt played in supporting the agricultural industry of the Roman Empire,” he said.

From the fossilized mangroves in Wadi Al-Hitan to the Ptolemaic temple of Qasr Qarun, students took in the expanse of the oasis through multiple disciplinary lenses. Whether examining geological preservation, artistic traditions or political symbolism, each stop offered a different way of understanding Egypt’s past.

“Everything is more real, and these experiences provide a more profound understanding of the past and its significance to the present,” said Ikram. “The remoteness of the basalt quarries emphasizes the extraordinary perseverance and genius of the ancient Egyptians who cut and moved huge rocks from this distant place to the pyramids. The town of Karanis allows people to wander through houses, look at spaces for food preparation, visit bathhouses and really see how people lived,” said Ikram.

“It’s one thing to read about it, but another to experience it and imagine its greatness. I hope that with these visits, more people will be willing to help preserve these sites and the history and culture they hold.”

History Up Close 

The breathtaking expanse of Fayoum’s past comes alive in a way that is impossible to replicate on the pages of a history book. For many students, standing among sites of such significance and natural beauty was nothing like what they had previously encountered in lectures and textbooks. 

“Field trips are important on a variety of levels,” Ikram explained. “I want students to engage with monuments in their landscape to better understand the context and to see how the environment, as it changes, dictates responsive changes in human behavior. In addition, people see more of Egypt, which is valuable. And finally, it is also a bonding experience for the students and a way for personal growth.”

Traveling as a cohort and staying overnight in the Tunis village allowed the students to become more than just colleagues; they also became friends. “These trips are a great way to get closer to classmates,” shared Emily Martinez, Egyptology master’s student and class teaching assistant. “Seeing all these historical sites in person is especially impactful as a class cohort.”

Baitelmal affirmed, “The trip really helped me better understand these sites and get a more in-depth explanation of what they mean. I had been to some of the places in Fayoum before, but I had never really understood many of the sites until I went on the trip.”

Martinez hopes the experience inspires students to see Egypt’s heritage in a new light and recognize its importance. “It’s one thing to read about it, but another to experience it and imagine its greatness. I hope that with these visits, more people will be willing to help preserve these sites and the history and culture they hold,” she said.

Biology and premedical track junior Yousef Taha was inspired to pursue a career in medicine after witnessing an open-heart surgery during a career day at the end of seventh grade.

“Seeing a heart leave the human body and the body still remain alive was breathtaking,” Taha said. Coming from a family of doctors, the experience solidified his decision to pursue cardiac surgery. 

Since then, Taha has built a holistic education in science, civic engagement and community building at AUC with the goal of becoming a physician who not only treats patients but also champions their needs. “For me, medicine is not just about the operating room; it's also about the advocacy that comes with medicine,” Taha emphasized.

Originally from Jordan, Taha transferred to AUC after conflict prevented him from continuing his studies at the American University of Beirut. A Tomorrow’s Leaders Scholarship to AUC made the difference, enabling him to invest himself in the student community.

“I was learning what shaped their lives long before an illness brought them through a clinic door”

Taha served as vice president of the Al-Quds Club, where he established a dabkeh team, and as vice president of the Biology Association, leading committees and coordinating events. He also took part in the Ramadan packs campaign, a collaboration among 29 student organizations that provided food to 3,500 families across Egypt.

His experiences also extend beyond campus, from clinical work to global opportunities. Taha spent summers interning in the operating room at Jordan Hospital in Amman, Jordan, and traveled to New York City with AUC’s Cairo International Model United Nations team. In 2025, Taha and his co-delegate, political science senior Hussein Sherif, received the Best Position Paper award at the National Model United Nations conference held at the UN headquarters in New York. “If it wasn’t for the clubs I’ve been a part of at AUC, I wouldn’t have had such a chance,” Taha said.

During a Fall 2025 study-abroad semester at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Taha volunteered weekly at the Health Commons in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, delivering food packages to 130 families. The experience showed him how housing instability, food insecurity and other social challenges affect health even before patients enter a clinic. “I was learning what shaped their lives long before an illness brought them through a clinic door,” Taha explained.

He and a friend are developing an AI agent that books appointments, gathers patient information and answers after-hours calls. The goal is to help physicians prepare for appointments while creating a smoother experience for patients.

As he looks ahead to medical school, Taha hopes to bring a globally informed perspective of compassionate care to every community he serves. 

“From Jordan to Beirut, Cairo and the U.S., each station in my last four years shaped my identity and strengthened my desire to serve communities whose struggles I understand. Medicine is where I hope to bring together that desire to give back, my love of learning and my commitment to meeting people with both knowledge and compassion,” Taha said.

Along South Teseen Street, AUC’s next chapter is no longer just a plan on paper. The three transformative campus expansion projects are rising, bringing the University closer to a reimagined New Cairo campus designed around how students learn, live, innovate and prepare for the future. 

With the completion scheduled for this spring, the project is moving from vision to reality. “Each project plays a central role in advancing the seamless transition between academia and the real world, lifelong learning and a fully immersive educational experience for students from across Egypt and around the world,” affirmed AUC President Ahmad Dallal.

The campus expansion initiative builds on AUC’s long-term plans for the New Cairo campus. Following community consultations in 2020, an updated master plan identified new projects to support the University’s strategic priorities while responding to a changing educational landscape. The result was three interconnected developments: NextGen Student Living and Learning Spaces, the Technology, Research and Innovation Lab (TRI-Lab) and an Extended Education Hub. Across all projects, sustainability, accessibility and technology are key to the design, with the buildings targeting LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] Gold green building certification.

New Living Spaces

For students, one of the most visible changes will be the NextGen residences. Designed to deliver much more than traditional dormitories, the two L-shaped buildings will add around 300 beds and increase AUC’s on-campus housing capacity by 40 percent. The expansion responds to growing demand from students arriving from outside Cairo, particularly international students and scholarship and fellowship recipients who need on-campus housing.

“What I am looking forward to the most is seeing how the additional 300 students living on campus will help transform and shape our campus community, especially in the evenings and on weekends,” said Yorgun Marcel, dean of students. “I am looking forward to seeing how the designated spaces for music, cooking classes, exercise and gardening will help build strong connections amongst the students and a vibrant community.” 

The residences are conceived as social and learning ecosystems, balancing private rooms with shared indoor and outdoor spaces where students can study and collaborate. Features include rooftop garden tables, a green area where students can grow and harvest crops, a community marketplace open to the AUC community, creative studios for music and podcasting, and a teaching kitchen. The smart utility metering will turn sustainability into a friendly competition. The buildings are equipped with gray water systems to cut down on the consumption of potable water and use more recycled water for flushing. The goal is to make residential life an extension of the educational experience, giving students spaces to develop skills, relationships and independence beyond the classroom.

“Hopefully, this project will place the residential life experience at the heart of the campus community and the AUC experience,” said Marcel.

Where Education Meets Industry

If NextGen expands where students learn and belong, the TRI-Lab expands what they can create. At 12,150 square meters, the new technology, research and innovation facility is designed to foster innovation, accelerate technology commercialization, and bring products and ideas from AUC labs and classrooms to markets.

“Entrepreneurship has always been an integral part of AUC’s DNA. We want to bring our entrepreneurial DNA outward to serve the community and bring real-life experience from industry to our educational process. It’s a two-way interaction."

The TRI-Lab creates the space for large-scale experimentation and product development, applied research labs, as well as coworking and learning spaces for students, faculty and alumni to engage and build their businesses. Today, dozens of AUC faculty are engaged in research tackling real-world problems of our time. The TRI-Lab enables partnerships with industry, NGOs and the public sector to expand the transfer of knowledge from the laboratory and classroom into real-world applications. The TRI-Lab will bring research, innovation, experimentation and commercialization under one roof, creating a space to translate research into industry partnerships and startups, particularly deep-tech ventures. The TRI-Lab will also include maker-spaces for live prototyping as well as AI and digital-product facilities.

Ayman Ismail ’95, ’97, associate provost for innovation and entrepreneurship who will lead and manage the TRI-Lab, emphasized, “Entrepreneurship has always been an integral part of AUC’s DNA. We want to bring our entrepreneurial DNA outward to serve the community and bring real-life experience from industry to our educational process. It’s a two-way interaction."

Extended Education

The third piece of the campus expansion project looks beyond undergraduate and graduate students. The Extended Education Hub, spanning 15,568 square meters across two buildings, will bring together AUC’s wide-ranging professional and continuing education offerings. Located within walking distance of the monorail station, the hub is designed to serve New Cairo, the New Capital and a workforce increasingly in need of lifelong learning opportunities.

“The Extended Education Hub is an exciting development that centralizes continuing and executive education programs, creating a unified space for lifelong learning and workforce development,” said Mahmoud Allam, dean of the School of Continuing Education. “It expands outreach to tens of thousands of learners — including university students, fresh graduates, professionals and executives — while offering flexible, stackable credentials aligned with Egypt’s Vision 2030.” 

"I am looking forward to seeing how the designated spaces for music, cooking classes, exercise and gardening will help build strong connections amongst the students and a vibrant community.”

Programs currently offered through the School of Continuing Education, Onsi Sawiris School of Business Executive Education, Global Affairs and Public Policy Executive Education, and Engineering and Science Services will come together in a purpose-built environment designed for flexibility and collaboration. A 350- to 400-seat auditorium will support executive programs and large events, while dual-mode classrooms will accommodate both face-to-face and online learning. Flexible spaces can transform into specialized labs, mock hotel rooms, restaurants or lecture halls, while one-button studios will support the production of online courses and live virtual classes.

“The hub features state-of-the-art learning spaces and a dedicated test center, providing adaptable facilities to host and support new programs,” said Allam. “For the AUC community, it strengthens institutional impact, fosters collaboration across schools and asserts AUC’s position as a regional leader in preparing for the future of work.”

Together, the three projects represent more than an expansion of AUC’s physical footprint. They are reshaping the campus around the ways students, faculty and the community live, learn, connect and create.

Thabet Alfishawi ’03 has spent his career helping build some of the artificial intelligence products that defined the 2010s. From YouTube’s recommendation engine to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, he has been at the forefront of consumer AI’s rapid evolution.

Now Alfishawi is helping shape its next chapter as chief product officer of AI startup Intelmatix. Based in Riyadh and London, Intelmatix developed EDIX, an AI platform that acts as a company’s digital brain. The company raised $20 million in the funding round and was named a 2025 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.

“It’s like an AI chief of staff — somebody you could not only chat with but also call or send a voice note to on WhatsApp,” Alfishawi said.

Born and raised in Cairo, Alfishawi became interested in technology when a childhood friend got an old Sakhr computer and the two spent their summers playing programming games.

Alfishawi studied at AUC as the internet was beginning to spread across Egypt, where he says being surrounded by highly ambitious young people shaped his career outlook. A conversation with a friend who had returned from the United States after a summer abroad working on software for a NASA satellite proved especially influential.

“My ambition really changed during my time at AUC,” he said. “I told myself, ‘Hey, if my friend can go to the United States and work on this satellite software, I can maybe work for Google there.’”

After graduation, Alfishawi built a career in product management and private equity before earning an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and moving into the heart of the tech industry in Silicon Valley. It was there that he witnessed the rise of consumer AI firsthand, working on YouTube’s video recommendation algorithm and helping launch Google Assistant, the company’s voice-activated AI.

“When I joined YouTube, the standard use of AI was machine-learning recommendation engines,” Alfishawi said. “To go from that to chatbots like Google Assistant, to the ambient computing Alexa was trying to achieve, and now to LLMs [large language models] — it has honestly been a crazy ride.”

For Alfishawi, Intelmatix represents the next evolution of AI. Its flagship product, EDIX, combines internal company data with regional context — including migration patterns, location data and industry statistics — to help executives identify growth opportunities and make informed decisions.

As AI continues to evolve, Alfishawi encourages business and computer science graduates to harness the entrepreneurial mindset and dream big. “The barrier to building and pursuing your vision has never been lower, so I think it’s an exciting time. Pursue your dream and what excites you. That’s what people hire for; that’s what people invest in,” he said.

When we think about AI in academia, the typical image is of a rushed student using a large language model (LLM) to generate an essay right before the clock strikes 11:59 pm. Since ChatGPT’s release in 2022, artificial intelligence has become both a challenge and a tool for educators worldwide. Yet beyond the classroom, the technology is also transforming academic research, creating new opportunities while raising questions about bias, authorship and academic integrity.

How is AI reshaping research across the Arab world? AUCToday spoke with two faculty approaching the question from different standpoints. Nagla Rizk ’83, ’87, professor of economics and founding director of AUC’s Access to Knowledge for Development Center, brings an economic and development perspective to questions of AI bias and inclusion through her work at the center, while Adam Talib, associate professor in the Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations and a scholar of premodern Arabic literature, examines AI through the lens of language, literature and culture. 

How is AI changing academic research in the MENA region?

Talib: LLMs can democratize access to historical primary sources that have long been inaccessible because of language barriers. Imagine the average Egyptian student interested in Andalusi literature. Traditionally, the answer would have been: You need to learn French, and maybe Spanish, before you can fully engage with the scholarship. Now that may not be as pressing because an LLM can help you get the gist of a French article. It pushes language learning in a lateral direction. It doesn’t eliminate the need to learn the language, but I think it will encourage people to be a little bit more broad-minded in how they approach their training.

How can organizations protect regional research from marginalization in the AI boom?

Rizk: AI output depends on what is being fed into the system as data to train its models. If regional research output is not integrated into AI platforms, it will be invisible to AI users. For this reason, among others, technology has a tendency to be unjust, so you need to integrate justice into its design. You need to make sure diverse knowledge content and languages receive equal attention so no one is left behind. Regional research has to be included in datasets, and regional researchers have to be at the forefront of shaping the technology. But this is not easy. Who takes care of this? Who is responsible? We all are. Technology needs to be inclusive, and that is everyone’s job — governments, researchers, businesses, civil society and international organizations. 

 "Technology has a tendency to be unjust, so you need to integrate justice into its design"

How is AI changing student learning?

Talib: AI risks diminishing the rigorous training that teaches students how to think and engage with resources critically. AI companies talk about the amount of hours they put into training their models. The average MA or PhD student also spends thousands of hours developing that same depth in knowledge. The challenge will be motivating students to see the value of that training, despite the fact that somebody with no Arabic can sit in their house at 11 pm and start reading Arabic medieval chronicles with the help of AI. How do I persuade an intelligent student to put in the work to read it themselves? You have to show them that a specialist using an LLM is an order of magnitude better than an LLM on its own.

Rizk: Students will use AI even in contexts where access to technology is limited, and such use should be responsible. Ideally, students should be allowed to use AI in real time during class and compare what they get with insights shared in their earlier offline discussions. One way to avoid excessive student use of AI in teaching and learning would be to rely more on oral and in-class exams with no access to the internet or phones. We are fortunate at AUC, as we can afford all this. We have the facilities, and we teach small groups of students. This is not the case for other parts of Egypt. Think of universities in less privileged areas with fewer resources and much larger class sizes. How can they adopt such personalized approaches? That’s a real challenge, and it is one that AUC has helped address through its Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools.