AUC FACULTY WIN EGYPTIAN STATE PRIZES FOR CONTRIBUTIONS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY

October 21, 2020, Cairo – Three faculty members at The American University in Cairo (AUC)

recently won State Prizes in Science and Technology for their scientific contributions and

achievements. The prizes were awarded by The Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and

Technology.

Hassan Azzazy, State Merit Award

Hassan Azzazy, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry, who has been acknowledged

for his multiple contributions in chemistry, says, "It is a great honor to win this prestigious State

Merit Award in Advanced Technological Sciences. There is no doubt that this award recognizes

the caliber, great efforts and productivity of my research teams at AUC. We have worked very hard

and implemented innovative ideas to develop practical solutions and prototypes to address

multiple health and environmental challenges. Winning this award motivates us to work even

harder toward improving health care and environmental protection."

Azzazy has over 30 years of experience in biomedical research and is the founder of AUC's Novel

Diagnostics and Therapeutics research group, which has been working on developing innovative

diagnostics for accurate and affordable detection of biomarkers of cancer and infectious agents,

including hepatitis C. The group also develops biodegradable nanofibers loaded with natural

antibacterials for use as wound dressings, optical chemosensors for detection of heavy metals in

water, and nanocapsules encapsulating chemotherapeutic agents for breast cancer therapy. The

research group consists of multidisciplinary teams of researchers, mainly focusing on applied

research and has published numerous papers in international journals, obtained several patents,

and won international technology business plan competitions.

Azzazy has also co-founded AUC's D-Kimia, the first University spinoff in Egypt, which develops

novel assays to detect a broad range of diseases by targeting the nucleic acid signature of the

disease. The patent-pending platform has initially been tested for the identification of hepatitis C

virus in patients. Azzazy managed and supervised several campaigns to raise awareness of the

hepatitis C virus, which affected millions of Egyptians every year. In addition, Azzazy coached

several AUC student teams that participated in the international biosensor competition (SensUS),

organized by the Technical University of Eindhoven in the NSetherlands. Students have won

several awards for the developed biosensors.

Nageh Allam, State Excellence Award

Nageh Allam, professor of physics, won the State Excellence Award in Advanced Technological

Sciences for his research on the design and fabrication of nanostructured materials for energy

application. The winning research mainly focuses on using such materials to harvest sunlight and

convert it, either directly into electricity (solar cells) or indirectly to split water and generate

hydrogen for use as a clean fuel. Equally important is energy storage, which was the second part

of the winning research.

"The development of renewable, low-cost energy technologies is a key scientific challenge for the

21st century," said Allam. "I am so pleased to win this award; hard work is finally paying off. More

importantly, I am happy for my research team, who managed to design and synthesize very

efficient electrode materials to manufacture supercapacitor devices, using earth-abundant and

cheap materials to ensure long-term sustainability. It shows that good work is still being watched

over and be distinguished," said Allam.

Looking forward, Allam and his team are working hard to design highly efficient devices for the

same applications (solar cells and solar fuels). "We are extending the work toward essential areas

such as energy-efficient water desalination systems, high-energy density batteries and recycling of

carbon dioxide," he added. "Two other projects that are very essential and are starting to show

promising results are the recycling of spent batteries into other useful energy storage media, and

the conversion of agriculture waste into biogas with low carbon dioxide content for use as fuel."

Omar Abdelaziz, State Encouragement Award

Omar Abdelaziz, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, won the State Encouragement

Award in Engineering Sciences for his multiple contributions to refrigeration and cooling/air

conditioning. His research specifically addresses the conversion of industries to utilizing low global

3

warming potential refrigerants that are energy-efficient and climate-friendly to reduce global

warming and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

"Over the last five years, I have focused my attention to supporting the global move towards

environmentally friendly lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants for use in heating,

ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration," said Abdelaziz. "My work at Oak Ridge National

Laboratory in 2014 and 2015 was critical to ensure the developing countries, especially those with

high ambient temperature environments, that there are potential solutions to currently used ozone-

depleting or high GWP refrigerants. I then worked closely with various international organizations

to help develop heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration solutions with natural or low

GWP refrigerants."

Another critical research topic that Abdelaziz is working on is developing sustainable cooling

systems that involve novel technologies, including magnetic refrigeration and other not-in-kind

technologies. "Through these efforts, I was able to develop new patents in magnetic refrigeration

using a novel all-solid technology and showcase that separate sensible and latent cooling is

considered as the best approach for providing the most efficient cooling strategy," he added.

Abdelaziz is currently a member of the United Nations Ozone Secretariat Techno-economic

Assessment Panel and co-chair of its Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Heat Pump Technical

Options Committee. He is an active member of the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and

Air Conditioning Engineering and serves on its Research Administration Committee as research

activity subcommittee chair.

"I was quite surprised to hear about the award. I am humbled to be amongst so many pioneers in

my field who have already received the same state award," said Abdelaziz.

Moving forward, Abdelaziz will continue to develop sustainable energy-efficient heating, ventilation,

air conditioning and refrigeration solutions -- with a special emphasis on developing countries. "I

will look into more efficient ways for renewable energy integration to ensure that the technologies I

work on provide integrated solutions that apply to both developing and developed communities."

For regular updates from the University during coronavirus visit www.aucegypt.edu/coronavirus 

For more information about the university news and events follow us on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/aucegypt

And Twitter @AUC

Crayon Expands Strategic Partnership With Workplace From Facebook

 

The extended agreement will help companies connect remote and deskless workers with mobile-friendly and collaborative technology

OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE/AETOSWire)-- Crayon, a global leader in digital transformation, today announced it is expanding its partnership with Workplace from Facebook to change the way organizations communicate and get work done. Crayon has offered Workplace, a business collaboration tool, in the Nordics since 2018 and this new agreement will expand the partnership into 20 more countries over the next year.

Crayon has seen an increase in the need for collaborative tools as companies around the world shifted to a new approach to work, connecting a more remote and distributed workforce. The expanded partnership means Crayon and Workplace will help organizations work closer together, break down communication silos and enable stronger company culture, especially with remote and frontline workers by providing a unified system of engagement and collaboration.

“This partnership means we can help more companies to connect on one platform so that everyone feels like they have a voice in the organization,” said Crayon co-founder Rune Syversen. “We understand the challenge of the connected company has nothing to do with technology, it has to do with changing the culture toward open collaboration. Our Workplace program is about just that – helping our customers to leverage the benefits of the Workplace platform emphasizing cultural changes. Since we started this partnership, we’ve observed Workplace becoming our fastest growing tech partner, particularly as the technology works well with the Microsoft IT stack. For us, along with Workplace, it’s not just another IT implementation, it is an introduction of a whole new way of communicating across the entire company.”

Crayon has helped deploy Workplace at all types of organizations, from healthcare companies to transportation organizations globally.

“Our employees have different workspaces, some are working from their office, others are working from a farm. We needed a way to communicate with everyone across the organization regardless of where or how they did their job and Workplace made that possible,” said Meylin S. Loo, Digital Communications Chief for Tine in Norway.

“Also, for us it was important to have a partner that had implemented this solution before to give us crucial guidance on best practices. Plus, we already have a long-standing successful relationship with Crayon and so we knew they were the right one to help us implement Workplace.”

Among the 20 countries that Crayon and Workplace will expand to include Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the UK, France and the US.

“We are proud to expand our partnership with Crayon, which has dozens of joint Workplace customers and has added their technical expertise to each launch to enable wall-to-wall adoption of Workplace across every employee in an organization. This deepened partnership and new growth trajectory is another important milestone on our two companies’ journeys. Right now companies around the world are trying to keep their workforces connected, engaged and keep their employees informed, and we believe that Workplace is a perfect solution for many of today’s real-world challenges,” said Julien Codorniou, VP, Workplace from Facebook.

About Crayon:

Crayon helps customers build the commercial and technical foundation for a successful digital transformation journey through a reliable services framework allowing our customers to right-size and optimize their IT estates. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Crayon has over 1600 employees across more than 50 locations worldwide.

كرايون توّسع شراكتها الإستراتيجية مع وورك بلايس التابعة لشركة فيسبوك

 

ستساعد الاتفاقية الموّسعة الشركات على ربط العاملين عن بُعد والذين لا يجلسون وراء المكتب عبر تقنية تعاونية مناسبة للجوال

 

أوسلو، النرويج-(بزنيس واير/"ايتوس واير"): أعلنت اليوم "كرايون"، الشركة الرائدة عالمياً في التحول الرقمي، عن توسيع نطاق شراكتها مع "وورك بلايس" التابعة لشركة "فيسبوك" لتغيير طريقة تواصل المؤسسات وإنجازها للأعمال. وطرحت "كرايون" أداة "وورك بلايس" التعاونية للأعمال في دول الشمال منذ عام 2018. ومن شأن هذه الاتفاقية الجديدة أن تساهم في توسيع الشراكة لتشمل 20 دولة أخرى خلال العام المقبل.

 

وشهدت "كرايون" ارتفاعاً في الحاجة إلى الأدوات التعاونية في ظلّ تحوّل الشركات في جميع أنحاء العالم لاعتماد مقاربات جديدة للعمل، ما أسهم في ربط القوى العاملة الأكثر بُعداً وانتشاراً. وبموجب هذه الشراكة الموّسعة تساعد "كرايون" و"وورك بلايس" المؤسسات على العمل معاً بشكل وثيق، وكسر حاجز العزلة في الاتصالات وتعزيز ثقافة الشركات، خاصةً مع العاملين عن بُعد وفي الخطوط الأمامية من خلال توفير نظام موّحد للمشاركة والتعاون.

 

وفي هذا السياق، قال رون سايفرسن، المؤسس المشارك لشركة "كرايون": "تعني هذه الشراكة أنه يمكننا مساعدة المزيد من الشركات على الاتصال بواسطة منصة واحدة. وبالتالي، يشعر الجميع بأن لديهم حق التعبير في المؤسسة. وندرك أن التحدي الذي تواجهه الشركات المتصلة عن بُعد لا علاقة له بالتكنولوجيا، وإنما هو مرتبط بتغيير الثقافة نحو اعتماد التعاون المفتوح. ويتمحور برنامج ’وورك بلايس‘ الخاص بنا حول ذلك فقط - أي مساعدة عملائنا على الاستفادة من فوائد منصة ’وورك بلايس‘ التي تركّز على التغييرات الثقافية. ومنذ إطلاقنا لهذه الشراكة، لاحظنا أن أداة ’وورك بلايس‘ غدت شريكنا التقني الأسرع نمواً، خاصة وأن التكنولوجيا تعمل بشكل جيد مع حزمة تكنولوجيا المعلومات من ’مايكروسوفت‘ (مايكروسوفت آي تي ستاك). وبالنسبة لنا، وبالتعاون مع ’وورك بلايس‘، لا يقتصر الأمر على استخدام تكنولوجيا المعلومات بطريقة أخرى، بل يعكس طرحاً لطريقة جديدة تماماً للتواصل عبر الشركة بأكملها".

 

وساعدت "كرايون" في نشر "وورك بلايس" في مختلف أنواع المؤسسات، من شركات الرعاية الصحية إلى مؤسسات النقل على مستوى العالم.

 

ومن جهتها، قالت ميلين إس. لو، رئيسة شؤون الاتصالات الرقمية في "تاين" في النرويج: "يعمل موظفونا في مواقع عمل مختلفة، إذ إنّ بعضهم يعمل من مكاتبهم، والبعض الآخر يعمل من المزارع. وكنا بحاجة إلى وسيلة للتواصل مع الجميع في جميع أنحاء المؤسسة بغض النظر عن مكان أو كيفية قيامهم بأعمالهم، وقد جعلت منصة ’وورك بلايس‘ ذلك ممكناً".

 

وتابعت قائلةً: "كان من المهم بالنسبة لنا أيضاً أن نتعاون مع شريك سبق واستخدم هذا الحل وبالتالي يمكنه تزويدنا بإرشادات فائقة الأهمية حول أفضل الممارسات. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، أرسينا أسس علاقة ناجحة وطويلة الأمد مع ’كرايون‘، وبالتالي، أدركنا أنها الأنسب لمساعدتنا في نشر ’وورك بلايس‘".

 

وتشمل البلدان الـ20 التي ستتوّسع فيها "كرايون" و"وورك بلايس" كل من النرويج والدنمارك والسويد وفنلندا والمملكة المتحدة وفرنسا والولايات المتحدة الأمريكية.

 

وقال جوليان كودورنيو، نائب رئيس شركة "وورك بلايس" التابعة لـ"فيسبوك": "نُعرب عن فخرنا بتوسيع نطاق شراكتنا مع ’كرايون‘، التي تضم العشرات من العملاء المشتركين لـ’وورك بلايس‘ والتي أضافت خبراتهم التقنية إلى كل عملية إطلاق جديدة لتمكين الاعتماد الكلي لـ’وورك بلايس‘ من قبل جميع موظفي المؤسسة. وتعكس هذه الشراكة المتعمقة ومسار النمو الجديد إنجازاً آخراً في مسيرة الشركتين. في الوقت الحالي، تحاول الشركات حول العالم إبقاء القوى العاملة لديها متصلة ومشاركة موظفيها وإبقائهم على اطلاع دائم، ونعتقد أن ’وورك بلايس‘ هو الحل الأمثل لمواجهة العديد من تحديات العالم الواقعي اليوم".

 

لمحة عن "كرايون":

تساعد "كرايون" العملاء على وضع الركائز التجارية والتقنية الأساسية لتحقيق النجاح في مسيرتهم نحو التحول الرقمي من خلال إطار خدمات موثوق يتيح لهم تقييم وتحسين تكنولوجيا المعلومات في منظومتهم. تتخذ "كرايون" من أوسلو، في النرويج مقراً رئيسياً لها، ويعمل لديها أكثر من 1600 موظف في نحو 50 موقعاً حول العالم.

 

إن نص اللغة الأصلية لهذا البيان هو النسخة الرسمية المعتمدة. أما الترجمة فقد قدمت للمساعدة فقط، ويجب الرجوع لنص اللغة الأصلية الذي يمثل النسخة الوحيدة ذات التأثير القانوني.

AUC COLLABORATES ON INTERNATIONAL DEVILAG PROJECT TO SUPPORT EGYPT'S RURAL COMMUNITY

October 13, 2020, Cairo – The Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES) at The American University in Cairo (AUC), in collaboration with Egyptian and European universities, as well as local public and private entities — is working on a three-year project, DeVilag, to support the Egyptian rural community. The project is co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union and includes introducing new courses in diverse topics such as sustainable agriculture and migration and development as part of AUC’s graduate program in sustainable development. This semester, AUC offers a new course, Sustainable Agriculture, where students will learn how to efficiently increase food production, and a modified course, Global Changes and Sustainable Development.

Supporting Egypt in applying its Vision 2030 for sustainable development, the project focuses on the most vulnerable groups in underprivileged villages to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed for communities to move toward sustainable agriculture and reduce migration from rural areas. 

“Providing the Egyptian rural community with qualified graduates, university expertise, and training and consultation service offices improves agricultural productivity, enables more sustainable food production, develops poor villages and enhances farmers’ income and living conditions to limit mass migration to the cities,” said Hani Sewilam, professor at AUC’s Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology and founding director of CARES and the Graduate Program for Sustainable Development.

DeVilag includes the “modification and reorientation” of current postgraduate and undergraduate curricula at participating universities to ensure the implementation of sustainable rural development. In that context, AUC is introducing new courses on sustainable agriculture and migration patterns into its sustainable development graduate program during the 2020-2021 academic year. The new courses will also include Integrated Water Resources Management, where students will learn how to tackle water scarcity issues and address economic and social welfare with regard to water resources; Water-Energy-Food Nexus, where students will learn how to connect sustainable development with the concept of a water-energy-food nexus; and International Migration and Development, offered in collaboration with AUC’s Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, where students will delve into the relationship between migration and development.

“The newly added courses will train graduates in land management practices relevant to Egypt, giving them an edge and providing them with the opportunity to better serve their communities through sustainable rural development –– a first-of-its-kind initiative in the region,” said Sewilam.

The project also includes Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), capacity-building programs to train faculty members in Egyptian universities in addressing the different facets of sustainable agriculture and rural development, and the establishment of a DeVilag service office at four Egyptian universities to provide technical support and information sessions for farmers and the public and private sectors.

Ranked by Eduniversal in 2019 as the top master’s program in Africa (green technologies concentration), the Master of Science in sustainable development is an interdisciplinary program combining the expertise of different academic schools at AUC: School of Business, School of Sciences and Engineering, School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and School of Humanities and Social Sciences. It covers four tracks of study: Green Technologies, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Cities and Sustainable Communities. 

For regular updates from the University during coronavirus visit www.aucegypt.edu/coronavirus 

For more information about the university news and events follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/aucegypt 

And Twitter @AUC

Africa’s First Adaptive Learning Online High School Launches

Bridge House School and Digemy join forces to launch ConnectEd, the first online high school in Africa to utilise an adaptive learning platform.

Tuesday, 13 October Cape Town - Prestigious, independent school, Bridge House and award-winning EdTech company, Digemy, have joined forces to create ConnectEd - the first Independent Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum online high school in Africa to utilise a dynamic adaptive learning platform. The school will launch initially for Grades 10 and 11, with other grades to follow next year and into 2022.

 

Bridge House and Digemy have an aligned vision to change the traditional teaching model and, in the process, enable a first-rate education to be accessible to a much wider audience. “A key issue with the current education system is that all students are expected to work at the same pace,” says Kate Cowling, Head of College Academics at Bridge House. “This system does not allow for students with differing abilities to engage and absorb information at different rates, nor does it acknowledge that each student comes with their own unique background and prior knowledge. Teachers, therefore, spend a lot of time repeating content until all the students have a solid understanding of the work. A second issue is that teachers are currently unable to make real-time data-driven assessments to identify which concepts individual students may struggle with as these insights are not automated and readily available.”

 

As Kobus Louw, CEO of Digemy, explains, “The adaptive learning approach provided by Digemy and utilised by ConnectEd addresses both of these issues. The ConnectEd platform is powered by neuroscientific algorithms that identify each student’s knowledge gaps and adapt the repetition of questions and content accordingly, providing a tailored and effective personalised learning plan. The result: a decrease in time spent learning and an increase in retention.”

 

World-class academic content based on the IEB curriculum created and developed by experienced Bridge House School staff will be provided to students via multimedia micro-module lessons. Personalised support will be provided through a bespoke facilitators’ programme and timetabled weekly live group meets for all subjects, both of which will provide a collaborative learning community.

 

ConnectEd will also empower students to take ownership of their personal, non-academic development with access to experienced professionals and inspiring mentors who will present masterclasses to expand students’ knowledge of the world beyond school. Students will have the opportunity to learn essential life skills and undertake curated supplementary courses in a number of subjects including personal financial management, memory mastery and entrepreneurship, amongst others.

 

“Bridge House School holds true to the core values of its founders in providing a pioneering, dynamic and forward-thinking education for our students. “We are truly delighted to be launching ConnectEd, which will adhere to the intrinsic philosophy and offering of our campus school and which will enable us to significantly extend the reach of our successful brand of education. Ultimately, we hope to engender a transformational impact. With ConnectEd, students will be carefully supported on each step of their academic journey and will have every opportunity and resource to fulfil their individual potential and prepare themselves for success in our rapidly-changing world,” concludes the Head of School, David Clark.

 

To apply for ConnectEd or learn more about Bridge House and the Digemy platform, visit

connectedschool.africa.

4 B2B Marketplaces Egyptian Businesses Can Use to Sell in Europe

The European Union (even after the departure of the United Kingdom) is the largest trading bloc on the planet: it comprises 27 countries for a total of 448 million people and a combined GDP of almost 16 trillion USD. Its currency, the Euro, is one the most stable currencies in the world.

The EU has closed a number of free trade agreements (FTA) with several states and trading blocs, most recently with Canada, Japan and Mercosur, the South American customs union.

The relationship between Egypt and the EU is long dated: the North African country and the European trading bloc signed an association agreement already back in 2004.

Moreover, since 2013 the EU and Egypt have been discussing how to improve their trade and investment relations with a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, or DCFTA.

A future DCFTA would enhance market access and provide a better investment climate. In fact, the agreement under discussion would include trade in services, government procurement, competition, intellectual property rights, and investment protection.

Even now, the EU is both Egypt's biggest import and export partner, covering roughly 30% of Egypt's trade volume.

Trade between the country and the union is mainly based on fuel and mining products, chemicals, textiles and clothing, machinery and transport equipment, and agricultural products.

Therefore, if you know where to look, you can find plenty of opportunities for your business in Europe.

A good place where to start, especially today where trade fairs are being cancelled all over the world, is the Europe-based online B2B marketplaces. 

The following are the four online platforms where you can find local European businesses and boost your sales in the continent.

Opportunity Network

Based in Barcelona, Spain, this marketplace was established in 2014 and boasts a portfolio of thousands of highly selected businesses. In fact, businesses cannot join Opportunity Network (also called ON) as if they joined any other online service: in order to register, companies must be invited by a bank that partners with the marketplace.

While this assures a high level of trust within the network, it also limits its potential as a global marketplace: most recently ON is also turning to small businesses, but up until now its minimum requirement for a single deal was as high as one million US dollars, off limits for most SMEs!

UpinSales

Based in the United Kingdom, UpinSales boasts as much as 12,000 current opportunities mainly from European countries. This platform has taken a completely different approach: rather than connecting companies, it connects companies and sales freelances.

A company posts an opportunity saying that it is looking for agents in a certain country for a certain product. If interested, the agent will contact the company through the platform’s connection process, as it happens with Globartis and ON.

Given its marketing and sales orientation, UpinSales is not a good tool for businesses looking to source products, but it could be of tremendous help to the small and medium enterprises looking to boost their sales in Europe.

Enterprise Europe Network

Backed by the European Commission, Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is a government-owned pan-European marketplace. Established roughly ten years ago, it is on the oldest B2B marketplaces in Europe. EEN currently counts more than 6,000 partnership opportunities from the whole continent (also the UK and Switzerland are included). An interesting perk is that it is completely free. 

The only problem with EEN is that, while getting admitted immediately, companies cannot interact with each other directly but have to go through an intermediary: in EEN’s jargon, a partner. This is usually a governmental agency or a not-for-profit organization, whose first priority, as you may be thinking already, is not rushing to close your deal.

Globartis

Founded in 2018 in Italy, Globartis differentiates from its older cousins by being a 100% technology-driven platform. In fact, there are no partners, banks, or governments involved in the registration process: companies are required to give information about their businesses and are admitted based on the marketplace’s algorithm. Moreover, the minimum deal on the platform is as little as 10,000 US dollars, therefore it is accessible also by micro businesses.

However, being the youngest one has its drawbacks: the platform has the lowest amount of opportunities among the three (around 2,000), and, whilst it strives to expand beyond its domestic market, it is still focused mainly on Europe.