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Tag: The American University in Cairo

  • AUC virtually holds Research and Creativity Convention 2021

    AUC virtually holds Research and Creativity Convention 2021

    The American University in Cairo (AUC) will virtually hold this year’s Research and Creativity Convention (RCC) from 28 March to 1 April, with the public invited to attend the conference’s events and discussions.

    The conference is a collective event bringing together diverse research, design, entrepreneurship, innovation, and creativity activities that have demonstrated growth and success over the years. It aims to enhance knowledge-sharing, interdisciplinary research collaboration, and projects of community or economic value. 

    AUC faculty and undergraduate and graduate students will showcase and share original research and creativity outcomes in the sciences, humanities, social sciences, business, and the arts.

    The participants demonstrate the breadth and depth of the institution’s research mission. The university’s Research and Creativity Convention is a celebration of excellence in university research, entrepreneurship, and creative achievement.

    This year, students from Indiana University will also participate in the events. The public will be allowed to attend the conference sessions and discussions, for free, through the AUC’s digital platform. The conference will discuss 174 research papers that have been submitted this year. 

    Alaa Idris, Professor of Practice and Associate Provost for research, innovation, and creativity, said, “I am honoured to welcome all participants, speakers and guests to this special event, the Virtual RCC 2021. I am proud of the team that worked tirelessly to put together a full-fledged online RCC during this challenging time.” 

    The RCC was first launched in 2017 as the Research Week, and has continued since then to grow and include more participants and activities. 

    Idris added, “This year, despite all obstacles, we are hosting the conference for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, Entrepreneurship, and Creative Achievement (EURECA).”

    He said that the conference features presentations by the AUC’s outstanding students, who will showcase their academic work. 

    “Our faculty will participate in two competitions, Research Pitch and Courses Futurization,” he added, “We continue to run our Design Thinking Camp, Science Slam, and an E-version of the Graduate Poster Competition.” 

    This year, the AUC welcomes many distinguished keynote speakers and participants from different universities and competition judges from all over the world. 

    Contestants are challenged to showcase their research online in a visually-appealing display accompanied by a voiceover for broadcast.

    The competition’s first place winner will receive EGP 10,000, whilst the second place winner will receive EGP 7,000, and the third will receive EGP 5,000.

  • AUC continues centennial celebrations, focuses on the future

    AUC continues centennial celebrations, focuses on the future

    The American University in Cairo (AUC) celebrated on Saturday its centennial with an Alumni carnival.

    The carnival, which took place at AUC’s New Cairo Campus, is the start of a one-week centennial festival, during which, the university focuses on the future of education, culture, and lifestyle in Egypt for the next 100 years. 

    The prestigious university has been celebrating its 100th anniversary for a whole year. During 2019, it focused on the history of AUC, and celebrated the successful and professional paths of its alumni. 

    This year’s celebration is all about the 2120’s aspects of life. 

    “Over the last year we wanted to be nostalgic and pay tribute to our history. This year, as Egypt is looking forward to 2030; we are sharing the same vision, but with a further look to 100 years behind it,” said Francis J. Ricciardone, AUC president. 

    He further explained that the university is looking into applying huge investments into its labs and buildings 

    “Which would last for more than ten years and be a part of eternal Egypt in the face of all of its problems,” he told Daily News Egypt. 

    The carnival witnessed a fashion show, organised by 20 design students, which was dedicated to imagining the attires of 2120, and the lifestyle of that era. 

    It also hosted a visual reality show, showcasing the AUC’s campus and education system after 100 years, with main focus on the imagination of architecture in 2120. 

    For his side, Alaa Eldin Edris, the associate provost for research, innovation, and creativity stated in a press conference that the university has a research centre which mainly studies the future of education, and new and potential fields, assuring that the university’s educational system would be all about merging between sections, and having the needed integration between studied fields. 

  • AUC’s Ricciardone ,“Our first role is to serve the Egyptian people and society”

    AUC’s Ricciardone ,“Our first role is to serve the Egyptian people and society”

    The American University in Cairo (AUC) celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Since 1919, it has been one of the focal institutions for education in Egypt.

    It graduates 5,500 students from 460 colleges annually with a teaching staff of 2,000 people, with an academic research of EGP 140m per year

    On the role of the university and its contribution to Egyptian society, we sat with the AUC’s President Francis Ricciardone for an interview.

    What do you think is the AUC’s most important role in society?

    Our first role is to serve the Egyptian people and society and offer these services to Egypt. This needs higher education to produce and transfer knowledge. The University produces this knowledge through scientific research and many contributions in other fields such as the arts culture, and so forth. We work on passing down this knowledge through educating youth so they may use this knowledge and have it grow in the world, and that’s what any major university around the world does.

    What are some other roles that distinguish the university?

    The AUC is distinguished in many other fields and this distinction stems from its name. With the presence of about 4,000 American universities in the USA itself and its cooperation with many other universities at the global level, there is only one American University in Cairo and it is completely American in its philosophy, curricula, and method of teaching. Cairo here represents our nature and our philosophy, which is the great laboratory in which the AUC lives, learns from, and influences. AUC has operated as a bridge for over 100 years between the East and the West, Egypt and the world. It has been trying to transfer technology and global thinking to Egypt, creating an ambitious generation of Egyptians. We offer them global education and help them complete their studies abroad.

    Is the decision to prevent Niqabi (cloth that covers the face) women from entering the campus still in force?

    This decision doesn’t intend to fight the niqab or anything, but it has to do with the policy of entering the campus adopted by the American University. Every student or person entering the American University campus must show their faces. The university does not discriminate based on religion, gender, or nationality. Moreover, faces must be exposed before entering the campus and taking an exam, whether it is a student or a visitor, because security must simply know who is inside the university campus.

    What kind of impact do you think AUC has achieved since 1919 until now?

    Despite our small size, we have a great and wonderful impact, and we continue to improve ourselves. We changed people’s lives by providing them with innovation skills to solve their problems, and highlighting the problems that the whole world faces. This is our main mission.

    But since you pointed to the factor of time, we have moved in the past years to the new headquarters of the university in an area that was like a desert, and now and in the past 10 years New Cairo has grown with huge institutions, and this shows our future vision. We are in a dynamic place, and we graduate annually 5,500 students in 460 colleges, with a teaching staff of 2,000, this is a huge number that made a wonderful change in society.

    But since we’re talking about our journey, in the last few years we have moved to the new headquarters of the university in an area that was like the desert, and in the past 10 years New Cairo has grown with bigger institutions, and this represents our vision of the future. We are in a dynamic place, and we graduate 5,500 students in 460 colleges annually, with a teaching staff of 2,000.

    In light of your 100th anniversary celebration, did you achieve the expected volume of donations?

    We focus well on the future and provide the optimal educational method for this year’s requirements. The university confirms that Egypt welcomes everyone and is a great place to obtain a university education or conduct an array of scientific research. We work all year until February, which is when we’ll celebrate the founding of the university, and we’re using this as an opportunity to attract financial contributions in order to increase the university’s budget. The university is aiming to raise an additional $100m and so far, we have raised $85m. We’re hoping to raise the rest by the end of the celebration.

    How will those funds be distributed within the university?

    By increasing the budget of the AUC’s individuals and institutions supporting AUC students. We focus on improving and raising the efficiency of our academic and research system at the AUC, as well as increasing the number of scholarships for students who are not able to pay. We also allocate some funds for certain types of scientific research that aims at solving existing problems in the Egyptian society, such as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who gave the AUC $2m for any research that works on solving any problem facing the world. Students should participate in these sorts of research, such as energy problems or combatting diseases, to make a better world.

    There is also Businessperson Naguib Sawiris, whose donation developed and modernized the campus downtown through the Tahrir Cultural Center with the belief that Egypt is a source of artistic intelligence, especially downtown, in terms of music, painting, and culture. The AUC is also working to always maintain its services downtown, in New Cairo, and the New Administrative Capital. We are working to be part of Egypt’s greatness in art, and we are trying to revive the greatness of the arts and culture scene in Egypt.

    AUC wants to be a part of this renaissance to help Egypt bloom again, and I would like to stress that even with all these challenges facing Egypt, it still has the energy to find its way to rise again in culture and art. This is clearly evident in Egypt, and it is also evident in the AUC’s educational policy. AUC has its magazine, which gets published in 13 languages, talking about the language of beauty in Egypt over the different eras to send a clear message to the world that Egypt is the incubator of art and culture.

    Does the educational level of the Egyptian student qualify him to compete in the global educational market?

    The educational level of the Egyptian student is the same as the American student. All an Egyptian student needs is an opportunity, and we offer that opportunity in study, research, and discussions. The Egyptian mentality may flourish in an American or European setting. AUC offers this opportunity right here in Egypt. 

    How do we evaluate the system of higher education and research in Egypt?

    Egypt has a long history in education and scientific research. The best example of this is Al-Azhar, which presented formal education and scientific research. Al-Azhar was a great focal point in the history of education and scientific research in Egypt. It sent its missions to many countries in the world and there are many Egyptian writers and scholars in various fields everywhere. However, there are a number of challenges facing the education system in Egypt, the biggest problem being the dense population. The population has reached 100 million citizens in a rapidly changing world. Artificial intelligence acquires various jobs, not only in Egypt, but globally, and the biggest challenge is to provide a suitable education, and like Imam Ali bin Abi Talib said, “Do not raise your children for what your fathers raised them to be because their time is not your time.”

    How many research papers are published internationally from the AUC?

    The amount of papers published in international periodicals last year was 340, and the scientific research budget is estimated at about EGP 140m per year. Most of it comes from external sources, which means from outside the university, whether these sources are Egyptian, regional, or international.

  • Mahmoud Abdallah appointed as AUC’s senior adviser to president for ERM, strategy

    Mahmoud Abdallah appointed as AUC’s senior adviser to president for ERM, strategy

    The American University in Cairo (AUC) announced on Thursday the appointment of Mahmoud Abdallah as a senior adviser to the president for enterprise risk management (ERM) and strategy. Abdallah is a world-renowned expert in the insurance field as well as in financial industries, and the former chairperson and chief executive officer of MISR Insurance Holding Company, and the executive vice president of American Re-Insurance Group.

    “I am excited to be joining the AUC and I look forward to adding value to this great university and building on their solid track and record of success,” Abdallah said. “As a leading global institution of higher education, the AUC is fully cognisant of the importance of a well-designed and executed ERM programme,” he added.

    Commenting on the appointment of Abdallah, Richard Bartlett, the chairperson of the AUC board of trustees, said, “This is a significant step forward for our university as we continue to adopt the global best practices of the leading universities in the world.”

     

    The majority of the world’s leading institutions of higher education have integrated formal ERM in daily decision-making at all management levels.

    Abdallah will work closely with the AUC administration, faculty, and the board of trustees in order to provide assessments of the risks and opportunities, and develop proposals for long-term planning, strategies, and policies to mitigate risks via a stakeholder-dialogue approach.

     

    At the AUC, he will be contributing to the university’s establishment of world-class ERM processes across the university’s operations, making sure that senior leaders and the board of trustees are apprised of the most critical risks to achievement of AUC’s mission and objectives, including real property holdings, supply chain management, budget processes, and financial services.

  • Tahrir Cultural Centre to revive Egypt’s art scene

    Tahrir Cultural Centre to revive Egypt’s art scene

    For 100 years, The American University in Cairo (AUC) has been an educational hub which brought the world some of the most prominent intellectuals, as well as has been a home to several hardworking and world-changing figures who managed to reshape Egypt’s modern history in the different fields. The long-established university celebrated its centennial on Saturday, with inaugurating the city’s most developed cultural platform with the latest modern facilities, which is the Tahrir Cultural Centre (TCC).

    Funded by the prominent businessperson, Naguib Sawiris, AUC’s TCC is currently Cairo’s biggest hub for cinema, theatre, music, and arts.

    “This is not an investment. I invested money in the centre without expecting anything in return,” Sawiris told Daily News Egypt (DNE).

    Driven by his passion for the arts, which stemmed from his visits to AUC’s Ewart Memorial Hall to watch his favourite bands playing music, and sometimes a movie, Sawiris funded the AUC’s TCC, turning it into a captivating and a well-equipped centre.

    Moreover, Sawiris stressed that investment in cultural hubs is a significantly required step from non-governmental organisations. “Whether it is a donation or an investment, it is needed!” he added.

    Despite stating that his work at the centre was limited to “renovating the buildings, and assigning the management of the cultural centre,” he is expecting that the TCC will revive theatre, art, and music. He explained that the TCC will also be “a hub for young and upcoming musical bands.”

    During his speech at the opening ceremony of the event, Sawiris stated that funding the TCC is his way of showing gratitude for the AUC, for providing Egypt with the most qualified cadres whom his organisations instantly hire. He also stressed on the role which culture plays in shaping the younger generations as much as education does.

    ‘Nothing promotes a country more than its youth, and nothing can educate youth as much as culture does,” he explained.

    From his side, AUC’s President, Francis J Ricciardone, stated that the AUC is dedicated to revive all the parts of arts and culture in Egypt through the establishment of the TCC. 

    Noteworthy, the first phase of the TCC will have a space for six art exhibitions.

    “The TCC will be a central hub and a significant establishment, not only in Cairo, but in the entire Arab world,” he added.

    The centennial ceremony was presented by Jasmine Zaky, a TV presenter who is also one of the AUC’s alumni.

    The celebration ceremony was attended by dozens of AUC graduates who succeeded in achieving remarkable accomplishments, including Lamis El-Hadidy, Mona El-Shazly, singer Hesham Abbas, and the adventurer Omar Samra, the first Egyptian to climb Mount Everest.   

    “The AUC has been investing in the cultural scene in Egypt since its beginning. This step is definitely a bigger step toward consolidating all of the efforts under one roof, which I believe to be very exciting for those who have a passion for the art scene in Egypt,” Samra told DNE.

    The Daughter of the Nile: The TCC’s women empowering exhibition

    While most of the females during the middle of the 20th century cared the most about establishing a house of their own and being crowned with the social label of being a good housewife, Doria Shafik, an Egyptian poet, fought for her peers to have an equivalent life to men, including the right to vote. Rebelling against all the social restrictions and taboos, her revolutionary fight ended with her wining what was once believed an impossible war, guaranteeing females their rights, and stating those rights in the Constitution.

    In its first public art exhibition, the TCC hosted Bent El-Nil (The Daughter of the Nile), an art exhibition by Sherine Guirguis which aims to honour the memory of Shafik.

    The Daughter of the Nile is one of the two exhibitions which the TCC opened its doors do for its first time in order to welcome the visitors, along with ‘When Dreams Call for Silence’, by the artist Huda Lotfy.

    In her first exhibitions ever taking place in Cairo, Guirguis honoured the memory of the Egyptian icon, through a number of abstract art portraits, featuring the remarkable achievements which marked Shafik’s journey, with alluring bright colours painted on a white background.

    “It all started when I read Shafik’s name on a small note written in a book on feminism movements in Egypt. Digging more into her history, I discovered that Shafik revolutionised women’s status in Egypt. Nonetheless, her work was forgotten and very few people know about her,” Guirguis told DNE.

    Shafik captured Guirguis’s heart with her strength, which was covered by her womanly elegance, charming look, and peaceful eyes. She was shocked with the fact that history tells few information about her, with almost scarce sources on her life.

    “My passion as an artist is to dig into history, places, and people who were forgotten. That is what attracted me the most to this inspiring woman, which lead me to have my first exhibition in Egypt about her,” Guirguis added.

    The artist also believes that her exhibition is a window to open a conversation about the history of feminism in Egypt and the Middle East, bringing back the shining figures who faded over the years, as people got caught in modern struggles which brought people a different aspect of the definition of  feminism.

    The exhibitions showcase some of Shafik’s rare publications, chronicled at the AUC library, as well as few rare pictures of Shafik’s famous march which demanded women’s rights to vote, which are all shown in Guirguis’ drawn portraits. 

    The exhibition is named after Shafik’s feminist organisation, Bent El-Nil, which was also the name of the journal she published throughout her life. 

    With dozens of portraits at the exhibition, almost none of them features Shafik with her human features or looks for people to recognise her. Instead, the portraits depict various shapes of flowers, which are simply drawn and coloured with various vibrant colours.

    When she was asked about it, Guirguis explained that it was due to her belief that “How we look gets in the way of what we see, which was a part of Shafik’s story.”

    “There were several times when Shafik’s beauty and elegance got in the way of her accomplishments, as she was always perceived with a typical eastern look,” Guirguis explained, adding, “For me, making an exhibition about her was not about depicting her physical features. However, it was more of me honouring her work through portraits which I believe translate her poems and art work.”

    As an artist, Guirguis believes that abstract art allows her to talk about people’s accomplishments in the world, regardless what they look like.

    The bright colours drawn at the portraits are a combination of Guirguis’ eastern culture, where she comes from, and the Western lifestyle, as she spent almost all of her life in a western country. The portraits’ selected colours were inspired by Shafik’s life details.

    “Shafik talked about the Nile River in most of her poems. She was also frequently photographed alongside it, so the colour blue was one of the most applied colours in my paintings,” Guirguis explained.

    From her point of view, bright colours resemble the life of a woman who fought in public to guarantee women’s rights, yet she was never accredited for it in history.

    “Unlike Huda Shaarawy, who fought for women’s right inside the house, Shafik roamed the streets. The motifs were all about the colours of public places, which are vibrant and bright,” she pointed out.

  • Egypt tell its story to world via incredible array of iconic literary, film, artistic figures: Mahoney

    Egypt tell its story to world via incredible array of iconic literary, film, artistic figures: Mahoney

    The American University in Cairo (AUC) has been playing a large role in Egypt since its foundation in 1919 by Americans devoted to education and service in the Middle East.

    Throughout its history, the AUC has balanced a strong commitment to liberal arts education with a concern for the region’s needs for practical applications and professional specialisations.

    In the wake of his participation in the Narrative PR Summit 2018, Daily News Egypt sat down with Haynes Mahoney, advisor to the President of the AUC for Cultural Outreach and Campus Animation, to talk about the Egyptian cultural scene, and the AUC’s role in the country.

    Mahoney, advisor to the President of the AUC for Cultural Outreach and Campus Animation, has served most of his career in the Arab world. His first post was in Amman, Jordan, from November 1981 to June 1982. Haynes continued in the region, serving in Syria, Yemen, and Egypt in various public diplomatic and cultural positions, with additional assignments in Washington D.C., Istanbul, Lahore, and Bonn.

    He was Public Affairs Consular at the US. Embassy in Cairo from 2005 until 2011.

    Mahoney believes that Egypt’s people enjoy a unique character, as the oldest ancient civilisation, the transcript for which is below, lightly edited for clarity:

    What are the highlights of your participation as the AUC’s Cultural Outreach at this year’s edition of Narrative Summit?

    I’ll be giving a presentation on how Egypt can tell its story to the world through its incredible array of iconic literary, film, and artistic figures, the likes of which include Naguib Mahfouz, Hoda Lutfy, Yusuf Chahine, and others who managed to transcend cultural and linguistic differences, and capture the world’s imagination.

    From your point of view, what is the role such summits play in enhancing cultural interaction between Egypt and foreign countries?

    They raise awareness that Egypt is about much more than tourism or commerce.  Egypt’s people enjoy a unique character as the oldest ancient civilisation.  Its ancient culture lives on, not in lifeless stones in Giza or Luxor as beautiful as they are, but in the soul of the ordinary Egyptian whatever he or she is about.  And that soul is captured and conveyed by art and culture.  So, the summit points to that richness, which I believe accounts for a huge proportion of what motivates people to visit or work here. I believe humans make decisions 95% with their hearts.

    The AUC plays a prominent role in enriching Cairo’s cultural scene, how do you think the latest cultural centre, planned to open next year, will help with that?

    Um Kulthum and Edith Piaf performed at Ewart Hall, which is the biggest venue of the Tahrir Cultural Centre, the TCC—which will be officially opened in February.  The opening will launch the year-long celebration of the AUC’s centennial.  We aim to revitalise the Centre, which also has several other venues for performances, exhibits, and of course classes in art and culture.  The Tahrir Centre and the New Campus in the Fifth Settlement will be twin culture hubs in Cairo, supporting each other by trading artists and other cultural resources, to connect with audiences and artists among their respective neighbours, the region, and the world.

    What are the main cultural scenes the AUC pays attention to invest into? 

    We try to participate in all of them: theatre, cinema, music, visual arts, and lifestyle courses which raise awareness and support lifelong learning.

    Are there any exchange of cultural programmes that the AUC offers its students?

    Well, of course, we bring lots of artists to the AUC, like the 14 foreign bands that played at the Cairo Jazz Festival 11-14 October. And the AUC students travel on many cultural tours are organised by the university.  For example, there is a contest co-sponsored by the AUC and the Tameer real estate and construction company, to see who can come up with the best design for a water tower near the New Campus, which needs to be made more attractive.  The winning team of students will visit Beirut, and be hosted by the Solidere company, which will explain their work in reconstructing downtown Beirut.

    What are the modern cultural icons you find best represent Egypt’s heritage?  

    There are so many:  Omar Sherif and Faten Hamama in film, Abdel Halim Hafez, Syed Darwish or Mohamed Mounir in music, Nazli Madhkour or Mohamed Abla in art.  You get into trouble when you single out individuals but what they all have in common is a unique Egyptian character that reflects the pulse of this civilisation.

    How do you see the current Egyptian cultural scene?  

    There’s a huge amount of creativity among young playwriters, novelists, actors, and other artists. They are eager to test out new media, especially social media.  But they are also very eager to find platforms from which they can engage their audiences face to face.  So that is what we are trying to provide in the AUC’s old and new campuses.

  • AUC’s Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation reaffirmed 

    AUC’s Middle States Commission on Higher Education accreditation reaffirmed 

    The American University in Cairo (AUC) celebrated on Thursday receiving the reaffirmation of its accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).

    As the only University in Egypt and one of the only four universities accredited in the Middle East, the celebration was attended by the Minister of Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, NAQAEE President You Hansen Eid, and AUC President Francis Ricciardone, along with several other professors and presidents of Egypt’s various governmental and private universities. 

    The AUC received the top level of MSCHE’s reaffirmation of accreditation, without any requirements.

    “The AUC is considered an extremely successful part of the educational system in Egypt,” Abdel Ghaffar stated adding, “it has provided a unique education service to students, and it’s currently the only globally accredited university in Egypt.”  He elaborated further, “When we want to highlight the quality of education in Egypt to our foreign visitors, we invite them to visit the AUC given the significance of its international accreditations.”

    The accreditation comes along with the AUC’s centennial anniversary celebration.

    As for Ricciardone, he described the accreditation as “vitally important” for the AUC administration.

    “Without this quality assurance to our students, parents, and ourselves that we are meeting the international standards in our mission, we couldn’t be in business,” Ricciardone told Daily News Egypt.

    “Our competition is global, so we need some way of knowing that we are meeting those standards, which the accreditation gives us,” he explained.

    He asserted that through this accreditation, the AUC guarantees that the final years of preparing students to adulthood are fully taken advantage of, through providing them with the best educational service, which allows them to be employed anywhere in the world.

    According to a press release published by the AUC, MSCHE is one of seven United States (US)-based regional accreditors which certify entire institutions, not individual programmes, units, or locations. It is an institutional accrediting agency, recognized by the US Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. 

    The AUC’s Chief Strategy and Institutional Effectiveness Officer Iman Megahed, stated in a press release that “the reaffirmation process has laid out our path, as we move into the future, to ensure that we continue to uphold the standards of excellence, and continuously improve and become an even greater institution. Every member of the AUC community can feel a genuine sense of pride that they belong to and contribute to the well-being and advancement of this university.”

  • AUC signs MoU to launch Luqman Weise Capital’s Masters Scholarship for Financial Technology

    AUC signs MoU to launch Luqman Weise Capital’s Masters Scholarship for Financial Technology

    The American University in Cairo (AUC) has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with financial investment company Luqman Weise Capital in order to launch the Luqman Weise Capital Master’s Scholarship for Financial Technology at AUC.

    The scholarship aims to support distinguished Egyptian students who would like to pursue their master’s degree in financial technology starting from the spring of 2018. The scholarship will support 14 students with $280,000 over the period of three years.

    The signing ceremony was attended by members of the advisory board of the scholarship programme, including Dr. Mikihide Yamazak, head of Luqman Weise Capital’s private equity division; Dr. Mohamed Khater, Luqman Wiese Capital’s chief investment adviser; Omaima Hatem, professor at the Business Administration Faculty in Edinburgh; and Francis J. Ricciardone, president of AUC.

    “I am very thrilled about the decision made by our company to sponsor the financial technology sciences master’s at AUC. Through this programme, we hope to play a role in the advancement of the banking system in Egypt. We also look forward to interacting with students and providing them with jobs once they are done studying,” Yamazak said during the signing ceremony.

    The scholarship requires spending 120-240 hours of training with Luqman Weise during the programme’s period. The best students may get a chance to work at the company or one of its sister companies after they complete the programme.

    “We are very thrilled to fund and support this scholarship at AUC, and I am very confident in the abilities of my country’s youth to innovate and create. I believe what we lack now are the skills that enable these brains from contributing with high value. We hope this scholarship provides young people with the necessary skills to help them innovate,” Khater said.

    “The Business Administration College at AUC pays much attention to entrepreneurship, especially in the field of financial technology. Now we will have the ability to focus on this sector with the help of Luqman Weise,” said Ricciardone.

    He also shed light on the role of Omaima Hatem, saying, “As a distinct businessperson, academic writer, and a specialist in entrepreneurship internationally, Omaima saw room for cooperation between AUC and Luqman Weise through her cooperation with them. They are pioneers in the field of financial technology”.

    Hatem said that Dr.  Yamazak and Dr. Khater have a message to change the way the banking system operates. “Both have a deep understanding and great interest in the impact of automated learning and massive data on the banking system. They work together to build the next generation’s trade platforms. They also believe in the importance of providing the necessary skills and opportunities for anyone who wants to contribute to the financial technology revolution,” she added.