English 
Chair and Co-chair
Chair: Temple University
Co-Chair: Aswan University
- Role of the pillar
Building the capacity of Egyptian faculty and students as they are one of the most important factors to be prepared for curricula development and applied research and contribute to the sustainability of needed advanced water science and engineering technical expertise.
- Activities of the pillar
Extensive exchange, scholarship, internship and training programs to maximize expertise, idea, and technology exchange between U.S. university partners, U.S. Industrial partners and Egyptian water scholars and private industry as follows:
I – Scholarships to Study at CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR WATER for Water at the Egyptian Partner Universities:
Within the context of improvement of quality and relevance of Water Curricula at Egyptian Partner Universities, this program will offer 225 Full Scholarships to Egyptian students to study water BSc degrees and attain professional degrees at the Center of Excellence for Water.
“Full Undergraduate Scholarships for Engineering Students”: http://bit.ly/38npNJD
To strengthen the capacity of the EPUs, the Center of Excellence for Water will award 125 scholarships to study at their local EPU in their new certified MSc programs. Students will graduate within the lifetime of the project.
II – 140 Scholarship at the AUC and U.S. universities:
Out of the 350 students (BSc / MSc) who are already receiving a scholarship at the Center of Excellence for Water, around 100 students will be given an opportunity to attend a semester/quarter matriculating at a partnering U.S. institution. Females and disabled students will have the opportunity to gain the same experience while staying at their home country, if they choose, by being offered a semester at AUC.
40 students will study one undergraduate semester at the AUC.
III – Egyptian and U.S. Internship Pool (100 Opportunities):
An internship program will be developed to give Egyptian students real world work experience in the water sector.
The goal is to create 100 internships, 25 in the U.S. and 75 in Egypt, which together comprises all relevant water sectors.
Four U.S. and four Egyptian companies have already committed to offer internships:
Purolite Corporation, Amriton LLC, Waters Corporation, and AECOM in the U.S. and SEKEM Group, Lotus, Demerdash Group, Engazaat Development, and the NGO IBSAR in Egypt.
6.2 FACULTY CAPACITY BUILDING AND EXCHANGE PROGRAM:
The capacity building program for the Egyptian faculty includes training to be carried out in the U.S. and Egypt. Through the strong experience of Temple University WET Center’s decade-long collaboration with the industry on research and capacity development, the Egyptian faculty will be advised on how to build a strong, beneficial relationship with the industry.
We will fill this gap, particularly as it relates to water sector training with the following exchange programs with U.S. institutions:
I – Faculty Teaching Semester in the U.S.:
34 Egyptian faculty will visit TU and USU for 6- months. Based on an existing exchange program, they will observe and then apply best practices in teaching as they themselves teach a course at TU & USU.
Egyptian faculty will also engage in collaborative research projects involving visiting Egyptian students, TU, & USU faculty and students, in addition to the industrial partners.
Upon returning to Egypt it is expected the research projects to continue, assisted by visiting faculty from TU & USU and to lead to applied research capacity building, peer-reviewed publications, and technology commercialization.
II – Training Workshops at U.S.-Based Universities:
There will be one workshop per year hosted by each of the five U.S. universities. The nature of the workshops is based on the assessment of the EPUs’ Education and Research Capacities however, the outlines of the current topics, locations and responsible parties are summarized as follows:
1. Governance and Strategic Planning: 12 Egyptian faculty.
WSU will organize and host two workshops, one week each, on water center governance strategy and implementation.
2. State-of-the Art Water Curriculum: 12 Egyptian faculty.
WSU will organize a one-week training on using cutting edge water technologies and research in curriculum development.
3. Learning Management System (LMS): 10 Egyptian faculty.
USU will host a two-week workshop on LMS and on optimized classroom and web-based instruction.
4. Instructional Innovation: 10 Egyptian faculty.
USU will host a two-week workshop on Innovative Teaching Strategies.
5. National Research Needs and Roadmaps: 10 Egyptian faculty.
UCSC and WSU will organize a ten-day trip to finalize the Roadmap and tour the NSF and other funding agencies.
6. Water Technology Commercialization, Entrepreneurship and Industry Engagement Skills Building: 25 Egyptian faculty, TAs, & students.
TU will organize 1 two-week “train the trainer” workshop.
7. Hands-on training on water testing equipment: 100 Egyptian faculty, TAs, & students.
TU will organize 5 two-week workshops on modern water research measuring and testing
equipment.
8. State-of-The-Art Water Treatment Technologies: 25 faculty.
TU will organize 1 two-week workshop on State-of the-Art Water Treatment Technologies.
At the AUC:
Water-Energy-Food Research and Education Workshops (Number of faculty and staff 125).
The AUC’s Center for Sustainable Development and School of Science and Engineering will be offering an annual two-week workshop (five total workshops) for 25 junior researchers each.
Center of Excellence for Water Operation, Management and Monitoring: AUC relevant offices will host a one-week training for the Center of Excellence for Water selected management and operation team as well as cooperating personnel from the EPUs to teach techniques on grant management, proposal writing and fundraising to build the capacity on how to solicit funding, issue RFAs and manage grant funding.
III – U.S. Faculty Exchange Program to Egypt (42 Faculty).
Faculty from the U.S. universities will make 42 visits to EPUs for up to 3-week periods to: (1) assist Egyptian faculty and students in research and educational capacity building activities; (2) collaborate in research and teaching projects; (3) conduct pedagogy training workshops for Egyptian faculty and TAs; and (4) participate in capacity, curriculum, and research assessment.
IV – Webinars.
20 webinars will be organized by U.S. universities in partnership with the EPUs and industrial partners covering topics such as water equipment, technology, applied research, and best teaching practices.
- How does the pillar serve the community
Given that Egypt critically needs to improve its ability to meet current and projected water demands, our goal is to catalyze long-term improvement in Egyptian water resources management by improving its innovative applied research and education enterprise through the above mentioned pillar activities that enhance the capacity building of faculty, researchers and students. The CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR WATER for Water is committed to serve the needs of the Egyptian people and economy, including industry, and support the government by build a new generation of knowledgeable water engineers to overcome Egypt’s water challenges.
