Sharjah24: American University of Sharjah (AUS) celebrated the spirit of innovation and creativity among its graduating engineers at the annual College of Engineering (CEN) Senior Design Projects Competition. Held in the presence of Her Excellency Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of American University of Sharjah, the event brought together students, faculty and industry partners to witness a remarkable display of technical excellence. A total of 124 projects were presented across seven academic departments, each reflecting the university’s commitment to applied learning and real-world problem-solving.
From the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, first place was awarded to Ahmed Alruzzi, Banan Mohgoub, Eman Adnan and Rahma Al Barghouthi for their project Rendering nanocarriers more responsive to ultrasound, supervised by Dr Ghaleb Husseini, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Professor of Chemical Engineering. Second place went to Noura Alsuwaidi, Ruwda Altayyari Baniebrahim and Shamma Alfalasi for Silica-enrichment and aerated light concrete for sustainable construction, under the supervision of Dr Sameer Al Asheh, Professor and Head of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Ahmed Aidan, Senior Laboratory Instructor. Third place was secured by Salma Mansour, Fatma Al Redha, Yahia Elsawaf and Mohammad Alawneh for Algae bioreactor performance, advised by Dr Zarook Shareefdeen, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Aidan.
In the Department of Civil Engineering, the top prize went to Hamze El Khatib, Mustafa Mohamed Elsayedelroubi, Habiba Amr Atta and Ahmed Ali Gah Alla Ahmed for their project Utilization of concrete washout water in sustainable concrete production, supervised by Dr Sherif Yehia and Dr Akmal Abdelfatah, Professors of Civil Engineering. Second place was awarded to Abdulaziz Mohammad Sharif, Ansar Kaddunabbi Lubega, Malak Ahmad Allan and Khalid Ayman Aboukaram for their study Ultra high performance engineered cementitious composite (UHP-ECC) columns reinforced with high-strength steel, under the guidance of Dr Mohammad AlHamaydeh, Professor of Civil Engineering. Third place went to Mustafa AlSarraj, Saif Ismail Gobran, Firas Barake and Mohammad Jehad Almazouni for Design of breakwater D-Marin Didim, Turkey, under the supervision of Dr Serter Atabay, Professor of Civil Engineering.
Representing the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (computer science program), Ahmad Hassan Zaher, Ahmad Adil Al Shadid, Hamza Khan and Hala Moh’d Ma’adi won first place for KALAM: EEG-based imagined speech recognition for the Arabic non-verbal community, supervised by Dr Mohammad Daoud, Visiting Professor of Computer Engineering. Second place went to Abdulrahman Mohamed Hassan, Jawdi Ahmad Alchurbaji, Tariq Ibrahim Bal'awi and Deena Ammar Al Muwahed for Gaze control: A new frontier for disability assistance, guided by Dr. Raafat Aburukba, Associate Professor of Computer Engineering, and Dr Daoud. Third place was awarded to Nabil Bukhary, Karim Rashad Abdelwahed and Maaz Zahid Ahmad for Utilizing vision-language models to automate defect detection in autonomous vehicle requirements documents, advised by Dr Dana Dghaym, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering.
Students from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (computer engineering program) impressed judges with advanced, interdisciplinary solutions. First place was awarded to Ahmad Mohammed Alsaleh, Malik Belal Hader, Adham Mohamed Elmosalamy and Yousef Belal Irshaid for Shaheen: A fast interference and ultra-low power platform for desert search and rescue, supervised by Dr Mohamed Al Hajri, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Second place went to Gayatri Lakshmi, Elisha Mary Thomas, Sneha Athota and Zoya Muneeb for Drone and machine learning-based railway inspection system, advised by Dr Abdulrahman Al-Ali, Professor of Computer Engineering, Dr Salam Dhou, Associate Professor of Computer Engineering, and Dr Mohammad Jaradat, Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Third place was claimed by Karim Mahmoud Elsayed, Abdullah Shahid, Mustafa Ashraf and Adam Aliasgar Burhanpurwala for Roya: A deep learning approach for human activity recognition, supervised by Dr Daoud.
“Participating in the Engineering Senior Design Projects competition allowed us to apply our skills to a meaningful challenge,” said Hala Ma’adi. “Our project, KALAM, is the world’s first EEG-based imagined speech recognition system for the Arab non-verbal community, enabling communication through brain signals. Working with my teammates on this project was both demanding and fulfilling, and it stands out as one of the most impactful experiences of my academic journey.”
Students from the Department of Electrical Engineering were recognized for their innovation in sensor systems and energy technologies. First place went to Ahmed Mahmoud, Ahmed Al Bayati and Hamze Soueid for Microwave-based mechanical vibration measurement prototype, guided by Dr Amer Zakaria and Dr Nasser Qaddoumi, Professors of Electrical Engineering. Second place was awarded to Mark Farag, Abed Alfattah Nasereddin and Haya Taifour for Design and implementation of railway crack detection and localization prototype, also supervised by Dr Zakaria and Dr. Qaddoumi. The third-place project, IoT-enabled LoRa smart meter for energy monitoring, was developed by Abdelrahman Nasrallah and Mohamed Adam, supervised by Dr Mahmoud Ibrahim, Professor of Electrical Engineering, and Dr Mostafa Shaaban, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of Energy, Water and Sustainable Environment Research Center.
Within the Department of Industrial Engineering, first place was awarded to Hamzah Zoual Ghena, Ahmad Kaddoura, Taleen Albaz and Aws Milhem for Optimizing logistics operations for Apparel Group, supervised by Dr Moncer Hariga, Professor of Industrial Engineering. Second place went to Azza Mukhtar, Shahad Al-Ali, Jana Mohamed and Leen AlSabbagh for Passenger satisfaction improvement at Sharjah Airport, advised by Dr Mahmoud Awad, Professor of Industrial Engineering. The third-place winners, Raad Shorrosh, Lana Husban, Neda Nabulsi and Hasan Al-Saadi, presented The use of machine learning models in operating room utilization, supervised by Dr Hussam Alshraideh, Professor of Industrial Engineering.
The Department of Mechanical Engineering also delivered standout results. First place went to Omar Shaghnoubi, Shaikh Mohammad, Amro Alatasi and Tarek Kaddoura for SWS-BOT: A sustainable water surface cleaning robot, advised by Dr Jaradat. Second place was awarded to Ayman Ahmed, Ibrahim Mohamed, Ziad Alsuluh and Seifeldin Fayed for Multifunctional robotic arm for satellite docking, supervised by Dr. Maen Alkhader, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr Mamoun Abdel-Hafez, Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Third place was secured by Hisham Tubaishat, Mohammad Obeid, Mohammad Saffarini and Mohammed Mawlood for Evaluating and improving a handheld remote docking joystick for unmanned surface vessels, under the supervision of Dr. Mehdi Ghommem, Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr Jaradat.
Dr Fadi Aloul, Dean of CEN, praised the caliber of this year’s participants, stating: “Each project is a reflection of the ingenuity, determination and technical rigor of our students. What we witnessed in this competition highlights their readiness to tackle real-world challenges and make meaningful contributions to industry and society. Our mission is to nurture thinkers and doers, equipping them with essential technical, research, leadership, digital and soft skills, and this competition is a clear demonstration that we are achieving just that.”
The success of this year’s competition was made possible through the generous support of BEEAH Group, whose partnership continues to reinforce AUS’ efforts in fostering innovation and bridging academic excellence with industry relevance.
The College of Engineering at AUS continues to be a beacon of excellence in engineering education in the UAE and the region, featuring state-of-the-art facilities and a faculty internationally recognized for their academic research. AUS is committed to delivering superior education through its comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs. For more information about the college, visit www.aus.edu/cen.
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