Prof. El-Minshawy: The goal of the competition is to encourage students to create project ideas that exploit solar energy

President of Assiut University: Launching a training camp (online) to qualify students for the competition until the date of the finals

Under the supervision of prof. Ahmed El-Minshawy, President of Assiut University, and President of the Assiut Regional Alliance, the university witnessed the launch of the introductory meeting; for the first activities of the NASA Space Apps Assiut competition, which is held in coordination between the Entrepreneurship Club, the Integrated Technology Transfer Unit, and the Innovative Projects and Student Creativity Unit at the university, on Tuesday morning, September 17, in the eighth hall of the administrative building of the university, in the presence of Prof.  Ahmed Abdel Mawla , Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Abdel Rahman Haidar, Advisor to the President of the University for Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence, the Coordinator of the Innovators and Innovations Welfare Fund, and the General Supervisor of the University's Entrepreneurship Club.

Prof. Ahmed Al-Minshawy pointed out that the introductory meeting comes within the framework of the action plan of the Assiut Regional Alliance and its targets, and witnesses the participation of a group of universities and Assiut schools, in light of the university's keenness to consolidate its strong ties with the region's partners, especially in modern fields that adopt the culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, supporting innovation , and innovators, and harnessing all the necessary capabilities for them; to keep pace with the rapid technological progress, and increase their competitiveness locally and globally.

Prof. Ahmed El-Minshawy stressed the importance of the competition in promoting the spirit of innovation and training on entrepreneurship, as well as developing students' capabilities and potentials, pointing out that the competition is a global technological event, which includes innovative and thinking students; to compete for solutions to real challenges related to the environment, earth and space, presented by NASA with the help of information and data provided by NASA to students participating in the competition, adding that the university launches a training camp (online) to qualify students for the competition until the date of the final qualifiers of the competition in Assiut, on October 5 and 6,

The meeting was attended by Dr. Hamdi Zeidan, Director of the Technology Transfer Unit and Director of the Entrepreneurship Club at the University, Dr. Alaa Farah, the club's coordinator and academic supervisor of the NASA Assiut competition team, Dr. Khalil Ali, Dean of the Faculty of Industry and Energy at the New Assiut Technological University, Professor Lula Atta, Director of the Innovative Projects Unit at the university, Dr. Daifallah Hassan, Executive Director of the Ahmed Daifallah International School and School of Applied Technology, Dr. Saad Zagloul, Director of the (We) Technology School, and a crowd of students of Assiut University, Assiut private universities, and technological schools in the governorate.

Prof. Ahmed Abdel Mawla stressed the university's keenness to implement the Egyptian state plan, which is concerned with artificial intelligence and technology, and how to benefit from it in all fields, through a number of units that have been established to receive innovative students, and provide training courses and workshops in addition to providing them with material and technical support, marketing outstanding innovations, and supporting innovative researchers in registering and obtaining patents.

Prof. Abdel Rahman Haider pointed out that the NASA competition is a global technology event "Hacathon", carried out by NASA World since 2012, pointing out that the introductory meeting: allows young people the opportunity to learn more details of the competition, how to apply, in addition to listening to a group of distinguished speakers, in the field of the competition. He explained that the competition aims to increase interest in student projects that serve the planet and space, and work to find solutions to the problems facing the environment, pointing out that the competition comes under the slogan "The sun touches everything" to encourage students to create ideas for projects that exploit solar energy, adding that after the meeting, a training camp (online) will be launched to qualify students For the competition until the final date of the competition in Assiut on October 5 and 6, through which (3) teams will be escalated to qualify at the level of Egyptian universities, where the winners have great opportunities to travel to attend the main event of the NASA competition in the United States of America.

Dr. Hamdy Zeidan stressed that innovation has a key role in promoting the economy and knowledge and building a sustainable society, so the state supports pioneering projects that enhance the capabilities of young people and unleash their talents. In this context, the NASA competition comes as a leading global platform, giving an opportunity for young people from all over the world to employ technology and science to create unconventional solutions to the challenges facing the planet. It may be the first building block for scientific and technical achievements, thanking the university administration that supports youth innovations, and looks forward to seeing their ideas turn into a concrete reality that contributes to advancing development in Egypt.

Ms. Lula Atta, Director of the Innovative Projects and Student Creativity Unit, reviewed the diverse activities of the unit, pointing out that the unit works within the framework of the university's interest in human building and developing youth skills, as the unit aims to spread the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the university community, and prepare studies and research that support talents and business incubators; to create a distinguished and innovative generation of entrepreneurs.

Dr. Khalil Ali also reviewed the history of the establishment of the new Assiut Technological University, and the programs offered by the university in general and the Faculty of Industry and Energy in particular, for students, stressing the interest of the management of Assiut Technological University in participating in various competitions that stimulate creativity and innovation.

While Dr. Daifallah Hassan spoke about the Ahmed Deifallah International School of Applied Technology, and the tripartite partnership between USAID, the Egyptian Ministry of Education, and the Ahmed Daifallah Group, for the development of technological education in Egypt.

The meeting was presented by: Dr. Ahmed Mehran, a global expert in the field of human resources, on presentation skills, Dr. Islam Abu Bakr, an expert in sustainable development, on sustainability, and Ibrahim Muhammad Ali, a student at the Faculty of Engineering, about entrepreneurship, and a video was presented to review the experience of some Egyptian students, who won the competition last year, and traveled to the United States to attend NASA's main event.