Over the course of four intensive days in mid-May, Engineering Dean Mun Y. Choi, Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) Department Head Reda Ammar, and CSE Undergraduate Coordinator Robert McCartney visited Egypt to develop broader educational and research partnerships with a number of universities and research institutes.

The group met with officials from Akhbar Alyoum Academy, including academy President Abdelhai Ebaid, to begin plans for an enhanced B.S. degree program in computer science (CS). According to Dr. Ammar, UConn Engineering and the academy have an agreement in place to bring the curricular requirements at Akhbar Alyoum Academy into closer alignment with those of UConn’s CS degree program. As the academy’s requirements, objectives and metrics meet those of UConn, graduates of the academy will possess the foundational knowledge required to successfully pursue graduate studies at UConn.

Drs. Choi, Ammar and McCartney also met with research partners from the National Authority of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, the Electronics Research Institute, and the Mubarak City for Science & Technology – with whom UConn has joint research grants. Also on the itinerary was a visit to Cairo’s sprawling Smart Village business complex, where the team met with the Director of IBM’s Energy Center in Egypt, Dr. Ahmed Tantawi, and a site visit to the American University in Cairo with whom UConn has established study abroad agreements.