MIT Arab Alumni Association

MIT AAA Podcast Episode 6 with Talal Kheir

11 February 2021

In this episode, meet our board advisor, Talal Kheir SB’69, who currently focuses on advising and consulting on IT/IT Learning company start-up, management, and marketing. Tune in to learn about his journey and expertise.

Listen to the podcast here!

MIT AAA Newsletter, February 2021

10 February 2021

Our February Newsletter is out, click here to read it!

MIT AAA Roundtable Discussion, February 9, 2021

7 February 2021

Join us this Tuesday February 9 at 6 pm EET/ 8 pm Dubai/ 11 am EST/ 5 pm for a Roundtable Discussion with MIT Arab Alumni to discuss various topics like the impact of technology on our lives and how 2020 is shaping the new year.

Register here!

Two MIT students named 2021 Rhodes Scholars

2 February 2021

Ghadah Alshalan and Danielle Grey-Stewart have been selected for the 2021 cohort of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship program. Senior Ghadah Alshalan, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will graduate next June with a bachelor of science in physics and a minor in computer science. As a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, she will pursue a master’s research program in condensed matter physics. Wishing them both all the best!

Read full article here.

MIT AAA Newsletter

21 January 2021

May 2021 be a year of healing, prosperity, and growth!

As we step into the new year, we are excited to introduce our monthly newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest MIT AAA activities, news, and updates.

Click here to read it!

MIT AAA Podcast Episode 5 with Mayce El Mostafa

19 January 2021

In this episode, meet our president, Mayce El Mostafa MNG’13, Structural Engineer and now Director at the American University of Kuwait. Tune in to hear her about her journey.

Listen Here!

MIT AAA Podcast Episode 4 with Hazem Zureiqat

15 January 2021

Hazem Zureiqat SM'08, is a partner and transportation consultant at Engicon, a multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm based in Amman, Jordan. He is an alumnus of the MIT Transportation masters program and the former president of the MITAAA. He now serves as an advisor to the board and has a breadth of knowledge in the areas of transportation and entrepreneurship. Tune in to hear his inspiring story as well as some insights into the region!

Listen here!

MIT AAA wishes you a Happy New Year!

31 December 2020

MIT AAA wishes you Happy Holidays!

25 December 2020

MIT AAA Podcast Announcement

24 December 2020

Hope you are all enjoying our meet the board series! We are taking a short break for the holidays and will be back next Tuesday with our President, Mayce El Mustafa MEng’13, to hear her story!

Outcomes4Me: Reclaiming Healthcare for Patients

21 December 2020

In 2017, Maya Said , SCD'05, founded Outcomes4Me, a HIPAA-compliant platform and consumer app that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to positively impact care and accelerate research. This mobile app enables cancer patients to make decisions and take control of their care based on personalized information to their specific condition, including finding treatment options, matching to clinical trials, and tracking and managing symptoms.

Read full article here

MIT AAA Podcast Episode 3 with Dana Erekat

11 December 2020

Meet Dana Erekat MCP ‘09, our Director of Communications. Neither her life nor career has been a clear line, but exciting and fulfilling nonetheless. Across geographies and sectors, learn more about her story in today’s podcast!

Listen to the podcast here!

MIT AAA Podcast Episode 2 with Rudayna Abdo

3 December 2020

For anyone who lived all over the map growing up, meet our alumna Rudayna Abdo, who’s called many places home. Learn how this experience led her to leave behind an executive career in urban planning to start her award winning non-profit, Thaki, which helps refugees with their digital literacy.

Rudayna is a special advisor to the Board and the second in our Meet the Board series. Stay tuned for more episode every week!

Listen to the podcast here.

MIT AAA Podcast Episode 2 tomorrow with Rudayna Abdo

30 November 202

We hope you enjoyed episode 1 of UnliMITed, Meet the Board Series! Next up is Rudayna Abdo, founder of Thaki and a special advisor to the board, so tune in tomorrow to episode 2 with our host Dana Dabbousi! Episodes are released every Tuesday on all your favorite podcast sites.

Stay Tuned!

Snippets of MIT AAA Podcast, Meet the Board, Salman Aldukheil

27 November 2020

Episode 1 is out!This is just a snippet of the Salman’s story. Learn about what makes MIT students special and the importance of reflecting as you make decisions along the way. Tune in every Tuesday to hear a new and exciting alumni story each week! Salman is the first in our Meet the Board series. He is our Director of Regional Development and works in investment banking at HSBC. Salman also holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.

Join us next week to meet our next board member!

Watch the full podcast here

MIT AAA Podcast, Meet the Board, Salman Aldukheil

24 November 2020

Starting off our ‘Meet the Board’ series, tune into a conversation with Salman Aldukheil SB’11 reflecting on his time at MIT and the lessons he learned along the way. Salman is our director of regional development, works in investment banking at HSBC and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business

Listen to the Podcast here!

MIT AAA Podcast Series 1: Meet the Board

23 November 202

Tune in tomorrow to episode 1 of UnliMITed! Join our host Dana Dabbousi, for a conversation with Salman Aldukheil, our Director of Regional Development, the first in our ‘Meet the Board’ series. Episodes are released every Tuesday at 6AM EST / 2 pm KSA on all your favorite podcast sites!

Stay tuned for episode 1!

Meet The Lebanese Chairman Behind The Vaccine Company With 94% Effectiveness

22 November 2020

Noubar Afeyan, PhD ‘87, is the Lebanese/ American chairman of Moderna Therapeutics, a company whose COVID-19 vaccine has shown a 94% effectiveness in advanced stages of research.

MIT AAA Podcast: Episode 0

18 November 2020

You ever wonder what kind of people get into MIT? Or what they do after they graduate..?
If you’re Arab or living in the Arab world, or maybe you knew someone who went to MIT, or you were a student and you’re wondering, what happened to all your friends after they graduated? Then this is the show for you.

Introducing our new podcast, “unliMITed”, also known as “بلا حدود”. The podcast where we talk about the different paths Arab students took: to get to MIT, while they were students, and after graduation. What we hope to uncover is that, these paths, quite like the people who took them, are unlimited.

Join our Director of Conferences and Digital Engagement and MIT’20, Dana Dabbousi, the host of UnliMITed, for weekly episodes coming out every Tuesday.

Tune into episode 0, available on all your favorite podcast sites, to hear all about it! If you’re a fan, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends and family!

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Google Podcasts

The MIT AAA Podcast

17 November 2020

Hosted by the MIT Arab Alumni Association, UnliMITed interviews alumni to chat about the different paths they took to apply to MIT, their time on campus, and how their careers evolved afterwards. What we hope to uncover here is that these paths, quite like the people who took them, are unliMITed.

Released every Tuesday at 6AM EST!

MIT Arab Conference, Solving Uncertainty

13 November 2020

The MIT AAA is proudly sponsoring and supporting the MIT ASO with The MIT Arab Conference taking place from November 13-15, 2020 tackling topics ranging from AI, future of work, healthcare, innovation & entrepreneurship, and civil engagement. Registration to attend the MIT Arab Conference 2020 is now open to the general public (& is free)!

Join us today. Register here!

Alum-Built App Connects Refugees with Thousands of Volunteer Translators

30 October 2020

"MIT made me not shy away from very difficult problems,” says Alghunaim, who is the company’s CTO. “I still remember my journey there. You start and everything seems terrifying and extra hard. When you finish you think, ‘If I could finish this, I can tackle anything in the world!’ This is still a big part of my mental model.”

Two MIT Muslim Americans Alumni joined forces to help refugees dissolve the language barrier through creating their translation app Tarjimly, which has now became even more needed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The MIT Refugee Action Hub (ReACT) redefines itself with a global, virtual program!

27 October 2020

While the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of unprecedented challenges in today’s world, in this instance it in fact unveiled a unexpected opportunity. ReACT kicked off its third Certificate in Computer and Data Science (CDS) program on September 29 with a virtual orientation designed for the current moment.

Read more about how the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unexpected opportunity for ReACT to open up its program to more learners as a result of being forced to move into virtual learning.

MIT AAA Arab Weekend at MIT

25 October 2020

This past Saturday, during MIT Family Weekend, our board members and advisers met with current MIT staff, students, parents of students, and alumni to discuss life at MIT during Covid and what they can look forward to when life returns to normalcy. It was great to see how MIT and its students are adapting during these unprecedented times and we look forward to seeing what our institution and students will accomplish, even if it’s only virtually!

MIT Arab Conference, open call!!

26 October 2020

Want to speak at the next MIT Arab Conference? Have an interesting project you want to showcase?

Here's your chance - Applications are now open for Speed Talks, the innovation Showcase and Workshops!

As part of the programming, selected applicants will receive the chance to present themselves and their work under the spotlight to a wide audience of inventors, entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, engineers and investors!

Prospective applicants can apply to one or more of the below programs:

Become a speaker - Speed Talks
Showcase your work - Innovation Showcase
Facilitate a workshop - Workshops

Head over to SciTech website to apply. Spots are limited.

For further questions, please email Arab Conference

Emotional Agility & the Job Search

23 October 2020

Check out this online event by LOCALIZED!

Finding a great job takes work and is hard. Staying open without anxiety or frustration can be even harder. Learn how to approach your job search like a pro with HR and career expert Iyad Uakoub.

Sunday, Oct 25th 2020, 2:00 PM GMT

Apply to showcase your startup at the The MIT Arab Startup Demo Day!

22 October 2020

The MIT Arab Startup Demo Day is a platform to showcase MENA-based (or focused) startups. Each selected startup will be given the opportunity to pitch their startup to a wide audience which includes early-stage investors. They will also receive a virtual booth to showcase their work and interact with the public.

Who is eligible to apply? Young startups ready for early-stage funding that meet the following criteria:

Team has at least 2 members
Received less than $15,000 raised in funding to date
Is based out of the MENA region or operates in it
Have defined their value proposition and made significant progress towards product development and/or customer acquisition.

For further questions, please email Arab Conference. Please note that the entire event will be held virtually.

For more information visit SciTech

MIT community unites for Beirut explosion relief efforts

20 October 2020

On Aug. 4, the third-largest non-nuclear blast the world has ever seen shook the city of Beirut, Lebanon. The Lebanese Club at MIT and MIT AAA joined forces and raised $30,000 as part of the fundraising campaign for the Beirut Emergency Fund. The money will provide shelter, medical assistance, basic needs and reconstruction support for the thousands affected.

Read the full article on MIT NEWS!

Localized Webinar on Becoming a Sustainable Architect

16 October 2020

Check out this upcoming event by Localized!Join Nadia Maqbool, the first UK-qualified female Architect to achieve professional recognition from the Royal Institute of British Architects RIBA and the Architects Registration Board ARB within the Sultanate of Oman. She is the owner and co-founder of 23 Degrees North, the first Omani owned professionally recognized architectural design studio within the Sultanate.

Tuesday, Oct 20th 2020, 10:00 AM GMT.

Localized Webinar on Well Being and Productivity

October 15 2020

Check out this upcoming event by Localized!

At school or on the job, we all need to balance getting things done well and efficiently with maintaining our own well-being. Career and HR expert Iyad Uakoub will lead a lab on tips and best practices for this essential skill.

Sunday, Oct 18th 2020, 2:00 PM GMT.

Register here!

MIT AAA WELCOME WEEKEND AT MIT

14 October 2020

We know that this year is unprecedented. Join current MIT Arab students and alums for a casual conversation on how to make the most of this year at MIT, no matter if you're in Cambridge, Cairo, or California! We'll talk about how to manage stress and what to expect from a work environment during a COVID era. Bonus points if you have hummus and tea nearby for our talk :)

Register to receive the link to participate

MIT AAA Partnership with Localized

8 October 2020

MIT AAA is excited to announce a partnership with Localized, a platform that support students and graduates from top universities across the MENA region!

Register on Localized today. To launch our partnership, you can participate in any of these upcoming webinars and are welcome to register and participate in all featured webinars on the platform.

We look forward to seeing you on Localized!

MIT community unites for Beirut explosion relief efforts

7 October 2020

At MIT, the Lebanese Club and the Arab Alumni Association raised $30,000 as part of a fundraising campaign for the Beirut Emergency Fund. The money will provide shelter, medical assistance, basic needs, and reconstruction support for the thousand affected.

Read full article here

Call for Application: MIT-Jordan Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation Seed Fund

4 October 2020

MIT and Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation in Jordan have launched a the new Scientific Research Seed Fund “MIT-Jordan Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation Seed Fund”.

The fund aims to support joint early-stage research projects between researchers and their students in Jordan and their counterparts at MIT.

Through an annual call for proposals, the fund will be offering financial grants with a maximum value of $30,000 per grant covering travel, meeting, and workshop costs, inclusive of visits to Jordan and MIT facilities in the US.

Click the link for eligibility criteria and more information here.

Arab Startup Competition Results

1 October 2020

We are thrilled to announce that Thaki, the project of MITAAA board member Rudayna Abdo, has been selected selected as a Solve - MIT Class of 35 tech-based social entrepreneurs addressing global challenges! Full results here.

Thaki aims to make a real impact in enhancing women and girls' digital literacy skills among refugee and vulnerable communities.

Congratulations!

Arab Startup Competition

29 September 2020

ASC is a yearly competition initiated by the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab since 2006. This annual competition is designed to empower entrepreneurs and foster an eco-system of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Arab Region. ASC pits entrepreneurs in three different tracks: Ideas, Startups and Social Entrepreneurship Track. The winning teams are awarded prize money in equity free fund and benefit from a range of other activities including top tier training, mentorship, coaching, media exposure and great networking opportunities.

For more information and registrations click here

24 September 2020

MIT AAA was present at the Volunteer Fair during the virtual Alumni Leadership Conference currently taking place till 27th of September 2020.

Join MIT AAA board member Dana Dabbousi on Friday, September 25th, 2020 at 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM EEST to explore how young alumni are volunteering their time at MIT and the various volunteer roles that are available.

Link to the Young Alumni Leaders Panel.

Virtual Solve Challenge Finals

6 September 2020

MIT AAA member and co-founder of Thaki, Rudayna Abdo SB'90 has come up with an innovative solution to address the education challenges facing refugees in Lebanon during the most of challenging times, and is a finalist in Solvmit’s #Girlseducationchallenge

Vote for The Right to Digital Literacy here....!

Disaster Relief Campaign for Lebanon: Call for Volunteers

26 August 202

The MIT Arab Alumni Association is proud to support the Harvard Arab Alumni Association and the Harvard Society of Arab Students in their launch of the Lebanon Disaster Relief Team Volunteer Application for those wishing to join the team, which is led by trusted partners Basmeh & Zeitooneh on the ground in Beirut.

We celebrate the incredible outpouring of volunteers who have cleaned their city and carried one another this last week, and join the effort by:

• Organising volunteer teams lead by disaster relief veterans from B&Z to distribute food parcels to affected and clean and help rebuild damaged homes;

• Securing protective equipment for the home support team, including thick gloves, helmet, boots, goggles, brooms, shovels, rubbish bags and first aid kit to keep volunteers safe;

• Ensuring only volunteers who are trained in proper sanitation protocols will secure, package and distribute food baskets to those in need, given the ongoing risk of COVID-19;

• Providing a trauma psychologist to equip the team with fundamental skills to protect themselves from secondary trauma and be on call for those needing support in English, Arabic and French;

• Committing to a longer-term volunteer team beyond a one-time or one-week effort to ensure the sustainability of our help.

We welcome anyone on the ground in Lebanon over 18 years wishing to volunteer to provide disaster and food relief to sign up and join the team. Note that in abiding with our shared principles as a humanitarian coalition, all volunteers must declare their commitment to non-discrimination and equality in helping all individuals and families in need regardless of their nationality, religion, or socioeconomic background. We look forward to having you on our team to make a difference for Beirut!

Apply Here!

MIT Beirut Disaster Relief Fund, Donate Now

25 August 2020

We thank you all who have donated for your generosity and are pleased to have reached our goal of $25,000 for The Lebanese Club at MIT and the MIT Arab Alumni Association’s gofundme campaign to raise funds for organizations working on the ground.

But Beirut still needs more and is still suffering from the aftermath of the 4th August tragedy. Therefore, we are raising our goal to $30,000. Help us support Beirut rebuild.

To date the following NGOs have been selected: AlGhina, Arcenciel, Beit El Baraka, Lebanon Needs, Lebanese Red Cross, Nusaned and Offre Joie.Additional organizations are currently in the vetting process. We will be updating this list on a regular basis.

DONATE NOW

On behalf of the Lebanese diaspora and community at MIT, we thank you for your support and your solidarity.

MIT Beirut Disaster Relief, Donate Today

21 August 2020

We mourn the loss of lives and the devastation in the city of Beirut, and call on you for urgent action!

The Lebanese Club at MIT and the MIT Arab Alumni Association initiated a gofundme campaign to raise funds for organizations working on the ground. To date the following NGOs have been selected: AlGhina, Arcenciel, Beit El Baraka, Lebanon Needs, Lebanese Red Cross, Nusaned and Offre Joie.Additional organizations are currently in the vetting process. We will be updating this list on a regular basis.

DONATE NOW

On behalf of the Lebanese diaspora and community at MIT, we thank you for your support and your solidarity.

Happy Islamic New Year from MIT AAA

20 August 2020

MIT Disaster Beirut Disaster Relief, Donate Now

17 August 2020

We mourn the loss of lives and the devastation in the city of Beirut, and call on you for urgent action!

So far we have raised $24,380 out of $25,000 goal DONATE NOW!

On behalf of the Lebanese diaspora and community at MIT, we thank you for your support and your solidarity.

MIT Disaster Relief for Lebanon, DONATE NOW

15 August 2020

We mourn the loss of lives and the devastation in the city of Beirut, and call on you for urgent action!

So far we have raised $23,400 out of $25,000 goal DONATE NOW!

On behalf of the Lebanese diaspora and community at MIT, we thank you for your support and your solidarity.

MIT Beirut Disaster Relief, DONATE NOW

13 August 202

We mourn the loss of lives and the devastation in the city of Beirut, and call on you for urgent action!

So far we have raised $16,938 out of $25,000 goal DONATE NOW!

On behalf of the Lebanese diaspora and community at MIT, we thank you for your support and your solidarity.

The Lebanese Club at MIT and the MIT Arab Alumni Association Fundraising Campaign For Lebanon

10 August 2020

In review of the colossal explosion that struck Lebanon’s capital of Beirut on August 4th, 2020, the Lebanese Club at MIT and the MIT Arab Alumni Association launched an MIT Fundraising Campaign that will collect donations directly to the Beirut Emergency Fund run by leading Lebanese organizations. The fund will be donating all the proceedings to extremely vetted NGOs including the Lebanese Red Cross. These will go into providing shelter, medical care, food, and rehabilitation.

To date the following NGOs have been selected: AlGhina, Arcenciel, Beit El Baraka, Lebanon Needs, Lebanese Red Cross, Nusaned and Offre Joie. Additional ones are currently in the vetting process and we will be regularly updating the list.

For more information and donations please visit our donation page here!

More ways to help Lebanon

6 August 2020

Reliable associations which offer urgent relief to people affected in the catastrophic explosion which occurred in Beirut. We are counting on people abroad to help financially as much as possible. Please donate and share!

Here are some options:

BEIT EL BARAKA

RIFAK el DARB (Joe Tawtal)

BAYTNA BAYTAK (housing help)

Photo Credit @ Raifikillustrations

Lebanon is in need of your help

5 August 2020

After a devastating explosion at the port of Beirut, Lebanon is in need of your help. Please find below a list of reliable NGOs to donate and share, thank you! Photo credit to LebanonTimes

The Lebanese Red Cross - download the app to donate

Disaster Relief for Beirut (crowdfunding)

With Perseverance and a little MOXIE, MIT is going to Mars

2 August 2020

Led by MIT researchers, one of the experiments aboard the next mission to the Red Planet aims to generate oxygen from Martian air. Among the researchers is Maya Nasr ’18, AeroAstro PhD student, who has been on the team since 2016 performing a MOXIE-related research project as a junior in aeronautics and astronautics. She focused on calibrating the sensors in the MOXIE unit by performing experiments under different pressures and temperatures and conditions that mimic the environment on Mars.

Full article here!

Adha Muabrak from MIT AAA

30 July 2020

MIT AAA Board of Directors 2020 - 2022

Left to right Top Row: Salman Aldukheil, Dana Erekat, Nour Ghadanfar. Middle Row: Mayce El Mostafa (President) Bottom Row: Aziz Asphahani, Dana Dabbousi and Mamoun Toukan

26 July 2020

The MIT AAA is pleased to announce its newly elected 2020-2022 Board of Directors. Our six new Board Members were elected from among 14 exceptional Candidates.

Salman Aldukheil SB'10

Dana Erekat MCP '09

Nour Ghadanfar MCP '19

Aziz Asphahani PhD '75

Dana Dabbousi SB'20

Mamoun Toukan AF '17, MAP '18

As we form this new Board we will strive to fulfill the mission and vision of MIT in the Arab Region. Although the world is going through exceptional times, the new Board will make its utmost effort to be more creative in the engagement of our community.

We are very thankful to the past Boards for all their initiatives and we look forward to building on their footsteps and to keep MIT AAA striving.

We would also like to highlight that we are still welcoming volunteers and we look forward to working with all of you in the next two years.

Keep Healthy and Safe everyone,

Sincerely,

Mayce El Mostafa

MIT Arab Alumni Association

President

TODAY: MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab to host a webinar "Introducing J-PAL Middle East & North Africa at AUC: Building Partnerships to Accelerate Poverty Reduction and Foster Evidence-Informed Policy in MENA

21 July 2020

Please join Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab for a webinar to introduce J-PAL MENA at AUC, and to hear from J-PAL affiliated professors, research collaborators, and implementing organizations from government and NGOs about how evidence can be used to improve program effectiveness, and how they can draw from global expertise to find globally-informed and locally-grounded solutions to the region’s most pressing challenges. In this webinar they will be focusing on their research partnerships that test solutions addressing policy issues that are most relevant in the wake of COVID19: youth unemployment, the growth of SMEs, and social protection for vulnerable and populations living in extreme poverty.

The webinar will also introduce J-PAL MENA’s research agenda and how wethey can help to support governments and NGOs across the region in using evidence as part of their COVID-19 recovery planning.

Today 21 July 2020 at 3:00PM Cairo time

MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab to launch research center at American University in Cairo

16 July 2020

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT is launching a new regional research center in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to focus on innovative research and policy engagement to reduce poverty.Full article here.

They will be hosting a virtual webinar "Introducing J-PAL Middle East & North Africa at AUC: Building Partnerships to Accelerate Poverty Reduction and Foster Evidence-Informed Policy in MENA" on Tuesday, July 21 at 3pm Cairo / 9am Boston. To join and learn more about J-PAL's approach register here.

Last Call for MIT AAA Board of Directors 2020-2022 Nominations

15 July 2020

Interested in strengthening relations between MIT and the Arab world? Now is the time to join the MIT AAA as a Board Director or volunteer on one of several committees, and be part of an active community bringing MIT to the Arab world and the Arab world to MIT!

Its the last day for nominations so do consider nominating yourself or others to be part of this dynamic community. Register here for a chance to become one of the MIT AAA 2020-2022 Board of Directors!

A Message from MIT AAA 2018-2020 Volunteers

14 July 2020

Volunteering at MIT AAA is not a full time commitment! You can select which initiative you are interested in and help in any way you can depending on your own time, so do consider volunteering with us!

Here is a message from two of our hard working and dedicated volunteers this year Dana Dabbousi SB'20 and Nour Gahdanfar MCP'19 sharing their own experiences and thoughts. We in turn thank them for all the positive energy and support.

Nomination for the new board ends tomorrow July 15, 2020. Fill out the form for a chance to be elected to the new board!

Highlights from MIT AAA Live Q&A Session

13 July 2020

In case you have missed it, watch the highlights of the live Q&A session and hear from MIT AAA 2018-2020 board members, advisors, volunteers and support!

Two more days till nominations for the new board closes, fill in this short form and nominate yourself or others!

A Message from MIT AAA Board of Advisors

12 July 2020

Two of MIT AAA's former Presidents Talal Kheir SB’69 and Hazem Zureiqat SM'08 send a message to the nominees as they continue to provide support as Ex-officio Advisors to the new Board of Directors. Join us today at 8PM KSA to meet Hazem, Talal and the rest of the MIT AAA Board members in a live Q&A session and get to know more about how their roles on this team can look like. Tune in via Zoom by registering here!

Nomination for the new board is open through July 15. Fill out the form for a chance to be elected to the new board!

Meet the MIT AAA 2018-2020 Board members in a live Q&A

11 July 2020

Have some questions about joining the MIT AAA Board of Directors? Want to figure out what position you’re best suited for? Curious about past and present initiatives the MIT AAA has worked on? Join the MIT AAA 2018-2020 Board for a live Q&A session (featuring our dedicated advisors and volunteers) and learn more about what a role on this team can look like.

Unable to attend the meeting but have some questions? You can send them to us by filling this short form now!

Tune in via Zoom TOMORROW July 12th, 2020 at 8PM KSA / 1PM EDT Bring your energy and your questions! Register to receive link.

Nomination for the new board is open through July 15. Fill out the Form for a chance to be elected to the new board!

Message from MIT AAA 2020-2022 President Elect, Mayce El Mostafa

10 July 2020

Mayce El Mostafa MEng'13, MIT AAA President Elect 2020-2022, and a board member for the last four years sends a message to the nominees.

Tune in via Zoom next Sunday July 12th, 2020 at 8PM KSA / 1PM EDT to have a chance to chat with 2018-2020 Board of Directors and Advisors in a live Q&A session and learn more about what a role on this team can look like. Register to receive link.

Nomination for the new board is open through July 15. Fill out the Form for a chance to be elected to the new board!

IT'S TODAY!! MIT AAA Webinar Series: Innovation and Digital Economies in the Arab World: Covid-19 Impulse

9 July 2020

Not to be missed!! Our 6th and concluding episode in our Webinar Series entitled "Innovation and Digital Economies in the Arab World: Covid-19 Impulse" featuring Dr. Bijan Azad SM'80, PhD'99, Associate Professor at the Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut and the Director of Samih Darwazah Center for Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, and the Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in Jordan, Mothanna Gharaibeh! The webinar will be moderated by Ali ElAmrani MNG'07, Managing Director of ibtiquar and MIT AAA board member. Full bios here.

Thursday, July 9th at 12PM EST/ 7PM KSA.

REGISTER TODAY to receive the invitation link!

MIT AAA President Elect 2020-2022

8 July 2020

Mayce El Mostafa, President Elect of MIT AAA, currently serves as Director at the American University of Kuwait. Mayce’s 10+ professional career covers various engineering and management disciples across multiple jurisdictions including Canada, the United States of America and the Middle East. Mayce started off as a structural engineer with a focus on high performance structures and life cycle assessment of building materials. She then ventured into project management, with a heavy focus on educational structures. Her employers include Parsons Brinkerhoff (USA), SNC-Lavalin (Canada) and KIPCO Group (Kuwait).

Her first encounter with the board of the MIT Arab Alumni Association was in 2014 as a volunteer and main contact in Kuwait for the preparation of the MIT AAA Annual Conference.Having learnt a great deal then, and wanting to contribute even further, Mayce then served as a member of the AAA Board of Directors from 2016 to 2020.

With the Middle East and the World going through a very transformational phase, she stands as a bridge between MIT's breakthrough ideas and the region's needs for sustainable structures, policies, digitization and positive change. While the MIT brand is well established around the world, and in the Arab region, we are still in need of strong proactive representatives that are able to deliver our pioneering visions to where they are most needed.Working with her colleagues on the Board of MIT AAA, Mayce is committed, not only to abide by the mandate to seek and develop budding bright minds and entrepreneurs but will also seek to expand the organization’s reach and horizon. Mayce earned a B.Eng in Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics from McGill University(2010) and a M.Eng from MIT (2013).

Nomination for the new board is open through July 15. Fill out the Form for a chance to be elected to the new board!

Tune in via Zoom next Sunday July 12th, 2020 at 8PM KSA / 1PM EDT for a live Q&A session with the 2018-2020 Board (featuring our dedicated advisors and volunteers) and learn more about what a role on this team can look like Bring your energy and your questions! Register to receive link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Innovation and Digital Economies in the Arab World: Covid-19 Impulse

8 July 202

Mothanna Gharaibeh, the Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in the Government of Jordan.

Gharaibeh, the youngest working minister in the cabinet, has moved from the private sector where he used to lead Ericsson, the Swedish Telecom and Technology leader business in Jordan. He has an extensive technical and business experience around the Middle East where he worked with Ericsson in Oman, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries in different roles and functions.

Gharaibeh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Engineering in Jordan and has attended some executive courses in Harvard, Aspen Institute and business leadership courses with Ericsson.

Prior to joining the Government in June 2018 Gharaibeh was a political and social activist, where he acted as a community leader amongst youth movements, he served on the board of the ICT Association, Justice Center for Legal Aid, and other community, educational and political initiatives.

The Government of Jordan is keen to transform Jordan towards a digital economy where there are key foundations needed and are worked on in Jordan such as: Advanced Digital Infrastructure, Digital Platforms, Digital Financial Services, Digital Entrepreneurship and Digital Skills.

The second major priority is to support the thriving entrepreneurship scene in Jordan and support Jordanians startups to have better access to markets, funding, skills and improve the regulatory environment for doing business.

The third major priority for the government is to scale up the exports of services from Jordan, especially ICT Services, where Jordan is welling, ready and capable to be regional hub for ICT services in the Middle East.

Mothana Gharaibeh is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Thursday, July 9th, 2020 at 12:00 PM EDT/ 7:00PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

Live Q&A with the 2018-2020 MIT AAA Board of Directors

7 July 2020

Have some questions about joining the MIT AAA Board of Directors? Want to figure out what position you’re best suited for? Curious about past and present initiatives the MIT AAA has worked on?Join us for a live Q&A session with the 2018-2020 Board (featuring our dedicated advisors and volunteers) and learn more about what a role on this team can look like.

Tune in via Zoom next Sunday July 12th, 2020 at 8PM KSA / 1PM EDT Bring your energy and your questions! Register to receive link.

Nomination for the new board is open through July 15. Fill out the Form for a chance to be elected to the new board!

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Innovation and Digital Economies in the Arab World: Covid-19 Impulse

7 July 202

Bijan Azad, SM'80, PhD'99, is an Associate Professor at the Olayan School of Business (OSB), American University of Beirut and the Director of Samih Darwazah Center for Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship. Dr. Azad, who holds MS and PhD degrees from MIT, teaches in OSB’s Executive MBA, Executive Education and MBA programs. Bijan pioneered the popular experiential Startup Acceleration Practicum graduate course at AUB (modeled after Steve Blank’s Lean LaunchPad). In 2016 he designed AUB’s SME Growth Readiness Program that focuses on overcoming scale-up challenges of companies supported in part by USAID. Bijan is also very active in the startup ecosystem serving as boot-camp mentor/instructor at ArabBank Jordan iHub fintech, Flat6Labs SPEED, and AgryTech accelerators.

He has been a mentor with the IM-Capital MIT Venture Mentoring Service in Lebanon. Bijan, in 1988 was co-founder of a successful map technology startup in Cambridge, Massachusetts, GIS/Trans, was acquired later by Google Maps. In 2001 he co-founded another successful map technology startup International Land Information Systems bv (acquired by ARCADIS bv 2003), in Arnhem, Netherlands.

Dr. Azad is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Thursday, July 9th, 2020 at 12:00 PM EDT/ 7:00PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Innovation and Digital Economies in the Arab World: Covid-19 Impulse

6 July 202

Thursday, July 9th at 12PM EST/ 7PM KSA. Register to receive the invitation link!

Letter from the Board of Advisors

5 July 2020

Two of our former Presidents Talal Kheir SB’69, and Hazem Zureiqat SM’08, have been excellent resources as Advisors to the Board since their terms ended, providing insights and support for more than 5 years each. They have stated that they will continue to provide support as Ex-officio Advisors with the new board. Take a minute to read their letter to the incoming nominees.

Nomination for the new board is open through July 15. Fill out the form for a chance to be elected to the new board!

MIT AAA Webinar Series (Special Edition): The Fight for Racial Equality in Arab Communities (Recorded Session)

5 July 2020

We are happy to present the recorded session of MIT AAA 6th webinar which took place on June 12th, 2020. It dealt with the implicit and explicit racism which continues to exist in Arab communities, both in the US and back in the Middle East and North Africa. It featured Rana Abelhamid, an internationally acclaimed community organizer and founder of Malikah, Khalid Albaih, a Sudanese artist and political cartoonist, and Iglal Misbah Elsadig a 2018-2019 Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the Department of Urban Planning & Studies at MIT for a conversation around racial justice in the Arab World. The webinar was moderated by current MIT undergraduate student, Dina Atia, SB '22.

Stay tuned for the concluding webinar of this Webinar Series to be announced soon!

Meet the MIT AAA 2018 - 2020 Board of Directors

4 July 2020

Anwar Ghauche (SM ‘10) and Ali El Amrani (ESD ‘07) reflect on the many initiatives they’ve started through the MIT AAA and that they’d love to see continue. Have an initiative you want to bring to light or want to build on existing ones? Join the MIT AAA and leave your mark not only at MIT but in the Arab world too!

Nominations are open through July 15, 2020! Fill out this form for a chance to be elected to the new Board

Meet the 2018-2020 MIT AAA Board of Directors

3 July 2020

After almost a decade of service to the MIT AAA, we’re sad to see Faris Sayegh (SB ‘91) and Rudayna Abdo (SB ‘90) go. As they transition to an advisory role, we have openings on our Board of Directors that can be filled by enthusiastic and energetic MIT alumni like you!

Nominations are open through July 15, 2020! Fill out this form for a chance to be elected to the new Board!

MIT AAA Call for Nominations

1 July 2020

Missing your days at MIT? Interested in strengthening relations between MIT and the Arab world? Now is the time to join the MIT AAA as a Board Director or volunteer on one of several committees, and be part of an active community bringing MIT to the Arab world and the Arab world to MIT!

View the Nomination page for more information and timeline.

MIT Webinar Series: Inequality and Social Justice in the time of Corona (recorded session)

18 June 2020

Presenting the recorded session in closed captioning of our 5th webinar entitled" Inequality and Social Justice in the time of Corona". It covered how COVID-19 is impacting the already vulnerable populations in the Arab world, especially in a region where social justice was already in short supply. The webinar was moderated by Dana Erekat MCP ’09, an International Development Specialist, and an MIT AAA member.

MIT And Harvard Grads Just Raised $15 Million For Their Delivery Management Platform

Wise Systems cofounders (L to R): Ali Kamil (CTO), Layla Shaikley (VP of Customer Experience), Chazz Sims (CEO), Jemel Derbali (COO)

24 June 2020

Started out of MIT by a team with deep expertise in logistics, data science, machine learning, and design, the Wise Systems team has always shared a focus on solving mobility issues by understanding patterns. Today, the Wise Systems announced that it raised a $15 million Series B round, led by Valo Ventures with participation from existing investors Gradient Ventures, Prologis Ventures, and MIT Media Lab’s E14 Fund.

Among the co-founders is Layla Shaikley SM'13, who moved to California with her family from Iraq in the 1970s, and later did her Masters degree in Architecture at MIT.

Congratulations to the Wise Systems team!

Read full article here.

MIT Webinar Series: Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World (recorded session)

16 June 2020

In case you missed it, presenting the recorded session in closed captioning of our forth webinar "Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World". It tackled how COVID-19 has impacted MIT as an institution, how it has affected the MENA region in relation to the panelists' work, and what we can expect moving forward. The webinar was moderated by Nour Ghadanfar MCP'19, an urban planner for Asakura Robinson, and an MIT AAA board member.

Stay tuned for more webinars soon!

MIT Lebanon Challenge

15 June 2020

We are excited to share with you "The MIT Lebanon Challenge”, a great initiative organized by various MIT-affiliated groups and individuals (students, staff, faculty) to help Lebanon solve pressing economic challenges facing the country, in the form of a 48-hour virtual hackathon which will be held the weekend of June 26-28.

The organizers are seeking support in spreading the word, encouraging people to apply, finding judges, mentors, and connecting with various other resources.

For those of you who are interested in getting involved, please fill out your name and contact information here so it can be shared it with the organizers, who will be in touch with you soon to share more details. For more information on the challenge check link here.

Thank you all for your support - please spread the word!

MIT WEBINAR SERIES: Economic Recovery Post Covid-19 (recorded session)

13 June 2020

We are happy to present the recorded session in closed captioning of our third MIT AAA Webinar Series entitled "Economic Recovery post Covid-19" which was held on May 21st, 2020, addressing the impact of Covid-19 on the economic development and finance in the Arab world. The webinar was moderated by Anwar Ghauche SM'10 founder of Constrafor and MIT AAA board member.

Stay tuned for more webinars soon!

IT'S TODAY!! MIT AAA Webinar Series (Special Edition): The Fight for Racial Equality in Arab Communities

12 June 2020

Join us TODAY!!

Implicit and explicit racism has existed and continues to exist in Arab communities, both in the US and back in the Middle East and North Africa. The Black Lives Matter movement has transcended borders and shed a light on racial injustice globally. How can Arabs around the world come to terms with that injustice and what tangible steps can we take to support racial equality in our societies? Join us in a conversation with Rana Abelhamid, internationally acclaimed community organizer and founder of Malikah, Khalid Albaih, Sudanese artist and political cartoonist, and Iglal Misbah Elsadig a 2018-2019 Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the Department of Urban Planning & Studies at MIT for a conversation around racial justice in the Arab World. The webinar will be moderated by current MIT undergraduate student, Dina Atia, SB '22. Speakers bios here

Friday, June 12, 2020 at 1:00PM EDT/ 8:00PM KSA

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MIT AAA Webinar Series (Special Edition): The Fight for Racial Equality in Arab Communities

11 June 2020

Iglal Misbah Elsadig is a 2018-2019 Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the Department of Urban Planning & Studies at MIT. During her fellowship, she also received courses and training at Harvard, Syracuse and Northeastern University. She’s currently a senior urban planner in Khartoum, Sudan and a PhD researcher. Her work is in the indigenous neighborhoods which evolved more than a century ago in Sudan. She tries to study the vernacular concepts and principles that were adopted at that time. As these neighborhoods were planned by the original settlers to satisfy their social, cultural and environmental needs, her research revealed a rich heritage of urban knowledge in these traditional neighborhoods. Her interests also span things like women empowerment and youth development in her native country, Sudan where she believes that many of the pressing issues facing the Sudanese community could be tackled by adopting urban planning topologies as a tool towards building more inclusive cities in Sudan and the region

Iglal is one of the panelists participating in our Special Edition Webinar Series on Tuesday June 12th, 2020 at 1:00PM EDT/ 8:00PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series (Special Edition): The Fight for Racial Equality in Arab Communities

11 June 2020

Khalid Albaih Romanian born, Qatari raised, Sudanese artist and political cartoonist, Khalid Albaih currently lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark where he is the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) PEN Artist-in-Residence. He is the 2018 inaugural Soros Arts Fellow for the Open Society Foundation and was the 2016 Oak Fellow at the Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights at Colby College in Maine. Based in Doha, Qatar since 1990, Albaih worked as the Head of Public Art for Qatar Museums Authority.

Albaih publishes his cartoons on social media under the name “Khartoon,” a pun on his hometown and the capital city of Sudan. His cartoons have appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, National Public Radio, and the BBC, and his social and political written commentary has been published in The Guardian, CNN, and Al Jazeera, among others. Albaih's work has also been exhibited around the globe, including in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Qatar, India, and Japan. Albaih is the founder of both @DohaFashionFridays and the Khartoum Art + Comics Library and is also an instrumental figure in the artist collective, CULTURUNNERS. Recent exhibitions of Albaih's work include The Art of Resistance at the Power of Art House, Amsterdam (2019), #Crowdsourced at Katara Art Center, Doha (2017), and @Khartoon!-@khalidalbaih at the Harvard Center of Middle Eastern Studies in Boston (2016).

Khalid is one of the panelists participating in our Special Edition Webinar Series on Tuesday June 12th, 2020 at 1:00PM EDT/ 8:00PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series (Special Edition): The Fight for Racial Equality in Arab Communities

10 June 2020

Rana Abdelhamid is committed to organizing communities around migrant, gender and racial justice. For ten years, Abdelhamid has served as the Executive Director of Malikah, a global grassroots movement committed to building safety and power for all women through self-defense, healing justice, community organizing and financial literacy. She founded Malikah at the age of 16 after being attacked by a stranger, who tried to remove the hijab from her head. Today, Abdelhamid and her volunteer team of women conduct healing spaces and have trained more than 7,000 women in 18 cities across the globe. For the past three years, Malikah has held the National Muslim Women's Summit at Harvard University, training 50 Muslim American women in leadership and community organizing.Abdelhamid's organizing work has always been rooted in building solidarity across communities domestically and abroad.

During the Arab Spring, Abdelhamid was involved in mobilizing diaspora communities in solidarity with grassroots activists in Egypt. After the "Muslim ban" was passed, she helped organize thousands of people across Boston for the 20,000-person Copley Square protest and spoke alongside Senator Elizabeth Warren, among others. After the murder of Nabra Hassanen, Abdelhamid and her team worked to mobilize tens of thousands of people across ten cities in under 24 hours for prayers and vigils in her remembrance.

Rana is one of the panelists participating in our Special Edition Webinar Series on Tuesday June 12th, 2020 at 1:00PM EDT/ 8:00PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series (Special Edition): The Fight for Racial Equality in Arab Communities

9 June 202

Friday, June 12, 2020 at 1:00PM EDT/ 8:00PM KSA

REGISTER to receive Zoom link

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World, IT'S TODAY

9 June 2020

Join us TODAY!!

How is COVID-19 impacting already vulnerable populations in the Arab world, especially in a region where social justice was already in short supply? Please join Dr. Maha Yahya PhD'05, Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center and Mohamed El Dahshan Managing Director, OXCON Frontier Markets & Fragile States Consulting, for a conversation on how COVID-19 has affected the MENA region, and what we can expect moving forward. The webinar will be moderated by Dana Erekat MCP ’09, an International Development Specialist, and an MIT AAA member. Link to Bios

June 9, 2020 at 11:00AM EDT/ 6:00PM KSA

REGISTER to receive Zoom link

We are also happy to announce our upcoming special edition webinar this coming Friday June 12 entitled "The Fight for Racial Equality in Arab Communities" more information soon!

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Inequality and Social Justice in the time of Corona

8 June 2020M

Mohamed El Dahshan is managing director of OXCON, a development consulting firm, advising governments and international organizations on Africa and the Middle East. He is a fellow with Chatham House in London and the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) in Washington DC, where he focuses on economic development, regional cooperation, and fragile states.

In the past, he also served as senior cooperation advisor at the African Development Bank in Abidjan, senior research fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge, and consultant to the United Nations Development Programme in Jerusalem.

He is an award-winning writer and columnist, and the co-author of Diaries of the Revolution (2012), a memoir of the Egyptian revolution, as well as several book chapters, academic papers, and more than 100 media articles for outlets such as Foreign Policy the New York Times, and the Guardian, among others.

He was honored as an Archbishop Desmond Tutu fellow, a fellow of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, and is listed among the 100 Africa Future Economic Leaders by the Institute Choiseul. Mohamed holds Master degrees from Oxford, Harvard and Sciences-Po Paris.

Mohamed is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Tuesday June 9th, 2020 at 11:00AM EDT/ 6:00PM KSA.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Inequality and Social Justice in the time of Corona

7 June 2020

Maha Yahya PhD'05, is director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, where her work focuses broadly on political violence, identity politics, inequality, citizenship, and the refugee crisis.

She has two PhDs in the social sciences and humanities from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Architectural Association (AA) in London. She has consulted with international organizations including the United Nations organizations and the World Bank as well the private sector on a broad range of issues in among other countries Lebanon, Pakistan, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. She serves on a number of advisory boards including the UNESCO international commission on the Futures of Education; co-chair of the International Advisory Board for the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut; and member of the Board of Directors of Ana Aqra Association and is a global member of the trilateral commission.

Dr. Yahya is the author of numerous publications, including most recently Unheard Voices: What Syrian refugees need to return home(April 2018);editor of Contentious Politics in the Syrian Conflict: Opposition, Representation, and Resistance,co editor of Visualizing Secularism and Religion, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, India and was the director and principal author of The National Human Development Report 2008–2009: Toward a Citizen’s State in Lebanon.

Maha is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Tuesday June 9th, 2020 at 11:00AM EDT/ 6:00PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Inequality and Social Justice in the time of Corona

6 June 2020

June 9, 2020 at 11:00AM EDT/ 6:00PM KSA

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World

3 June 2020

Join us TODAY!

What does collaboration and entrepreneurship look like for one of the world's leading institutions during COVID-19? Please join Dr. Jinane Abounadi, Executive Director of the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program, Dina Sherif, Executive Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, and Markus ElKatsha, Researcher at the City Science Group at the MIT Media Lab, for a conversation on how COVID-19 has impacted MIT as an institution, how it has affected the MENA region in relation to the panelists' work, and what we can expect moving forward. The webinar will be moderated by Nour Ghadanfar MCP'19, an urban planner for Asakura Robinson, and an MIT AAA board member. Link to bios here.

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020 at 12:30PM EDT/ 7:30PM KSA

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MIT Webinar Series: Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World

31 May 2020

Jinane Abounadi SM '90, PhD '98, is Executive Director of the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program. She brings a unique combination of experiences, from academic research to senior operational and strategic roles in start-up companies and large businesses. After completing her graduate work, she worked as a research scientist at BBN and as a postdoctoral lecturer at MIT, and advised undergraduate and graduate students. She held leadership roles in two of the most successful local Boston area start-ups, ITA Software and Kayak, where she gained deep knowledge about the travel technology sector. Most recently, she ran a global portfolio of 3rd party products for Travelport, giving her the opportunity to establish partnerships with companies across the globe and to advise and evaluate a number of start-ups in the travel sector. Abounadi earned her PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, a BS in electrical engineering from Caltech, and a BA from Bryn Mawr College. She has several publications in the fields of machine learning and communication networks and is passionate about teaching and working with college students. As a long-time housemaster at MIT, she has gained extensive experience in student life. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and three children. Outside of her professional life, she volunteers at her children’s schools. She served on the Board of trustees of Shady Hill School for six years, served on the founding school committee of the Center of Arabic Culture, and spends her free time cheering and supporting her children’s sports team.

Jinane is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Wednesday June 3rd, 2020 at 12:30PM EDT/ 7:30PM KSA.

MIT Webinar Series: Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World

30 May 2020

Markus ElKatsha MCP '00, SM '00, is an Architect and Urban Planner interested in the intersection between data-driven urban analysis tools and policy strategy for rapidly expanding or urbanizing cities. Markus joined the City Science group to work on research and deployments associated with the CityScope platform. Prior to joining the MIT Media Lab, Markus worked for eight-years at the Boston based architecture and urban design firm Machado and Silvetti Associates where he worked on projects that included the Getty Museum in LA, the Rockefeller Cultural Center in NY, and the American University in Beirut. More recently, he served for nine-years as the Executive Director of a public/private development corporation responsible for two urban expansion sites east and west of Cairo, Egypt. His current work and research is focused on new approaches to urban management and collaboration strategies for developing and emerging countries. In addition to a Bachelor of Architecture, Markus has two Master Degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in City Planning and in Architectural History, Theory and Criticism.

Markus is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Wednesday June 3rd, 2020 at 12:30PM EDT/ 7:30PM KSA.

MIT Webinar Series: Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World

29 May 2020

Dina H. Sherif has over twenty years of international experience in integrated sustainable development, corporate sustainability management (including corporate governance, inclusion and diversity, philanthropic activities and environmental risk management), youth civic engagement, strategic philanthropy, program design, impact assessments, social entrepreneurship, youth unemployment and women’s economic inclusion. Dina holds a Masters of Public Administration and Management from the Harvard Kennedy School, an MA in Economic Development Studies from the American University in Cairo, and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from the American University in Cairo. Committed to building sustainable, inclusive, and diverse societies through the application of a more ‘conscious’ form of capitalism, she co-founded Ahead of the Curve (ATC) in 2012 to further that goal. ATC is currently the leading social enterprise in the MENA region support impact driven entrepreneurship in addition to creating a movement of impact investing. Dina was also the Founding Director of the American University in Cairo’s Center for Entrepreneurship where she also held the Willard Brown Chair for International Business based out of AUC’s School of Business. Dina is currently a Senior Lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management in addition to being the Executive Director of the MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship. She is also a Partner in Disruptech, Egypt’s first fintech focused venture capital fund.

Dina is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Wednesday June 3rd, 2020 at 12:30PM EDT/ 7:30PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Collaboration and Entrepreneurship in a Covid-19 World

28 May 2020

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020 at 12:30PM EDT/ 7:30PM KSA

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Congratulations to the Class of 2020

28 May 2020

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the New Face of Education (Video)

26 May 2020

We are happy to present the recorded session in closed captioning of MIT AAA 2nd webinar which took place on May 11th, 2020. It featured 3 professionals from the UK and the Middle East who explored the impact of Covid-19 on the Educational Sector. The webinar was moderated by our own Mayce El Mostafa MEng'13, Director at the American University of Kuwait and MIT AAA board member.

Stay tuned for more webinars soon!

MIT AAA would like to wish you a Happy Eid

23 May 2020

IT'S TODAY!! MIT AAA Webinar Series: Economic Recovery post Covid-19

21 May 2020

join us TODAY for the third episode of the MIT AAA Webinar Series, which will address the impact of Covid-19 on economic development and finance in the Arab world. The webinar will be moderated by Anwar Ghauche SM '10, founder of Constrafor and MIT AAA board member. Link to speakers here

Thursday May 21st, 2020 at 1:30 PM EST / 8:30 PM KSA.

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MIT AAA Webinar Series: Economic Recovery post Covid-19

20 May 2020

Yassir Zouaoui is a Partner within the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which he joined at the Casablanca office in 2005, before transferring to the Dubai office in 2017. Yassir heads the global competence center in Economic Development. As such, he supports governments in the Middle East and Africa, mainly on economic development issues (regional development, sectoral development, foreign trade, attraction of investments) and assistance in economic decision-making (advanced decision models). Since the Covid outbreak, Yassir has been leading the Middle East Center for Covid Economic response. He is a graduate of ESSEC in Paris and an MBA from Columbia University in New York.

Yassir is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Thursday May 21st, 2020 at 1:30PM EST/ 8:30PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Economic Recovery post Covid-19

19 May 2020

Samer Khanachet, SB'72, grew up and studied in Europe and the US.

Upon graduation in 1975, he worked for The Industrial Bank of Kuwait, and then The Sharjah Group. He joined KIPCO as General Manager in 1990. He moved to the United States in 1991 to head United Gulf Management, KIPCO’s US subsidiary, and identify strategic resources to support KIPCO’s activities in financial services, media, and other sectors across the MENA region.

He was appointed KIPCO’s Group Chief Operating Officer in 2008. He is a Board member of Burgan Bank, United Gulf Bank and United Real Estate Company. He sits on boards and committees of the American University of Kuwait and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While in the US, he was a member of the advisory board of the Harvard Center for Middle East Studies, a trustee of the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, MA, and a director and president of the Arab Bankers Association of North America – ABANA..

He holds BSc degrees in Chemical Engineering and Finance from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. He takes a personal interest in US-Middle East relations and in education.

Samer Khanachet is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Thursday May 21st, 2020 at 1:30PM EST/ 8:30PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Economic Recovery post Covid-19

18 May 2020

Please join us for the third episode of the MIT AAA Webinar Series, which will address the impact of Covid-19 on economic development and finance in the Arab world. The webinar will be moderated by Anwar Ghauche SM '10, founder of Constrafor and MIT AAA board member. Link to speakers here

Thursday May 21st, 2020 at 1:30 PM EST / 8:30 PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive Zoom meeting link.

MIT AAA Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the Practice of Medicine (Video)

13 May 2020

We are happy to present the first episode of MIT AAA Webinar Series in closed captioning entitled Covid-19 and the Practice of Medicine which was held on May 1st, 2020. It featured 3 medical professionals practicing in the US and the Middle East, weighing in from their respective disciplines. The webinar was moderated by Rudayna Abdo, Founder of Thaki and a board member of MIT AAA.

Stay tuned for more webinars soon!

Today Monday May 11, MIT AAA Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the New Face of Education

11 May 202

Join us TODAY in our 2nd episode of MIT AAA Webinar Series where 3 professionals from the UK and the Middle East will explore the impact of Covid-19 on the Educational Sector. The webinar will be moderated by Mayce El Mostafa MEng’13, Director at the American University of Kuwait and MIT AAA Board member. Link to speakers here.

Monday May 11th, 2020 at 1:30 PM EDT / 8:30 PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive Zoom meeting link.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the New Face of Education

10 May 2020

Nafez Dakaka is the CEO of the Queen Rania Foundation’s London office where he oversees the foundations strategic partnerships and talent development. He also leads the foundations engagement with the education entrepreneurship sector across MENA and globally. Under Nafez’s leadership the foundation recently launched the first education entrepreneurship competition for startups based in the Arab world.

Prior to this role, Nafez founded Edraak.org, the largest Arabic online education portal that reaches almost3.5 million learners across the MENA region – where he is now the Executive Chairman. An initiative of the Queen Rania Foundation, Edraak’s learners come from all across the region and include disadvantaged youth in Gaza, Syria, and Iraq. Nafez was recognized for his work at Edraak as one of the top 50 “Makers+Shakers” in education technology globally by Edtech XGlobalin 2016; and received the Order of Independence First Class on behalf of Edraak from HM Abdullah II King of Jordan in 2017.

Previously, Nafez was a strategy consultant working with different governments across the GCC, focusing on education to employment transitions. Nafez writes on education reform and technology regularly in Arabic and English publications (including the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Harvard Business Review Arabic and Edsurge). While at Yale he completed a yearlong, award winning, thesis on the Obstacles towards Curriculum Reform in the Middle East, using Jordan and the UAE as case studies, of which the Mohammed Bin Rashed School of Government in the UAE published an executive summary in 2011.

Nafez Dakkak is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Monday May 11, 2020 at 1:30PM EDT/ 8:30PM KSA.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the New Face of Education

9 May 2020

Muneerah Alrabe SM'17, is a research-led designer interested in the intersection of architecture, politics, sociology, and integrating the creative agency of design as a tool to encourage a better future. She is currently a faculty member teaching design, history& theory of architecture at Kuwait University’s College of Architecture. She earned a Master of Science of Architecture in the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture (AKPIA) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and has professional experience in the field of architecture and design in Germany, United States, and Kuwait.

Muneerah Alrabe is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Monday May 11, 2020 at 1:30PM EDT/ 8:30PM KSA.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the New Face of Education

8 April 202

Hani Asfour is the Dean of the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI). He is an MIT and Harvard-trained architect with over 22 years of experience as a practicing architect, designer, and educator, having taught architecture and design in the US, Lebanon and the UAE. Asfour was recently named one of the 45 most influential architects in MENA by Middle East Architect magazine, where he also won the 2017 award for best cultural building.

Founding President of the Beirut Creative Clusterand Founding Partner of Polypod, an international award-winning multidisciplinary collaborative design studio in Beirut, Lebanon, Asfour is also a public speaker in many events, including his talk, Design Matters at TEDx Beirut and keynote at several design-related events. Asfour received his BSAD in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988 and his March terminal degree in Architecture with Distinction from Harvard University in 1994.

Hani Asfour is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series on Monday May 11, 2020 at 1:30PM EDT/ 8:30PM KSA.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the New Face of Education

7 May 2020

Join us in our 2nd episode of MIT AAA Webinar Series where 3 professionals from the UK and the Middle East will explore the impact of Covid-19 on the Educational Sector. The webinar will be moderated by Mayce El Mostafa MEng’13, Director at the American University of Kuwait and MIT AAA Board member. Link to speakers here.

Monday May 11th, 2020 at 1:30 PM EDT / 8:30 PM KSA.

Today Friday May 1st, MIT AAA Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the Practice of Medicine

1 May 2020

Join our series of webinars featuring experts in various fields provide their insight and address the impact of Covid-19 on their daily practice. Our first panel, featuring 3 medical professionals practicing in the US and the Middle East, will weigh in from their respective disciplines. The webinar will be moderated by Rudayna Abdo, Founder of Thaki and MIT AAA board member. Link to speakers bios here.

Friday May 1st, 2020 at 1PM EST - 8PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive Zoom meeting link.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the Practice of Medicine

Dr. Laura Fayad

30 April 2020

Dr. Laura M. Fayad is a Professor of Radiology, Orthopaedic Surgery and Oncology, and the Chief of Musculoskeletal Imaging at The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science at Johns Hopkins and is the lead radiologist for the Musculoskeletal Tumor Imaging Center of Excellence. She is distinguished for her development and implementation of novel imaging techniques and biomarkers and has advanced the integration and translation of functional and metabolic MR imaging techniques into a clinical imaging protocol for the comprehensive assessment of musculoskeletal tumors. She has been recognized for her innovative research through multiple awards and publications. Dr. Fayad has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT, a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and a medical degree from McGill University. She completed a residency at the Department of Radiology at Columbia University and a fellowship in the field of MRI at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital before joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins in 2002. Please find Dr. Fayad’s full profile here.

Dr. Fayad is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series tomorrow Friday May 1st, 2020 at 1PM EST/ 8PM KSA. Register to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the Practice of Medicine

Dr. Martine McManus

29 April 2020

Dr Martine McManus is Group Head of Pathology and Laboratory Services for VPS Healthcare, a multinational healthcare group based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. She has clinical and administrative responsibility for 27 hospitals across India, Oman, the UAE and Bahrain. She has an MPHIL from the University of Cambridge, and completed her medical studies at Trinity College, University of Dublin. She completed her Pathology residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center followed by a fellowship in Oncologic GI Pathology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She served as Co-Director of Surgical Pathology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, where she was an NIH grant-funded researcher in colorectal and pancreatic cancer. She moved to the UAE in 2014 to open the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, and continues to collaborate on cancer research projects with NYU-Abu Dhabi.

Dr. McManus is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series this coming Friday May 1st, 2020 at 1PM EST/ 8PM KSA. Register to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the Practice of Medicine

Dr. Lama Rimawi

28 April 2020

Dr. Lama Rimawi is a graduate of the McGill University Faculty of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She completed her Pediatrics residency at Children’s Memorial Hospital (now Lurie Children’s Hospital) and Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. Dr. Rimawi has been taking care of children and their families in hospital settings, and in private practice, for over 20 years. She founded Care Pediatrics in Wellesley, MA, and now has a private practice in Palo Alto, CA. She has also been an attending physician at multiple hospitals, including Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard. She has taught medical students at Harvard Medical School, residents at Tufts University and has been clinical faculty and instructor at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. She is currently affiliated with Kaiser Permanente in the Bay Area. She has lectured at Stanford Medical School for the past 5 years, especially focusing on early infant development. She is a board certified pediatrician, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Rimawi previously co-founded Tasterie, a kids’ food focused startup, and served as an advisor at Nima (advanced sensors for food allergies) and Metabolon (Biotech startup). She has authored academic and opinion pieces in national publications and newspapers.

Dr. Rimawi is one of the panelists participating in our Webinar Series this coming Friday May 1st, 2020 at 1PM EST/ 8PM KSA. Register to receive the invitation to our Zoom link.

MIT Webinar Series: Covid-19 and the Practice of Medicine

27 April 2020

Friday May 1st, 2020 at 1PM EST - 8PM KSA.

REGISTER to receive Zoom meeting link.

‘Learn From Home: Rethinking Learning During the COVID19 Crisis’ - April 18th, 2020

7 April 2020

With the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, many schools and universities had to abruptly migrate their classes online. Video conferencing technologies like Zoom have facilitated this transition. However, there are still obstacles to providing an immersive and engaging online learning experience that meets the classes’ desired learning outcomes.

These include difficulties in translating peer-to-peer learning and hands on experiences online as well as unequal access to quality internet bandwidth. MIT Arab SciTech Team is excited to announce we are hosting a virtual IDEAthon on April 18th with the theme of ‘Learn From Home: Rethinking Learning During the COVID19 Crisis’. Over the course of the half-day event, participants will identify problem areas, ideate on them and present their initial concepts to a jury with the potential to win implementation funds.

The virtual IDEAthon is open to everyone! Register here!

MIT AAA would like to wish you a Happy Easter

12 April 2020

Coronavirus: A team from MIT is producing an open-source, low-cost ventilator design

1 April 2020

MIT E-Vent, an MIT group of scientists and doctors, came together to build an innovative low cost ventilator for coronavirus patients. This device could save millions of lives. Read more on the World Economic Forum and take a few moments to watch this video.

Stay safe everyone!

Dubai - Association calls on companies to donate used laptops

6 March 2020

Thaki is a nonprofit organization that empowers refugee and vulnerable children to learn and thrive through self-paced, motivational refurbished electronic tools. Our own, Rudayna Abdo SB'90, founder of Thaki, and her team are calling on companies in the UAE to donate their used laptops for reuse.

Alumni Stories: Omar Take

Pictured: 1982 MIT class reunion, I am standing -2nd from the right. The late Professor Horacio Caminos with Dr. Reinhard Goethert, his assistant, who is still teaching at MIT and a bunch of architects from so many countries.

21 February 202

Crisscrossing the globe, drawing the lines: 46 years of designing structures and cities across the world.

Read the story of Omar Take who earned his Masters in Architecture in '74!

Visualizing Palestine: talk at the Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai

12 February 2020

Launched in 2012 as the first project of Visualizing Impact, Visualizing Palestine (VP) seeks to harness data-driven visual media—including infographics, animations and interactive experiences—to advance a factual rights-based narrative on Palestine and Palestinians. On 15 February, 2020, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, is hosting a talk with the four people who established VP, among them is Hani Asfour SB'88, 4-Architechture, Associate Dean at DIDI.

Click here for more information. RSVP required as this event has limited space.

An interview with Moaz Hosny, an inspiring Syrian graduate of the MIT ReACT Hub.

8 February 2020

Moaz Hosny fled to Jordan with his family shortly after the conflict in Syria. He got sponsorship to attend university and worked as a robotic coach while studying. Moaz received a scholarship from the Crown Prince foundation and later another from MIT with a full year program in computer and data science (ReACT).

Read this truly inspirational interview with Moaz from edSeed!

Climate Change in the UAE: Science, Policy and Future Imaginaries

4 February 2020

What are some likely scenarios for climate change in the UAE and what do scientific models predict will happen to temperature, humidity, precipitation and sea levels? Join Art Jameel’s Writer/Researcher in Residence Nadia Christidi, PhD candidate in the anthropology of science and technology at MIT, for a conversation with Assistant Expert Qais Al Suweidi and Climate Change Analyst Muwaffaq Alkhedery from MOCCAE.

This event is taking place on Monday, February 10, 2020 at the Jameel Arts Center, Project Space, from 6:30 to 7:30pm, make sure to visit if you are in Dubai!

MIT AAA Annual Dinner, Amman, Jordan

20 January 2020

MIT AAA hosted its annual dinner in Amman, Jordan last week, . It was attended by former Jordanian minister, Khaled Toukan, CEO of the Crown Prince Foundation, Tamam Mango SB'03, MCP'04, local MIT Alumni and students, and MISTI interns.

Alumni Stories: Ali Daher

3 January 2020

This is the story of Ali Daher who graduated this past December 2019 in Mechanical Engineering with a Concentration in Biological Engineering. Ali recently won the 2020 Rhodes Scholarship for Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine region.

Read his journey that took him from his hometown, Amman, Jordan to MIT in Boston.

Full story here

Happy Holidays from MIT AAA

24 December 2019

Uncovering the role of technology and medicine in deaf and signing worlds

20 December 2019

Where else but at MIT? The prior experience with Arabic and Jordan field work led Timothy Loh, a Singapore-raised PhD student, to explore deafness, sign language, and the role of technology and medicine for his doctoral anthropology thesis.

Full article here!

Coated seeds may enable agriculture on marginal lands

13 December 2019

A specialized silk covering could protect seeds from salinity while providing fertilizer-generating microbes according to a new research at MIT. Partly supported by the Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique-MIT Research Program, test planting in open experimental fields will take place in Morocco next year.

Read full article here!

MIT Summer Research Program

6 December 2019

The MIT Office of Graduate Education (OGE) would like to invite you to serve as a member of the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP General) Application Review Committee (ARC). Since 1986, MSRP has provided over 800 talented undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to conduct research at MIT. This year, they would like to extend this opportunity to you, a member of the MIT community, to engage in shaping the MSRP General 2019 cohort.

For more information, click HERE

MIT senior Ali Daher wins 2020 Rhodes Scholarship for Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine region

22 November 2019

Ali Daher from Amman, Jordan, is a recipient of the new Rhodes Scholarship. He will graduate this fall with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering with a concentration in biological engineering and then head to Oxford University for graduate study. Congratulations!

Read full article HERE

MIT BOOTCAMP, UAE

20 November 2019

UAEU Science and Innovation Park & the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education are calling on all young change-makers to sign up for the Youth Unemployment Challenge! Bootcampers will learn and practice a variety of new skills related to entrepreneurship and innovation from MIT coaches.

The winning teams will be provided with support to incubate their solutions at the UAEU Science and Innovation Park as well as showcased during 2020 Expo and much more! Check it out NOW!

Submission Deadline: November 24, 2019

Click HERE for Registration and more information.

Dr. Phil Budden talks at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation in Jordan

15 November 2019

On November 11, 2019, Dr. Phil Budden, Senior Lecturer at MIT's Management School, introduced the “MIT, REAP and Innovation: Innovative-driven entrepreneurship through eco-systems and stakeholder” followed by an open discussion with the Jordanian Innovation and Entrepreneurship ecosystem key stakeholders at the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation in Amman, Jordan.

Esther Dufflo, first MIT alumna to receive a Noble Prize

1 November 2019

Esther Duflo PhD ’99, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, was awarded a share of the 2019 Nobel Prize in economic sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on October 14. 2019.

Full article here!

DUBAI: Conversations on Practice: Sustainability in Art and Design

23 September 2019

Jameel Arts Centre, the UAE's first contemporary arts museum, is hosting a talk from 6:30PM to 7:30PM this evening with Dr. Azra Aksamija, Director of the MIT Future Heritage Lab and an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture and the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology.

So if you are in Dubai make sure to check it out!

For more information and registration please visit JAMEEL ARTS CENTRE

Alumna Rana El Kaliouby named in BBC's 100 influential women of 2019

18 October 2019

Rana el Kaliouby, P'hD'06, a pioneer of artificial emotional intelligence, has just been named one of the 100 Influential Women on BBC. AI. Her start-up Affectiva has developed software that can understand emotions by analyzing facial expressions through a camera.

Congratulations!

Full article here

ALC 2019 Weekend

29 September 2019

A great weekend spent at MIT Alumni Leadership Conference in Cambridge. Two of our board members and staff, Anwar Ghauche, Ali Alamrani, and Zena Jisr attended the conference and the Award Winning ceremony. MIT AAA hosted a luncheon on Saturday for the Arab Alumni, students and their guests.

For more photos, please click here.

Till next year!

MIT AAA Luncheon at ALC

21 September 2019

Join alumni and students for lunch on Saturday September 28, 2019 when the MIT Arab Alumni Association leaders will be on campus for the MIT Alumni Leadership Conference. Free to students and alumni, $20 for guests. RSVP is required.

Registration and location here

A new way to use wireless signals in health care

2 September 2019

Born and raised in Syria, Dina Katabi, SM ’99, PhD ’03, is now a professor at MIT. Having won the MacArthur "genius grant" in 2013, she turned her focus to how wireless signals bounce off people. Katabi's team built a wall-mounted device that emits extremely low-powered radio waves and uses machine learning to extract information from the way those signals reflect off people’s bodies.

Read full article on MIT Technology Review here!

A battery-free sensor for underwater exploration

23 August 2019

Fadel Adib, PhD'17, an assistant professor in the MIT Media Lab and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and founding director of the Signal Kinetics Research Group is among the researchers who have developed a battery-free underwater communication system that uses near-zero power to transmit sensor data. This system has just won the SIGCOM 2019 Best Paper Award in Beijing of which Adib was the co-author. Congratulations!

Read full article on Science Daily!

Hala Fadel: one of the most influential figures in the Arab region’s growing innovation economy

19 August 2019

A founding partner at Leap Ventures, a venture capital investment firm based in Beirut and Paris, Hala Fadel, MBA ’01 , is dedicated to developing successful entrepreneurs and fostering the conditions that allow them to thrive. That passion was sparked by her experience at MIT Sloan and has grown through her many leadership roles at MIT including founder and chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of the pan-Arab region, and MIT Sloan Executive Board member for the Middle East and Europe!

Read full article on MIT Spectrum!

E14 Fund helps Media Lab community deploy startups

2 August 2019

The E14 Fund is MIT Media Lab's affiliated fund that supports and invests in early stage companies founded by the Media Lab community with an average funding between $500,000 and $1 million, while its fellowship program offers a lower-risk way of pursuing the commercialization of an idea. Co-Founded by Habib Haddad, a Lebanese serial entrepreneur who has been named by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2009 and as a top innovator under 35 by the MIT Technology Review.

Read more here!

Hashim Sarkis talks architecture from Beirut to Boston

12 July 2019

Hashim Sarkis, Dean of the School of Architecture at MIT, started his studies at the American University of Beirut, but due to the outbreak of the civil war in Lebanon, he relocated to the US where he continued his education first at Rhode Island School of Design and then at Harvard. In 1988, he launched Hashim Sarkis Studios where he continues to undertake projects in seemingly opposing places, like the outskirts of Boston to the country fishing village of Tyre, Lebanon.

Read the full interview here!

Hacking Through Beirut's Commercial Real Estate: An Interview With Zina Bdeir Dajani of Antwork

23 July 2019

Start Up Scene speaks to Zina Bdeir Dajani, SM'03, founder and CEO of Antwork about her journey in commercial real estate in Beirut, and how it provides solutions to real estate holders by offering on demand amenities to cater for working needs and rhythm.

Read full interview here!

A new way of making complex structures in thin films

5 July 2019

An MIT research team have developed a new way of making complex structures that may open up new areas of materials design. Among the research group is Co-Author Karim Gadelrab, PhD'19, who had won the grand prize of MADMEC prototype competition in 2016 for developing a transparent, water-shedding coating for car windshields.

Great Immigrants

28 June 2019

Every Fourth of July since 2006, Carnegie Corporation of New York honors Andrew Carnegie’s legacy by celebrating the wide-ranging contributions of immigrants who enrich the American communities, culture, economy, and invigorate their democracy. Among the 38 distinguished immigrants is Syrian born Dina Katabi, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, MacArther Fellow.

Congratulations!

Dr. Nasser Rabbat on Islamic Civilisation: Architecture, Identity, and Art

21 June 2019

Dr. Nasser Rabbat, PhD'91, a Syrian historian and architect from Damascus, is a professor and director of the Aga Khan Islamic Architecture Program at MIT. Having completed his studies in Solar Energy in the USA, Dr. Rabbat returned to the Arab World as a researcher and scholar after which he decided to pursue his education. In 1991, he received his PhD in Architecture, Art, and Environmental Studies at MIT.

Enjoy this podcast where he talks about the Arab world, Syria, the Arab identity, the school of rioters, the music of Umm Kulthum and Fairuz, the dish of hummus and falafel among more.

MIT Corporation elects 11 term members, three life members

14 June 2018

The MIT Corporation — the Institute’s board of trustees — elected nine full-term members, who will each serve for five years, two partial-term members, who will each serve for one year, and three life members. Among the full term members is Hala Fadel, MBA'01, the co-founder and managing partner at Leap Ventures.

Read the full article and more about Hala Fadel here!

Congratulations to the graduates of 2019

7 June 2019

MIT AAA wishes you a Happy Eid

My Morning Routine: Ayman Ismail, founder and director of the AUC Venture Lab

25 May 2019

Dr. Ayman Ismail, MCP '99, PhD '09, is the founder and director of the AUC Venture Lab, Egypt’s first university-based startup incubator and accelerator for the last six years. He works several jobs including research on entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, economic development, and policies that enable these things.

Read the full article about how he goes about his day answering business questions just for fun.

Rana el Kaliouby, A Journey From Doubt to Empowerment

17 May 2019

While Affectiva's CEO and Co-Founder Rana el Kaliouby, PhD'06, built a fast-growing business 5,000 miles away from home, her marriage fell apart. Read the story of how she moved her family to the U.S. and, in the process, learned what it really means to feel empowered.

Full article here

Hala Aldosari joins the MIT Center for International Studies as Wilhelm Fellow

10 May 2019

Saudi scholar, and activist, Hala Aldosari, will conduct research on political and civil reforms in Saudi Arabia at MIT Center for International Studies as its Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow. Her work focuses on women's rights in Arab societies, violence against women, and the "guardian" system in Saudi Arabia.

Read more here!

PureLife: Healthy Teeth, Healthy Planet

3 May 2019

PureLife is the Dental Industry’s first environmentally-friendly dental supply company. Co-Founded by Omar Al-Midani SM'98, the company is dedicated to eradicating mercury and waste pollution in the dental industry caused by unsafe disposal of dental products.

Read more about Purelife's solution and listen to Al-Midani talk about why that business makes sense here.

MIT SciTech Conference

30 April 2019

The MIT SciTech Conference took place this April in Boston organized by full-time MIT students. The event tackled the challenges of the cities in the MENA region presenting them in the context of three main themes: innovation. infrastructure, and energy, in addition to the ideathon where participants sought insight from content of the conference and pitched their own idea solutions at the end.

Our own Hazem Zureiqat, Advisor to the board, presented at the conference.

For more coverage on the event and photos please check the MIT SciTech page.

MIT Club of UAE hosts an event for Professor Eric Grimson in Dubai

26 April 2019

MIT Club of UAE hosted a gathering followed by dinner at the Bay restaurant in Dubai on April 21st, 2019. The event was attended by Professor Eric Grimson - Chancellor for Academic Advancement at MIT. One of our board members and Director of Communications , Maysa Sabah was also present at the event.

MIT AAA would like to wish you a Happy Easter!

MIT SciTech Conference: 2 days left!

17 April 2019

Got plans this weekend? If you are in Boston make sure to attend the MIT SciTech 2019 conference. Its only 2 days away! Don’t miss out on the chance to win from their $10,000 in cash prizes and meet some amazing people!

Get your tickets now at MIT SciTech Website!

MIT SciTech Conference is only 4 days away!

15 April 2019

Get your tickets ASAP as they’re selling out fast. The IDEAthon has three tracks, three winners, and $3000 to the winning team (plus $1000 for honorable mention). Don’t miss out on the chance to win from our $10,000 in cash prizes and meet some amazing people at the conference!

Get your ticket now at MIT Scitech website

SciTech Conference: Envisioning the Future Cities of MENA - April 19-21 - MIT Samberg 12 April 2019

12 April 2019

The MIT Arab Students’ Organization (ASO) would like to invite you to the MIT Arab Science and Technology Conference (SciTech) which will take place on April 19-21 at the MIT Samberg Conference Center and the iconic MIT Stata Center. Exploring problems, perspectives and potential solutions in Energy, Innovation and Infrastructure within this year's theme “Envisioning the Future: Cities of MENA.”, as well as introducing the SciTech IDEAthon - a competition, interleaved with the rest of the conference, where participants focus on pitching ideas and potential solutions within the theme.

Our own Hazem Zureiqat, advisor to the board of MIT AAA will be presenting at the Conference.

For more information registration, and ticket sales, please visit the SciTech website

MIT receives $30 million to help address energy challenges in Egypt from USAID

5 April 2019

The award will support MIT over the next five years in developing a Center of Excellence in Energy at Ain Shams University, Mansoura University, and Aswan University, in Egypt, which will serve to connect researchers at the Egyptian universities with experts at MIT, to seek innovative solutions to the country’s energy challenges.

Read more here!

Walk for Water

30 March 2019

Imagine turning on your kitchen tap and getting NO water ... for days on end! That was life as usual for hundreds in the Aida Camp and remains the case for many other Palestinian Refugee Camps for much of the year. Tufts and Harvard engineers who've visited the camps as volunteers with 1for3.org are working with young people in the camps to enhance collection, filtration and storage of rainwater to meet the camp's needs.

This year, Jeff Boshar, SM'80, has pledged to raise $12,000 for this 4th "WALK for WATER". The 5 Kilometer walk will take place in Cambridge MA on May 4th, 2019 in support of 1for3's collaborative projects to bring water security to Palestinian refugee camps currently suffering extreme water shortages, water confiscation and contamination.

For more information about the cause, walk, and donations, please visit Jeff Walk for Water!

Alumni Stories: Laura M. Fayad

28 March 2019

Growing up with a math teacher as a father, Laura gravitated towards math and science since early childhood. After dabbling with biology, Laura majored in Mechanical Engineering at MIT and has been a physician at Johns Hopkins since 2002.

Read Laura's full story here!

€25 million will be spent on TUMO Convergence Center for Engineering - Armenia

22 March 2019

The European Union in partnership with Tumo Center for Creative Technologies launched the EU TUMO Convergence Center for Engineering and Applied Science, a state-of-the-art STEM ecosystem for young adults in Armenia! €25 million will be spent on the creation of the Center! Chief Development Officer at TUMO Pegor Papazian, SM ’91 Architecture/SM ’91 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, said that they are thrilled to create a world-class STEM ecosystem in Armenia to bridge the gap between higher education and the rapid changing needs of global economy!

Read more here!

Derq Awarded First Prize for Artificial Intelligence at 2019 SXSW Pitch®

15 March 2019

Congratulations to Georges Aoude SM'07, PhD'11, CEO and Co-Founder of Derq, who took home first prize for Artificial Intelligence at the 11th annual SXSW Pitch® , the marquee event of South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festival’s Entrepreneurship & Startups Track in Austin, Texas! Derq Inc. is an artificial-intelligence company, which delivers innovative road safety solutions that help eliminate crashes and save lives!

Why Can’t Submarines Talk to Airplanes?

Fadel Adib (right) runs the Signal Kinetics group, where he works graduates students and postdocs

8 March 2019

Deeply submerged submarine still can’t communicate with anything above water unless it surfaces or rises enough to send up an antenna! Assistant Professor at the Media Lab Fadel Adib SM ’13, PhD ’17, has developed a way to detect and interpret the movements below the water and communicate it to beyond the surface. Not only is the technology valuable for submarines, it could enable underwater scientific research of greater duration and at greater depths, including monitoring of the effects of climate change on marine life!

Read more here!

J-WAFS grants advance sustainable agriculture

1 March 2019

J-WAFS, supported by Community Jameel, is one of the numerous programs and funding mechanisms at MIT that ensure new technologies and business models are developed on campus and can move beyond it to benefit the world. Recently, J-WAFS has announced grants for two technologies aimed at increasing the resiliency of farmers and the ecosystems within which they operate.

Read more here!

Diversity, gender inclusion can be drivers for innovation in Arab world

22 February 2019

From Beirut to Boston, Hala Hanna, Managing Director of Solve, a business incubator and idea marketplace at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believes that technology well applied will help improve people's lives everywhere.

Read Hala's interview here, an extract from the Arab Weekly!

New collaboration sparks global connections to art through artificial intelligence

15 February 2019

MIT designers, researchers, and students collaborated this month with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Microsoft to improve the connection between people and art. The event took place in the Met's iconic Great Hall in New York. Among MIT faculty was Lara Baladi, an internationally recognized multi-disciplinary Egyptian-Lebanese artist who has been a board member of the Arab Image Foundation since its creation in 1997!

First hands-on STEM lessons to public students in Amman, Jordan

8 February 2019

Third year Mechanical Engineering students Megan Ochalek and Srimayi Tenali are partnering with Injaz to run and teach Mechanical Engineering and design to high school students in Amman, Jordan as part of MISTI Global Teaching Labs!

MIT D-Lab Practical Impact Alliance holds Co-Design Summit

1 February 2019

A six day Practical Impact Alliance Co-Design summit was held in Laâyoune, Western Sahara this January. It was co-organized by the MIT D-Lab and the Phosboucraa Foundation of Morocco where a group of local and national stakeholders, PIA members, MIT D-Lab staff, and aspiring local entrepreneurs got working to create collaborative solutions to economic and social development challenges using D-Lab's participatory design methodology.

Read more here!

MIT AAA hosts a dinner in Amman, Jordan

25 January 2019

The MIT AAA held a dinner in Amman, Jordan, this month for MIT alumni, faculty, staff, and students. Several MIT-affiliated programs were represented at the dinner such as The Arab World Program, The MIT Refugee ACTion (ReACT) Program, and The Future Heritage Lab.

Click here for more photos!

Oil and water: Studying pressing environmental dilemmas in the Middle East

18 January 2019

Meet visiting Assistant Professor Maryam Rashed Alshehhi who has been working in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences to create the first ever climate models of the gulf. She comes to Cambridge as part of a collaboration between MIT and Masdar Insitute in Abu Dhabi. The MIT/MI started in 2007 with over 93 joint research projects many focusing on sustainability issues, such as Abu Dhabi’s urban heat island effect and the nation’s growing thirst for fresh water.

Stewardship Report 2018

11 January 2019

MIT AAA is pleased to share with you this year's stewardship report for the MIT AAA Scholarship Fund. The market value of the fund was $146,470 as of June 2018.

Read the full report here and get to know Hamed Mounla, our MIT AAA scholar for the third consecutive year.

Please support the MIT Arab students by donating here and thank you for your constant support!

Alumni Stories : Sylvie Waft

Sylvie Waft (left) and her sister Catherine Waft

4 January 2019

Congratulations to Dubai College's Sylvie Waft, recently admitted to MIT's Class of 2023!!! She is super excited and so is her Educational Counselor, Maysa Sabah, one of our board members and Director of Communications.

Read about Sylvie's journey's to MIT in her own words.

Go have the time of your life Sylvie!!!

Standard Chartered appoints new Middle East CEO

28 December 2018

Standard Chartered announced last Friday that Boutros Klink, SM'93, SCD'95, had been appointed chief executive, Middle East, excluding the United Arab Emirates.

Congratulations!

Hashim Sarkis appointed Curator of the 2020 Venice Architecture Biennale

22 December 2018

Hashim Sarkis, Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the MIT, has been appointed as the Curator of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition to be held in the capital city of Italy's Veneto region. The 2020 edition of the Biennale will take place from May 23rd to November 29th. Congratulations!

Read more here!

Wishing you a happy holiday season

More than 30 from MIT named to Forbes 30 Under 30 lists

14 December 2018

31 MIT community members were named to this year’s list, including 25 alumni. Among them are Aziz Alghunaim ’15, MEng ’15, cofounder of Tarjimly, in the category of Social Entrepreneurs and Sammy Khalifa ’12, cofounder of Vicarious Surgical, in the category of Manufacturing and Industry. Congratulations to everyone who made the list.

Read more here!

America's Top 50 Women In Tech according to Forbes

6 December 2018

Rana El Kaliouby, PhD'06, is among the MIT's Media Labbers who made the Forbes' list of America's Top 50 Women in Tech this year. Rana's fixation on humanizing Technology lead her to co-found Affectiva, a facial and vocal recognition software that spun right out of MIT Media Lab. Congrats to all!

View the Forbes list here!

Alumni Stories: Who was the first Arab woman to graduate from MIT?

30 November 2018

Introducing Dr. Soheir Abdelmessih! From Cairo to Cambridge, she embarked on an amazing adventure in 1961 with ambition, determination and the support of her family and teachers. Read all about her journey here!

Should a self-driving car kill the baby or the grandma? Depends on where you’re from

24 November 2018

The infamous “trolley problem” was put to millions of people in a global study, revealing how much ethics diverge across cultures. The MIT Media Lab designed the "Moral Machine", a game-like platform that would crowdsource people’s decisions on how self-driving cars should prioritize lives using various scenarios. Edmond Awad, a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT and one of the authors of the recent study, hopes that the results will help technologies think more deeply about the ethics of AI.

Read more here!

Trick or (re)Treat in Amman: Post Halloween meet-up for MIT board & representatives of four country clubs

16 November 2018

MIT AAA held a board meeting and retreat for country club representatives on November 9 & 10 in Amman. The board sessions looked at various initiatives, including the Pan Arab Conference, scholarship fund raising, outreach and networking development. The meeting with the country club representatives - Jordan, Morocco, Palestine and the UAE - was aimed at strengthening the MIT network across the Arab world. This first meeting for country club representatives was an opportunity for individuals and organizations to get to know each other, benefit from each other's diverse experiences, identify areas of collaboration, and empower alumni to establish clubs in countries where as of yet there is no country club.

Here are some more photos from the retreat.

Meeting of the Minds

Alex Choueri (left) and Mahdi Ramadan

2 November 2018

In the Summer of 2006, about 2000 refugees were evacuated on short notice by the US Marines due to the political unrest in Lebanon. Among these refugees, were Mahdi Ramadan and Alexi Choueri who fled to the US with their respective families. They never met even though they were on the same carrier, yet 11 years later their paths crossed at MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Science where they are currently studying the human brain.

Read their heartwarming story here!

Unraveling the complex histories of Palestinian artwork

26 October 2018

Nisa Ari, a doctoral candidate in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Art program at MIT, is unraveling the complex histories of Palestinian artwork. Her fieldwork is comparable to an anthropologist or a sociologist and involves travel to Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Jordan amongst other countries where she tracks down public and private collections.

Read more here!

Alumni Stories: Rami Musa Alyan

17 October 2018

Meet Rami Musa Alayan, SB'02, MEng'03, whose journey took him from double majoring in Computer Science and Engineering at MIT to producing an internationally acclaimed movie. The Reports On Sarah And Saleem will be playing at the Palestinian Film Festival in Boston this coming Friday, October 19th, so if you are in the area make sure you do not miss it!

Read Rami's full story here!

The launching of the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing

October 16, 2018

For more information on the project and the scheduled forums, please read the letter from the MIT President, Rafael Reif here.

New York Arab World Culture Forum: Art for Sustainable Futures

12 October 2018

Asia Society, Edge of Arabia, and Middle East Institute, in partnership with UNESCO, present the New York/Arab World Culture Forum: Art for Sustainable Futures. The Forum will explore the role of the arts in building a more sustainable future by supporting the United Nation’s goals for sustainable development. Renowned Emirati commentator and arts patron Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, an MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow from 2014-2016, will moderate a discussion with journalist Mona Chalabi and artists Matthew Mazzotta and Rashad Salim.

The panel discussion will take place on October 16, 2018 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm New York time, so if you are in the New York area and want to attend the discussion join the facebook event or watch it live on webcast.

For more information click here!

Spark Filmmaking Program

5 October 2018

With a grand vision to return Egypt to its historic filmmaking glory, the dynamic entrepreneur Sherif AbdelMessih SB '09, has created the first of its kind Filmmaking Program in the region, taking place in El Gouna, Egypt. The program is being managed by the entrepreneurial organization he founded 10 years ago, SPARK Ventures, which is known to have given rise to many of Egypt’s most celebrated startups.

Read more here!

EmTech MENA 2018

28 September 2018

Looking for great content in Arabic? MIT Technology Review’s Arabic version was launched on Sep 23rd, at the region’s first EmTech MENA conference organized by Haykal Media and Dubai Future Foundation. The event was attended by around 400 persons, including a number of MIT alumni from the UAE, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. In addition to presentations by the Innovators Under 35 finalists, many speakers addressed emerging technologies, including eight faculty from MIT.

Read more here!

Talal Kheir '69 receives the Margaret L.A. MacVicar Award at the Leadership Awards Dinner, Cambridge

From left to right: Anwar Ghauche, Maysa Sabah, Talal Kheir, and Hazem Zuraiqat

22 September 2018

Congratulations to our colleague Talal Kheir ‘69 for receiving the Margaret L. A. MacVicar ’65, ScD ’67 Award from MIT!

Talal has been a longtime member of the MIT AAA Board. He was instrumental in organizing a number of the association’s events and initiatives, sustaining the MIT AAA’s activities, and ensuring continuity and engagement among members. During Talal’s tenure as president, the MIT AAA established the first endowed scholarship fund for Arab students.

Talal received the award at the Leadership Awards Dinner, which took place in Cambridge in September 21, 2018, as part of the MIT Alumni Leadership Conference MITALC. The event was attended by Talal’s wife Priscilla and MIT AAA Board members Anwar Ghauche, Maysa Sabah, and Hazem Zureiqat.

Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health at MIT aims to revolutionize disease prevention, detection, and treatment

21 September 2018

Today, MIT and Community Jameel, the social enterprise organization founded and chaired by Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel ’78, launched the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health (J-Clinic). This is the fourth major collaborative effort between MIT and Community Jameel.

Read more here!

Girls Make Games': How a woman raised in the UAE is inspiring young female video game makers

14 September 2018

After growing up in the United Arab Emirates, Laila Shabir SB '10, pushed past the confines of her society to create 'Girls Make Games,' a camp that teaches young girls to code and create their own video games. Her mission is to change the perception of gaming as a 'boys only' activity.

Read more here!

Outvote hopes to flip elections by getting Democrats to text their friends

7 September 2018

Outvote is a new Y Combinator-backed startup. It makes grassroots-style campaigning easier and more personal, with the launch of an app that allows people to text their friends with reminders to vote. Launched successfully during the 2017 elections, Outovte will be used to tackle the 2018 Midterm Elections on a national scale. Co-founded by Nadeem Mazen, SB '06, an interactive designer who owns the Cambridge-based agency Nimblebot.

Read more about it and check out the app!

Turning an economics education into solutions with impact

31 August 2018

MITx MicroMasters is a program co-designed and run by MIT’s Department of Economics and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a global leader in conducting randomized evaluations to test and improve the effectiveness of programs aimed at reducing poverty.

Meet one of the first people to earn the MITxData, Economics, and Development credential, Alan Al Yussef! Born and raised in Syria, and currently in Belgium, Alan is working to improve lives in the Middle East through a career in development economics!

More on the story and information about the program here!

Discover the emerging technologies that will change the world at EmTech September 23-24, 2018, Jumairah Emirates Towers, Dubai

24 August 2018

EmTech is organized by MIT Technology Review since 1999 and is considered the world’s most influential conference on emerging technologies.

On the 23rd-24th of September, 2018, the conference will take place in Dubai, Jumairah Emirates Towers under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. It's your opportunity to discover future trends, understand latest technologies, and gain access to the most innovative people and companies in the world.

More information on the conference here.

Registration here.

Wishing you all an Adha Mubarak!

21 August 2018

Navigating cultures while making a difference

17 August 2018

Lukas Kamphausen, MF '18, is helping to bring sustainable electricity to low-income families in Gaza with easy-to-install solar kits. Currently, he is doing an internship through MISTI at SunBox, a startup that sells affordable solar energy systems and is founded by a 24 year old civil engineer graduate from Gaza City, Majd Mashharawi.

Read more here!

Meet the women shaping science and engineering in Saudi Arabia

Ibn Khaldun fellow Thamraa Al-Shahrani has spent the past year working in MIT’s Photovoltaics Research Laboratory to improve the stability of perovskite solar cells.

10 August 2018

Through the Ibn Khaldun Fellowship for Saudi Arabian Women, postdoctoral scientists and engineers develop their professional skills during a one-year stay at MIT. Each fellow is paired with an MIT faculty for a research project and exposed to a number of professional development opportunities.

Read more here!

Reshaping the Arab world through science and technology

3 August 2018

MIT's Arab Student Organization (ASO) is a student-led group working to build cultural, academic, and industrial bridges between MIT and the Arab world. MIT AAA was one of the sponsors to their 2018 SCITECH conference where two members of its board were speakers.

Read more here!

Study finds potential in brackish groundwater desalination

31 July 2018

A new research conducted by Yvana Ahdab, SM'17, John Lienhard, the Abdul Lateef Professor of Water and Food, and three others, suggests there’s a large untapped resource for many of the increasingly water-limited regions of the U.S. and around the world: brackish groundwater.

Read more here!

Doctors rely on more than just data for medical decision making

27 July 2018

Computer scientists find that physicians’ “gut feelings” influence how many tests they order for patients. Mohammad Ghassemi, a research affiliate at MIT, and computer science graduate student Tuka Alhanai SM'14, are the lead authors of the study, which was presented at the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society conference on July 20, 2018.

Read more here!

MIT Professional Education in Saudi Arabia

20 July 2018

MIT Professional Education is launching a new collaboration with Al Yamamah University in Saudi Arabia to promote higher education and support the country’s overall development and sociocultural evolution. The kingdom is among the top nations sending students to attend its Summer programs among which 22 percent have been women.

Read more here!

MIT AAA New Board members

17 July 2018

We are pleased to announce the results of the board elections.

Meet our Board Members and read the letter from our President here.

Jamshied Sharifi ’83, Tony Award winner

13 July 2018

Jamshied Sharifi ’83, composer, musician, and former MIT visiting artist received a 2018 Tony Award for best orchestrations on the record breaking Broadway hit “The Band's Visit" this past June. In 2013, he received his first Emmy nomination and win for a performance documentary piece "Awakening: Evoking the Arab Spring through Music", crafted with the MIT Wind Ensemble, for original composition.

Congratulations!

MIT Collaboration with Dar Group supports the future of architecture, planning, and design

29 June 2018

MIT and the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) have announced a collaboration with the Dar Group, an international planning, design, and architectural firm led by SA+P Advisory Council.

Read more here!

Heart Tech in clothing - the bra that could save lives

Aceil Halaby, SM ’17, Alicia ChongRodriguez, SM ’18, and Monica Abarca

Bloomer Tech cofounders (from left) Aceil Halaby, SM ’17, Alicia Chong Rodriguez, SM ’18, and Monica Abarca

6 July 2018

Bloomer Tech is integrating advanced fabrics technology and machine learning to turn everyday clothes, such as a women's bra into lifestyle medical and healthcare devices. The Bloomer bra detects a woman's heart rhythm and sends the reading directly to her doctor in case it detects a problem. Since the inception of its concept three years ago, the Bloomer bra is about to begin clinical testing in hope to have it on the market later this year.

Read more about it here!

Zhang lab, a leap forward in CRISPR-based Genome Editing

22 June 2018

The team members in Feng Zhang’s laboratory at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the Broad Institute, are expanding the toolkit for manipulating and engineering genes to understand, treat and cure most intractable diseases and disorders. Recently, they devised a gene editing tool called REPAIR that can make precision fixes in human RNA. One of the team members, Omar Abudayyeh, SB'12, finds it both exhausting and exhilarating to be part of what feels like a startup. He is currently testing out new enzymes from bacteria and finding ways to engineer genetic systems hoping it will make an impact! We wish him all the best!

Read more here!

Eid Mubarak

15 June 2018

Maher Damak among the MIT graduate students awarded Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Invention

15 June 2018

The Lemelson-MIT Program awarded a total of $80,000 in prizes this year to six groups of undergraduate and graduate students nationwide. Winners were chosen based on the overall inventiveness of their work, the invention’s potential for commercialization or adoption, and youth mentorship experience. Among the 3 winners is Maher Damak, PhD'18, who was awarded the $15,000 Lemelson-MIT "Eat it!" prize for his polymer additive for agricultural sprays.

Read more here!

Jordan's new Prime Minister Omar Al Razzaz

Omar Al Razzaz, member of MIT AAA, appointed Prime Minister of Jordan. Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Class of 2018

8 June 2018

Device that recycles vaporized water from power plants wins MIT $100K

1st June 2018

The grand prize winner at this year’s MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition was Infinite Cooling, which is developing a system that captures and recycles vaporized water from thermoelectric power plants. Among the co-founders are Maher Damak, PhD'18, and Karim Khalil, SM'14, who have been recognized as creative disruptors in the energy field in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 last year.

Read more here!

EBRD’s 27th Annual Meeting & Business Forum

25 May 2018

On May 9th and 10th, 2018, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hosted its 27th Annual Meeting and Business Forum which was held in Jordan. His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein inaugurated the first Annual Meeting with a keynote speech. Among the "The Future of Work" panel was Dr. Ayman Ismail, PhD'09, a professor at the American University of Cairo and the founder and Director of the AUC Venture Lab.

Watch the recorded sessions here!

Knight Science Journalism (KSJ) Program at MIT announces 2018-19 class of fellows

18 May 2018

Each year, the KSJ program brings journalists to Cambridge for a 10-month fellowship that allows them to explore science, technology, and the craft of journalism in depth, to concentrate on a specialty in science, and to learn at some of the top research universities in the world. 10 fellows selected from four countries are are an award-winning and diverse group, ranging from veteran science reporters for The Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press to the Cairo-based chief editor of Nature Middle East to a Russian-born PhD in economics who found a new career as an investigative data journalist.

Read more here!

MISTI seeks to build critical cultural and scientific connections between MIT and the Arab World and it needs your support!

11 May 2018

Three years ago the MIT-Arab World Pilot Program was launched, providing MIT faculty and students with opportunities for meaningful activities in the region through internships, Global Teaching Labs and Global Seed Funds. Over these years 7 MIT faculty and more than 60 MIT students have taken part in activities: interning, teaching in local high schools and training refugees. It also developed into a hub for recruiting MIT students that enables cross institute collaborations with other MIT programs such as MIT Future Heritage Lab, MIT Media Lab's Refugee Accelerator, MIT Refugee ACTion (ReACT) Certificate Program, and J-Wel Abdula Latif Jamil World Education Lab.

Their current objective is to develop three more hubs in the region, Morocco, Jordan and Dubai and they need your support. Please take time to watch one of their teaching activities in Jordan and make an impact with a gift via the MIT website.

DONATE

10 Winning Teams from 7 Arab countries at the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab

28 April 2018

In partnership with Community Jameel, and in collaboration with this year’s strategic partners Riyada, Omantel, and Zain Group as a digital partner, the MIT Enterprise of the Pan Arab Region (MITEF) announced nine winning teams of the 11th edition of the Arab Startup Competition. The final ceremony was held in Oman on April 19th, 2018.

Read more and check out the winners list here!

Walk for Water

20 April 2018

For decades, Palestinians have been suffering from extreme shortages of water, whether from confiscation or contamination. But some efforts are helping that; watch refugee children from Aida Camp express their thanks to the efforts of 1for3.rg, a collaborative project to bring water security to Palestinian refugee camps.

For the past few years, Jeff Boshar SM '80, an Arab-American living outside Cambridge, has been supporting nonprofit programs to bring water security to Palestinian camps in the West Bank. On April 28th, Jeff is leading a 5-kilometer Walk for Water in Cambridge, MA, in support of 1for3. He has pledged to raise $15,000 for that cause and is half way through. Please join Jeff (if you are in the area) or donate to his humanitarian effort to help bring clean water to Palestinian camps. For more information on the cause, the walk and how you can support, please check the links below:

Please visit Jeff’s website for info and donations here!

Take time to watch the following video on the background of the situation

Shatha from Nidal Al-Azraq on Vimeo.

Untold Stories

14 April 2018

Mazen Abdin (SM'84): A Story of Reinvention

The MIT Arab Alumni Association is proud to launch the “Untold Stories” initiative, bringing you new and interesting stories of Arab Alumni! Our first edition features the fascinating journey of Mazen Abdin (SM’84), who graduated from MIT, became the CEO of a content security company, a holder of 6 patents, a consultant at UNRWA, and founded a successful catering company, all without a bachelor's degree. Read the article or watch the video and let Mazen’s story of reinvention inspire you!

Thank you Nada El Sawy and Luay Fawaz.

Read full story HERE!

HAAA Arab World Conference (HAWC) 2018 - "Region Rising!

10 April 2018

The Harvard Arab Alumni Association (HAAA) in collaboration with the Harvard club of Lebanon (AHUAL) is delighted to invite you to attend their 13th annual HAAA Harvard Arab World Conference (HAWC) , which will be held in Beirut, Lebanon on Saturday, April 21st, 2018 at the Kempinski Summerland Hotel and Resort. This conference is open to both Harvard and non-Harvard affiliates. Register today via Eventbrite here.

For more information regarding the schedule, sessions, and speakers, please visit the Harvard Arab Alumni Association website.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter!

8 April 2018

Attracting tomorrow’s students

6 April 2018

Last January, six particularly keen MIT students set off from Cambridge, happy to shed off their winter coats for the warmer weather in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Saudi Arabia. While they looked forward to diving into their favourite koushari or shawarma, they were actually on a mission to meet and inspire a bunch of Arab high school and college students. This is all part of one of the MIT Arab Student Organization’s long-running programs, namely the College Admission Arab Mentorship Program (CAAMP). As has been the case in previous years, the MIT Arab Alumni Association supported ASO’s program, and this year we were all particularly pleased with the results: six countries, 23 sessions, 1010 participants!

For further information, please check out the following link on our website CAAMP 2018.

Artificial Intelligence Is Now Fighting Fake Porn

3 April 2018

Deepfake is mainly used to create fake news and malicious hoaxes including pornographic videos. It has surfaced in 2017 and is banned by various sites such as Reddit, and the Pornhub. Gfycat has created a masking tool to block more than just the faces in order to detect different types of fake content! Dr. Richard Rabbat PhD'01, co-founder and CEO of Gfycat, says " accelerating pace of innovation in AI has the potential to dramatically change our world, and we'll continue to adapt our technology to these new developments". It's only a matter of time until Deepfake creators learn to circumvent its safeguards.

Read on!

SciTECH “Reshaping the Arab World Through Technology” Conference, April 15th

27 March 2018

Participate in the 2018 SciTECH conference at MIT “Reshaping the Arab World Through Technology” on April 15, organized by the MIT Arab Student Organization (ASO) since 2003.

Watch an impressive line up of speakers (including five members of MIT AAA - Anas Alfaris, Bashir Dabbousi, Fadel Adib, Georges Aoude and Hazem Zureiqat), meet up with previous colleagues, form new associations, and best of all take part in a “Speed Mentorship” session to provide current students with the possibility of meeting and chatting with experienced alumni to ask for advice and share with them the exciting projects you have been working on.

MIT AAA is honored to be among a number of sponsors of this event, but there is always room for more! Join us in celebrating scientific excellence and offering members of the Arab community a platform to share their lifelong achievements.

For more information visit the ASO Website or their Facebook page.

For mentorship and sponsorship, contact Faris Sayegh or S afa Jabri

THANK YOU!

24 March 2018

We did it! Thanks to your quick action and support we raised $10,146 during the MIT 24Hour Challenge on March 14 for the MIT Arab Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.

If you missed that chance you can still support the Scholarship Fund to support Arab students admitted into MIT. The Fund provides financial assistance to undergraduate students of Arab descent who qualify for needs-based financial aid. It is the first such fund at MIT targeted solely at Arab students.

If you haven’t already done so, act now! The 24 Hour MIT Challenge!

14 March 2018

Please support the MIT Arab Alumni Association (MIT AAA) Endowed Scholarship Fund and help make a difference in someone's life!

Here's the LINK!

A message from our President, Faris Sayegh

Why wait? The 24 Hour Challenge is rolling and donations are coming in!

14 March 2018

Your contribution counts! Spare a cup of coffee at Starbucks and give your $10 (or more!) to the Arab Alumni Association (MIT AAA) Endowed Scholarship Fund today to support deserving Arab undergrads!

Donations right HERE!

Hurry… time is running out!

The 24 hour challenge has begun! It ends today midnight US time!

14 March 2018

Give back to MIT and help fellow Arab students fall in your footsteps and get closer to their dreams of an MIT education! You can donate as little as $10 and maybe get 5 of your friends to join in, too!

Don't wait, DONATE!

A message from our Vice President, Ali Al Amran

REMINDER ALERT!

13 March 2018

Join us and support the MIT Arab Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund. Help qualified undergraduate Arab students make their dreams of an MIT education come true!

Check out our page for more info on the 24 Hour Challenge!!

A message from our Advisor to the Board / Ex-President, Talal Kheir

It's happening next week - the 24 Hour Challenge. March 15…. Save the date!

8 March 2018

Support the MIT Arab Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund which provides financial assistance to undergraduate Arabs who qualify. Help us exceed last year's 24 Hour Challenge!

Check our page for more details!

A message from our own Director of Fundraising, Rudayna Abdo!

MIT Sloan Executive Education: A participant's perspective on AI's role in business

2 March 2018

Meet Abdul Dremali, Head of Innovation at the AndPlus Innovation Lab, where he is currently leading research and development in artificial intelligence, machine learning and augmented reality! Read the last post in a series of published “MIT Musings” here, however you can start with volume 1 here!

Better Governing Through Science

27 February 2018

With a global office at MIT and six regional offices around the world, the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) helps policy makers worldwide embrace the value of scientific evidence to help people living in poverty by launching its own Government Partnership Initiative!

Read more about it here!

United Arab Emirates Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

23 February 2018

Visiting Italy this year? Don’t miss the UAE’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale curated by Dr. Khaled Alawadi, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Urbanism at MIT's Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi.

Read more here!

MIT students design and donate sleeping bags to Syrian refugees

16 February 2018

Winters in Syria are very cold!! With over 11 million people displaced since the beginning of the country’s civil war in 2011, many millions are without adequate heating or shelter during the cold winter months. A team of six, led by MIT Sloan School of Management undergraduate Vick Liu, has created TravlerPack, a light, durable, water-resistant sleeping bag that can withstand temperatures as cold as -10 degrees Celsius, with the goal of distributing them to Syrian refugees.

Read about this heartwarming initiative here!

New program from MIT offers refugees a career boost

10 February 2018

"The MIT Refugee Action (ReACT) Hub was launched in May 2017 during a Solve Competition at MIT, with the aim of designing and deploying “new learning opportunities for displaced populations around the world". The MIT ReACT Certificate Program is part of the MIT ReACT Hub, and the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan-Arab Region is the inaugural Seed Partner for this Program that kicked off in Amman, Jordan in January 2018 with an intense two-week session led by MIT faculty members and students. The cohort - of which half are refugees - began a one-year course of study in computer science and entrepreneurship designed by MIT, which will earn them a certificate enabling them to obtain better-paying positions in the region.

The MIT Arab Alumni Association supported the Certificate Program with a $5,000 donation, and is discussing other forms of collaboration. Stay tuned for further communications about ways in which you can support this excellent initiative!"

Read full article here.

IFFR presents 47th edition award winners

6 February 2017

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) announced the winner of the Hivos Tiger Competition 2018. The Special Jury Award was given to Rami Alayan (SB'02) for exceptional artistic achievement for his screenplay of his brother Muayad Alayan's film "The Report on Sarah and Saleem". For more information read the full article and an interview with Rami and Muayad Alayan.

Synopsis and IMDB rating here!

Worldwide change takes global effort

2 February 2018

The American University in Cairo (AUC) will be the first school in the world to pair with MIT in accepting the DEDP MicroMasters credential to help students embark on their master’s education. This program which consists of 5 courses, is accessible to people at any stage of life, and is affordable to everyone. Read more here

MISTI-Switzerland: Computational Modeling Leads to Insights on a Blinding Disease

26 January 2018

Thanks to an MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) internship in summer 2014 and again through MISTI 2.0 during IAP of that year, Maryam Zekavat SB’15, spent a total of four months in Basel working at the Roche Innovation Center Disease Modeling Department. She helped develop a computational model to describe the dynamics of cholesterol in the retina that may assist researchers develop new treatments for AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration) in the future.

Read more here!

Downtown Crossing Will Get a Robotic Restaurant This Spring

19 January 2018

Michael Farid, SM'16, and 3 MIT graduates founded Spyce on the MIT campus last year. A fully automated restaurant in one of the school's dining halls which offers wholesome and affordable food on the go. This coming Spring 2018, Spyce will open a fast/ casual restaurant in Boston with a robotic kitchen in collaboration with Chef Daniel Boulad.

Stay tuned and read more here!

Scaling Up Impact in the Face of Crises

17 January 2018

After resettling in Lebanon, Zeina Saab MCP '09, started working on the Nawaya Network; an NGO that focuses on the development of the disadvantaged youths. In 2016, and in partnership with UNICEF, Zeina launched Impact Lab to help connect underprivileged youth to resources as to develop their true potential and discover their skills. It now reaches 2,400 young people in more than half of Lebanon and aims to become nationwide in the next year.

Read full article here!

Google AI Was Tricked Into Thinking This Photo of Machine Guns Was a Helicopter

12 January 2018

In new research released December 2017, a team of MIT computer science students managed to trick Google’s Cloud Vision artificial intelligence into thinking that a picture of four machine guns was probably a helicopter. They did it by carefully manipulating the underlying pixels of an original image, changing it in ways that were imperceptible to humans but completely disorienting for the AI.

Read full article here!

Send in YOUR NEWS!

5 January 2018

Happy New Year!!

Dear MIT AAA Members,

What great things are you up to? The MIT AAA community would love to hear from you: whether it is on the professional side: projects you were recently featured in, job promotion or change or on the personal front: got married, had a child, or met up with your old MIT professor or classmate, be sure to share your news with us. We will happily include it in our weekly postings on our Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. To share your news and any relevant link, please send an email to Zena Jisr (zenajisr17@gmail.com) and include your first name, last name, class year, major, and your latest news. And don’t forget to connect with us on Social Media to stay up to date with the latest news from the MIT AAA community!

The rise of the Arab MOOCs. Will education in the Arab world ever be the same?

29 December 2017

With OpenCourseWare in 2002, MIT was one of the first institutions to offer online course material for free. Today, MOOCs have become a key driver in the transformation of education worldwide. This article looks at the rise of MOOCs in the Arab world.

Read more about it here!

Season's Greetings

25 December 2017

Alumna Aya Bdeir Inspires Kid Inventors with Star Wars

22 December 2017

Aya Bdeir SM '06 began realizing her dream while she was still a graduate student at the MIT Lab where she founded Open Hardware Summit. In 2009 she her company started creating and selling “Bits modules” as building blocks for artistic electronic creations. Now, "Little Bits" is making headlines with their best selling new Star Wars toys on Amazon and Walmart (Droid Inventor Kit) and it is flying off the shelves in time for The Last Jedi and the holidays.

Aya Bdeir

Sultanate of Oman to Host the Final Award Ceremony of the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition in its 11th Edition

15 December 2017

In partnership with “Community Jameel“, The MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Pan Arab announced the final award ceremony of The MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition to be held in Oman, April the 19th of April 2018. Semi-finalists will be announced on the 12th of January 2018 and will compete thereafter for prizes worth USD 160,000.

Read more here!

The MIT Future Heritage Lab: Empowering Refugees to Discover Their Emotional and Cultural Needs

14 December 2017

The Future Heritage Lab provides creative responses to conflict and crisis, in order to rebuild a society and preserve its history during and after a time of conflict. Professor Azra Aksamija, MIT Ph'D '11, has been working with refugees at the Al Azraq camp in Jordan since 2016 and collaborating with the residents of the camp, as well as local Jordanian academic partners.

Read more about the involvement of the MIT in the Arab region through the MIT Future Heritage Lab!

MIT Youssef Marzouk aims to improve predictions of everything from underground pollution to daily weather

Youssef Marzouk

8 December 2017

Youssef Marzouk (PhD Mech Eng '04, MS Mech Eng ’99, BS Mech Eng ’97), professor at the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, works on quantifying uncertainty in complex computational models, in applications ranging from atmospheric gases, ground water contamination, and jet engines.

Read more here!

MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab: Libya's First Nationwide ENJAZI Business Innovation Competition Recognizes and Empowers Bright Entrepreneurs

29 November 2017

The MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab and TATWEER Research announced the three winning teams of the ENJAZI Competition, the first nation-wide entrepreneurship competition in Libya. The announcement took place during a ceremony held in Beirut, Lebanon in the presence of Badr Ben-Othman, the CEO of the Local Libyan Fund for investment and development, representatives from the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab, TATWEER Research and a number of media personnel.

Read more about it here!

MIT brainpower highlighted in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists for 2018

24 November 2017

At least 29 MIT faculty, research staff, and alumni are listed throughout Forbes’ seventh annual edition of the world’s best young innovators. Among the listed is Omar Abuddayeh, a Palestinian MIT graduate in mechanical and biological engineering, and a Ph'D candidate. He co-pioneered a new enzyme for editing genes, and a new technique for editing the chemical messenger, RNA.

Forbes List here!

Read more about Omar Abuddayeh's work here!

MISTI media contest showcases MIT students working to build a better world!

17 November 2017

MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) — MIT’s pioneering international education program — asked the 700-plus students who studied and worked abroad this summer to submit photos and short videos showcasing the ways in which MIT is making the world a better place through the MISTI program.

Among the winners is Yara Azouni. A Palestinian senior student who is currently studying mechanical engineering at MIT. Her winning video, MIT-Netherlands Better World Story, showcases Azouni working on building the first 3-D printed steel bridge in the world.

Watch Yara's winning video here!

Admissions Event for MIT Sloan in Saudi Arabia

10 November 2017

On Sunday, October 29th, the MIT Saudi Club hosted an MIT Sloan Information Session for prospective students with Rod Garcia, Senior Admissions Director at the Sloan School of Management. The event had more than 200 attendees and the panelists included: Omar Al-Madhi (MIT Sloan 2007), Yamen Al-Hajjar (MIT Sloan 2015) and Mohammed Kurdi (MIT Sloan LGO 2017).

The event was followed with a dinner for MIT Alumni in Riyadh hosted by the gracious Majid Al-Ibrahim (MIT Sloan/HKS 2017).

Affectiva's Emotion AI Humanizes how people and technology interact

6 November 2017

Rana El Kaliouby (MIT Ph'D 2006) an Egyptian-born American, is the co-founder and CEO of a company called Affectiva in Waltham, Massachusetts. She has helped develop a facial recognition technology and a wristband to measure skin conductance associated with emotional arousal and can be used to detect anxiety in real time.

Read about Rana's work in the MIT Technology Review here

A View from Rana El Kaliouby here

Energy transition through aesthetics and culture

4 November 2017

MIT faculty member Rania Ghosn, assistant professor of architecture and urbanism, hosted an event between MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and the School of Architecture and Planning which addressed this question and engaged in a discussion with MIT faculty of architecture and humanities, arts and social sciences.

Read more about it here!

Watch the video

DERQ raises $1.5m to use AI to reduce vehicle accidents and opens US office in Detroit

29 October 2017

MIT AAA’s own Georges Aoude (PhD ’11, Aerospace Engineering) has been hard at work on Derq, a startup he co-founded in Dubai and Detroit. Derq, which uses AI and vehicle-based communication to predict traffic incidents and then notify impacted drivers, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding after graduating from Techsters Mobility Accelerator. Next in its sights is trialing the technology in Dubai, and growing its team. Read more here!

MIT Alumni Dinner in the UAE

27 October 2017

On Monday, October 23, Hadi Solh (MBA '04) and Noor Sweid (MBA '04) graciously hosted an MIT UAE Alumni dinner with Rod Garica, Admissions Director at the Sloan School of Management. One of the MIT Arab Association board members, Maysa Sabah, attended this lovely evening where she caught-up with old friends and made new ones. Everyone enjoyed the amazing food of Chef Yasser's team, led by Mazen Abdin (Msc '84)!

MIT Alumnus Hani Asfour appointed Associate Dean of the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation

20 October 2017

MIT alumnus Hani Asfour appointed as Associate Dean of the new Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI). Hani is the co-founder of Polypod, a multi-disciplinary collaborative design studio in Beirut, Lebanon. He has served as President of Beirut Creative Cluster and joins DIDI from the Lebanese American University (LAU). DIDI’s curriculum is developed in collaboration with MIT and Parsons.

DESIGN BIENNIAL BOSTON

13 October 2017

The Design Biennial Boston recognizes emerging architects, landscape architects, and designers who have created inspiring and innovative practices in New England.

Among the winners is Rania Ghosn; an architect, geographer and partner of Design Earth. She is currently assistant professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture + Planning. Her work critically frames the urban condition at the intersection of politics, aesthetics and technological systems. Read about Rania's initiative here.

BSA Space!

MIT Leadership Conference at MIT

27 September 2017

Four MIT board members attended the annual MIT Alumni Leadership Conference at MIT (Sep 15-16) to connect and learn from hundreds of alumni volunteers from dozens of local and international alumni clubs, swapping stories and sharing advice on a wide range of issues such as engagement, communications, platforms, and - of course - taxes! On the sidelines of this conference, the board members had their own meeting to plan for upcoming events - stay tuned for announcements soon!

MIT Luncheon at the ALC

24 September 2017

MIT AAA hosted a luncheon on Friday, September 15 on campus to meet with students as well as representatives from Arab student clubs. It was an opportunity to update attendees on the status of the association and upcoming events, as well to hod an open discussion on possible collaboration and how the association could strengthen its linkages to the student body.

Arab Conference at Haravard 2017

Entering the post-decade mark, the Arab Conference at Harvard is at a critical time where it is both continuing its legacy of delivering nuanced and substantive discussion on the Arab World and reimagining its vision.

6 October 2017

Registration is now open for the Arab Conference at Harvard! It's largest pan-Arab conference in North America and will be held from November 9 to 12 at Harvard University.

Dr. Alan Shihadeh appointed Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the AUB in Beirut - Lebanon

8 September 2017

Our warmest congratulations and best wishes on the appointment of Dr. Alan Shihadeh (PhD'98) as the new Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the American University of Beirut! Dr. Shihadeh was selected for his vision, energy, accomplishments, and ingrained passion and conscience to make a difference to AUB and the world at large!! Read more about it here!

Eid Mubarak!

31st August 2017

MIT scientists control water using only light

29 July 2017

Engineers from MIT and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals have been working together to develop light-guided liquid manipulation systems that could be used to separate water from oil more efficiently and effectively. Read more!

Khutoutna App: An Alternative Way to Navigate Amman

1st July 2017

How can Jordan's public transportation system become more accessible and easier to use? Read about the recent activities of Ma'an Nasel, Jordan's public transport campaign that MIT AAA board member Hazem Zureiqat (MIT '08) helped found!

Congratulations to the Class of 2017

12 June 2017

MIT to spur global education hub for displaced

21 May 2017

The ever dynamic Hala Fadel (MBA ’01) is one of the founding members of Refugee ACTion Hub (ReACT), announced at the SOLVE at MIT’s annual flagship event. ReACT will develop digital and blended learning opportunities and serve as a catalyst for anyone dedicated to solving the problem of refugee education. Read more!

Software Developer is a voice for Muslim women

13 May 2017

Meet Layla Shaikley SM ’13! Software developer, entrepreneur, ex-NASA intern, co-producer of a viral YouTube video, co-founder of Tedx Baghdad, skateboarder and so much more!!! Read more here!

Happy Easter to all!

9 April 2017

Dr. Aziz Asphahani elected member of the National Academy of Engineering

2nd April 2017

Dr. Aziz I. Asphahani, past MIT AAA board director and generous donor to MIT AAA education scholarship has been elected member of the National Academy of Engineering

Please join us in extending our warmest congratulations to Dr. Asphahani! Dr Aziz is the chief executive officer of QuesTek Innovations. He has been nominated for his executive leadership in STEM education, integrated computer design of materials, and invention and production of corrosion-resistant alloys. R ead more about it here!

11th International Symposium of Dubai Police

25 March 2017

MIT AAA Board Member, Georges Aoude (PhD 2011) participated in the Innovation Panel at the 11th International Symposium of Dubai Police, where he talked about the future of self-driving and connected vehicle technology and legislation and Derq, the Dubai-based MIT spin-off that George founded to eliminate road accidents and save lives by using machine learning and V2X technology. Participants included representatives of the FBI, INTERPOL HQ and many other Police organizations. For more information click here!

George Aoude

WATER Labs aims to bring toilets into individual homes

7 March 2017

There are more than a billion non-sewered households around the world. To address this challenge, Change: WATER Labs, founded by Diana Yousef, Huda Elasaad and other colleagues, is developing a compact and evaporative toilets. Read more about it here!

Tekuma Is Changing The World Of Art Galleries

1st March 2017

Cool! Marwan Aboudib (MSRED, 2016) is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tekuma, which connects emerging artists and their art with property owners and their multifamily residential and commercial properties. By transforming properties into galleries, Takuma adds value to real estate while showcasing artworks and the stories behind their creation. Read more here!

Celebrating Diversity

21 February 2017

MIT celebrates its diversity, featuring Ihssan Tinawi, a junior double-majoring in electrical engineering and computer science and economics, who "grew up in Damascus".

Read the article and watch the video here!

An app that connects refugees to volunteer translators via Facebook Messenger

10 February 2017

Tapping tech for refugees! Tarjimly was founded by a group of MIT Alumni from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the USA, including MIT AAA board member, Yamen Al Hajjar, Abdulla Al-Mentheri, AbdulAziz Al-Ghunaim, Abubakar Abid, and Atif Javed. The idea for the application was inspired by a trip one of the Tarjimly founders took to a refugee camp in Northern Greece, where the need to interpret and translate between the refugees and the different parties at the camp became paramount. The team came together to address this problem, leveraging Facebook Messenger as a platform and developing a bot that connects refugees to translators around the world.

Dr. Fadel Adib joins Media Lab faculty

4 February 2017

Congratulations to Dr. Fadel Adib on joining the Media Lab faculty!! You make us all so proud!! Read it all here!

Meet Hamed Mounla, this year’s MIT Arab Alumni Association Scholar!

28 January 2017

In Hamed’s words: “The world I come from is a world of conflict and corruption injected in many aspects of society. It is a hub of social injustice and missed opportunities. It is a place where potential is lost and productivity is inefficient. Lebanon is a brain drain. At the same time, my 60-year-old Sudanese student at the Migrant Community Center still shows up to class every Sunday hoping to improve his language abilities. He proves to me that there still is opportunity in this world, which we must capitalize on. I thus dream of a world of high productive efficiency, a world where globally accessible technologies meet people's 21st century needs. I aspire to become a leader in creating these technologies. I care about maximizing human potential and human capital in a sustainable manner.”

Please support the MIT AAA Scholarship Fund

Dr. Omar Razzaz appointed Jordan's Minister of Education

21 January 2017

Congratulations to Dr. Omar Razzaz on his new appointment as Jordan’s Minister of Education! We wish him every success in his new role. Dr. Razzaz graduated from MIT in 1987 with a Masters Degree in International Development and Regional Planning and was the Ford International Assistant Professor at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning from 1991-93 and 1995-97. Read more about it!

Dr. Iyad Rahwan on how Artificial Intelligence challenges our mortality

14 January 2017

Cars have to make trade-offs on the road. Trade-offs often require ethics. How then do we think about those trade-offs for driverless cards? To find out, watch Dr. Iyad Rahwan’s TEDx Cambridge talk here!

Rudayna Abdo, founder of Thaki -a non-governmental organisation that collects used but working laptops from donors

6 January 2017

Last year MITAAA Board Member, Rudayna Abdo, took a side step from her career in urban planning to found Thaki, a non-profit that distributes donated computers, loaded with educational content, to organizations and education centers working directly with refugee and disadvantaged children.

In just the proof of concept roll out, Thaki has distributed 265 computers and electronic devices to 11 organizations that are now helping serve over 3,500 children. There are over 25 organizations in Lebanon that are awaiting to receive devices from Thaki – with a reach of thousands more children. Read the full article

More about Rudayna's work here

Wishing you happy holidays!

Device can read emotions by bouncing wireless signals off your body

12 December 2016

Excited, happy, angry, or sad?

Check out the fascinating work on predicting people’s feelings by Dr. Dina Katabi, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and Fadil Adib, a doctoral student at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab! Read more about it here!

Syria : A living history

4 December 2016

Have you seen Nasser Rabbat's inaugural speech at the opening of his new exhibition, "Syria: A Living History"? Learn more about the exhibition, which brings together artifacts and artworks to inspire a new understanding of Syria’s past and present, inviting new ways of thinking about its future. On view at the Aga Khan Museum through February 26, 2017.

Akpia Mit Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT MIT Department of Architecture MIT School of Architecture + Planning

Welcome to MIT AAA!

MIT Arab Alumni Association (MIT AAA) is a Pan-Arab affinity club that brings together all Alumni from Arab origin or working in any part of the Arab region. We are here to serve you in cooperation with the local Arab MIT clubs. So please help us in achieving your aspirations and goals by joining in and participating!

For a 3^rd consecutive year, MIT tops university ranking!

Click here for more.

Hashim Sarkis named dean of the School of Architecture and Planning!

Hashim Sarkis — a prominent scholar of architecture and urbanism, a practicing architect whose works have been built in the United States and the Middle East, and a leading expert on design in the Middle East — has been named the new dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P), effective in January.

Congratulations Dr. Sarkis!

Click here for more.

Hashim Sarkis