Services Offered by AASTMT to Arab Countries
Since its establishment, the AASTMT has played a leading role in offering distinguished services by keeping abreast with the rapid global pace in education, training and scientific research. The AASTMT has also been employing its optimum capabilities in the use of computing, Information Technology and communication programmes. This is due to its firm belief in the importance of promoting the educational process. The implementation of these programmes is one of the AASTMT's educational and strategic application objectives. It has also provided various activities and training programmes in the fields that support the use of computing, Information Technology and communication. In this respect, the AASTMT does the following:
- Graduates more than 500 students annually majoring in Computing & Information Technology and possessing advanced education and application in this field.
- Owns computer labs, networks and classrooms equipped with all the modern educational means.
- It has established a company for assembling and maintaining personal computers. This company has provided computers for students and employees in addition to providing job opportunities to graduates of this field.
- It has established a computer networks centre equipped with an Internet unit that serves students, staff members and employees who have set up the AASTMT's website on the Internet to provide online services.
- It has established a multimedia centre for the production of educational programmes. This centre provides the needs required along with the technical support demanded by the academic and application society in the fields of Information Technology and communication in education. It also produces curricula and distributes them through the Internet in addition to programming technology, CDROMs and CDIs.
- It has established a computer services centre. This centre is certified for training and examination for large international companies in the field of Information Technology. It has also qualified trainers of an outstanding level, possessing accredited certificates in these specializations to work in this centre.
- It has obtained the UNESCO's acknowledgement to be a certified examination centre offering the International Computer Driving License (ICDL).
- It has obtained Microsoft's acknowledgement to be a certified centre in Alexandria for training, offering courses and exams for Microsoft programmes in addition to obtaining international certificates in the fields of networking, programming, and creating websites on the Internet.
- It has sponsored the accommodation and travel of the Egyptian team in international informatic competition which was held in China in the year 2000, Finland in 2001 and the international Olympiad in Korea in August 2002. It has, in this respect, paved the way for a number of Arab countries to be able to participate in the international Olympiad.
- It has adopted the organization of the first Arab open Olympiad (the participation of amicable non-Arab countries is allowed) through signing a memo of understanding with Mr. Lionel Hartmann, the executive manager of the International Olympiad for Informatics (IOI). It has also signed a memo of understamding with the director of the International Olympiad Programme for the year 1999, Prof. Dr. Goktruk Ucoluk, who is a member of the International Informatics Federation.
- It has made the initiative to hold the initial (open) Arab Olympiad for Informatics in collaboration with the Global Informatics Federation with the purpose of developing Arab talents and creativity. It has also inaugurated the Olympiad on July 2, 2002.
- It has organized the first Egyptian Informatics Olympiad from September 6 through September 11, 2003. This was done in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information to promote the AASTMT's objective, which is considered a historical precedence the AASTMT is to be merited for.
- The AASTMT has excelled over all Egyptian universities in scientific innovations related to the design and structuring of robots. These competitions were held from April 20 through May 6, 2003 and have occupied the third initial positions of teams made up of AASTMT students studying in Cairo and Alexandria. The AASTMT's team has participated through eliminations in the international competition which was held in Thailand from August 22 through August 26, 2003. It has occupied the eighth position in eliminations representing the Arab Republic of Egypt.
The AASTMT has also played a leading role in other various fields through acquired expertise and skills, a matter which has made it participate effectively in community service. This is manifest in establishing strategic alliances with the largest international organizations and associations which found in the AASTMT an appealing atmosphere to invest its techniques and spread its mission. Thus, the AASTMT has done the following:
- It has established the largest simulators complex in the world in collaboration with the American Union Agency to transfer the latest American techniques in the field of maritime environment protection against pollution. It also aids in the assessment of national emergency schemes in this field. As a result of the success this complex has achieved in its first and second stages, cooperation with the Americans has been extended to include the establishment of an advanced centre for the management of crises resulting from all kinds of catastrophes such as, fires, floods, terrorist crimes, tornadoes and others, in addition to serving maritime, river and land transport sectors in qualifying trained calibers in these fields.
- It has established the Productivity and Quality Institute (P & QI) which qualifies all educational, administrative and industrial organizations to obtain the quality and environment certificates. It also carries out studies and researches on increasing productivity and improving the efficiency of operations and studies of privatization. In addition, it offers specialized administrative and technical courses for different levels of all individual associations and corporations. The P & QI also offers a graduate studies programme through which a Masters Degree in quality management can be obtained. The P & QI is also committed to agreements with the General Egyptian Authority for Standardization and Quality Production (on the local level). It has also signed an agreement with the Arab Organization of Industrial Development and Mineralization (on the regional level) and also with the British Standards Institute (BSI) (on the international level).
The P & QI has 50 experts who are given the title of Lead Auditor of quality systems. These experts are internationally certified to audit, examine and assess quality and environment systems according to international standards. The P & QI has also qualified over 350 companies and associations in different industrial, production and services fields in the ARE and Arab countries, one of these major companies is General Motors in Egypt, which entrusts the P & QI in its preparation to obtain the quality certificate on a competitive level with The American University in Cairo (AUC), which established its own P& QI 10 years after the AASTMT. The AASTMT succeeded in this competition due to its distinction in the number of qualified experts in addition to its precedence in working in this field. The P & QI has become an active and effective member of the International Union of Training & Development Organization since May 2009. It is distinguished in providing several studies and training courses and was assessed depending on several aspects:
- The equivalence of the scientific degrees offered by the P & QI by the British Quality Assurance Institute.
- The equivalence of the scientific degrees offered by the P & QI by the British Legal Quality Institute.
- The equivalence of the P & QI's training of auditors as well as lead certified quality auditors for certificates granted in ISO 9000:2000 from the International Registration of Certified Auditors (IRCA).
- The equivalence of the P & QI's training of certified quality auditors from the International Registration of Certified Auditors (IRCA/2000).
- The equivalence of the P & QI's training of certified quality auditors form the International Registration of Certified Auditors in safety and general health.
- It has established the Industrial Development Centre (IDC) to qualify calibers in petrochemicals in collaboration with the largest German institutions in petrochemicals, KRUPP UHDE. The IDC's activity has currently extended to serve industry in general. For it directs students and staff members' projects at the College of Engineering and other technical centres at the AASTMT to solve industrial problems in the labour market.
- It has adopted the qualification of technical calibers and has thereby signed an agreement with the British institution, EXEXCEL, which is considered among the leading technical educational institutions. It has also granted more than 2.5 million trainees with internationally certified vocational certificates. An agreement has also been made to choose a number of educational and training programmes that are applied at the institutions to qualify technical calibers to obtain certificates in the specializations offered by EXEXCEL and consequently from European and international institutions. The AASTMT thereby offers well-examined tracks enabling learners to pass through three levels starting with the vocational level followed by the technical level and finally the academic level. Thus, the AASTMT is the sole institution providing an opportunity of qualification on three levels by applying the UNESCO's philosophy of taking care of technical and vocational calibers to fulfill the demands of development. The AASTMT had in its initial stages already qualified several Arab calibers obtaining an HND and HNC from the United Kingdom and who did not get the chance to pursue their studies in another place to obtain a scientific degree acknowledged in the Arab world.