Research Projects 2021-2022
Pr1.EU FUNDED PROJECT/ MAIA TAQA
Start September 2019 -End August 2023
Despite the fact that in the Southern Mediterranean countries there is a growing need for resource efficiency (RE) services (consulting, engineering and operations) to deal with the pressure on the environment, the RE supply persists at low levels. This is essentially due to the lack of a proper innovation process that would be able to identify the needs, structure the creative solutions and commercialise them. MAIA-TAQA will deal with these issues by setting up demonstrators in 3 Mediterranean pilot areas where innovative services will be applied: they will be related to micro-grids, photovoltaics, energy storage, solar thermal technologies and water sanitation and purification. Partners will develop solutions for each identified barrier: capacity building programme (for lack of skills); innovation desk (for lack of information); guidelines (for lack of regulation); voucher (for lack of finance) and targeted B2B events (for lack of specific matchmaking). The main final beneficiaries are SMEs (especially from environment/utility/building sector) that can have a set of supporting instruments to overcome the existing barriers and reduce the risks to innovation.
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Pr2.MONITORING, ASSESSMENT AND INNOVATIVE TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE GROUNDWATER QUALITY FOR IRRIGATION TOWARD CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
Start October 2021 -End November 2023
Water is essential requirement for life. Water demand is increasing significantly due to the increase in population growth and industrialization. Increasing pollution levels in aquatic resources as well as climatic changes considered serious factors leading to deterioration of the freshwater resources which adversely impact the use of water, especially for drinking, food industry and irrigation. This has necessitated focusing on the available ground water as a potential alternative for drinking and irrigation; therefore, it must meet specific standards to achieve the required quality especially in the arid districts where ground water is the only source. The main sources of pollution in groundwater including careless disposal of waste materials on the soil, open dumps, unsanitary sewage disposal systems, under or over chemical fertilization and water wells drilled near septic tanks etc. which, transmit contaminants to the aquifer. Groundwater quality differs from season to season and from place to place according to important factors controlling its quantity and quality. These including type of aquifers, pumping rates, climate changes, precipitation, evapotranspiration, nature of recharging water, subsurface and surface water, hydro-geochemical processes in the aquifers, land-use/land-cover change, mining activities as well as mineralogy and the leakage water from irrigation and drainage networks. Temporal changes in the constitution and origin of the water recharged, and human factor, frequently cause periodic changes in groundwater quality. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a regular assessment of irrigation and drinking water quality. Egypt is facing constraints to satisfy water needs especially after completing the construction of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the upcoming years. The present study aims to investigate and enhance the suitability of water from 13 borehole ground wells at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) (Abu Qir Campus) near the eastern coast of Alexandria City (Abu Qir Area) for irrigation and/or drinking purposes. To achieve this aim, physical, chemical and biological characterization of water samples will be collected and assessed to define pollution status spatially and temporally (monthly for a year) and relate them with environmental and climatic factors. This will be followed by treatment using innovative nanotechnology to enhance water quality.
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Pr3.MAIA TAQA
Start September 2019 -End August 2023
Despite the fact that in the Southern Mediterranean countries there is a growing need for resource efficiency (RE) services (consulting, engineering and operations) to deal with the pressure on the environment, the RE supply persists at low levels. This is essentially due to the lack of a proper innovation process that would be able to identify the needs, structure the creative solutions and commercialise them. MAIA-TAQA will deal with these issues by setting up demonstrators in 3 Mediterranean pilot areas where innovative services will be applied: they will be related to micro-grids, photovoltaics, energy storage, solar thermal technologies and water sanitation and purification. Partners will develop solutions for each identified barrier: capacity building programme (for lack of skills) innovation desk (for lack of information) guidelines (for lack of regulation) voucher (for lack of finance) and targeted B2B events (for lack of specific matchmaking). The main final beneficiaries are SMEs (especially from environment/utility/building sector) that can have a set of supporting instruments to overcome the existing barriers and reduce the risks to innovation.
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Pr4.HIGH LEVEL RENEWABLE AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY MASTER COURSES
Start November 2017 -End October 2021
HEBA is a three years project started on October 15, 2017, and funded by the European Union through Erasmus+ programme. The project aims to reform and improve existing master programs in Energy Efficiency (EE) and Renewable Energy (RE) on single technology and energy systems level, improving existing or establishing Centers/Laboratories of EE+RE in Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. The consortium will help the society to protect the earth. It will help in providing qualified professional resources capable of sustaining and managing the huge effort of EE+RE infrastructure development. Special emphasis will be given to advanced energy management. HEBA will be oriented to further development of the process of interaction with professional communities and reflects their requirements in the developed curriculum. The EU experience is a major component in the success of the HEBA project. The courses/modules and adapted curricula within HEBA project should be based on the needs and challenges of the building/industry/energy sectors.
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Pr5.INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS INUNIVERSITIES FOR BETTER CLIMATE CHANGE MANAGEMENT"INVOLVE"
Start January 2021 -End January 2024
To strengthen the role of the Egyptian Universities in the achievement of the environmental Sustainable Development Goals through enhancing their organizational governance capacities, creating current and future SDGs implementers, and upgrading their operational facilities necessary to the implementation of innovative practices for the achievement of the environmental SDGs.
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Pr6.TRACE & TRUST HUBS FOR MED FOOD
Start April 2020 -End April 2023
MED Food TTHubs is a PRIMA project that seeks to support the implementation of full-path tracing practices through the whole distribution channel from seed to shelf in order to achieve safer and more sustainable Mediterranean food products. Aiming to implement full transparency concerning the traceability and authenticity in the food supply sector, MED Food TTHubs taps into cutting edge technologies and &ldquoInternet of Things&rdquo (IoT) solutions and builds on standardised approaches to food production processes and location identification, transparent monitoring procedures and innovative business partnerships. Therefore, MED Food TTHubs establishes and operates seven pilot Trace & Trust Hubs forming a transnational network playing the role of a one-stop-shop for traceability and authenticity for &ldquoadded value&rdquo Mediterranean food products. The Med Food TTHubs consortium consists of 10 partners from Greece (Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), University of Patras (UoP) and Green Project SA (GP)), Portugal (INOV INESC Inovação), Spain (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)), Italy (TECNOALIMENTI S.C.p.A (TCA) and Engineering (ENG)), Egypt (Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT)), Tunisia (Higher School of Engineers of Medjez El Bab (ESIM)) and Jordan (Jordan University of Science & Technology (JUST)), covering a wide range of expertise.
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Pr7.KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE IN SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES MANAGEMENT AND AQUACULTURE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION
Start September 2021 -End September 2023
FishAqu (Knowledge Exchange in sustainable Fisheries management and Aquaculture in the Mediterranean region) is a project, co-financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ programme, in the area of Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education. The aim of the project is to develop capacities of practitioners and academics working on fisheries management and aquaculture in Egypt, in line with the directives of the Bologna process and the strategies of European Policy Cooperation (Education and Training 2020 framework) in order to launch a master degree programme on fisheries and aquaculture in Egypt.
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Pr8.YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN PORTS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
Start September 2020 -End March 2023
Within the specific thematic objective A.3, special attention is given to women and youth, particularly those belonging to the NEETS category. The YEP MED project is focusing exclusively on those two disadvantaged groups and will provide training and jobs to 4650 and 420 people respectively. An important point will be also to fight against the bias of gender in the ports’ ecosystem, which, like in other educational fields, makes gender a very determining factor when choosing a professional training itinerary. -YEP MED will carefully incentivize the participation of women in apprenticeship stages particularly in companies that received a subgrant from the project. Selection of companies will be done through public calls where gender equality will be considered a main requirement. Trainers will be trained in cross-cutting issues such as gender equality and environment protection and will be asked not only to monitor women attendance but also about job conditions and salary perceived.
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Pr9.APPLICATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES FOR GREEN PORTS: EGYPTIAN PORTS AS A CASE STUDY
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Sea Ports/harbours are regularly situated close to urban communities/local locations and are contrarily influencing the climate and environment, as far as air and water quality, noise, and emissions. To meet administrative prerequisites for air quality and the foundation of low emissions zones inside urban communities progressively necessitates that emissions for modern portable applications should be tended to. The environmental impressions from ports that are near urban places are high not just due to for the presence of shipping with huge diesel engines, yet additionally because of the huge length of loading and discharging of goods from these ships. Emissions from terminal port tasks related with electric power are assessed to contribute roughly 10% of the all-out port greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while emissions caused by ships at berth typically accounts for up to 30%, with the excess dominant part of emissions brought about by to ships generators. Most of seaports rely upon the national electric network as a wellspring of power for the domestic and ships’ electric demands. Therefore, this project is supporting the organization of sustainable power sources for seaport to diminish fuel consumption, increment the energy efficiency and to improve port activity. This project examines the chance of shifting ports from depending on the national grid electricity to green power-based ports. With expanding focus around both nearby and worldwide emissions, zero emissions arrangements that have a capacity surpassing current sustainable power sources are required. For such applications, the suitability and viability of fuel cell technologies, solar panels and offshore wind turbine should be assessed. Considering this appraisal, the most encouraging arrangements ought to be created and approved in the field. The project targets evaluating prospective decreases of ships’ emission of GHG notwithstanding the expected economic impact in case of applying various renewable energy technologies for seaports. As a case study, this project researches the possibility of changing Egyptian Ports over to be an eco- friendly port with the emphasis on technical, logistic, and financial prerequisites.
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Pr10.RESEARCH ON OPTIMIZING THE EFFECT OF LOADS ON CHARACTERISTICS OF POWER ELECTRONICS CONVERTERS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY APPLICATIONS
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Main Objectives: The main objectives of this research proposal are to: -Perform mathematical analysis on the effect of different loads when connected to the renewable via the interface of power electronics converter. - Better understanding of the load effect on overall performance of power electronics converters and associated control techniques such maximum power tracking with PV or wind applications. - Implement a prototype setup for experimental study for different system topologies for practical validation - Develop a standardized method of the selection and design of the suitable converter and control technique for a given load within renewable energy applications for enhanced overall system performance.
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Pr11.ENHANCING, PROMOTING AND SUSTAINING ETHICAL RESEARCH PRACTICES AND CULTURE IN THE AASTMT
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
This project aims to enhance, promote the research ethics among Faculty members, researchers, early career researchers (postgraduate students) in the AASTMT. Despite the big efforts that have been conducted by the AASTMT to promote scientific research, there is still big challenges that face them regarding the inadequate awareness and training they get in the field of research ethics. This hinders their ability to conduct research and to publish in top journals and limits their ability to get research grants and funds from various funding organisations. The project starts by a preparation phase which includes an updated needs assessment and benchmarking. This phase mainly involves the examination of the different codes of ethics that are widely accepted among a group of top –ranked universities. The aim of that phase is to get access to the latest ethical research practices that are applied in these research institutions.
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Pr12.ENHANCING, PROMOTING AND SUSTAINING ETHICAL RESEARCH PRACTICES AND CULTURE IN THE AASTMT
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
The Egyptian economic transformation vision foresees the north coast as one of the main pillars for future economy and development. Transformational urban and economic development is being carried out along the 400 km length coastline from New Alamein eco-city to Al-Salloum. The north coast region The World Bank global wind atlas shows that the average energy density in that region is in the range of 0.5 to 1 kW/m2 and average wind velocity higher than 5 m/s. These estimations show promising potential of wind energy. This project presents the first comprehensive evaluation of wind energy viability and feasibility in Egypt north coast. The project adopts a multidimensional approach to reproduce the spatiotemporal wind field over the north coast utilizing status quo GIS-BIM-CFD integrated simulation systems. The projects primary goal is to identify the best wind energy systems for power generation in the region and estimate its economic feasibility. Secondary objectives include identification of the main characteristics of atmospheric boundary layer and urban aerodynamics of Alamein city. The outcome of this project will be the first comprehensive evaluation of wind energy potential in Alamein city and region.
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Pr13.GREEN LAND GREEN SKILLS FOR A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Start October 2020 -End September 2023
The Egyptian economic transformation vision foresees the north coast as one of the main pillars for The Mediterranean area suffers from extremely high rates of youth and female unemployment. To face this challenge, GREENLAND promotes social inclusion and fight against poverty by providing unskilled and underprivileged young people with marketable skills in the Green and Circular Economy, with the potential to generate thousands of jobs. To reach its objective, the project will create new curricula based on market needs, skills transfer to NEETs and women, media-based training tools, and cultural exchanges among young people.
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Pr14.TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED EGYPTIAN MARITIME TRANSPORT SECTOR: HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL INTEGRATION OF EGYPTIAN COMMERCIAL PORTS
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Ports are recognized as crucial nodes in global transport and logistics chains. Port congestion, that occurs when port demand exceeds the capacity it offers, is one important phenomenon that prevents ports from fitting into their logistics chains. In addition to the time loss and high cost imposed on shipping companies, congestion is also problematic for other port actors. Over the years, decision-makers believed that spending more on port infra- and super-structure is the prescription for battling port congestion and the recipe for improving economic growth. While useful, port capital infra- and super-structure investments and annual maintenance costs are substantial and may not reap their intended benefits. As such, the determination of the extent of integration of ports/terminals among themselves (i.e. horizontal integration) and within the global supply chains (i.e. vertical integration) have become of great importance. This Collaborative Research Project (CRP) suggests a paradigm shift from the traditional supply-driven port investments to a more holistic port planning approach called Port Demand Management (PDM).
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Pr15.THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY DURING PHOTOTHERMAL RENEWABLE THEORY WITH ELECTRON-HOLES EXCITATION OF SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
In this project, a novel mathematical model of photo-thermoelectricity theory will be constructed. The governing equations are taken when the semiconductor material is homogenous, and has isotropic properties. The interaction between the electrons and holes inside the medium during The photo-thermoelectricity theory is taken into account. The microelement processes with the coupling between electrons-holes inside the medium is taken into consideration. The two dimensional deformation for governing equations is taken to discuss the main model in dimensionless. Some mathematical techniques is used to remove one space-time variable in the physical domain. To obtain the main physical quantities in the time domain, the ramp type heating is used at the free surface. Other mechanical-elastic-plasma conditions at the boundary is used with some numerical technique. The numerical results will be represented graphically to discuss the behavior of the plasma, thermal, elastic and mechanical waves through the semiconductor elastic material.
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Pr16.THE IMPACT OF USING FIREFIGHTING VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATION FOR ENHANCING CAPABILITIES OF PORT WORKERS VR-CAP
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
When accidents occur in ports, the employees awareness and safety skills level is the determining factor. The fire safety skills training content is too large and complex, due to many problems in the actual training that requires a simulation training system. The virtual seaport firefighting training system based on virtual reality (VR) technique plays an important role in training. In this project, we propose an effective platform for firefighting training system in maritime, based on virtual reality applications. Also, a Comparative Study between Fire Fighting training using VR Simulation Techniques and Hands-on Training for Port Community is proposed in this research.
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Pr17.CARBON STOCK ASSESSMENT OF MANGROVE FORESTS ALONG THE RED SEA COAST OF EGYPT: TOWARDS CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Coastal ecosystems are critical to maintaining human well-being and global biodiversity. In particular, mangrove forests provide numerous benefits and services that are essential for climate adaptation and resilience, where it helps mitigate climate change by sequestering and storing significant amounts of carbon (blue carbon) from the atmosphere and oceans. To explicitly address the role of blue carbon ecosystems in climate change mitigation and human wellbeing through policy, regulatory, finance, or other mechanisms, the carbon stock in these ecosystems and the existing or potential carbon emissions resulting from changes to those ecosystems must be quantified. In the light of the limited studies in the literature that connects the recent reliable estimates to carbon emissions and its relation to the mangroves in Egyptian Red Sea coast, the overall objective of this project is to facilitate development in the area, restore mangrove ecosystems, enhance ecosystem services (including carbon sequestration), promote sustainable mangrove related income, and act as a model for future projects. This project aims to creating a carbon inventory for mangrove beds at selected locations along the Red Sea coast of Egypt given by 1) detecting the past and present distribution of coastal mangroves ecosystems linked to the human uses of the area through satellite imagery analysis, 2) assessment of the current carbon stock within the project area and rate of carbon accrual, and 3) the potential carbon emissions that will result from expected or potential changes to the landscape. The current project will be a baseline to show that blue carbon represents a key and politically resonant opportunity for Egypt to strengthen their efforts in coastal ecosystems management. In addition to scientific outcomes, the current project can help in achieving the national target and vision in relation to management of marine environment. This project will support a wide range of national efforts in the sustainable use, management and conservation of coastal environments.
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Pr18.PROPOSED AESTHETIC ARCHITECTURAL PATTERNS TO SUPPORT DAMAGED BUILDINGS AND TO USE DEMOLITION PRODUCTS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF WAR-AFFECTED AREAS IN SYRIA
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
The long war in Syria has led to the demolition of a large part of the buildings in many Syrian cities, and the other part was damaged. Therefore, it is necessary to think of developing scientific solutions to deal with the large quantities of rubble resulting from this destruction and to benefit from them by offering scientific and practical solutions. The process of recycling rubble is one of the most important solutions in dealing with large quantities of demolition products and re-use of these rubble in the areas to be reconstructed, especially since the Syrian state needs large sums of money for reconstruction and the use of existing demolition products will significantly reduce these costs. This research is the first step on the road to reconstruction, and this will be explained by the goal of the research, which is divided into several Axes The first axis: It will present a scientific method for evaluating buildings in the affected areas and determining the buildings suitable for housing and reconsolidation and restoration by specifying scientific indicators through which the condition of the buildings can be assessed, then using aesthetic forms to support the structural elements, whether it is with metal structures with studied structural shapes and sections or other appropriate methods. The second axis: making use of the large quantities of demolition waste available near the areas to be reconstructed by studying the properties of these ruins and conducting experimental studies to develop elements for concrete or non-concrete buildings so that the developed models are used in the new buildings. The third axis: Conducting an economic study to determine the feasibility of using the developed elements of demolition waste and the amount of savings that can be achieved through field data and a comparison of the amount of costs required by the process of transporting demolition products in the affected areas.
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Pr19.PDEVELOPMENT OF CELLULOSE NANOFIBERS FILAMENTS AND 3D SCAFFOLD FOR BONE TISSUE ENGINEERING APPLICATION
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
There is a high demand to develop a multifunctional material with adequate mechanical properties, adapted electrical properties, and thermal conductivity to fulfil the function of sensing and actuation, as well as antimicrobial activity. Multifunctional materials can be used in various applications, including artificial muscles, bone tissue engineering, sensors, and textiles. Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) have a variety of advantages, which render them suitable for use in different applications. The present project is aiming to investigate and develop modified multifunctional cellulose nanofiber filaments and 3D scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. This can be achieved by incorporating different additives such as biopolymers and silver nanoparticles. In addition, effect of the ion-exchange mechanism of silver nanoparticles on the lattice stability and growth of nano-hydroxyapatite (HAp) particles in simulated body fluid will be studied. Furthermore, selected composite 3D scaffolds will be loaded with an active agent (drug) and subjected to in-vitro studies and biological evaluation aiming to optimize its medicinal performance. As a result, particular interest will be paid to the implementation of green processes and the use of non-toxic reagents/solvents at the different stages.
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Pr20.INNOVATIVE PHOTOVOLTAICS ENVELOPES FOR ADAPTIVE ENERGY AND COMFORT MANAGEMENT OF HARSH CLIMATE AREAS IN UPPER EGYPT TOWARD NEARLY ZERO ENERGY BUILDINGS
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Nine years ago, Egypt experienced one of its most serious energy crises for decades. Hence, the Egyptian government and the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (MoERE) are committed to maximizing Egypt's renewable energy potential to meet the growing demand and to enhance the environmental and climate footprint of the power sector. To stimulate the development of renewable energy, Egypt has introduced an overarching regulatory framework to secure 20% of its energy generation from renewable sources by 2022. Over the past few decades, worldwide population expansion, economic growth, and prompt industrialization development caused substantial rises in building energy consumption bills. The residential and commercial buildings' energy consumption is between 20-40% of total energy utilization [1,2]. Hence, cutting building energy expenditure, building materials, and energy technologies must be boosted. While beneficial in many ways, constraints exist concerning the reserves that can be attained by renovating buildings, with findings average energy-conserving deficits to level from 14 % to 98 %. Aswan Governorate has the highest ambient temperature and solar radiation in Egypt. Moreover, Aswan is considered as Africa and the Middle East energy capital, as it has the largest solar PV farm in Banban city.
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Pr21.IMPROVED OF RECAST OF CLIMATIC CHANGES AND ITS SOCIOECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS ALONG THE NORTHERN COASTAL ZONE OF EGYPT USING INTEGRATED SATELLITE DATA AND OPEN SOURCE MODELLING
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Northern coastal zone of Egypt possesses a complex ecosystem that is wealthy of natural resources attracting nearly 45% of the Egyptian population to live within few kilometers buffer from the coastline. It extends for nearly 1100 Km from Rafah city in the Far East to El Saloum city in the far west. It occupied by large cities, small towns and villages with dense population, industrial states, and large marine harbors, fish farming activities and rural and agriculture in some areas. Egypt vision 2030 is strongly paying attention to the development of the northern coastal zone with various projects such as the nuclear power station, leisure and coastal touristic compounds, infrastructures, harbors, agriculture, etc. Such social and economic development plans are playing major roles in the country’s sustainable development contributing to the national GDP. This, indeed, requires understanding of the hazards that might obstacle such development plans including climate changes and natural hazards. Unfortunately, Mediterranean region is the most vulnerable region of the globe under the threat of climate changes, and Egypt is one the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate changes. The changing pattern of temperature and rainfall would create pressure and negative impact on the social and economic development of this region. It becomes a fact that the global temperature will increase by the 2100. Hence, understanding the impact of such rise of temperature on the resources and requirements is needed. This will influence the water needs and consumption, the energy requirements, the ecosystem and livings. Such changes require governance readiness with plans and scenarios for adaptation, resilience and mitigation. The objective of this proposal is to develop an integrated platform for time series analysis of earth observation data and other ancillary data to understand the impact of the climate changes on the northern coastal zone of Egypt.
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Pr22.ICOMPOSTING THE ORGANIC WASTES INTO AN ORGANIC FERTILIZERS USING THE EARTHWORM EISENIA FETIDA (RED WIGGLER)
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Recycling the organic waste is considered as a great problem allover the world and especially in the Arab countries which have an increase rate of population and development. Most of these organic wastes are dumped in landfills and a very few are buried in specially designed underground places. The decomposing of such organic wastes leads to the production of greenhouse gases as CO2 and methane. Also, it causes many problems to the underground water. The current project aims to the building a sustainable composting unit for the disposal of the organic wastes using the earthworm which will feed on them. After digesting the worms for these organic wastes, it produced a cast called vermicompost which is very rich in organic nutrients as well as growth hormones which will be very useful for plant growth. Moreover, the production rate of these worms is very high and also its protein content reach 70%. So, the dried worm meal can be used as a supplementary feed for fish and poultry. This in turn will decrease the fish and poultry production coast and hence decrease the overall prices of such important human food. So the current project is trying to solve the problem of organic wastes in cities and also converting them to a valuable and important product. Moreover, such techniques will decrease the overall emission of greenhouse gases.
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Pr23.AMPUS SMART RECYCLING SYSTEM TO TURN FOOD ORGANIC WASTES AND RECYCLABLES INTO ECONOMIC VALUE PRODUCTS
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
The proposed project is about build and implement sustainable self-sufficient recycling system to turn AASTMT campus food organic wastes and recyclables into valuable products that have economical values, which can be used to reduce the campus running expanses. The proposed system is targeting only 3 types of campus wastes (Organic food remains -Plastic tableware - aluminium cans). The main objectives of the project are:Adding an economic value to the organic food wastes instead of dumping it. Reducing the campus running cost by: Producing percentage of the campus disposable plastic tableware using AASTMT owned plastic injection machine reside at ISC. Reducing the campus budget for purchasing: Fertilizers used in campus cultivated areas. Aluminum raw materials for students graduation projects. These objectives will be achieved by manufacturing: Portable compost unit that produce organic fertilizer from garbage. molds for the AASTMT plastic injection machine. Plastic washing, drying and disinfection unit to recycle the plastic tableware. Aluminum can crusher machine to reduce the storing size of the cans until melting it. Electrical furnace to melt aluminum cans into raw bars.
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Pr24.DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A MOBILE VENTILATOR
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
One of the most serious problems that faced hospitals all over the world including Egypt since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, is the shortage of ventilators which occurred due to the acute increase in number of patients who needs the assist of ventilators to breath. Our objective presented in this proposal is to design and implement a mobile ventilator prototype that will allow the manufacturing of a reduced price ventilator to be used in AASTMT clinics and in public hospitals. The technology transfer here could offer a local ventilator that might be in the future an alternative to imported expensive ventilators that have prices ranging from 300,000 to 350,000 EGP. Following the main design concepts published in April 2020 by Medtronic ventilator model PB 560, we are going to build a prototype of a mobile turbine ventilator with a battery. The ventilator will support the most important invasive and non-invasive ventilation modes commonly used in commercial ventilators. We will design and implement our own software, an embedded system board that control all ventilator pneumatic and electronic parts, in addition to a user friendly GUI touch screen with menus and charts to control and monitor all parameters. 3D printing technology as a fast response solution to print all possible connectors and spare parts as well as the outer case of the ventilator. The whole design and manufacturing stages will be held in the Industry Service Complex inside the AASTMT Campus. Further tests and validation will be held by clinicians in order to obtain reviews and make modifications.
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Pr25.CARBON FOOTPRINT ESTIMATION AND REDUCTION IN THE AASTMT CAMPUS TOWARDS DEVELOPING A MODEL FOR PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (GREEN CAMPUS)
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Egypt is expected to face serious problems due to climate change if effective adaptation methods are not applied. The carbon footprint (total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities) measurements are needed for any adaptation strategy. Thus, the research team aims to estimate Carbon Footprint (CFP) in the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) Campuses in Alexandria and Aswan together with identifying the stressors. Alexandria and Aswan campuses were selected among the other AASTMT due to the geographical location and highly human activities. The methodologies for carbon footprint calculations are still evolving, but there is little coherence in definitions and calculations of carbon CFP among the studies. Thus, the research team will develop an accurate model to estimate CFP for the studied AASTMT campuses. The used methodology will separate the emissions into three scopes: 1) direct, 2) indirect, and 3) other indirect emissions. The carbon footprint of AASTMT Alexandria and Aswan campuses product will be verified by external reviewers. In general, CFP balance to the ASSAMT studied campuses will be performed from 2018 to 2021 to characterise the impact of the digital transformation after Covid-19 on the carbon footprint. Based on this background and in recognition of the environmental responsibilities for AASTMT, it is therefore pertinent to have an accurate estimation of CFP in order to support AASTMT policymakers to draw a climatic policy to : 1. be an eco-friendly body through reducing CO2 emissions. 2. Increase stakeholder’s awareness towards environmental issues . 3. manage climate risks more effectively . 4. achieve AASTMT social responsibility. 5. identify economic opportunities. 6. inspire partners and motivate others . 7. Transforming AASTMT Alexandria and Aswan campuses towards achieving the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) and Egyptian 2030 visions especially SDG7 which argues for clean energy, and SDG13 which argues for Climate change.
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Pr26.AUGMENTED REALITY AND INTERACTIVE ANATOMICAL MODELS FOR LOCAL ANESTHESIA TRAINING OF PRECLINICAL DENTAL STUDENTS
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Teaching the local anesthesia techniques have ethical, moral, and legal implications due to the use of colleagues for practice. Even the few universities using simulators and virtual reality couldnt conclude satisfactory outcome form the currently available designs. Moreover, purchasing such technologies is not only expensive but also requires costly updating & maintenance. Additionally, the customization of such systems to fit our needs is not feasible or more costly. Hence, creating our own education system is the right choice. For these reasons and following the recent trend in implementing the AI into the teaching methods, came the idea for this project. This will also follow the ongoing trend to declare the Alamein Smart Campus. Our project aims to produce an educational system comprising of two components: an interactive anatomical physical 3D model and an augmented reality simulation. The system aims to present the dental students with the anatomical knowledge needed for performance of the procedure together with the motor skills that was gained before from peer training. This will be the 1 st system for local anaesthesia training custom developed to fulfil all the educational requirement without the need of patients and peers. This project will be performed by the collaboration between College of Dentistry – AASTMT Alamien and College of Artificial intelligence AASTMT Alamien. The plan of the work will be divided into 4 main tasks to develop the final prototype by the end of the project. The work in both models; interactive anatomical physical model (model 1) and the augmented reality model (model 2), will be performed simultaneously.
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Pr27.CO-EXISTENCE OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AND VIRULENCE FACTORS IN CARBAPENEM RESISTANT GRAM NEGATIVE CLINICAL ISOLATES FROM ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
The emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) Gram negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae, represents a global serious problem in health care settings and plays a major role in hospital-acquired infections. These pathogens showed low susceptibility to different antimicrobial agents and they are among the most difficult pathogens to treat. Therefore, infections with such pathogens are frequently associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. The pathogenicity of bacteria is multifactorial and it depends partially on the nature of the bacterial species or strain i.e. each pathogen has its own virulence factors. For example, the virulence factors of Klebsiella pneumoniae include LPS, capsule, urease, adhesins and outer-membrane proteins while the virulence factors of Acinetobacter baumannii includes surface motility, hemolysis on blood agars, siderophore production, efflux pumps, porins and exoprotease activity. In addition to biofilm formation, which is one of the most important virulence factors associated with different clinical isolated, the pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is mediated by many virulence factors e.g. hemolysin, phospholipase, gelatinase, DNAse, exotoxin A, protease and siderophore. Carbapenems represent the main therapy for treatment of infections caused by such pathogens. Unfortunately, a drastic increase of carbapenem resistant Gram negative isolates has been recorded in the recent years worldwide. The relationship between the carbapenem resistance among different MDR Gram negative pathogens and the production of different virulence factors is still not well understood and the published data are relatively low especially from Egypt.
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Pr28.NEW GEOHERITAGE SITES: OUTDOOR GEOLOGICAL MUSEUMS AS A TOOL FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Start October 2021 -End September 2022
Egypt has tremendous outdoor geologic museums that have yet to be explored; these geoheritage sites are various, coastal, geothermal, volcanoes, springs, oases, meteorite impacts, black and white deserts, unique rocks, and geomorphological landscapes. This project aims at detecting new sites and evaluate them as potential geotourism areas using cutting-edge technology. The impact of this project is to use these sites as tool for sustainable development, and record these locations as geoheritage sites to introduce them as a geogeotourism sites that are on the international tourism agenda, for both scientific and tourism communities. The participating team has experiences covering different geologic disciplines, and archaeology supported with publishing the results through international first class journals. The preliminary study comprises fieldwork investigations for new proposed sites along the Western Desert including Oases such as Siwa, ElBaharyia, El-Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga for locating spring and lacustrine deposits as a possible Geosites proxy for climatic changes during the Green Sahara times (Middle to Late Kingdom pluvial times. Other areas along the Eastern Desert including the different ancient mining sites and for distinguished rock features of different types including Hamamat Group of rocks at Wadi Hamamat with their characteristic petroglyphs and historic graffiti. In addition to sites proposed on the itinerary of the basic visit while tourists visiting coastal areas such as the Meteorite Lake and coral reef terraces record the Paleoclimate and paleosea level at Ras Wizr, Ras Samadi, and Wadi El-Gemal in Halayeb and Shalateen. The research plan will be implemented using remotesensing data, field data, petrographical and geochemical analyses including few isotope geochemistry and heritage site management methodologies.
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Pr29.MED SE(A)CAP INTEGRATION THROUGH UNIFORM ADAPTED ASSESSMENT AND FINANCING METHODS, MAINLY TARGETING BUILDINGS IN EDUCATION AND HEALTH SECTORS, FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN A SMART SOCIETY/ SEACAP 4 SDG
Start December 2021 -End May 2023
The SEACAP 4 SDG project is fully consistent with the objectives of the Programme and the Call for capitalization projects. Indeed, it deals specifically with the energy efficiency of public buildings targeted by the Joint Operational Programmes thematic objective B.4.3. This is one of the main issues in the Mediterranean basin with regard to the impact of climate change on the quality of life (urban heat-island effect, increase in air conditioning and therefore in hot air emissions and energy consumption) and of demography (population increase and rural exodus, in particular in the Southern shore, heliotropism in the North). The project builds on the outputs and outcomes, as well as the partners of the 10 selected reference projects (SRP) out of the 11 reference projects identified by the Programme to be capitalized upon (one more technical and research-focused project being less adapted for the purposes of the Project). Indeed, the results of 10 ENPI, ENI, UfM and MED projects will be analyzed, evaluated and adapted to the climatic, operational and administrative realities of the 8 countries territories covered by the Project. A first pre-evaluation has been carried out by the Partners during the development of the Project proposal, in order to confirm the potential interest of the solutions developed by the SRP for the Partnership (best practices and procedures for building energy refurbishment, school buildings methodologies, financial mechanisms, Living Labs and to raise awareness and ensure the participation of the SRP partners in order to guarantee knowledge and ability to handle SRP outputs and outcomes, and their optimal replication in 8 countries territories. The Project fits perfectly with the capitalization logical framework presented by the Programme in the Guidelines for Applicants, and also with the INTERACT Programme objectives https://www.enicbcmed.eu/projects/seacap-4-sdg.
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Pr30.NOVEL NANO-DELIVERY SYSTEM: TARGETED BACTERIAL GHOST ASSOCIATED NANO-PARTICLES ENCAPSULATING PROMISING CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC STRATEGY FOR BREAST CANCER THERAPY
Start December 2021 -End May 2023
Background: Recently, decreasing of breast cancer incidence and finding new cancer treatment options is a priority and big challenge for the scientific research community. Breast cancer remains the most common invasive cancer among women worldwide. In Egypt, breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among Egyptian women with the second-highest incidence rate of cancers worldwide with remarkable incidence and mortality rates in Egypt. As a move for improvement of breast cancer treatment options, a proposed delivery system is suggested to be applied on different breast cancer cell lines. Main Goal: a proposed study with a strong contribution can be focused on formulation of a new delivery system to deliver two different chemotherapeutic compounds exhibiting two different mechanistic roles on breast cancer. Methodology: To reach our goal, we will focus on the following: First, using bacterial ghost to deliver one chemotherapeutic compound and another will be formulated as a nanoparticle to deliver the second chemotherapeutic compound. Both delivery systems will be associated together through either chemical attachment or coating system. Second, we will achieve three separate phases as follows: a) Bacterial Ghost preparation and characterization, acting as a drug delivery system. b) Nano-particles formulation and drug encapsulation followed by coating or attachment, c) in-vitro cytotoxicity assessment. Outcome: The proposed study aims to match the AAST grant goals through: 1) pushing the young researchers and AASTMT demonstrators for a better future through supporting them with the current available chances, 2) building a wider strong network for the AASTMT with the research institutes of Alexandria for further collaboration and research work cooperation, 3) publishing novel results for a new idea based on previous achieved preliminary studies, 4) raising the awareness about the importance of the research and sustained development projects to solve many current gaps and more importantly find more clear solutions with minimal undesirable effects for the problem of cancer, which acts as a second leading cause of death worldwide.
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Pr31.European Union (EU) Funded Projects, College of International Transport and Logistics
2021 -2022
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