PROJECT PROFILE- The center bringing renewable energy expertise to Egyptian university students and beyond: Against the backdrop of the government’s goal to achieve 42% renewable energy utilization by 2035, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has funded a 5-year project aiming to bring technology and expertise to the Egyptian renewable energy field — starting on university campuses.

Meet the Center of Excellence for Energy: The Center of Excellence for Energy (COE/E) is operated by Arizona State University (ASU) and was established two years ago in partnership with Ain Shams University, Mansoura University, and Aswan University. The project received USD 22 mn funding from USAID and aims to provide current and future professionals in the energy sector with the means to meet the market’s dynamic and ever-developing expectations.

How does the COE/E plan to do that? Enterprise sat down with the project’s director and professor at ASU, Sayfe Kiaei, and the COE/E’s technical advisor and professor at Ain Shams University, Tamer Elnady, to understand the concrete ways in which the CEO/E plans make a sustainable mark on Egypt’s energy industry — and capacity building in its various forms is at the heart of it.

That means skills as well as facilities: Building capacity starts with training, workshops, as well as exchange opportunities to ASU for undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and faculty to engage further with the energy field and gain advanced knowledge and experience. It also entails the establishment of fully-equipped labs and training in additional skills such as writing proposals and generating funding for their research from national and international entities, Kiaei explained.

University curricula are also getting a facelift: Another significant contribution of the COE/E is making strategic changes to the curricula of energy-related specializations at the partner universities. Starting at Ain Shams, seven courses have already been added to the curriculum and they are on track to be added at Mansoura University next.

The technological center as the project’s legacy: Among the tangible marks the COE/E means to leave on the industry is the technological center it is establishing, which is set to be up and running halfway into 2024. Elnady told Enterprise that one of the main objectives of this center is to serve the industry by acquiring the certification to meet the expectations of a standardized market. This certification is a final step to be taken after the center’s equipment is purchased and installed.

Advancement through research: “No country will advance or achieve its technological goals without scientific research, without close collaboration with academia,” Elnady said. “And this technology center will provide a means to have this collaboration between academia and industry.”

Post-funding sustainability: The center also holds the key to sustaining the center after the funding period has passed. Once it begins to operate, the center is set to offer a variety of workshops and training opportunities, both for current students and working professionals, during whose studies new technologies were not yet embedded in the curriculum. These offerings are expected to provide the COE/E with the income needed to keep its model sustainable.

Aligning with Egypt’s national goals: To ensure that the efforts of this project don’t miss their mark, Kiaei explained that it is among the center’s priorities to cooperate with the Egyptian government and work with the country’s renewable energy priorities in mind. This means prioritizing green hydrogen and the reduction of fossil fuel burning, as well as cooperating with the Higher Education Ministry to develop curricula and funding research focusing on renewable energy.

“If you solve the energy issue, you solve the climate issue,” Kiaei said, adding that the students’ motivation and passion for the subject matter portends a thriving energy field.

A peek into the project’s potential future: After Kiaei’s success at a similar center in Pakistan that continues to run effectively after the end of the project, he was determined to replicate the best practices in Egypt — and he expects to see similar results. Critical to this, in his view, is a continued strong relationship between the partnering universities, a process that is already steadily underway. “I think once you build a relationship, that will be a very long lasting opportunity,” he said. I think that's going to really set the roadmap for going forward and having a lot more technical impact.”

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