Tomorrow's Leaders College-to-Work Pipeline Empowers Students to Make an Impact

“As students, we are focused on studying on paper and [then] find reality different. It is time to bridge this gap,” said Sumood Abdulhadi, a graduate student studying international and comparative education and a member of the newly launched Tomorrow’s Leaders College-to-Work Pipeline (TLP) program.

TTLP, which kicked off last spring, is made up of two subprograms: Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP), which empowers students to develop essential skills for meaningful work, and Create-X, which aims to foster entrepreneurial ideas and visions into careers. From Morocco to Yemen and from STEM to the humanities, 15 AUC students hailing from eight countries across the MENA region and nine different majors worked hands-on with industry leaders on impactful projects.

Under VIP, Abdulhadi and a group of AUCians worked with the United Nations Development Programme to develop OULA, an environmentally friendly pottery product. The group began by assessing the needs of communities in Fayoum, where pottery is a major source of income for many locals. Through interviews, they were able to connect with ceramists in Fayoum to understand their needs and obstacles, helping to shape the creation of OULA. The team ranked seventh in the African Business Concept Challenge.

In addition to UNDP, TLP students this year worked with UNICEF and Largelabs Game Development Studio on its Gaming for Impact project, and with Fusion on its Palm Vein Technology project — both of which work to engage students in long-term, large-scale and multidisciplinary projects, 

Gaming for Impact employs digital video games that encourage children to make healthy decisions when it comes to food. This project, which students worked on in cooperation with AUCs virtual reality lab, supports UNICEF Egypt’s overall efforts on child nutrition in Egypt.

“Our final product will be a series of mini-games inspired by local cultures on arcade machines that children will have access to in specific areas," said Maram Mahmoudi, a computer science junior who is working on this project.

Mahmoudi hopes that the games will help children across Egypt in developing healthier eating habits.

The Fusion Palm Vein Technology project is working to introduce contactless palm-vein technology in Egypt. This biometric tech will help in combating identity fraud and encouraging companies to go green by eliminating the use of paper for documentation.

Working closely with those in the industry has been eye opening for Bachir Hafsi, an economics student who is part of the Fusion Palm Vein Technology team. 

“When working with an industry partner that is a business or entrepreneurship, you learn the process of building a startup and the real challenges one can face, even when everything is prepared,” he said.

Create-X,  a course in which students work to launch their own startups, began at AUC last spring, producing three diverse student initiatives: Project Ehtedan, Legal In-House and EGY Movers.

Project Ehtedan is a digital platform aiming to ease the adoption process by connecting orphanages to parents and families and by spreading awareness of adoption and the marginalization of orphans in Egypt. Legal In-House is another digital platform focusing on the legal transactions within a company’s internal and external environments. EGY Movers uses technology to design an application that provides the necessary information regarding new transportation options to the public. 

Achraf Babori, an undeclared sophomore who worked on Project Ehtedan, joined TLP to further pursue his passion for entrepreneurship. “This program was a major experience that I would love to relive,” he said, adding that the practical and experiential learning aspect of the project provided him with crucial insights into the entrepreneurial field.

For the TLP students, working on such hands-on learning opportunities has been challenging, and as a result, thoroughly rewarding.

“Sometimes it’s not just about leadership and taking everything into your own hands. It's also about consulting your team and other professionals,” Mahmoudi said. 

Hafsi shared similar sentiments about the value of the program: “I think the part I grew the most in was talking to business experts and understanding their perspectives while addressing any obstacles. TLP helped develop my definition of entrepreneurship by seeing it as a long journey that requires immense patience and focusing on details that can carry great opportunities.”