I’ve learned the importance of discipline, perseverance and adaptability. These qualities allowed me to perform at my best in Paris, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and success.

My most memorable moment was after finishing my performances and hearing the whole crowd cheering for our team, while waiting to see our results and finding out that we swam a “base mark free routine” (which means a very good performance in the world of artistic swimming). This was a very satisfying feeling.”

I’ve learned the importance of discipline, perseverance and adaptability. These qualities allowed me to perform at my best in Paris, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and success.

Maggy Ashmawy ’13, political science
Shooting
Two-Time Olympian; Gold medalist in 2019 African Games and  2019 African Championship 
 

“The Paris 2024 Olympics were different from Tokyo 2020 as there were spectators and cheering during all rounds of the competition. This did not happen in Tokyo because it was during Covid, and usually in world cups, the cheering is only at the finals. The cheering gave me positive vibes but was stressful sometimes. We learn new lessons every day, and I have definitely learned a lot from my experience in the Paris Olympics.” 

“The cheering gave me positive vibes but was stressful sometimes.”

Dina Meshref ’17, business administration 
Table Tennis
Four-Time Olympian; Ranks #24 worldwide and #1 in Africa; Won 14 African titles, including 1st in Africa nine times

“Being part of the Olympic Games is always very exciting and honorable. I feel very grateful to have been part of the Paris 2024 Olympics. One of the most valuable lessons I learned is to always enjoy competition and have fun during the game; and at the same time, stay very focused and give your 100% while preparing for the tournament and matches.

I have really enjoyed playing in Paris in front of the home crowd and all the spectators who attended. This time, the vibes and atmosphere were great and different compared to those at the Tokyo Olympics where no spectators were allowed due to Covid. I could feel how the French fans appreciate table tennis as a sport regardless of who wins in the end.”

“One of the most valuable lessons I learned is to always enjoy competition and have fun during the game; and at the same time, stay very focused and give your 100% while preparing for the tournament and matches.” 

Yossra Helmy  '20
Table Tennis
Three-Time Olympian

Helmy took part in the Rio 2016 Olympics as part of the Egyptian women’s team and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she competed in the singles and women’s team games. 

"I hope to be selected for the 2028 Olympics. Being in the Olympics several times gave me a big boost to keep doing it again as I become more familiar with the atmosphere and competition." 

Other AUC Olympians at Paris 2024 Olympics

Malak Abdelshafi, mechanical engineering sophomore
Para Swimming

Best of luck to Abdelshafi, who will compete in the Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8. Watch Abdelshafi speak about her AUC experience in the video below.

Abdelshafi won a silver medal at her first nationals when she was only 9 years old. She ranked 10th at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, where she broke the African record. 

Mohammad Sanad ’14, economics
Handball

With a long career in handball, Sanad played on the Egyptian national team during the Rio 2016 Olympics and the World Men's Handball Championship in 2017, 2019 and 2021.

Haydy Morsy ’21, business administration 
Modern Pentathlon (first reserve for Africa)
Four-Time Olympian

Morsy won first place at the 2019 Pentathlon African Championships and was captain of the women’s national team at the 2022 UIPM Modern Pentathlon World Cup. She was awarded First Prize Egyptian Athlete by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the Aswan-Arab Youth Forum.

President's Cup Winners

Presented to the student(s) with the highest grade point average
 

“When you think of ancient Egypt, you think of the tombs and the temples, and sometimes we forget that they were people, just like us. Eating is such a simple, human thing,” El Dorry says.

From Jurassic Park to Coptic Studies

El Dorry discovered her interest in food and food culture in Egypt as a student at AUC, but the idea of archaeology captured her attention as far back as watching Jurassic Park as a little kid. “When I saw the first scene where this helicopter swoops down to an archeological site, I thought, ‘This is exactly what I want to do’. I found my calling very, very young,” she says.

Her passion led her to the study of Egyptology at AUC, where a friend encouraged her to take a Coptic studies course that drew her into the world of Coptic art, architecture and archaeology. “I initially became fascinated with what we traditionally study in Coptology, but I realized there's so much more to Coptic history than just that,” El Dorry says. “I was captivated by studying the lives of regular people living in different time periods in Egypt, how they dealt with one another, how they ate, the simple day-to-day activities.”

The relationship between Egyptology and Coptology is intertwined, and part of what makes El Dorry so passionate about teaching Coptic studies is its oft-overlooked importance in the flow of Egyptian history. “A lot of people consider ancient Egypt to be the focal point, which belittles the wealth of information we have about the rest of Egyptian history,” she says. “We have another 2,000 years of fascinating information, including Coptic history and Coptic archaeology. It's important to look at the history of Egypt as one fabric that changes and develops in continuity.” 

“When I tell people that I'm an Egyptologist, Coptologist or archaeologist, people either assume that we’re either off chasing mummies like Indiana Jones, or that we just spend our days doing boring library research."

Bringing Everything to the Table

Working on her PhD dissertation, focused on archaeobotanical material from a now-abandoned Coptic monastery in Wadi El Natrun, El Dorry became more and more interested in food and the various functions it serves both in our lives and Coptic Egyptian history. “Food plays a role in politics, our identities, economy and trade –– and studying it shows us a lot about how our history developed over time,” she says. “I find it particularly important to study and document food because it’s such a central part of who we are.”

“When you think of ancient Egypt, you think of the tombs and the temples, and sometimes we forget that they were people, just like us. Eating is such a simple, human thing,” 

Using her work at the Coptic monastery as an example, El Dorry emphasized how each trace of historical evidence came together to paint a vivid picture of life for the people who resided there. “We learned a lot about their daily lives through different time periods based on archaeological evidence, textual evidence, archaeobotanical material and ethnoarchaeological data,” says El Dorry. “We can even tell that there are regional variations in food preparation between different areas, and understand the specifics of how they prepared foods or the wine that would be used for liturgy.”

The information gleaned from studying the agricultural traces left behind is as personal as it is fascinating and instantly relatable since some of the foods that were prepared by the Copts of that period remain staples even now. “It's nice to get this intimate view of how they were preparing things and see where they got the food and plants from,” she says. “When we bring all the different types of archaeological data together, it’s much easier to imagine how they lived.”

The Joy of Studying Food

“When I tell people that I'm an Egyptologist, Coptologist or archaeologist, people either assume that we’re either off chasing mummies like Indiana Jones, or that we just spend our days doing boring library research,” El Dorry says. But for her, archaeology is somewhere in the middle. “We strike a happy medium between adventure on-site and researching in the fantastic libraries that we have access to.”

Sleuthing out the intricacies of Coptic society takes an immense amount of work, and it certainly isn’t easy. But for El Dorry, the real struggle is just finding the time to do it all. “The biggest challenge is that you never have enough time to read everything you are interested in or do everything that you want to do,” she says. Food has countless meaningful aspects to study, far more than just the facts of what people ate, and you could spend a lifetime looking at its roles, origins and impact. But beyond its academic value in Coptology, part of the joy of working with food is that everyone can connect to it. “Everyone loves to talk about food and loves to eat,” El Dorry says. “I love talking about food, theorizing how people would have eaten in the past, trying recipes. It’s all incredibly exciting.”

Graphic design seniors are showcasing their graduation projects at the Command X (Cmd X) exhibition, currently on display at the Sharjah Gallery in AUC New Cairo, tackling themes on cultural heritage, gender equality and environmental protection while offering viable solutions through art. This is the 10^th class of graphic design students to graduate from AUC since the program’s inception in 2011.

Cmd X is a computer shortcut used when cutting an item out of one environment and placing it in another. “In the case of our exhibition, the term carries several meanings,” said Bahia Shehab (MA ’09), professor of practice, curator of this year’s exhibition and one of the faculty supervisors for the student projects. “It symbolizes the conclusion or ‘cut’ of their time in academia and the end of this chapter in their educational journey, marking their transition from students to professionals. The X is also a Roman numeral highlighting a decade of graphic design graduates from AUC. ‘Command’ signifies their leadership role in the field of design, empowered to innovate, inspire and effect positive change.”

“Many of the projects developed by the students serve as great educational tools for courses that engage with topics of sustainability, cultural heritage, feminism, social justice and equality,. Exhibitions are important educational spaces and we want our community to use them as such.” 

The show is curated in five thematic clusters reflecting pressing concerns developed by students: “Fragile Equality,” with projects on cultural heritage preservation and gender equality; "Land,” celebrating the beauty of our natural environment as well as the resilience and loss of cultural heritage for communities fighting displacement while highlighting the dangers ahead; “Techno Shaabi,” which highlights Egyptian vernacular street culture in music, fashion and design; “Wholeness,” focusing on design solutions for physical and mental health while advocating for holistic well-being within different communities; and “Threads and Identity,” exploring and critiquing fashion, culture and gender perception and representation. 

“Many of the projects developed by the students serve as great educational tools for courses that engage with topics of sustainability, cultural heritage, feminism, social justice and equality,” said Shehab. “Exhibitions are important educational spaces and we want our community to use them as such.” 

Throughout their years of study, graphic design students develop various conceptual, technical and professional skills that prepare them for their senior year, which is comprised of a semester dedicated to research and a semester to develop their final projects. This year’s projects were supervised by faculty members Ahmad Saqfalhait, Bahia Shehab, Brenda Segone, Jochen Braun and Nagla Samir.

As the faculty supervisors put it, students choosing their topics is key: “If they’re passionate about the environment, or they care about accessibility for people with disabilities, if they are fascinated by music from a different era or they want to preserve the history or knowledge of a certain community that is endangered, these aspirations and hopes are reflected in their final projects. ... We hope that their work inspires you to embrace innovation, champion diversity and strive for a brighter, more inclusive future.”

Open to the public, the exhibition is running every day from 9 am to 4 pm (except weekends). Planned visits can be arranged in July and August by contacting Shehab. The exhibition will open again throughout September.

Student projects:

• Menawar Ya Arousa: Mama’s Tips for a Successful Marriage
• Alexandria Diaries: A Publication Remembering Alexandria’s Cosmopolitan Heritage
• Aziza’s Diaries: A Gamified Petition Empowering Voices Against Flawed Spousal Violence Laws in Egypt
• Aref, the Birdie 3aref el 3asfour? A Children’s Bilingual Tale of Moral Growth
• Bloom and Breathe: An AUC Garden Publication Enhancing Well-Being and Awareness
• Plastic Promises: n Expository Awareness Campaign About Greenwashing and Unsustainable Consumption
• ZooVolution: Unveil the Impact of Zoos on Ecosystem Disruption and Animal Welfare Through a Videogame Experience 
• The Courtyard: An Audio-Visual Publication Documenting Syrian Lullabies 
• Unveiling Egypt’s Water Crisis: An Information Design Publication Investigating the Root Causes of Egypt’s Water Scarcity
• The House Key: Typographic Posters Featuring Arabic Poetry that Celebrates Palestine
• Sirbal: A Survival Kit Preserving the Bedouin Culture Through Navigation, Herbs and Shelter
• ECO’haus: Sustainable Fashion Brand  
• Egypt’s Vessel of Memories: A Publication that Documents Egyptian Cassette Tape Heritage
• Cairo’s Lost Architectural Heritage: Exploring Forgotten Demolished Buildings and Spaces to Preserve Cairo’s Unique Cultural Identity
• Gerba: Crafting Contemporary Statement Bags Inspired by Saudi Culture
• Beyond the Boulder: Guidebook Series Designing Wadi Gnai’s Bouldering Experience
• Etbaa Alsilk: A Project Introducing and Exploring Experimental Silk-Screen Prints
• Happy Egyptian? An Infograph Highlighting Initiators of Happiness in Egypt
• Street Royalty - Melouk El Share3: Egyptian Streetwear and the Colloquial Identity
• Memorebekya: An Interactive Storybook and Digital Archive that Reconnects People with the Preloved Possessions in Modern-Day Monarchy Egypt
   

Alumni Project Highlights

Alumni were honored across multiple categories, showcasing their strengths through innovative, eye-catching designs. 

Emote

Emote is a tool for emotional communication in the form of a projective therapy kit for therapists to use during their sessions. Emote eases the journey through each session, not just for the client, but also the therapist. The cards have abstract compositions that allow one to subjectively project and layer their emotions, to help ease communication barriers.

Jasmine Ramzy ’23, graphic design

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Apps & UI-UX’ subcategory

Once Upon an Archive

Once Upon an Archive is a design project that attempts to explore and investigate the relationship between the world of fashion and the sociopolitical changes of the 20th century. Through delving into the archives of the iconic magazines; Al Musawwar (1924), Misr-el-hadithah El Musawara (1927), Al-Kawakib (1932), Akher Saa (1934), and Bint Al Nil (1945), visuals were collected covering the years 1899 until 1952 and a timeline of political events was created in correspondence to the collected timeline of fashion-related visuals. The project allows viewers to engage in an immersive experience through flipping through a publication detailing the timeline of events while simultaneously seeing the projected animations of the collected visuals. Through this project I aim to experiment with different ways in which archival material can be presented.  

Hager Gamal El Attar ’23, graphic design and integrated marketing communication

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Digital Media’ subcategory

Namat

Namat is an Arabic display typeface. The typeface is meant to reflect characteristics of Islamic geometric patterns, and could be used for cultural events, festivals, display, or creating an identity for a space like a museum. Alongside it's basis in components drawn from Islamic art, I have also given the typeface modern aspects. Namat is slanted, modern, has a 3D effect, and has a great contrast. 

Marina Nader Asham ’22, graphic design with a minor in architecture

Honorable Mention, Typography 

Azza Fahmy | Arabic Logo Adaptation

In 2020, I was commissioned by Azza Fahmy, a renowned Egyptian jewelry design house that has been passionately translating cultures into art since 1969, to create an Arabic type logo that complements their existing Latin type logo. The objective was to develop a type adaptation logo, ensuring that the Arabic type logo captures the essence and features of the Latin letterforms, resulting in a harmonious type-matching logo. The project involved a deep understanding of both Latin and Arabic scripts, meticulous great attention to detail, and a profound appreciation for the cultural context behind each script. By respecting the unique characteristics of each script while skillfully integrating their shared features, the result was a balanced bilingual logotype.

Sarah Shebl ’17, double major in graphic design and communication and media arts  

Winner of the ‘Visual Communication Design’ category, in the ‘Typography’ subcategory

Faculty Advisers

Bahia Shehab (MA '09), professor of practice in the Department of the Arts, as well as Jochen Braun and Ghalia Elsrakbi, associate professors of practice in the Department of the Arts, served as faculty advisers for alumni participating in the event.

I'm particularly proud and pleased that our students who won and were featured are receiving recognition. Design competitions are relatively scarce in Egypt, and our students sometimes hesitate to participate. I hope that the success of these students will inspire others to participate in the future. Notably, all the winning projects address locally relevant topics, such as designing for social impact, sustainability, health, education or reimagining cultural heritage. This aligns with our program's philosophy of teaching design. We consider it our duty to contribute to the discourse on what design can and should achieve in Egypt and the region. The jury's choices and the recognition our students received validate this approach. -Jochen Braun

Marina Nader Asham, Hager Elattar, Jasmine Ramzy, Habiba Tarek Abouseif, Maryam Mohsen Al-Najjar and Sarah Khaled Shebl

Architecture Competition Win

The only AUC representative at the Cairo Design Week Architecture Competition, architecture senior Nayer Rizkallah won first prize alongside his team for designing a floating city to accommodate refugees. Focusing on preserving and reclaiming heritage, the team integrated traditional elements of Palestinian architectural designs into the project to prioritize both physical safety and cultural resilience.

Open Studio Exhibition 

The Graphic Design Open Studio Exhibition was displayed in the Margo Veillon, Future, Legacy and Ewart galleries in AUC Tahrir Square. 

"The exhibition aims to give a comprehensive idea of the program's educational vision regarding graphic design practices by highlighting students' educational journey over four years." - Ghalia Elsrakbi

Ghalia Elsrakbi, associate professor of practice; in the Department of the Arts; Provost Ehab Abdel-Rahman; President Ahmad Dallal; Eman Morga; assistant director for special projects  in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library; and Stephen Urgola, University archivist and director of AUC records management, at the Open Studio Exhibition. Students researched a variety of topics, supported by the Rare Books and Special Collections Library, before embarking on their exhibition projects

Talks by the Rare Books and Special Collections Library

"Seat of the Throne," travelers' accounts printed on ceramics, part of AUC's Rare Books and Special Collections Library presentation at the Citadel during Cairo Design Week.

History came to life at the Citadel of Cairo through the expertise of speakers Waleed Arafa, Ola Seif, Balsam Abdul-Rahman, Menna El Mahy, and Eman Morgan from AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. The talk was followed by a walking tour led by renowned historian Seif El Rashidi around a few select monuments within the Citadel.