First cohort graduates from Newgiza University-UCL Engineering degree course collaboration

The two courses, Architectural Engineering (AE), and Computers, Communications and Autonomous Systems (CCAS), drew heavily on UCL’s Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP), which centres putting learning in its real-world context. The courses are thus founded on hands-on, project- and challenge-based learning that reflects the ethical, legal, financial, environmental and socioeconomic and cultural factors students will need to consider in their professional practice, particularly in their local contexts in Egypt. 

Ensuring Newgiza University’s (NGU’s) graduates can effectively meet the needs of the communities they will serve has been a high priority for both NGU and UCL. AE graduates have undertaken study on topics including but not limited to contemporary cities and urban planning, integrated building design, advanced civil engineering, and sustainable architecture, while CCAS graduates have studied communications networks, IoT, machine learning, embedded software, and more (find the full course descriptions on NGU’s website). They will be well-positioned to contribute to initiatives like Egypt’s Smart Cities Strategy, supporting the development of cities that provide a home for innovation, environmental resilience, technological readiness, and an improved quality of life for the general public. 

Professor Emanuela Tilley of the UCL Centre for Engineering Education — which leads UCL Engineering’s involvement in this partnership — attended the graduation ceremony in Egypt in late February. She says: 

“After working together through our academic partnership to development two unique and forward-looking undergraduate courses for NGU’s School of Engineering (SOE), it was incredibly special to have attended the inaugural graduation ceremony.  

“The graduates of this pioneering cohort have played such a big part in shaping how the courses are delivered today through their curious engagement and constructive feedback throughout the time we’ve worked together. It was a delight to also find out that some graduates, including their valedictorian, have decided to continue on at NGU SOE as graduate Teaching Assistants. It is also wonderful to hear that many of the graduates are going off to other very exciting graduate employment opportunities.” 

Professor Aly Gabr, Dean of Newgiza University’s School of Engineering, writes: “As Dean of the School of Engineering, it is with great pride that we at NGU celebrate our first graduating cohort — a pioneering class whose determination, creativity, and resilience have shaped the very foundations of our school. In close collaboration with our valued partners at UCL, this milestone reflects a shared commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and global engagement. As our graduates step forward into professional practice and advanced research, they carry with them a spirit of integrity and international perspective that will continue to define our engineering community for generations to come.” 

This is a significant milestone in the partnership between NGU and UCL, which stretches into courses including dentistry, medicine and pharmacy, and indeed in NGU’s history — and it’s a profound moment for staff, too, says Professor Ayman Ismail, lead of the Architectural Engineering course.

“Almost 30 years have passed since I graduated from UCL. It had never occurred to me that one day I would be helping to set up a collaboration for a tailored advanced programme that would help shape a new generation of Egyptian architects. I remember the day I was chosen to lead the establishment of the NGU-UCL Architectural Engineering programme; and then, a year later, I was interviewing the first batch of brave students for the programme, hand-picking a few with the hope they were the right match and could embody the vision of our programme. Fast forward four years later, those same students are marching up the aisle, proud, joyful and full of energy as they receive their degree certificates and embark on their careers, surrounded by our partners at UCL and our pioneering staff and colleagues at NGU.”

Professor Mohammed Nafie of the Communications, Computers and Autonomous Systems course, adds: “It’s been five years, which have gone really quickly, since we started to work with UCL on the rules and regulations to our School of Engineering, which was then followed by the detailed curriculum. Now we are welcoming our first batch of ‘to-be-engineers’. The Computers, Communications and Autonomous Systems (CCAS) programme started with around 30 students, and since Day 1 I was looking forward to the day they graduate into the world.  And here they are, with their families and friends, celebrating their graduation day! They put in the effort to learn and apply themselves. I hope we have guided them to become better members of the global society.” 

Images credit to NGU University © Newgiza University.

NGU UCL Engineering Signing Ceremony © Alejandro Salinas Lopez. Full L-R:

Top row: Professor John Mitchell and Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker.
Middle row: Roger de Montfort, Dr Celia Caulcott, His Excellency Tarek Adel, Professor Sameh Farid, Dr Magdy Ishak, Sir Derek Plumbly.
Bottom row: Professor Emanuela Tilley, Mrs Trish Greenan, Miss Dina Farid.

Read more about UCL’s collaboration with NGU:

• Launch of UCL Engineering-NGU collaboration
• UCL Medical Sciences-NGU collaboration renewed
• First announcement of the UCL-NGU collaboration, negotiated by UCL Consultants.

Read more about the Centre for Engineering Education’s work:

• The CEE’s consultancy work
• Integrated Engineering Programme

Join the conversation on LinkedIn