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Following the 2018 AUK teams’ outstanding performance in the Global Management Challenge, two AUK teams have advanced into the 2019 National Championship, reaching the first position in the respective group stages.  This is not the first time AUK finds two teams competing with each other in the finals after having beaten other university student teams and company management teams. The first team includes Donia O Mohammad (Leader), Laila O Mohammad, Aliaa A Al-Shahawi, Mariam N Mubarak, Yasmeen A Mohamed. The second team consists of Amer K Khosla (Leader), Amal A Radhwan, Farah A Mobayed, Rafia F Tabaa, and Ghada Al Sahhaf. The Global Management Challenge is the largest strategy and management competition in the world, based on business simulations, in which more than 650,000 university students and company managers participate.  

AUK Professor of Accounting, Dr. Ahmed Kholeif and Associate Professor of Management, Dr. Aly Mansour are continuing their roles as mentors to the teams; their guidance has broadened students’ views on corporate strategy, helped to identify interactions with the different functional areas of a company, guided students in recognizing market conditions in which they compete, and assisted in creating an awareness of the impact of their decisions on the organization within an environment designed to encourage and develop teamwork for company growth.
  
Ms. Randa of the Adnar Group, specialization in consulting, training and recruitment praised the performance of AUK teams and extended messages of congratulations to the teams.
 

AUK hosted Dr. Ibrahim Hegazy, Professor of Marketing and the Head of the Marketing Academic Unit at the Management Department at the American University in Cairo (AUC), for his presentation entitled, Marketing to Generation Z. The presentation was open to the students and faculty of the College of Business and Economics (CBE) at AUK.

In his talk, Dr. Hegazy began by distinguishing the different generations and their varying consumer profiles— demographically, psychologically, and their buying patterns. His lecture focused mainly on the growing consumer segment of millennials and generation Z, profiling them as digital natives, multi-taskers, and having an entrepreneurial spirit along with an increasingly short attention span. 

Understanding their characteristics helps marketers shape their marketing strategy which is important as they represent a powerful consumer base and buying power. In Kuwait, almost 24.6% of the total population fall within the Gen-Z (5-24 years old) category.

Dr. Hegazy noted, “Unless we research them comprehensively and unless we adapt our marketing message and adapt our communication to be relevant and appealing to Gen Z, we will not be able to attract and retain our future markets as brands.” As such, the growth of this consumer segment has introduced alternative marketing methods such as content marketing, viral marketing, and buzz marketing. Dr. Hegazy outlined an eight-step strategy for marketing to Generation Z. The strategy centered around being more active online, and mainly involved advocating user-created content, leveraging on using influencers and creating a more authentic and humanized brand.

Dr. Ibrahim Hegazy is a Professor of Marketing at the American University in Cairo. In 1990, Hegazy received his Doctorate Degree (PhD) in Marketing and International Business from George Washington University. In addition to his position at AUC, Dr. Ibrahim Hegazy is currently a member of the Egyptian Parliament. Dr. Ibrahim Hegazy was the Chairman of the School of Business Council (2013-2014), the Chairman of the Management Department (2004-2008), visiting marketing professor at George Washington University - USA (2002-2004). Dr Hegazy also served as an adjunct faculty member at ALBA Graduate School of Business between 2008 & 2017 teaching at the MBA program. Between 1995 and 2008, Dr. Hegazy served as the director of the MBA program at the Management Department – AUC. Furthermore, between 1995 and 2002, Dr. Hegazy served as the Director of the Institute of the Management Development at AUC, one of the leading Training centers in the Middle East. Hegazy is an active member of the American Marketing Association, the Academy of Marketing Science, the International Advertising Association, the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, and the Academy of International Business.
 

Alumni and faculty from the American University of Kuwait (AUK) helped organize and participate in the Manifesto 13’s ‘Art for Sudan’ exhibition and silent auction that was held to raise awareness on the recent crisis in Sudan. The event was organized by Manifesto 13 and held at their office.

The exhibition’s artwork was provided by AUK Associate Professors at the Department of Art & Graphic Design William Andersen and Maryam Hosseinnia, as well as AUK alumni Myriam Kotb and Omar Al-Nakib,  among other well-known artists from Kuwait and abroad. Proceeds from the auction went towards the Sudan Doctors Union—an independent and non-partisan organization devoted to the development of qualified and unprejudiced healthcare in Sudan. Professor William recognized the success of the event, noting that all the artwork sold, and all the money was donated. 

The team at Manifesto13 commented, "Manifesto13 is proud to announce that our silent auction to fund medical aid has raised over KD1,235 for the Sudanese Doctor’s Union! We wish to offer a big thank you to the artists who donated their work and the generosity of the bidders who made the silent auction a success."
  

The American University of Kuwait (AUK) Library hosted the Kuwait National Assembly to celebrate the 57th anniversary of Kuwait’s Constitution. During their time on campus, representatives from the National Assembly interpreted different articles of the constitution, in addition to explaining the constitutional culture, and the mission of the National Assembly. 

As part of their activities, the National Assembly organized the Constitution Day competition which required students to answer a short online quiz to enter the draw for valuable prizes. The competition’s five winners will be announced on December 5th, and they will receive various cash prizes.

The director of the library, Ms. Asma Al-Kanan, commented, “We try to collaborate with governmental and non-governmental institutions to bring opportunities to our students whereby they learn about Kuwait’s history, culture, and government. Students had the opportunity to interact directly with representatives from the National Assembly and ask questions that might help them in their studies.” She also recognized the significance of this national anniversary by saying, “The issuance of the constitution was a significant moment in the history of Kuwait which laid down the system of government and the main principles of liberty, justice, and equality.” 

One of the National Assembly’s representatives, Mr. Mohammad Al-Awadh, commented, “It was a really interesting event, we enjoyed being in the library to pass information about Kuwait’s constitution and history to faculty, staff, and especially students. It was interesting to explore their knowledge in this area and had a great time discussing what this information can add to their studies.” The representative also mentioned that his favorite part was the interaction with the AUK students and adding to their knowledge in a way that compliments their education.
  

The Department of Art & Graphic Design at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) hosted artist Yasmeen Ismail, an award-winning author, illustrator, and animator for an illustration workshop entitled, Making Picture Books. The event was sponsored by the British Council in Kuwait as part of their Drawing Words exhibition which was displayed during the Kuwait Book Fair to celebrate 120 years of friendship between the UK and Kuwait. 

The workshop was attended by faculty, students, and alumni from the Department of Art & Graphic Design. At the workshop, Ms. Ismail introduced attendees to the process involved in the production of stories, illustration, and publishing for children. Following this, Ms. Ismail conducted an illustration activity to help the attendees express their creativity and experiment with illustrating children’s books. 

One of the attendees, AUK student Raghad Mustafa, expressed, “The ideal individual isn’t someone who never fails, it's someone who creates an equilibrium between failing and succeeding. And that is what Yasmeen Ismail began to introduce in the illustration workshop.” 

The chair of the Department, Professor William Andersen recognized the significance that such opportunities present to students as they expand their horizons beyond what is taught in the classroom. He added that since the Department of Art & Graphic Design does not have a children’s book illustration course, that this was a unique opportunity to learn from an expert; as he states, “We’ve collaborated with the British Council for many years, and they always bring in people that add a lot of value to the programs and skills we provide to our students.”
  

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) successfully concluded the first KOC Oil & Gas Techathon organized in collaboration with its academic partner, the Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences, and Engineering (RISE) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK). 

The country-wide technology marathon took place on November 14th-16th and brought together 76 participants of which one third comprised of women. Each of the 12 competing teams was composed of oil & gas professionals including employees of KOC, as well as students and graduates of computer science, petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, geology, graphic design, and business studies, coming from AUK, Kuwait University, and a number of private universities in Kuwait. Over the period of 48 hours, the teams worked to devise solutions for challenges related to the oil & gas sector. The main topics of challenges were oil & gas operations, drilling operations, and HSSE (Health, Safety, Security, and Environment). Throughout the event, subject matter experts (mentors) were guiding the teams and answered their questions; among the mentors was Mr. Mohamed Malek, a digital architect from Microsoft.  

The closing ceremony on the evening of November 16th announced 3 winning teams:  iLana Team (1st place), A-Team (2nd place), and Cruel Oil Team (3rd place).

iLana Team tackled three challenges related to gas turbine compressor health, pipeline failures, and errors in electric submersible pumps. A-Team proposed a solution for the predictive maintenance of electric submersible pumps, while Cruel Oil Team came up with a solution for the foresting of gas flaring pollutants concentration.

KOC Deputy CEO for Planning and Finance, Bader Al-Attar expressed his admiration of the Techathon and praised the participants on their innovative solutions to the real-world challenges they were assigned; Al-Attar also asserted that KOC is looking forward to hosting another Techathon in the future. 

Dr. Rawda Awwad, President of AUK, emphasized on the mutual values and principles shared between both AUK and KOC: “In its mission to enable for its students and broader community discovery and exploration, AUK has found an important collaborative partner: Kuwait Oil Company. Among others, KOC's values reflect the principles that we as an institution are also trying to uphold: caring for people, partnership, integrity, and innovation. That level of collaboration that you see today—between the private and the public, the individual and the community—is an unnegotiable key-stone. This is how we move forward, and how “we” all can make a difference.”    

Dr. Amir Zeid, Dean of the AUK College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), praised the partnership between AUK and KOC as well as the diversity of the participants: “We are pleased to be the academic partner with KOC for this event. I am proud to see many AUK students and alumni from multiple disciplines participating in the event. We are looking forward to a long-term partnership with KOC for more events and research initiatives.”

Prior to the winners’ announcements, each team presented and demonstrated their solutions to a judging panel composed of; Dr. Adel Al-Abassi, former Deputy Managing Director of Technology Research & Management at KPC; Ms. Anaam Al-Jenaa, Teamleader of Information Technology Operations at KOC (IT Group); and Mr. Toufic Halabi, Microsoft Regional Energy & Resources Lead. The judges then convened to select the 3 best teams based on specific selection criteria.  

The winner, iLana Team, led by AUK alumnus Ali Kelkawi, proposed a solution that consisted of predictive modeling and analysis of gas turbine compressor health, pipeline failures, and errors in electric submersible pumps, which can lead to reductions in financial costs and potential manpower needed to fix these errors. Different machine learning models were built and deployed as part of a web application where users can easily leverage these models using their own datasets, as well as learn more about the process and theory behind the derived models.

“KOC’s first annual Techathon gave students and professionals of different fields the chance to come together and innovate solutions related to the oil & gas sector. I am thrilled to see the rising interest in data science in different sectors in Kuwait, as reflected in some of the challenges tackled during this competition. I am extremely proud of my team’s continuous success and hope to inspire others to become part of such successful events,” expressed Kelkawi. 

The second winning team, A-Team, worked on a new method for the analysis of the data on electric submersible pumps (ESP) failures called “Narrow Network.” This method combines a huge amount of data received from 100 ESPs, and it predicts the types of errors and failures along with the overall probability of failures in the future.

The third winning team, Cruel Oil Team, developed a solution that forecasts any emissions resulting from the flaring process. The forecasts are then used to define a clear plan ahead to at least minimize the errors that result from the designs of the flares.

About RISE

The AUK Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences, and Engineering (RISE) serves as AUK's primary source for multidisciplinary research and development (R&D) activities. The Center employs a holistic approach to R&D by integrating academic disciplines, and forging connections between local & international innovators, academia & industry, and technology & society.
 

 

Mr. Ali Al-Naqeeb, Manager of Corporate Information Technology Group at KOC
  

 

AUK President, Dr. Rawda Awwad
  

 

(From left to right) AUK President, Dr. Rawda Awwad; KOC CEO, Mr. Emad Mahmoud Sultan; KOC Deputy CEO (Planning & Finance), Mr. Bader Al-Attar
  

 

(From left to right) RISE Director, Dr. Amir Zeid with members of the judging panel, Mr. Toufic Halabi, Microsoft Regional Energy & Resources Lead; Ms. Anaam Al-Jenaa, Teamleader of Information Technology Operations at KOC (IT Group); Dr. Adel Al-Abassi, former Deputy Managing Director of Technology Research & Management at KPC
  

 

KOC CEO, Mr. Emad Sultan presenting a plaque to RISE Center Director, Dr. Amir Zeid
  

 

First place winners of the Techathon: Team iLana
  

 

Group photo of the winning teams with the judging panel and key administrators from AUK and KOC

The Center for Gulf Studies (CGS) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK), in collaboration with Sciences Po and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), hosted a lecture entitled, “The Gulf and Egypt: Religious Connections”. The lecture was presented by Dr. Stéphane Lacroix, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po in Paris, France. The lecture was held at AUK’s auditorium, and was attended by Her Excellency Ambassador Marie Masdupuy, the Ambassador of France to Kuwait. 

In his lecture, Dr. Lacroix began by exploring the origins of Salafism in Saudi Arabia, and its role in normalizing Saudi sovereignty.  He traced the movement’s transnational religious circulation into Egypt, which both impacted the movement’s ideology and practices and led to the establishment of a more formalized structured institution in Egypt. He continued to contend that although the Egyptian Salafi movement was initially fueled by Saudi Arabia’s religious influence, the growth of the movement during the 20th and 21st century in Egypt was due to internal domestic factors. These factors included the increased publishing of Salafi commentary through the Al-Manar journal in Egypt, which influenced the resurgence of Ibn Taymiyyah’s works, and influenced the establishment of other religious institutions.

Dr. Lacroix clarified his talk by stating, “What I tried to do in my presentation was to add nuance to our understanding of Gulf-Egypt religious relations. One commonly held view, in particular, is that Egypt’s Salafi movement is a mere extension of Saudi religious influence. What I wanted to show is that despite the obvious existence of links between the two, when one looks at the historical and sociological evidence, this connection appears to be largely overrated.”  He continued, “It was an immense pleasure to lecture at AUK in front of such an engaged community of scholars and students. I am especially grateful to my dear friends at the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science for arranging this talk.”

Dr. Shareefa Al-Adwani, the Director of the CGS, commented, “We welcome Professor Stephane Lacroix back to AUK’s Center for Gulf Studies, with the collaboration of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Sciences Po, to discuss his book-in-development and the special research he has been conducting on the Gulf and Egypt for more than fifteen years.” On Dr. Lacroix’s presentation, she noted, “During his research, Dr. Lacroix had investigated some commonly-held beliefs about the history and connections of various ideologies in our region. He found that the relationships between ideologies are not always as simple as was initially thought both in the Gulf studies literature and in our communities and spoke of the complex interactions and autonomous agency held by the people and institutions in Egypt and the Gulf. His cutting-edge research contributes tremendously to the literature on the Gulf; and our AUK community enjoyed being among the first of his audiences to hear about his forthcoming book.”

Stéphane Lacroix is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po and a researcher at Sciences Po’s Centre de Recherches Internationales (CERI). He is the author of Awakening Islam: The Politics of Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia (Harvard University Press, 2011), Saudi Arabia in Transition: Insights on Social, Political, Economic and Religious Change (Cambridge University Press, 2015, with Bernard Haykel and Thomas Hegghammer), Egypt’s Revolutions: Politics, Religion, Social Movements (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, with Bernard Rougier), and Revisiting the Arab Uprisings: The Politics of a Revolutionary Moment (Oxford University Press, 2018, with Jean-Pierre Filiu).

About the Center for Gulf Studies:
The Center for Gulf Studies is a research center under the College of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Kuwait. The center aims to promote greater cultural understanding of and increased intellectual interest in the Gulf, by facilitating free and open academic discourse on a range of issues that both shape and challenge this critical region of the world. Their goal is to enable scholars as well as political and civil society actors both within and outside the region to contribute and add value to the burgeoning field of Gulf Studies. To this end, the center seeks to encourage, support, and cultivate interesting and original research on the Gulf, and to create an environment in which AUK students and faculty can interact and collaborate with researchers and activists from around the world in creative and engaging ways.
  

Under the umbrella of its lecture series, the Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences, and Engineering (RISE) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) hosted its first lecture of this academic year titled Nation State Cyber-Hacking: Looking Backwards to Light the Path Forward, presented by Mr. Guillermo Christensen, a U.S. cybersecurity expert. Attended by the AUK community, as well as other students, media representatives, and the general public, the talk explored several key security concepts, including reasonable security, industrial espionage, and data governance.

Mr. Christensen started with the history of cyber-hacking which dates back to August 1914 and the onset of World War I when Britain cut German’s cable communications with the outside world. This strategic act allowed Britain to intercept the Zimmerman Telegram sent by Germans to their embassy in Mexico, and it thus became known as the first milestone in information warfare in the modern world. 

Throughout his talk, Mr. Christensen warned about the looming threat of unprotected network entries, supply chain hacks, and insider threats. The speaker also drew attention to the causal link between data warfare and the susceptibility of the affected geo regions in being more prone to conflict in general. Essentially, cybersecurity is primarily about people, and it remains vital for both individuals and companies to always know the value of their information.  

Commenting on the audience engagement during the lecture, Mr. Christensen said, “I was very impressed with the strong interest that so many students showed in the topic of cybersecurity. I really enjoyed the opportunity to have a great dialogue and questions from AUK students.”

Dr. Amir Zeid, the Dean of the AUK College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, expressed RISE’s privilege in hosting Mr. Christensen when stating: “Our international lecture series is one of the main venues we use to realize our vision. This year we have chosen to commence our Lecture Series with yet another inspiring talk that touches the lives of many in Kuwait. It is a pleasure to see this variety of audience attending today’s event.” Dr. Zeid especially thanked the Embassy of United States of America in Kuwait, which co-organized the lecture. 

Mr. Guillermo Christensen is a partner in Ice Miller’s Data Security and Privacy and White Collar Defense Groups, where he focuses on enterprise risks involving cybersecurity and national security law. His cybersecurity experience ranges from conducting information security risk assessments that take a “whole of company” approach to managing responses to security incidents and breaches, including those where a nation-state or insider threat may be involved. Previously, Mr. Christensen worked at international law firms, advising multinational corporations on risks involving cybersecurity. He was also a CIA intelligence officer and a diplomat with the U.S. State Department, and served in a policy role as the Science and Technology Advisor to the U.S. Mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

About RISE
The AUK Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences, and Engineering (RISE) serves as AUK's primary source for multidisciplinary research and development (R&D) activities. The Center employs a holistic approach to R&D by integrating academic disciplines, and forging connections between local & international innovators, academia & industry, and technology & society.