SOE National Advisory Council honors innovative student projects

The National Advisory Council of the School of Engineering (SOE) at the American University of Sharjah held its annual meeting May 4 in the Main Building.

The council comprises representatives of leading institutions of both public and private sectors. Members of the council who attended the meeting included Engineer Obeid Al Tuniji, Director General of Planning and Survey Department, Sharjah Municipality; Mr. Mel Stewart, Engineering Advisor, Office of the Ruler of Sharjah; Mr. Paul Keighley, General Manager, Crescent Petroleum Company; Mr. Peter Heintzelman, Senior Human Resources Manager, Halliburton; Mr. Wissam Atoui,Project Manager, Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises; Mr. Nigel Paton, VP Engineering, Petrofac; Mr. Sivakumar Nadarajah, Personnel Manager, Schlumberger; Mr. Nihal Wijeyesekera, FE Business Development Manager, MEA Schlumberger; and Mr. John Boton of Halliburton.

Dr. Winfred L. Thompson, AUS Chancellor; Mr. Salem Al-Qaseer, Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs; Dr. Sallie Sheppard, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Dr. Leland Blank, Dean of the School of Engineering, as well as faculty members from the SOE, and senior AUS officials were also present.

During the welcoming session, Dr. Leland Blank briefed the members of the council on the current status of the various academic disciplines within the SOE and expressed his appreciation for the members' continuing interest in the school. He also briefed them on SOE's ABET accreditation status. Members of the council also met with SOE students and evaluated senior student projects from the various disciplines of the school.

A total of seven outstanding projects were recognized, two of which received top honors as joint winners. These were:

• Design and Simulation of an +C5 Innovative Field Microwave Imaging System (Department of Electrical Engineering)

• Solid Waste Management and Hydrogen Generation (Department of Chemical Engineering)

The other five winning projects were:

• Analysis and Design of a Multistory Building with a Transfer Slab (Department of Civil Engineering)

• Alternative Design of a Highway Bridge in Sharjah (Department of Civil Engineering)

• Intelligent Arabic Sign- Language Translation System (Department of Computer Engineering)

• Formula SAE Racecar (Department of Mechanical Engineering)

• Controlling an Artificial Arm using Brain-Computer Interface (Department of Computer Science)

All winners were awarded cash prizes, sponsored by Schlumberger, along with certificates