Several students from American University of Sharjah (AUS) won at the third annual UAE Undergraduate Student Research Competition held on Thursday, May 21, 2015 at Abu Dhabi University. The award, held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, recognizes outstanding student research being conducted at the academic institutions in the UAE, and allows students a chance to present their results in a nationwide competition.

Maissam El Kouche, from the Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, was awarded first place for her project entitled "Chemical Analysis and Health Assessment of Dokha Tobacco." Of the one hundred research submissions that reached the finals, three were from the Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at AUS.

"Engaging undergraduate students in research and hands-on learning is central to the mission of the College of Arts and Sciences and is a culture that we aim to promote among our students and faculty," said Dr. Mahmoud Anabtawi, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

In first place was also a team from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, supervised by Dr. Fadi Aloul and Dr. Imran Zualkernan. The students Ahmed Awad, Shams Shabsough and Youssef Elkhorazaty, submitted a project entitled "Emotion Detection Using Smartphones."

Also winning for their research work on Design and Applications of Sustainable/Green Concrete, were civil engineering students, Mohamed Hegazi, Raafat Talih and Ayah Ahmed. Supervised by Dr. Adil Al-Tamimi, Professor in Civil Engineering, the AUS team won the first place among all civil engineering submissions in the UAE and placed third among teams from mixed majors.

Chemical engineering students, Sonam Ludhani and Reshma Sulthana, mentored by Dr. Paul Nancarrow, were awarded third place in the "Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Sciences and Physics" category, out of a total of 20 teams that reached the final in this category. The AUS team project was entitled "Critical evaluation and extension of group contribution models for the prediction of ionic liquid viscosities."

Dr. Leland Blank, Dean of the College of Engineering, congratulated the CEN students who won. He said, "I am pleased with the quality of the projects that CEN students submitted. It's encouraging to see the high level of commitment and skill that our students are able to show in their projects." Addressing the students, he said "Supported by your dedicated faculty supervisors, you have demonstrated your commitment to pursuing excellence."

The competition this year involved more than 1,000 students representing 25 universities from all over the UAE.