The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

If you think that the title is a mouthful, you’ll be surprised to know that that is not the full title of the competition that the students from GUC victoriously won. It’s actually called the 2019 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting. We were exhausted just writing it! However, that is nothing compared to the strenuous and laborious efforts that the winning team of GUC students must have exerted to achieve such an impressive accomplishment!

So, what is this contest that has such a complicated name? According to their website, the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Antenna Design Contest invites and motivates students to visualise, in an easy way, the properties of an antenna system. Then, the top 6 teams receive up to $2,500 in travel funds to attend the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia, from 7-12 July 2019 to demonstrate their working systems. Out of these six teams, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners were announced at the 2019 IEEE AP-S Awards Presentation at the conference, and receive cash awards of US$1,500, $750 and $250, respectively, as well as an opportunity to be considered for publication in the IEEE AP Magazine. Thanks to their persistence and passion, the Egyptian group ticked all the boxes!

Let’s get to know the team a bit more and their project. The title of the entry was “DIY Antenna Characterization System Using Universal UHF RFID Hemispherical Dome”. Members of the team, from the Communications Engineering Department, included Monica Wasfy William, Nada Khaled Sayed Abdelhadi, Samar Abdelatty Sayed Elmeadawy, and TA Yasmine Abdalla Zaghloul under the guidance of their faculty advisor, Dr Hany Fathy Hammad. They were against five other international competitors: Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal), Brigham Young University (USA), National University of Colombia (Colombia), University of New Mexico (USA), and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (USA).

We also translated an excerpt from Asra7ays.com, where Dr Hany stated that this year included the development of a system that distinguishes and explains the antenna function, which he says is the most important part of communication equipment for the transmission or reception of electromagnetic waves. Furthermore, it is used in radio and television broadcasts, point-to-point wireless communication, local computer networks, radars, space exploration, and underwater detection.   

We are aware that the competition is over, but we advise you to check out the eligibility and application process, in case you are a fellow student who would like to apply in the future and experience an opportunity of a lifetime.