Prof. Dr. Essam Farhat, President of Minia University, welcomed in his office two of the university’s distinguished scientists and experts in the electric vehicle industry, as part of the university’s efforts to support and encourage its outstanding cadres. The guests were:

• Dr. Mina Murad Qaldas, Director of Automotive Control Systems at Ford Motor Company and former Lecturer at the Department of Automotive and Tractor Engineering, Faculty of Engineering.

• Dr. Mohamed Kamal Ahmed Ali, Assistant Professor at the same department and currently an international researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recognized as the first Egyptian to work in the field of developing and manufacturing lubricants and self-lubricating materials for electric vehicles.

The meeting was attended by Prof. Dr. Mostafa Mahmoud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Yasser Refaat Tawfik, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and Dr. Hossam Ramadan, Director of the International Cooperation Office.

Dr. Farhat expressed his pride in the achievements of the university’s alumni and their international successes, stressing that the visit comes within the framework of national efforts to localize the electric vehicle industry and expand investments in this promising sector, in line with Egypt’s vision to become a regional hub for electric vehicle manufacturing.

He added that the meeting reflects the university’s strategy to strengthen scientific research and employ it in the service of development, achieve sustainability in higher education, connect academic institutions with industrial needs, and bridge the gap between educational outcomes and labor market requirements, while also promoting international cooperation.

Discussions during the meeting focused on the future of the electric vehicle industry and ways to localize the manufacturing of its components and complementary parts in accordance with Egypt’s national strategies and Vision 2030 for Sustainable Development.

The talks also addressed linking the proposed new academic program at the Department of Automotive and Tractor Engineering, entitled “Smart Electric Vehicle Engineering,” with a prominent local industrial partner to ensure its success, in addition to exploring the establishment of a technological maintenance center to train students in partnership with this industrial partner.

The University President also affirmed his aspiration to expand scientific and training cooperation with major academic and industrial institutions in Germany, with Ford Motor Company, as well as to conclude a student exchange protocol between the Department of Chinese Language at the Faculty of Al-Alsun and Chinese universities, following the successful models established in other Egyptian universities.

It is worth noting that Dr. Mina Murad Qaldas received the Mayers Award in 2012 from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in the United States for the best evaluation of a suspension control system, and holds eight patents in this field. Dr. Mohamed Kamal Ahmed Ali received the State Encouragement Award in Engineering Sciences in 2020 and the Best PhD Dissertation Award from Wuhan University of Technology in China in 2019.