47 AUS students honored for undergraduate research

American University of Sharjah (AUS) recognized the best undergraduate student research projects carried out in the 2012-2013 academic year at its annual Student Research Awards Ceremony last night, February 25, 2014. The event was hosted by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies and sponsored by Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) and British Petroleum (BP) UAE. 47 students were awarded at the ceremony.

The student projects are selected through a two-stage review process. Winners were selected by an AUS-wide Selection Committee from a pool of nominees presented by the College of Arts and Sciences; the College of Architecture, Art and Design; the College of Engineering; and the School of Business and Management. Projects were evaluated based on communication and presentation, completeness of application, depth of research and investigation, and innovation and creativity.

Research is an essential component of what makes a university great. Here at AUS, we do our utmost to encourage our students to become involved in research, for without it, a well-rounded education is virtually impossible," said AUS Acting Chancellor, Dr. Thomas Hochstettler, during his opening address.

"For us as a university, the Undergraduate Student Research Awards are one of the highlights of the academic calendar. All of you who are being honored here tonight are being recognized for applying yourselves to serious investigation in your chosen field of endeavor. Supported by your dedicated faculty mentors, you have demonstrated your commitment to pursuing excellence, achieving this success as a result of innovative and original thinking," added Dr. Hochstettler.

"AUS Student Research Awards recognize the best undergraduate student research projects in our academic units. I am very pleased with the quality of the projects that have been submitted for the competition this year. It's encouraging to see the high levels of commitment and skill that our students are able to demonstrate in their work," said Dr. Gautam Sen, Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies, congratulating the winning students."

Khalaf Abdallah, Chief Internal Auditor, Sharjah Islamic Bank, said that it was his pleasure to award students for their hard work. He also added that he was proud to witness their commitment in keenly achieving excellence through research. "My advice to all students here today," he remarked, "is to be proud of what they accomplished."

According to Oliver Broad, Vice President - Communications & External Affairs, BP, this year's ceremony marks the ten year anniversary between AUS and BP's collaboration. "We are really proud to continue to support such initiative," he said. Congratulating winning students for success, Broad said that he was "truly impressed by the quality of thought, imagination, and research that went into their work."

Sharjah Islamic Bank awarded cash prizes to the winners of the top three projects. British Petroleum handed out iPads to the three winning teams for its Respect Award, Courage Award and One Team Award.

AUS architecture student Nasser Alzayani, whose research on providing efficient shelters to Palestinian refugees won him the Courage Award, said that being recognized for research efforts inspires "students to work harder to achieve something."

Echoing Alzayani's remarks, AUS vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Instruction, Dr. Kevin Mitchell added that such awards are necessary because they expose "undergraduate students to working in a way that they may not within a context of a regular class [as] many do not get a chance to do research."
He concluded that "It is something unique to recognize the research that undergraduate students have done."

Also present at the ceremony were AUS Acting Provost, Dr. R. Malcolm Richards, Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Mr. Salem Al Qaseer, Dean of College of Architecture, Art and Design, Peter Arthur Di Sabatino, and Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Mahmoud Anabtawi.