Minister of State for Public Education awards AUS student winners in interior design competition

The importance of reading from a young age was emphasized at Interior Design (IDE) competition, organized by the College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD) at American University of Sharjah (AUS). Her Excellency Jameela bint Salem Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education, came to campus and was welcomed by AUS Chancellor, Dr. Björn Kjerfve and Dean of CAAD, Dr. Varkki Pallathucheril recently, to award the winners of the competition.

Thirty CAAD students in their third and fourth interior design year participated in the competition, which aims to develop new innovative and interactive ideas to stimulate a passion for reading in children. In association with the Ministry of Public Education, the competition required students to create a poster of a mobile library for children. The idea was to inspire children to interact with books, making their experience fun and educational.

The CAAD students presented their posters on January 28, and were reviewed by several CAAD faculty members including Dr. Varkki Pallathucheril, Dean of CAAD; Camilo Cerro, Assistant Professor of Architecture; and Zinka Bejtic, CAAD Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Art and Design. Her Excellency Jameela bint Salem Al Muhairi was also a part of the judging panel.

MPE members attended the award ceremony and included Amna Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary of Care and Activities Sector; Sherifa Mousa, Director of Learning Resources; Muna Abdullah, Director of the Office of Her Excellency; Fathiya Al Abidly, Head of Events in Government Communication Management. Other jury members included professional interior designers from Dubai.

Meera Alagroobi, Associate Project Manager at MPE, said, "As last year was the year of reading, Her Excellency was keen on involving and encouraging the community in different ways. The year of reading was one year but the plan was not to stop there, so this is an ongoing project. We believe that reading should be introduced at a very young age."

Zinka Bejtic, Associate Professor of Art and Design at AUS expressed that the IDE competition is a great opportunity for CAAD students to give back to the community and their talent is a great way to promote reading in the outside community.

The first, second and third place winners went to interior design students in their third and fourth years, and are Rima Chalha, Leen Elmobaddr and Aya Kanafani, respectively.

The winning idea will be implemented by the MPE.