Salah El Haggar Oral History

Salah El Haggar was a mechanical engineering faculty member at the American University in Cairo from the mid-1980s to the 2020s. El Haggar recounts his upbringing, education (including graduate study in the United States starting in 1979), and early career. He describes AUC’s engineering department when he arrived in the mid-1980s, and the creation of the Mechanical Engineering Department and other specialized departments. He covers interdisciplinary collaboration between engineering faculty and science faculty (including various centers) over the years, as well as his own work with AUC’s Desert Development Center and Social Research Center in the 1980s and 1990s in areas like community development and renewable energy. The Deans of the School of Sciences and Engineering (SSE) are discussed, along with the approaches that Provosts and Presidents like Richard Pedersen, Lisa Anderson, and others took toward science and engineering programs at AUC. The issue of securing scientific equipment is addressed, along with the facilities (including space limitations) on the old downtown campus and those available on the New Cairo Campus, and the challenges of the move to the new campus and the related efforts of SSE Dean Medhat Haroun. El Haggar discusses his time as Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department, its specializations, and student enrollment issues. He speaks of his engagement with students, and offers observations on how they have changed over time, including the impact of the 2011 Revolution in Egypt (for example on the 2012 student strike). El Haggar discusses the emergence of environmental engineering programs at AUC in the 1990s, and his own research in the field, such as in the area of environmentally sustainable “green” buildings. He tells of his related consulting work and involvement in international and national initiatives and organizations in environmentally sustainable architecture, as well as with the Egyptian NGO Association for the Protection of the Environment

Sustainable industrial design and waste management : cradle-to-cradle for sustainable development

xvii, 401 p. : ill. ; 24 cm

Road Map for Global Sustainability: Rise of The Green Communities

https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_books/1019/thumbnail.jp

Sustainable guideline for developing E-Waste Sector in Egypt

The amount of electronic waste generated globally is alarming especially that it is on the rise. The impact of the generated amounts is not only Environmental. The electronic waste sector is unregulated in most developing countries; this results in the informal sector being heavily involved in managing and handling it. Due to the lack of regulations, informal handlers are exposed to hazardous materials that affect both their health and health of the communities living in their proximity. Moreover, the informal sector involves illegal child and women labor under harsh conditions. In addition to the social impact, the lack of regulations leads to missing major economic opportunities associated with developing a recycling industry for the safe handling and material recovery from the generated e-waste volumes. Electronic waste may contain up to 60 different materials including precious and rare-earth metals with estimated equivalent economic value of 48 billion Euros. Egypt is one the countries which lack policies and regulations dedicated to e-waste, hence the Egyptian economy is missing the economic potential and job creation opportunities associated with developing the e-waste sector as well as facing major Environmental and health challenges due to the improper handling of the generated amounts. This paper briefly reviews the current situation of e-waste in Egypt. The paper then proposes an adapted guideline for the sustainable management of e-waste in Egypt. The guideline is based on the international regulations and guidelines especially those of countries similar to the Egyptian socioeconomic context. The produced guideline focuses on establishing a collection and recycling framework for e-waste in Egypt with EPR at its center. The guideline also establishes a financing system to help foster the recycling industry in Egypt while fulfilling the three main pillars of sustainability

Removal of lead (II) from aqueous solutions using rice straw

Lead (Pb2+) is a heavy metal which is utilized in several industries and can have severe impact on the environment and human health. Research work has been carried out lately on the feasibility of using various low cost materials in the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. In this study, the feasibility of utilizing raw rice straw for removal of Pb2+ from water through biosorption was investigated using batch equilibrium experiments. The effect of several operating parameters on the removal of Pb2+ using rice straw was studied, revealing the optimum parameters at an initial Pb2+ concentration of 40 mg/l were: 30 min contact time at a pH of 5.5, particle size 75–150 μm and a dose of 4 g/l. A maximum removal of 94% was achieved under optimum conditions. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used for the evaluation of the equilibrium experimental data. The maximum adsorption capacity of rice straw calculated using the Langmuir isotherm was 42.55 mg/g.</jats:p

Slum Development Using Zero Waste Concepts: Construction Waste Case Study

© 2016 The Authors. The rapid urbanization of the last century caused more slum formations resulting in numerous adverse effects and is considered a major problem facing developing countries. This paper touches on the complexities of sustainable slum development specially dealing with slum dwellers in a trial to enhance their capacities and potential. Teaching them new skills through a Learn to Earn Program , will help them generate income and turn the slum into a catalyst for the economy rather than a burden on it. Another major problem in developing countries nowadays is waste accumulation. Zero waste strategy dictates that waste has to move from a linear system to being more cyclical according to cradle to cradle approach so that materials are used efficiently. Construction waste, representing a huge part of the solid waste stream, is emphasized in this case study. The objective of this paper is providing an integrated solution for developing countries that combines efforts in slum development and zero waste management to achieve a higher impact on the local community and on the national level. This presents a sustainable solution for the problem of slums while at the same time solving the problem of construction waste accumulation using zero waste strategy

Mathematical Model for designing a Light Prismatic panel

Adequate daylighting inside built spaces helps reaching satisfactory levels of energy consumption by reducing the usage of artificial lighting. Moreover, it is a major source in adjusting the occupants’ visual comfort which boosts productivity and concentration. Nevertheless, inefficient design would result in increasing the solar hear gain and increasing the indoor temperatures, as well as uneven light distribution would result in the “cave effect” phenomena. A Sustainable complex fenestration system is proposed in this paper that diffuses and redirects daylight through a prismatic panel. The panel will redirect the excessive direct light upwards and reduce the light from going downwards in hot climate desert areas with high solar altitudes in the summer. A suitable design was obtained through a self-developed optical mathematical model using evolutionary algorithm. Afterwards, the mathematical model was validated using an optical ray tracing software called TracePro. Further analysis and interpretation on the light behaviour was viable using the ray tracing software which included the power transmission of the light. The final design resulted in the redirection of light upwards for all solar altitudes, increasing as the solar altitude is higher. And the mathematical model was validated against the computer ray tracing model with a standard error of the mean (SEM) of ±1.03 for the upward angles and ±2.47 for the downward angles. The design workflow including the mathematical model and the optimization tool proved to be a cheap and reliable solution for an initial design of light redirecting panels