Ain Shams University, represented by the Robotic Nurse (Shams) project, which was implemented by a research team from the University’s Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences, won first place at the level of Cairo Governorate in the Small Local Projects category - A Decent Life, as well as the Egypt Distinguished Center for Solid Waste Management affiliated with the Faculty of Engineering, won second place in Cairo Governorate level, the category of national non-profit participation and initiatives, during Ain Shams University’s participation in the second session of the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects, which was launched by His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, as part of the Egyptian state’s preparations to participate in the COP 28 climate conference hosted by the United Arab Emirates next November in Dubai, where Prof. Najwa Badr, Dean of the Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences, and Prof. Sherine Al-Agroudi, Director of the Egypt Center of Excellence for Solid Waste Management, awarded the awards, as part of the activities of the conference honoring the winning projects in the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects in the “Cairo, Giza, and Qalyubia” governorates, which was witnessed by Major General Ahmed Rashid, Governor of Giza, Major General Khaled Abdel-Aal, Governor of Cairo, and Major General Abdel Hamid Al-Hagan, Governor of Qalyubia.

Ain Shams University participated in the competition under the auspices of Prof. Ghada Farouk, Acting President of the University, and the victory came after going through the evaluation stages by the specialized executive committees in each governorate, which included representatives of the governorate and the ministries of planning and economic development, communications and information technology, environment, higher education, and the National Council for Women. In order to select the best projects according to a number of criteria to ensure transparency and governance of the evaluation and selection process, this stage was followed by presenting the project to a technical committee that includes development partners from national and international organizations and then presenting these results to the National Arbitration Committee headed by Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the climate pioneer for the Egyptian presidency.

The most prominent evaluation criteria for projects were the Ministry of Environment’s requirements for (green component, smart technological components, economic feasibility, bankability, scalability and replication, sustainable impact, empowerment, and equal opportunities).

This victory represents an escalation for Ain Shams University, representing Cairo Governorate, to compete at the national level with the rest of the governorates of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Prof. Najwa Badr stated that the robotic nurse (Shams) is the first robot (robot nurse) implemented by a research team from the Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences and that the idea of the robot came from the circumstances imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the necessity of following preventive measures as much as possible.

Therefore, the students of the Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences were keen to implement a project that serves the patient and is primarily in the interest of the health sector. Confirming that Ain Shams University adopted the students’ project and harnessed all capabilities to it so that it came out in an optimal manner and could be circulated on a large scale. Communication took place between the team of the Faculty of Computer and Information Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Nursing until an integrated project was presented that fulfilled the purposes for which it was allocated.

Prof. Najwa Badr indicated that the robot (Shams) speaks Arabic and can recognize faces, whether patients or doctors. It can also deal with the patient’s needs, enter health status data for each patient, and save locations inside the hospital for easy movement according to the desired destination. He can also take the necessary samples for analysis and deliver them to the laboratory, bring the medicine from the pharmacy, and give it to the patient, he can implement communication between the patient and the treating physician via the video call feature and also perform sterilization operations.

For her part, Prof. Sherine Al-Agroudi explained that the Egypt Center of Excellence for Solid Waste Management at the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University, headed and sponsored by Prof. Omar Al-Husseini, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, is one of the leading environmental centers in Egypt, as it was established through a project funded by the Science, Technology, and Innovation Financing Authority (STIFA) of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and with similar funding from the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. The center's primary goal is to address the environmental challenges facing Egypt in the areas of solid waste management, circular economy, and environmental strategies through research, encouraging innovation, engineering consultations, laboratory measurements, and capacity building.

The Center also participates in many national and international research projects that focus on combining theoretical solutions with practical applications in the areas of design of all municipal solid waste facilities (transfer stations, sanitary landfills, waste-to-energy conversion), construction and demolition waste management, industrial waste, extended producer liability, establishing guidelines and policies and supervising implementation work.

She pointed out that the center is interested in education and capacity building as an initial step to help develop waste management, and that knowledge and practical training on appropriate waste management measures is a prerequisite for effectively addressing the challenge of waste management in Egypt.

She explained that the center is equipped with all the necessary laboratory equipment to cover the complete characterization of all types of measurements of water samples, wastewater, and solid waste of all kinds.

Pointing out that the center has obtained an international accreditation certificate (ISO/IEC 17025:2017).

It is worth noting that this year the Center of Excellence for Sustainability at Ain Shams University is participating with members of the initiative’s arbitration committees from the governorates of Cairo and Giza as representatives of the Ministry of Higher Education. They are Prof. Samah Al-Khatib, Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and a member of the Center of Excellence for Sustainability team, Dr. Ahmed Al-Awadi. Director of the Center of Excellence for Sustainability, and Dr. Eman Gamal, a member of the Center of Excellence for Sustainability team and a lecturer at the Faculty of Science, at Ain Shams University.