Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, witnessed the signing ceremony of contracts for the design and manufacture of the first domestically-made Egyptian electric car, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Administrative Capital. Dr. Mahmoud Saqr, President of the Academy, represented the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, with companies from the private sector, in the presence of Dr. Yasser Refaat, Deputy Minister for Scientific Research Affairs, Dr. Walaa Sheta, CEO of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Finance Authority, and Dr. Omar Al-Husseini, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University, and Dr. Mohamed Abdelaziz, Head of the Automotive Department at the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University. This came according to the directives of the Prime Minister, Dr. Eng. Mostafa Madbouly, during his inspection of Egypt's first exhibition of intellectual property rights, which was organized by the Academy in September 2022.

Also during the events, the contract for the fifth session of the "Cairo Rally for Homemade Electric Cars" was signed between the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology and Ain Shams University. On the sidelines of the signing, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research honored the racing team of the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University for winning first place in the field of Design of electric racing cars at the Formula Student competition, which was held in the United Kingdom.

In his speech, the minister expressed his happiness at his participation in the signing ceremony of contracts for the manufacture of a locally-made electric car, within the framework of the government's strategy to deepen local manufacturing and develop the industry in accordance with national specifications, benefit from the outputs of scientific research and support the conversion of applied research into industrial products.

Dr. Ayman Ashour referred to the efforts of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the file of manufacturing homemade electric cars, which culminated in the signing of contracts today, explaining that the ministry’s strategic plan pays great attention to creating an encouraging and stimulating environment for the production and localization of technology, adding that there is a package of national initiatives and projects adopted and supported by the ministry; To help achieve this strategic goal, the electric car manufacturing initiative comes at the forefront of these initiatives.

During the signing ceremony of the contract for organizing the fifth edition of the "Cairo Rally for Homemade Electric Cars" between the Academy of Scientific Research and Ain Shams University, the minister pointed out that the rally is one of the important events in the field of building the capacities of engineers, designers, and manufacturers of electric cars from the youth of Egyptian engineering faculties, adding that he took over Supervising the organization of this rally in its first edition during his tenure as the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University.

Dr. Ayman Ashour confirmed that the ministry has integrated plans; To advance the electric car industry, he thanked the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology and its team for this distinguished and innovative initiative, which succeeded in stimulating innovation and innovators, building technological capabilities and mobilizing young national experiences in the electric car industry.

At the end of the day's activities, the minister honored the team of the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University, for winning first place in the field of designing electric racing cars in the Formula Student competition, which was held in the United Kingdom, praising the team's outstanding achievement by outperforming 37 teams from around the world in the competition. Referring that this achievement enhances the status and distinction of Egyptian universities, stressing his full support and encouragement for all student teams from Egyptian universities to participate in regional and international competitions in various fields, pointing out that Egypt has a huge human wealth of creative youth who are able to contribute to achieving renaissance and progress for our dear country.

The minister expressed his happiness at the level achieved by the students of the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University, stressing that his dream since he was dean of the faculty during the period from 2014-2020 became a reality when the students of the faculty succeeded in manufacturing and maintaining an electric car according to the latest international systems and applications, noting that the students of the Faculty of Engineering at the university, were able to beat the students of the largest and most prestigious universities in the world.

Prof. Omar Muhammad Al-Husseini, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, at Ain Shams University, explained that the college has a precedent in launching effective initiatives to link education and scientific research with industry and the sustainability of organizing the rally organizationally and technically over the past years, as well as linking learning systems, projects and innovations of students to the needs of the country's development plans and contributing through Applied research in the development of the industrial sector and thus economic development in order to achieve the vision of the state 2030 and in line with the strategic plan of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

In his speech, Dr. Mahmoud Sakr, President of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, explained that the signing of contracts for the design and manufacture of the first locally-made Egyptian electric car comes within the program of "transferring and developing products and deepening local manufacturing", which was launched by the Academy in February 2023 based on the directives of the Prime Minister. 26 proposals came from 21 entities (universities, private sector, individuals, public sector, research centers), and after the technical and scientific evaluation of the proposals, the members of the Technical Committee for Evaluation, consisting of academic and industry experts, agreed to implement two proposals.

Saqr said that the program aims to promote and deepen local manufacturing in the field of electric cars, within the framework of achieving the science, technology, and innovation strategy in Egypt 2030.

At the end of his speech, the President of the Academy, Dr. Mahmoud Saqr, expressed his happiness at the success of the "Cairo Rally for Homemade Electric Cars" initiative, which was launched in 2017, and the contract for the fifth session of which was signed between the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology and Ain Shams University, pointing out that over the course of four courses, more than 2,500 students have been trained and qualified for the labor market in the field of car manufacturing, and 61 racing cars have been manufactured and developed from 29 Egyptian universities.

In a related context, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aziz, Head of the Automotive Engineering Department at the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, and the main researcher of the rally project, explained that Ain Shams University has been in charge of the technical and organizational supervision of the competition since 2017, which is one of the steps that began with an initiative to eventually reach complete manufacturing. For an Egyptian electric car according to the plan of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, represented by the Academy of Scientific Research, regarding the previous seasons, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aziz indicated that the first and second seasons were held in the Administrative Capital, while the third season was held in the Giza Pyramids, and for the fourth season, it was held in the city of peace, Sharm el-Sheikh.