AUC to launch first-of-its-kind solar energy specialization

The American University in Cairo (AUC) will launch a new Solar Energy specialization for physics majors starting Fall 2015.

The Solar Energy specialization is the first of its kind in the region and will emphasize the importance of renewable, specifically solar, energy.

“To find out that there are 184 new startup solar energy companies in Egypt just last year, it’s a job opportunity that we cannot miss, and the decision to launch this new specialization was based on the study of the job market in Egypt ” said Salah El-Sheikh, chair of the department of physics at AUC.

“We have three AUC physics graduates and they own their own three energy companies; [they] told us that they can afford to give us training and internships and even an opportunity to work there, so the job market is open,” added El-Sheikh.

El-Sheikh explained that this specialization is ‘the future’, and that solar energy is much more effective and less expensive than any other source of energy in the long run.

“It’s clean, it’s not expensive if you look at it, and there are a lot of job opportunities,” said El-Sheikh. He, then, added that he did further research and contacted the owners of the solar energy companies in order to know how to prepare undergraduate students, and teach them what they need to know about in order to be ready to work in the field.

AUC has been groundbreaking in the field of solar energy over the past few years.

Nageh Allam, assistant professor of physics at AUC, received the 2013 Best Publication Award from the National Research Center (NRC).

“Egypt lies in the global Sunbelt, a group of 66 countries located within 35° of the Equator that have exceptional solar power. This makes the study of solar energy even more relevant, since Egypt has substantial potential,” said Allam.

Allam received the award for his pioneering research on how nanotechnology can be used to convert solar energy to fuel or electricity, specifically the development of materials to replace the expensive silicon in sustainable industries.

Solar energy courses will be given by professors such as Allam, who is teaching ‘Introduction to Solar Energy’ this fall.

The University is already accepting physics students who wish to specialize in solar energy.

They will have the opportunity to study such courses as Introduction to Solar Energy, Introduction to Nanophysics, Introduction to Nanotechnology, Photonics and Physics of Solar Energy Conversion Nanosystems.