English for the Workplace Students Honored in Engineering & Business Innovation Showcase
On Thursday, December 5, 2019 students were recognized for their creative product designs and startup company initiatives as part of a semester project created by Ms. Natalie Murray, Visiting Professor at An-Najah National University through the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)’s Georgetown University English Language Fellowship.
18 projects were created by 110 students from three required English courses Ms. Natalie instructed, including two sections of English for the Workplace and one section of English 2 for students of the Faculty of Engineering and Science. To compete, each group had to write a project proposal, complete a visual presentation and give an oral presentation in class. Ms. Murray evaluated the projects and sent the finalist to Ms. Raya Shunnar of the Industrial Engineering department to complete the final evaluation. The evaluation was based on the projects' creativity, feasibility, and marketability as well as the overall quality of the oral presentation.
The first place winning group's project was 'We Eat It' and completed by Masa Qzaih, Mohammad Salhi, Lean Abu Shqair and Noor Aldeen Zreaq; second place went to 'iWork' by Sami Tayyah, Ahmad Ilaiwi, Nader Zaineddin and Qusai Alkhalil; third place went to 'AppleInk' by Ramzi Shadid, Iyad Hamad, Saif Aldeen Khader and Saif Zahalqa; and fourth place went to 'Casa' by Raghad Abu Lebdeh, Ban Afanah, Sajida Suliaman and Zaina Al-Hammouz.
The English Fellow, Ms. Murray, developed the competition component to her course curricula in order to develop a structure of learning that required her students to utilize their English language while also fostering entrepreneurship and creativity. Several other projects from the competition which earned notable marks in the evaluation for their quality and originality included ‘Mobile.ps,’ ‘GRAM,’ ‘Bargain Hunters,’ and ‘Dolphin and Sula.’
To show their support for their students as well as the English Language Fellowship program, the Deputy Dean of Engineering, Dr. Monther Dwaikat, along with several department chairs and faculty members were in attendance.