An-Najah Architecture Students Advance to Finals of IIE Virtual Exchange Competition in Washington, D.C.
Four students from the Department of Architecture at An-Najah National University’s Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology — Jana Abu Salah, Aseel Abdel Hafeez, Ghisana Shouli, and Noor Faqha — have qualified for the final round of the prestigious International Virtual Exchange Competition organized by the Institute of International Education (IIE), which will be held in Washington, D.C., USA, in late August.
The students participated in a 10-week virtual exchange course on Architectural Building Systems in collaboration with the University of Memphis, under the supervision of the Academic and Professional Development Center (APDC) led by Dr. Amjad El-Qanni. The program was designed and coordinated by Ms. Alia Gilbrecht, in partnership with Dr. Marica Snyder (University of Memphis) and Dr. Wasim Salameh (An-Najah University).
Dr. Salameh explained that the competition is part of the Virtual Exchange Program implemented by IIE under the Stevens Initiative, which seeks to connect young people across continents through collaborative online projects. Students from both universities worked in mixed teams to design a community building in Nablus that meets specific functional, structural, and environmental design requirements.
The first-place award went to the team of Ghisana Shouli and Aseel Abdel Hafeez (An-Najah) with Alexis Rodgers (University of Memphis), while the second place was won by Jana Abu Salah and Noor Faqha (An-Najah) with Mikael Bongi (University of Memphis).
Reflecting on the experience, Ghisana Shouli described it as “a wonderful opportunity to develop intercultural communication and teamwork skills.” Aseel Abdel Hafeez added, “I learned a lot about construction systems and applying them to real-life projects through virtual collaboration.” Noor Faqha noted that the project “deepened my understanding of technical challenges and how to overcome them collaboratively,” while Jana Abu Salah emphasized how it “broadened our perspectives on design approaches and enhanced cultural understanding.”
The judges based their evaluations on cross-cultural collaboration, teamwork, and design quality, recognizing An-Najah students for their technical excellence and creative solutions.
For the second consecutive year, An-Najah National University’s virtual exchange projects have reached the IIE International Finals, reflecting the success of the university’s COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) initiatives, which have reached over 1,500 students and graduates since 2017.
