In cooperation with the Engineering Communication Center at An-Najah and the East-West Center in Hawaii-United States, the Student Branch of the Engineers Without Borders successfully concluded the Middle East Environmental Leadership Program (MEELP) which was organized earlier at the Faculty of Engineering.

The MEELP is a 4-day project-based, community service focused environmental leadership training program. Dr. Abdel Raheem Abu Safa, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said the idea of this program came out after the practical training that both Amjad Dwaikat and Ahmed Al-Shayeb, students at An-Najah, received at the East-West Center in Hawaii-United States last summer as part of a scholarship granted by the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem. The two students succeeded in attracting this program and invited American trainers who hold Master and PhD degrees in leadership and environment science training to provide training services to students from the different Palestinian universities.

The idea of the program was based on receiving a collection of work plans that were prepared by groups of students from the different Palestinian universities on projects that the students want to implement in order to protect the environment and achieve sustainable development in Palestine. A Palestinian-American team selected the 15 best plans; the students were invited to participate in a professional five-day training program.

On the last day of the training a special exhibition was organized in which the participating projects were showcased including projects on energy generation, recycling and environmentally-friendly projects. Four projects qualified for the second phase and were granted support from the U.S. Consulate to be implemented later. The second phase will start next may in which the owners of successful projects will be nominated to travel to the States to receive a higher level of training in one of the programs that the East-West Center organizes there.

The Student Branch also organized an honoring ceremony for the participants and organizers in which the students received certificates from the East-West Center.

Prof. Rami Hamdallah, President of An-Najah, visited the Exhibition and expressed impression by the variety of projects shown there and thanked the people behind this event for their great efforts and cooperation. He also assured that the University is deeply concerned with developing its relationships with the different international centers and institutions and added that Palestinian students have proven that they are up to the challenge and that they can achieve success against all odds.

Christina Monroe, Representative of the East-West Center, thanked the University for the hospitality and valued the efforts of its staff in preparing and facilitating this significant event. She also praised the students’ innovation and creativity which was evident through their projects, as well as their enthusiasm to support and develop their country.

The East-West Center was established in 1960 by the United States Congress to reinforce relations between human beings in the East and the West; it also aims to the exchange of thought, knowledge, build experience, and develop international policies in the scientific and human fields.

Engineers Without Borders is an international organization that consists of a number of international and student branches that are located in most European countries and the United States. It aims to facilitate cooperation between these branches, exchange information and developmental plans in order to help human societies.

An-Najah’s Branch aims to contribute to the development of life skills of engineering students in Palestine, in addition to scientific and technological skills, local and international networking, and raising environmental awareness.