Cairo – A U.S. government delegation, including State Department Counselor Ambassador Thomas Shannon, Chargé d’Affaires Marc Sievers, and USAID Mission Director Dr. Mary C. Ott visited the USAID-supported Maadi Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) High School for Girls today to congratulate its two teams of national science fair winners.

Marwa Abd El-Raouf, Demiana Aiad, and Maiar Mosaad won first prize at the Intel/Misr El-Kheir International Science and Engineering Fair for their project using nano-techniques for water desalination, which increases access to clean drinking water.  The winners will advance to the global competition in Los Angeles, California in May. Second prize winners Mona Moawad, Sara Ezzat Mohamed, and Hoda Mamdooh Shooman will also advance to the global competition for their project to extract impurities from water to make it drinkable. 

“Egypt’s commitment to prepare youth with skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will enable students to make important contributions to Egypt and beyond,” said Ambassador Shannon. 

The Maadi STEM School for Girls and the 6th of October STEM School for Boys are supported by the Ministry of Education and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  In addition to purchasing laboratory equipment for the schools, USAID helped develop the STEM curriculum and provide training and coaching to teachers and administrators.  These centers of excellence provide a strong academic foundation in science and mathematics for more than 500 of Egypt’s brightest students from a range of backgrounds. 

“USAID has a history of embracing and advancing science, technology, and innovation to create new solutions for age-old challenges,” said Dr. Mary C. Ott, USAID Mission Director in Egypt.  “We applaud the innovative young scientists from the Egypt’s STEM Schools for using science to address development challenges in their communities, and we wish the winning teams from Maadi the best of luck at the global competition in May.”