Faris Al Jamal awarded the Gabi Baramki Award of Excellence

For his long streak of achievements, profound impact, and unique ways in which he interacts with and affects change in society, Faris Al Jamal, a student at Birzeit University’s Faculty of Engineering and Technology, has been granted the Gabi Baramki Award of Excellence for the academic year 2019-2020.  This award honors distinguished students who show outstanding engagement in community and university service in addition to academic excellence.

Jamal has an impressive list of accomplishments. He volunteered in a multitude of extra-curricular activities and clubs, became a member of the Astronomy Club and the Debate Club, took part in community service―especially in the Ramallah Municipality and Al Nayzak Organization for Supportive Education and Scientific Innovation―and made great musical contributions to the local arts scene in cooperation with Al Kamandjati music school.

Receiving the Gabi Baramki Award is not the first accolade in his catalog of accomplishments. Al Jamal has impressed since 2018, when he received the Yousef Nawas Award for Innovation, a prize given to active, academically excellent students who strive to serve their communities and Palestinians everywhere. He also won first place in three oud competitions organized by the Ministry of Education, and was the first Palestinian to win the International Award of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak for the Arab Youth.

As he receives the award, Al Jamal is preparing for his graduation as a mechanical engineer. He recalls his first year at the university that, he says, “revolved around experimentation; it was a conscious effort to try everything and gain as much knowledge as I could.” During his second year, however, he focused on his true goal: aerospace engineering.  

“During the second year, I focused all my efforts at the university on gaining a new understanding of aerospace engineering. I read books, enrolled in online courses, and chose my courses at Birzeit University around aerospace engineering,” Al Jamal remarked.