Birzeit University student wins second place in European regional engineering competition  

Nizar Awawdeh, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at Birzeit University, has recently won second place in the European regional Speak Out for Engineering competition, which was held virtually on December 4, 2020. 

Held annually by members of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers since 1964, Speak Out for Engineering focuses on honing and developing the communicative skills of engineers, tasking them with explaining difficult and complex mechanical-engineering-related subjects clearly and eloquently. 

Each competitor must discuss a topic thoroughly for a period of 20 minutes, which is followed by a 10-minute Q&A session in which the judges appraise the presenter’s understanding of the topic and ability to answer questions quickly and clearly. 

For his presentation, Awawdeh gave an overview of advanced ceramics, discussing their properties and applications in modern industries. He also explained the differences between traditional and advanced ceramic processing techniques and highlighted how the resulting materials can be used to help advance a variety of industries in the future. 

An automotive enthusiast, Awawdeh said that the idea to research advanced ceramics was inspired by the increased use of such materials in car design, owing to their unique physical properties, such as high durability and high strength-to-body ratio. 

Awawdeh, who represented Palestine in the European regional competition, had won first place in the qualifying contest held between students from Palestinian universities in October, marking the third consecutive year when a Birzeit University student wins the local competition.