Upholding the spirit of holistic education and culture of excellence, this year’s Engineering Capstone Design Project Poster Award ceremony included the inaugural Student Excellence Awards for leadership, volunteering efforts, community engagement and participation in sports.

At the event on May 28 at the Byblos campus, winning teams of the competition held earlier this month were announced and distinguished students honored in the presence of their proud parents, faculty, and staff.

Monetary prizes worth $7,500 were made possible to the winners of the Poster Award and the Student Excellence Award, thanks to former LAU trustee and CEO of Dubai Contracting Company (DCC), Mr. Abdallah Yabroudi, who was represented by Mira Kammar at the event.

In the poster awards category, Lea Youssef Baby, Angelo Yaghi and Fadi Kaafarni claimed the first prize of $600 for the Best Poster for their Low-Cost Bionic Ankle project, which was supervised by Assistant Professor Noel Maalouf.

The first runner-up position went to the project PharmaTech, a cloud-based software that connects doctors, pharmacists, and patients, designed by Maria Hanna, Chloe Boueiri, Abboud Hayek, and Michael El Assad, and supervised by Professor Wissam Fawaz. The group received a cheque for $400.

In the same category, Mohammad Basharoush, Hassan Fakih, Ali Al Hadi Amro and Radwan Kahwaji received $500 for winning the Innovation Awards for their mechanical engineering project Micro Manufacturing of Metallic Films. Four more groups were also awarded the Honorable Mention Award, receiving $250 each.

“In addition to being a generous donor and friend to LAU’s School of Engineering, Mr. Yabroudi helped many students in financial need pay their tuition and reach their dreams of earning engineering degrees,” said Associate Professor and Associate Dean Caesar Abi Shdid in his opening remarks.

Dr. Abi Shdid took the opportunity to announce the resumption of the Dubai Contracting Company Internship Program, also sponsored by Mr. Yabroudi, for undergraduate civil engineering students in the summer of 2025, following a five-year hiatus.

For the Student Excellence Award, each of the below winners received $500 in recognition of their dedication and hard work in various areas.

• Leadership Award: Elias Salameh and Lea Habr
• Academic Achievement Award: Makram Fares, Johnny Khalifeh (Tie, $250), Maya Mouawia (Tie, $250)
• Sports Shield Award: Maryline El Azzi and Rita Nassif
• Citizenship Torch Award: Elias Salameh and Rita Nassif

“Today, we not only honor your engineering excellence,” Dr. Michel Khoury, professor and dean of the School of Engineering, told the students. “We also celebrate the impact you have made through leadership, service, innovation and professionalism.”