Quwa gained further strength as the University of Sharjah recently launched its 5th Forum for Women Research. Dedicated to empowering women in all academic sectors, this year’s edition included 890 research proposals received from mover 260 universities representing 57 countries globally. Forty projects were recognized and received funding. The international Forum also encourages women students to conduct research and included an undergraduate student research competition. This year, 114 entries competed for cash prizes. CFAD is pleased to announce that its interior design seniors Batoul Alkhodari and Dana Al Qarout were awarded first prize for their project Juthoor (Arabic for Roots) completed under the supervision of Dr. Iman Ibrahim (Associate Professor of Interior Design). The project transforms spent coffee grounds and date seeds into coffee cups replacing the current disposable cups. The winners noted that “JUTHOOR integrates five of the Sustainable Development Goals into the design process, from research to ideation to prototyping to testing. By aligning our product design process with the SDGs, this creates a product that is not only functional and desirable, but also meaningful and responsible.”

Congratulations to our young researchers!