Campus News in Brief
CMU senior wins prestigious fellowship
Senior chemical engineering major Nancy Ko was selected as a fellow with the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX), a year-long, federally funded fellowship for study and work in Germany.
Ko was among the 75 students selected from an applicant pool of 600 for the fellowship program. CBYX is a scholarship exchange program funded by the German Bundestag and the U.S. Congress. Selected fellows are trained in business, technical, engineering, vocational, and agricultural fields while in Germany. In exchange, CBYX helps place young German professionals in the U.S. to experience the American work field.
Ko will attend a two-month intensive German language course, study at a university or professional school for four months, and complete a five-month internship with a German company in her career field.
“I’m extremely excited and honored to be part of this wonderful opportunity as I continue to pursue my career goals,” Ko said in a university press release.
“My CMU studies have given me an excellent problem-solving platform for any job I will ultimately tackle.”
Head of the chemical engineering department Andrew Gellman also stated in a university press release, “We’re very proud of Nancy as she augments her CMU experience with a global look at how important the engineering profession is to a variety of industry sectors. Our students are leaders in developing novel solutions to a variety of pressing societal issues.”
This year marks the 30th anniversary of CBYX. Since 1984, approximately 1,650 Americans have been awarded this fellowship, an opportunity for them to gain cultural, theoretical, and practical work experience while residiing in Germany.
CMU Qatar student develops car safety program
Sophomore business administration major Mohammed Al Matwi at CMU Qatar developed a new and creative way to raise awareness on the dangers of irresponsible driving. His safety campaign, entitled Ahmeek (meaning “I’ll protect you” in Arabic), won him the award for the Carnegie Mellon’s Doha Community Engagement Program (DCEP).
For his project, Al Matwi recruited 20 volunteers to stage flash-mob scenes on car safety and accidents across campus. “I felt that car safety is one of the issues that we are facing right now and that we should take action,” Al Matwi said, quoted in a university press release.
“There is high incidence of car accidents in the country and I believe it’s time for us to step up and take action to effect change,” Aisha Fakhroo, one of the volunteers, told The Peninsula Qatar.
“The volunteers live the experience, feeling the emotions that they show to the audience through the scenes. So both are influenced by the act — the volunteers who show the act and the people who see the act,” Al Matwi said. But he wants to take it to the larger community “[and make] it a sustainable project,” Al Matwi said.