Few years ago, I met up with several graduates of Cairo University Aeronautical Engineering department demanding support to get jobs. One of them told me, “We studied aeronautical engineering and space sciences, but we got tired of looking for jobs.”
Cairo University’s Faculty of Engineering was founded two centuries ago in 1820. Neither it nor others were invested in the way that would help establishing the Egyptian civilizational project.
I usually meet hundreds of Cairo University students. All of their schedules are related to political conflict in Egypt. None of them spoke about education, science or scientific research. Competition, that had always distinguished Cairo University students, has declined toward major universities in the region and the whole world. Scientific competition has turned to political disputes.
It’s disappointing that all newspaper headlines and news coming on TV channels about universities are over protests and marches as well as developments of sit-ins, whereas headlines about universities in Israel like the Technion Institute are about dispatching three satellites by engineering faculty by 2015.
Newspapers report that it would be the first time for trying to send three satellites at the same time. The institute’s engineering faculty conduct researches to launch satellites of separate parts that get together in the space and connect with each other wirelessly to form a complete satellite.
The Cairo University’s Faculty of Medicine was founded in 1827, then faculties of sciences and pharmacology were formed. Our country is still a main consumer of medicine. Patents percentage in a country where half of its population suffer from various diseases is too small, while the Technion Institute in Israel recorded several patents in medicine field. Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical industries enjoys an important rank among other pharmaceutical companies in the world. It has a series of medicines that are composed of more than one thousand compounds. In 2012, its sales reached more than US$20 billion.
Universities across the globe leads renaissance and development. In the civilized world, universities do not get engaged in politics but science and knowledge. While some of their graduates work in politics, students do not take political activists professionally, but only for political culture, responsible engagement and expression. None of these control the main mission of the student or university.
I had wrote about and discussed necessity that Cairo University Engineering Faculty dispatches a satellite and that Faculty of Sciences establishes nuclear reactor and that other faculties work on raising the university level to that of the past and then raise it to the future level. However, rivalry among those in power and opposition to ruin the university life has led to failure of a real project for renaissance in our country.
It’s distressing that Egyptian universities drowns in political issues, while accomplishments by other universities around the world are going on. Some of them used to look toward our universities from below, however, they now look toward us from up the mountains.
In South Africa, South African Institute of Technology students built a mini-satellite that will sent into space soon for weather purposes.
In India, students dispatched the first satellite built and designed in an Indian university by students. It was totally shocking for me to learn news about drum protests in Cairo University to disrupt lectures. At the same time, I read news about results of launching a satellite by university in eastern Ghana this year and preparations by the university to launch a developed satellite in 2015.
Recalling the modern history increases the patriotic pains. Egypt started an ambitious project more than half a century ago to manufacture airplanes and rockets as well as launching the first satellite in the region.
In my book ‘Greater Egypt’ I reviewed testimony of Bahi Eddin Argoun mentioned in his book “Outer Space and its Peaceful usages’ at which he said that Egypt started cooperation with German experts to develop rockets.
It would have been possible to develop the ‘leading’ Egyptian rocket to penetrate gravity and get a satellite to an orbit around the earth. By then, Israel didn’t have rocket industry. A campaign was then launched to terrify German scientists in Egypt, then there was the aggression on 5 June 1967.
On 2 October 1967, two German scientists spoke to the German Stern magazine. They said, “Israel feared that Egypt sends a satellite by then,” so the Arab World would not unite with Egypt.
A half century had passed, from the year 1963-2013, while our country’s civilizational project is still stumbling. The gap between students standing in respect for their nuclear physics professor Mostafa Mesharrafa and others storming classes and getting the country’s flag down is increasing.
It’s time to disarm hesitation.. time to destroy weapons of mockery, which turned all ideas to jokes on Facebook and Twitter.
There has been glorious attempts in the Egyptian satellite experience Egypt Sat. However, interruption of connection with the satellite one day made mockery hurt scientists and engineers.
No body in Ghana mocked or offended the university which sent the first satellite, whose documents were stolen on earth and the satellite itself was kidnapped in space.
However, the simple Ghanaian citizens supported experience by the university which launched its developed satellite two years later.
There seems to be good news in our country, but they need accuracy and support. Researches from Cairo University Faculty of Engineering and others from National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences have taken part in sending a pure Egyptian nanosatellite.
I have talked to Essam Heggy, the president’s scientific adviser over founding the ‘Egyptian space agency’. He told me then that the project will be ready to be reviewed by President Adli Mansour soon.
Political disturbance in universities affect the present and kills the future. Political trends manipulation with the best generations in Egypt as a way to get to power is betrayal.
Consuming the future’s energy to recycle the past’s wastes will only serve our enemies. Slogans and raised hands inciting hatred feed news and burn dreams. It achieves surplus in politics and deficit in economy. Founding the Egyptian space agency is a major leap toward industry of hope.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
