By: Ayman Hammamieh
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – November 21, 2016: Today, in honor of its 50th anniversary, CBIE recognized four Libyan students for their tremendous academic performance and for giving back to their communities in Libya and North America.
Dr. Basel Alashi, CBIE Vice-President, International Partnerships and Ms. Debbie Grantham, CBIE Director, International Scholarships, presented the awards to students at a ceremony that took place as part of CBIE’s Annual conference, held this year at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa under the theme, “Internationalization for All” with a spotlight on ‘Internationalization at Home.’ The award included a plaque, a certificate, and a cash prize of $2000 CAD.
Award winner Dr. Awatef Ben Ramadan, PhD in Health Informatics, University of Missouri – Columbia campus said, “To be considered for the CBIE excellence award is a great honor and is a privilege. I could not be more proud and grateful. I would like to thank my country for choosing me to get the best education in one of the top informatics institute in the world, and I hope that I could be an effective member in the future Libya.” Dr. Ben Ramadan added, “Libya needs public health scientists to promote health; control diseases and health events; rehabilitate and support people after the war’s psychological trauma and physical injuries; rebuild broken social and health infrastructures; and educate and protect Libya’s vulnerable people from being overcome by disasters and unexpected dangers of any kind.”
“I am thrilled to win this prestigious award that is conferred upon me,” said fellow award winner Mr. Mohamed Zidan, a Bachelor’s in Communications Engineering student at Carleton University. “As part of my passion to give back to society, I will be more than happy to provide advice to any student studying or planning to study an undergraduate degree in Engineering in Canada. Also, I have an honest desire to work in one of the multidisciplinary teams that can formulate a long-term plan to improve the prospects of Libya in the future. Team members can be anywhere around the world and can communicate with each other using current technology platforms.”
Award winner Dr. Anas Gremida, Fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of New Mexico, stated, “I dedicate this award to my beloved country Libya and its people. In the near future, I aspire to finish my training and use what I have learned to help solve some of the health challenges that we have in Libya to create a better healthcare system for us and for the Libyan generations to come.”
Commenting on his achievement, Mr. Mohamed El Badawe, Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo said, “Our future as a civilization will hinge on having clean sources of energy. I aim to advance my academic contribution forward into practical life to assist organizations and communities to better utilize their resources in an effective and reliable manner. The other objective is to get the new Libyan generation ready for the new era of using a new energy source rather than fossil fuel. It is a great honor to achieve this mission through this opportunity.”
The 2016 CBIE Libyan Student Excellence Award competition was open to all students studying under the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program (LNASP), a joint collaboration between the Libyan Ministry of Education, CBIE, and Libyan students and host institutions throughout Canada and the United States. A total of one hundred students were nominated.
CBIE’s Annual Conference is Canada’s largest conference on international education and has become the meeting place for international education professionals. The Conference draws around 850 delegates from more than 35 countries worldwide. International educators and stakeholders from across Canada and around the world have gathered in Ottawa this week to participate in the conference, held November 13 – 16, 2016.
About the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program (LNASP)
The Libyan-North American Scholarship Program (LNASP) is a joint collaboration between the Libyan Ministry of Education, the Canadian Bureau for International Education, and Libyan students and host Universities in Canada and the United States.
CBIE managed the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program (LNASP) from January 2010 – September 2015. On January 29, 2016, CBIE signed an 18-month agreement, entering into a new phase of the administration of the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program.
The goal of the Scholarship Program is to facilitate the studies of Libyan graduate and postgraduate students in North America, allowing them to fulfill their academic objectives while addressing the needs of Libyan public institutions, academia, and society as a whole. There are approximately 1,500 Libyan students on scholarship in the United States and over 1,000 in Canada.