Ahmed Abou El-Azm
Ahmed graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2008 with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering
I am Ahmed Abou El-Azm and I am a third year PhD research student in the Thermofluid group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. I originally graduated in 1995 and I completed my MSc in Mechanical Engineering in Egypt in 2000.
I have chosen The University of Sheffield because it is an international leader in research in many subject areas; especially in my field as the Department of Mechanical Engineering was ranked "5A" for research and "excellent" for the teaching in the UK.
Besides that, Sheffield is considered one of the safest cities in the UK and this factor was so important in my decision to bring my family with me. Sheffield also ranked as the lowest student living cost in the UK according to the Royal Bank of Scotland student living index.
Sheffield is a very green city; you can find many different types of landscapes, lakes and parks. Before I arrived here I was worried about the unpredictable English weather, so I brought all my warm winter stuff with me. With time my family and I became accustomed with this weather - my daughter Sherok even enjoyed playing with the snow this winter!
In Sheffield, I have met many people from different countries with different cultures. It was very interesting for me to build friendships here with people from all over the world.
For the Egyptian students here, we have the Egyptian Students studying in Sheffield Union, ESSUK. They give a warm welcome; showing you where you can buy your HALAL stuff and advising you regarding the choice of accommodation. They also organize a monthly meeting for the families as well as outdoors trips during the summer. ESSUK celebrate the most famous Muslim events over the year as Iftar Ramadan, Eid El-Fitr and Eid El-Adhau bringing you the feeling of your home country.
Studying here is an excellent opportunity for me to experience managing a research project and to develop personal skills as an academic through the education system available at The University of Sheffield.
Web Diary
Read about the experiences I had during my time at Sheffield.