Research, Development & Innovation Programme - RDI

26/02/2018

Happening Now!!
The European Union in collaboration with the Ministry of Scientific Research in Egypt are organizing Horizon 2020 info days, taking place on February 26-27, 2018.

Horizon 2020 is the largest Research and Innovation Programme with nearly €80 billion, available until the year 2020.
STAY TUNED!!!

European Union in Egypt

18/02/2018

The device developed is capable of killing 99.99% of the most common bacteria in 15 seconds and can be used anytime, anyplace, without any liquid or sticky residue. This device sterilizes hands against microorganisms such as microbes, bacteria and fungus. The hands of users will be directly exposed to the plasma jet, which is the active element in the sanitization process, and can even reach areas under the fingernails.
In Egyptian hospitals and clinics, in general, and in rural areas specifically, the need of such device is essential due to the lack of the necessary means permitting doctors and nurses to strictly apply hygienic measures. As well as, this device is environment-friendly as it reduces the need for chemicals during hand wash.
Fortunately, the device is ready for industrial manufacturing and market use.
This project was implemented by Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University and funded by the RDI Programme- European Union.

30/01/2018

Pharos Project contributed in developing Integrated Transport System "ITS" in Egypt through the development of a low cost integrated eco-routing, easy schedule process for fleets with support of geographical maps and location information, enhancing vehicle navigation by using adaptive algorithms for route guidance, monitoring maintenance operation and costs for fleet and live tracking for fleet.
PHAROS results were piloted and integrated into an existing fleet management system developed in Egypt, Altair FMS. In addition to that Danone Egypt has contributed to the project’s trials,this has further drawn attention and interest of other stakeholders (e.g. Americana, Larfarage…etc.) towards the potential of PHAROS.
This project was funded by the RDI and implemented by Center for Environment & Development for the Arab Region and Europe "CEDARE" in collaboration with Softec International, The German University in Cairo, University of Patras (Greece), Eindhoven University of Technology, and University of Utrecht (The Netherlands)

08/01/2018

This project succeeded in developing for the first time in Egypt, a domestic industry in manufacturing vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) with innovative designs and control which exceeded current market standards. The focus of the project was on design, fabrication, testing, installation and commissioning of low-cost, efficient VAWTs for remote rural areas and off-grid applications. This entailed optimization of the rotor blades for low wind speed power generation, design and validation of a blade pitch control mechanism to maximize wind power harvesting and self-starting capability, and sustainability for harsh environments. The result was an efficient and cost-effective VAWTs rated at 5 kW for off-grid power supply.
The prototype was developed by the British University In Egypt (BUE) in collaboration with "Arab British Dynamics" and "Misr for Environmental Technologies (MET)"

21/12/2017

Egypt has been listed as the country most contaminated by landmines in the world.
Mine Probe tackled landmine and UXO contamination as a problem of economic, environmental and humanitarian dimensions. It contributed to raising the public awareness of the seriousness of the landmines and UXOs contamination and the role of science and technology in solving this problem and motivated professors, engineers and students working on innovative solutions for this serious problem.
Mine-Probe developed a novel minefield reconnaissance and mapping system in Egypt.
An efficient vehicle locomotion system has been developed to endow the unmanned vehicles the ability to move fluidly and efficiently in rough terrain of NWC. A comparative study was conducted between the different outdoor localization approaches and concluded to the usage of RTK (Real Time Kinematic) GPS system in MineProbe Project. A Ground pe*******on Radar (GPR) and Electro Magnetic Induction (EMI) probabilistic information fusion approach has been developed and implemented for landmine detection. A vertically articulated 3-DOF robot arm was designed to carry the developed dual sensor.
The prototype has been developed by InnoVision Systems in collaboration with the GUC, Executive Secretariat for the Demining & Development of the North West Coast, Isteshaar (Egypt) and Center of Telematics (Germany) and funded by the RDI

MineProbe is a minefield reconnaissance and mapping system that encompasses a number of spatially distributed unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) equipped with a...

13/12/2017

The to Egypt in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research organized the "Launch of Horizon 2020 new work programmes 2018-2020" on Tuesday 12 December at Fairmont Nile City Hotel.
The event brought together around 160 researchers, representatives from the academia, industry and research institutes.
The day aimed at informing participants about H2020 and presenting its different elements, with specific focus on WP 2018-2020 of the H2020 calls for proposals and providing participants with guidance on how to apply for H2020

13/12/2017

The participated in the EU-Egypt Higher Education, Science & Innovation Day organized by the to Egypt in collaboration with the Ministry of Scientific Research in Oct. 9th, at the Greek Campus. The day aimed at celebrating the existing cooperation and promoting further collaboration. This event was inaugurated by the speeches of H.E. Ivan Surkos- Ambassador of the European Union to Egypt and Prof. Essam Khamis- Egyptian Deputy Minister for Scientific Research followed by a panel discussion on "Education & Innovation for Job Creation". The day was ended by an open exhibition showcasing EU countries programmes for Higher Education, Research & Innovation.
The 's booth presented 4 of its projects which covered the fields of energy, ICT, agriculture and social innovation.

15/10/2017

It has been realized that there are many Egyptian researchers working in the same area that have no links between them and/or with companies, SMEs, investors, public entities and NGOs interested in the outcome of their research for solving industrial and societal challenges and for creating new businesses and public services. In this context, RDI-2 has built on the international experiences, where different countries have implemented the innovation clusters successfully to establish long-term collaboration among different actors: research institutions, universities, companies, investors and public administrations; and initiated for the first time in Egypt a new component to assist the government in establishing business driven Innovation Clusters, to support research based innovation in Egypt through development of closer and long-term links between the different actors in research, industry and business sectors relevant to national and EU research and innovation priorities (i.e.: renewable energy, food, aquatic resources, sustainable tourism, education and lifelong learning, research and innovation management); in addition it provides a tool to better channel resources, through exchange of ideas, know-how, knowledge, and research and innovation capabilities between public and private stakeholders for identification of business opportunities and future demands from the industry and society, and of the appropriate actors for meeting these through applied collaborative research. Moreover, clustering facilitate cooperation with similar European researchers and industries by highlighting the main actors contributing to innovation in strategic sectors in Egypt, leading to the enhancement of the industry competitiveness and hence the country’s economic growth.

15/10/2017

EU-Egypt Innovation Fund was created as one of the main components of the in its two phases. EEIF supported the launching and implementation of innovative applied research projects that has sustainability potentials beyond the Programme’s lifetime, to foster the collaboration between the industrial and research sectors, through providing competitive grants in multi-disciplinary areas (i.e.: Agriculture, ICT, Transport, Energy, Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, Health Care, Technology Transfer, Education and Science Communication… etc).
The EEIF in RDI-2 provided grants through three main schemes with total costs of € 8,820,311 million and with total EU contribution €7,503,360 million, distributed as follows:
- Scheme 1 (€ 200 000- € 600 000): focused on projects that contribute to the sustainable development in Egypt, increase capital investment and enhance technological innovation as well as strengthening cooperation with EU and regional counterparts to facilitate the transfer of technology know-how and best practices to Egyptian Institutions.
- Scheme 2 (€ 50 000- € 100 000): focused on projects that enhance collaboration between the research community and industry to foster technological innovation. In addition to promoting the culture of science and innovation and raise the awareness on the importance of R&D in economic and social development which will benefit young entrepreneurs and SMEs.
- Innovation Clusters (€ 300 000- € 750 000)

The RDI-2 received 646 project proposals in schemes 1 & 2 and Innovation Clusters (400 in scheme 1, 191 in scheme 2 and 55 in the innovation clusters). After the assessment of the submitted proposals, 26 projects were awarded the grants (11 in scheme 1, 13 in scheme 2 and 2 innovation clusters).

15/10/2017

The RDI Programme has 3 main components:
1. Innovation Support
2. Research Networking
3. Innovation Clusters