Sawi's Superb Spanish Internship

Ahmed "Sawi" Eladl in Spain

We often share stories about study abroad on this blog, but there's another type of international experience that is equally valuable and exciting, if in a different way: international internships! Ahmed "Sawi" Eladl, an AUS chemical engineering alum and our former Peer Advisor, is one student who took advantage of this opportunity. He was a Global Intern at a startup at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, in 2018, and the experience honed his professional and personal skills and helped him learn a new language.

At the startup, Sawi assisted in trying to develop an innovative, sustainable concrete tile that can be heated with microwaves. "This is intended to replace the current heating system of using electric heaters in Spain's households and reduce CO2 emissions by 70%," he said.

Sawi's internship abroad allowed him to make connections and do work relevant to his major. "Being exposed to the startup scene in Valencia introduced me to pure multidisciplinary engineering for the first time, pushed me to think critically and outside the box, and helped me expand my professional network. I also developed my fabrication and product development skills as I was mainly involved in the development and testing phase of the tiles."

"Additionally, my interpersonal and communication skills were sharpened through working abroad in a multicultural team for almost two months," he said. "I also got to take Spanish classes and fell in love with the language."

The cherry on top was the place in which he got to do the internship. "Spain was an amazing country to live in, with beautiful beaches, great music, and bubbly people who appreciate life and live it to the fullest. I honestly think of it as the perfect retirement destination. I am definitely going back someday as the country has so much to offer."

Sawi had numerous international experiences prior to this. His study abroad at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA, in 2017, was especially important in preparing him for this internship abroad: "That was the first step I took outside my comfort zone. Before studying abroad, I could never have imagined taking such a step of interning abroad without the safety net of a university community of students. My study abroad is also what developed the travel bug that pushed me to look for an internship abroad in the first place."

If you are an AUS student interested in doing an internship abroad, check out our website to see some options and for more information.

Suzana Saoud
IXO Publicity Specialist