(NEW) IVLP Alumni in the Classroom | Aerospace in Morocco: Building a Sustainable Country

Date: Saturday, March 5th, 2022
Time: 9:00 - 10:00 AM PST
Platform: Zoom

Global Classroom is thrilled to partner with the U.S. State Department's Office of International Visitors (OIV) to pilot their "IVLP in the Classroom" initiative, connecting global leaders who have previously participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), with students, teachers, & classrooms across the U.S. (virtually) to provide real life expertise on timely and important global current events and issues.

EVENT DESCRIPTION

This workshop is FREE and open to students, educators, and community members!

Through its high dependency on agriculture, fishing activities, tourism, the vulnerability of key resources such as water and forestry, and an important coastal industrial activity, the Moroccan economy is especially exposed to the impacts of climate change due to its geographical location, and is prone among others to more frequent extreme weather events, water scarcity, declining agricultural production, and rise in sea level. To combat these changes and strengthen the country's infrastructure and ecosystems, the aerospace sector in Morocco is leading the charge in creating innovative sustainable advancements in farming, fishing, solar energy, ports/coastal infrastructure, and more.

Join Global Classroom for an illuminating discussion with IVLP alumni from Morocco (see full bios below) as they provide insight into the country's aerospace sector and the current initiatives, policies, and projects supporting Morocco's climate change response to protect its people and ecosystems; strengthen its infrastructure and economy; and become a sustainable country.

WORKSHOP FACILITATOR

Ryan Hauck is Director of Global Classroom at the World Affairs Council - Seattle and a teacher at Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish, WA. As a teacher of comparative politics and international studies, he is often applauded for bringing the world into his classroom by engaging students around the importance of living in an increasingly interconnected, interdependent world. One of Ryan’s global projects has been his work in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, building not only a sister school relationship between his high school and a remote village school in Oporoza, but also a village library. Recently, Ryan participated in a U.S. State Department fellowship to Senegal as part of the Teachers for Global Classroom Program and as a fellow with the Goethe Institut’s Transatlantic Outreach Program to Germany. Ryan Completed his master’s degree in Globalization and Educational Change from Lehigh’s Comparative & International Education Department. As part of this program, Ryan worked with a cohort of classmates and teachers on a professional development project in Cambodia to enhance teacher training and student learning. As a Washington State Council for the Social Studies Board Member, Ryan extends his passion for global studies to other teachers, students, and communities.

Ryan brings his own real-life experiences into the classroom so that his students begin to understand the value of cross-cultural understanding and humanitarian action. Over the last 15 years, Ryan has worked closely with the World Affairs Council and hosted numerous International Visitor Program delegations at his school. He has traveled to South Africa and Swaziland, returning to write curriculum for other teachers to use. Ultimately, Ryan wants his students to think critically about world issues, acquire the skills needed to be globally competent in the 21st century, and become actively engaged citizens locally, nationally, and internationally.

WORKSHOP PANELIST(S)

Mr. Mouaad BOULAKHBAR is a young Moroccan innovator and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of SENERGYTK a Moroccan Tech company specializing in efficient and innovative products in energy, electric mobility, and smart grid. After graduating as a mechatronics engineering in 2018, he was nominated by King Mohamed VI as the best young innovator in Morocco, with more than four patents in the field of energy efficiency and electric mobility. Mouaad has been invited to speak at many international conferences in Germany, Canada and France.

Mouaad is a PhD student focusing on artificial intelligence, studying the integration of renewable energies and electric vehicles in the grid. Mouaad enjoys innovating and creating new products solving challenges in the aerospace and defense industries. Mouaad is an avid and competitive soccer player and usually plays a match every week . He gives 100% when he competes and enjoys winning. Mouaad enjoys playing ping-pong.

Who inspires you? My father has always been my biggest source of inspiration, energy and motivation. My father is a mechanic and when I was young I would always go to work with him and learn from him. He is a genius and in my town, they call him “Mr. Fix Everything”. He is great example of a good citizen who works with honor and with an infinite love for his country. I am also inspired by a love for my country and would like to give something back to my country by contributing as much as I can to the development of Morocco.

What would you like American youth to know about Morocco? Morocco was the first country to officially recognize the independence of the United States. Both countries have a strong and historic diplomatic relationship. Morocco is a country of peace, prosperity, and hospitality. Morocco is home to many different people from different cultures who live and work together for a better Morocco.

As part of his 2020 International Visitor Leadership Program entitled: Startups and the U.S. Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Mouaad visited: Huntsville, Alabama and Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Sami El Moukhlis began his career in civil aviation in 2002 as an Air Traffic Controller rising to his current position Director of Management and Language Division at the Mohammed VI International Academy of Civil Aviation in Casablanca, Morocco. In this role, he is responsible for helping to foster innovative entrepreneurship in the Moroccan aerospace industry.

Dr. El Moukhlis received his undergraduate degree in
Mathematics, an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and a
Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Université Hassan II
Casablanca.

Sami enjoys mentoring young entrepreneurs and innovators, many of whom have gone on to creating new products in the aerospace industry.

As part of his 2020 International Visitor Leadership Program entitled: Startups and the U.S. Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Dr. El Moukhlis visited: Huntsville, Alabama and Los Angeles, California.

Passionate about Precision Agriculture, Mr. Faissal SEHBAOUI is an engineer in applied mathematics who graduated from the Ecole Centrale Lyon in 2010 and currently Managing Director of AgriEdge, a business unit operating in precision agriculture, of which he is the founder. He began his career in the banking sector before joining the OCP Group as Big Data Manager.

In 2018, as part of an intrapreneurial program launched by the CEO of the OCP Group, he founded a subsidiary whose mission is to develop digital services enabling farmers to sustainably improve their production. Services that rely on data, artificial intelligence and agronomic know-how to help the farmer in his daily decision-making process.

Faissal hopes to unlock the potential of African Agriculture by synergizing the richness of remote sensing data and the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Faissal believes the challenge of agriculture whether in Morocco or in other African countries, is to produce more, taking into account population growth, but also to produce better, to reduce the waste of natural resources and to protect the environment for sustainable production. Throughout his travels in Africa, including visits to Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Benin and Togo, Faissal works with farmers to determine the most effective ways they can use the power of big data to optimize production, while using fewer resources.

Faissal launched several initiatives to contribute to the development of the Moroccan AgriTech ecosystem, such as: Filaha Innovation Program to help young AgriTech idea holders transform their ideas into startups, AgriTech Caravan to initiate smallholder farmers at AgriTech and the Agri Anlaytics Days the first scientific congress in AgriTech organized in Morocco.

He is PhD candidate at Ecole Polytechnique Paris and Mohammed 6 Polytechnic University, Faissal’s dissertation centers on the optimization of processes in an uncertain universe with an application to precision agriculture.

As part of his 2020 International Visitor Leadership Program entitled: Startups and the U.S. Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Faissal visited: Huntsville, Alabama and Los Angeles, California.

Participants will receive a curriculum resource guide to supplement this workshop, and Washington State educators are eligible to receive 1 clock hour. Register Today! Please reach out to jpatterson@world-affairs.org with any questions! This is a virtual event.