Mohamed Hassan is like any other first-year at the University of Idaho.
An electrical engineering student at UI, Hasson enjoys video games, soccer, but sometimes finds it challenging to live on his own in Moscow.
Originally from Cairo, Egypt, Hassan said he is not the only one in his family attending college in the Gem State. His sister, who is a senior, also attends UI.
“I chose electrical engineering because lots of people told me the future is between computers and electrical engineering,” Hassan said.
The biggest difference Hassan said he has noticed since moving to Northern Idaho is the change in night life. Cairo, he said, never sleeps compared to Moscow. Hassan said in Egypt, he hangs out with his friends until as late as 1 a.m.
Freshman Mohamed Hassan studies in a cubicle in the library Wednesday afternoon.
Hassan said his favorite place to go in Egypt is Sharm El-Sheikh near the Red Sea, a place he and his family visit every summer.
Hassan said he did not find it hard to adjust to living in Moscow. He said his experiences in the dorms helped him make new friends.
“I’m in a soccer class right now and at the beginning of the year I went to the tryouts for the soccer club and I made it into the team but they practice four time a week and travel every weekend and I’m taking 18 credits so I just play for fun at the Rec Center,” Hassan said.
However, life for Hassan is not just full of studying for his degree. He also likes to play soccer when he can at the UI Recreation Center with his friends.
Hassan said he also likes to play video games and will play just about anything related to soccer.
“Right now (my favorite video game is) “Fortnight” but I am bad at it. I play “FIFA,” anything related to soccer I love,” Hassan said.
Hassan said he is an undergraduate research intern with the National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology (NIATT). Ahmed Abdel-Rahim, the director of NIATT, said Hassan is involved in research on smart cities and focuses on disadvantaged groups, making sure the technology does not disadvantage them further.
“It’s for NIATT, my project is doing smart cities in rural areas and how we can improve transportation and safety and how we can apply smart cities in a reasonable way to these places,” said Hassan.
Abdel-Rahim said Hassan gets along well with the group, which is a mix of undergraduates and graduate students.
Abdel-Rahim said smart cities are a new initiative which will integrate information and the whole environment together. He said with a smart city, a person could look in their grandmother’s fridge without having to be there, and if she was out of milk, the person could order more.
Kali Nelson can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kalinelson6