Translated by Sabrin Qadah

Ramallah: The winners of the 2017 Award were announced for the following projects: Architecture, Restoration, Creative engineers and Graduation Projects for Engineering College Students in Palestine at an official ceremony held at the Carmel Hotel in Ramallah. The ceremony was attended by engineers, engineering students, reconstruction worker and a gathering of official figures.

The Chairman of the Award Committee D.  Mohammad Shtayyeh said This year's award was marked by opening of the door for students from all universities in the country to compete among themselves for the best engineering graduation project in Palestine.

Engineer Samar Al-Nazer announced that the jury decided to award Engineer Zuhair Al-Alami the award for the category of the creative engineer, in honor of his successes. Alami is the founder of one of the most important companies in the field of consultancy and engineering designs in the world, Khatib and Alami, and despite his stay in Beirut, he has many charitable works in Palestine, especially in the city of Gaza.

Engineer Bassem Khoury announced that the project judging committee selected two projects to share the award for the best engineering project in Palestine for this year: the second project, Mahmoud Darwish Museum, presented by Mahmoud Darwish institution, designed by late engineer Ja'far Toukan, and arraba palaces restoration project by nadia Habash, who managed to deal with the urban heritage and re-employed it socially.

Eng. Mahmoud Abdel Aziz announced that the arbitration committee for graduate projects awarded the prize for the project "al-hijaz Railway / Saudi arabia" for the students: Ruba Seyaj, Halima Hamdan and Lina Abu Gharbiya. The Committee also presented certificates of appreciation and distinction to two other projects: the "Palestine Museum of Natural History" project for students Khaldoun Atawneh, Mohammed Haddad and Afnan Abu Awwad, and the "Museum of Resistance in Bil'in" project for Walsa Samara, shahd fawaqa and rula shaheen students.

Engineer Bassim Al-Gohary, Director of Khatib and Alami office in Palestine, received the award on behalf of Eng. Zuhair Alami, while the winners received the award consisting of a sample and certificate, in addition to a cash prize worth $ 60,000 shared by the three offices. While the graduate students' project received a sample and a certificate of excellence, in addition to a cash prize worth $ 6,000.

The ceremony was attended by the sons of Al Sabbagh and Al Khoury, including Suhail Sabbagh and Samer Khoury, who delivered the family's speech. He expressed his thanks to the award committee and expressed his happiness that the prize was awarded to the teachers who have always worked to support the Palestinian engineers.

The award, which was launched last year, was chosen to include the names of Palestinian engineering leaders Hassib Al-Sabbagh and Said Khoury, founders of one of the world's leading construction and contracting companies, the United Contractors Company, to commemorate their achievements. The award is run by the elite of Palestinian engineering and architectural figures from Gaza, the West Bank, including Jerusalem and the Diaspora.