Helwan University

Established in 1975, Helwan University claims a unique position within Egyptian higher education as it is a technology and applications focused institution that also has faculties of arts, fine arts, applied arts, art education, music education, physical education, home economics, tourism and hotels.

The main campus is in Ain Helwan, which is 25km south of Cairo between El Mokattam hills and the Nile valley on the East Bank of the Nile. It is a major industrial and military district and is home to the Cement National Company, Portland Cement Company, Nasr for Automobiles, MEFCO for Wooden Furniture, and Helwan Seismoscope. Helwan City is also the site of sulphur springs, said to give various benefits and so a popular destination among the health-conscious.

Altogether there are 23 different faculties across the Cairo and Giza regions. There is currently extensive development of the Helwan location with the aim of all faculties being housed there.

Though the newest of Cairo’s universities overall, Helwan’s Faculties of Applied Arts, Fine arts and Art Education were established in 1839, 1908 and 1936 respectively. The most recent faculties established are the Faculty of Medicine (2013), the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Research (2014) and the National Institute of Intellectual Property.

Helwan University has 150,000 undergraduates, 20,000 postgraduates, 5,000 faculty members and 7,000 administrative staff. The campus consists of a number of facilities including restaurants, a sports hall, bookshops, a central library, a shopping centre, an art exhibition hall and student housing. An International Bureau was established in 2012 to assist both undergraduate and postgraduate students coming from overseas.

The proximity of Helwan to industry has helped boost the research activities of the university. Meanwhile, the university hit the headlines in August 2018 when a team of undergraduates successfully constructed a go-kart vehicle powered by compressed oxygen.