BME Undergraduate Speaks at TedxOhioStateUniversity and Recognized for Humanitarian Service
Abd Al-Rahman Traboulsi, a fourth-year Honors student and Eminence Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, spoke at TedxOhioStateUniversity’s fifth annual event, Reconstructing Reality, on March 5, 2016. The event featured new ideas, perspectives, and performances that inspired audiences both in Columbus and around the world. In his talk, Abd shared his personal experiences on the ground in Syria and offered an intimate perspective to challenge the misconceptions about the Syrian conflict and attempts to humanize the conditions of the countless lives stuck on the brink of a lost future. You can view his talk here.
Additionally, Abd was recently recognized for his humanitarian service. Abd Al-Rahman, along with fellow Ohio State University students, Jackson Frazier (Math and Economics) and Nima Dahir (Math and Economics), was announced Resolution Project Fellows and Social Venture Challenge Finalists at the 2016 Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) conference run by the Clinton Foundation. Hosted by President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, the ninth annual CGI U gathered more than 1,000 innovative student leaders, topic experts, and university representatives to address and discuss effective solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Throughout the year, and as a prerequisite of attending the CGI U conference, students develop their own Commitments to Action. These are new, specific, and measurable initiatives that address pressing challenges on campus, in local communities, or around the world in CGI U's five focus areas: Education, Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and Public Health.
Abd Al-Rahman’s Commitment to Action was Refuge, an organization that Jackson, Nima, and Abd Al-Rahman co-founded in November of 2015. Refuge seeks to aid in the empowerment of adolescent refugees in their pursuit of higher education in the United States. By pairing adolescent refugees with university students through an academic year-long mentorship program and culminating with a university immersion experience at Ohio State, Abd Al-Rahman hopes to transform higher education from a far-off aspiration to a tangible reality that young adult refugees can take steps toward achieving.
His team competed in the Social Venture Challenge, a competition hosted by the Resolution Project in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. Finalists were awarded Resolution Fellowships, which included seed funding for their initiatives, in-depth mentorship, and advisory resources for life. To read more about CGI U and the Resolution Project click here. If you are interested in learning more about Refuge, contact Abd Al-Rahman’s team at info@refugeusa.org.