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Fouad Maksoud

Feb 4, 2021 | 2020 ISSUE, SPOTLIGHT

Fouad Maksoud

2020 ISSUE, SPOTLIGHT

Written by Malek Succar

  ”Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go” ~ Thomas Stearns Eliot

If you would ask Fouad Maksoud today to sum up his journey in research and innovation, he would most probably slip in that quote one way or another. Indeed, Fouad’s story in advancing the frontiers of science and technology couldn’t be better described than this.

Fouad Maksoud Junior, from Alman El-Chouf, earned his Master’s in Chemical Engineering from AUB in 2016, after earning both a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from USEK and another one in Biochemistry from the Lebanese University. While at AUB, Fouad knew he wanted to pursue research. Very much passionate about his field, Fouad discussed with his professors about ongoing research when he heard about Electrospinning Nanotechnology. Although it was very new at the time, Fouad took that risk and decided to delve deeply into it, and this is when an endless story of hard work, self-growth and ultimate success began.

The technology began with a quite straightforward goal: Making clothing waterproof, yet breathable and protective, by ejecting a special chemical solution from a nozzle onto the designated textile. Guided along the road by his advisor, Professor Ali Tehrani, and with a lot of intense work and sleepless nights, he managed to publish 3 papers in a very short amount of time and gained huge experimental knowledge. Fouad gives his sincerest thanks to Professor Tehrani, whom he considers not only an advisor but also a lifelong friend and supporter who has had such a great impact on Fouad’s critical and creative thinking. To thank his professor, he named his machine “AT711” after Dr. Tehrani’s email.

As the inner innovator in Fouad’s mind and soul began to bloom, he decided to build his own engineering laboratory where he designed a far better prototype which consisted of 99 nozzles, and submitted it to the Stars of Science Show. He had devised his best product yet, Nanoskin, winning him the competition.

Nanoskin is a half a ton machine, consisting of 1060 nozzles, designed to directly coat our clothes with biodegradable and bioabsorbable nanofibers, changing the nature of the textile. The coating does not only provide waterproof and antibacterial protection from the outside, but it is also implanted with a drug delivery

system, for healing third degree burns, diabetes ulcers as well as easing the pain of muscle strains. The machine has also become so efficient that a full shirt can be coated in a mere 6 minutes, when it used to take more than 24 hours to coat one A4 paper.
Around late 2019, Fouad received the MIT U-35 technology review award, which he considers a great milestone in his life and aspires to see the industry implement this nanotechnology in our daily clothing, easing the pain of the sick and healing their wounds. Fouad wants to not only inspire many engineers, scientists, and researchers of all domains, but wants them to genuinely believe that anything is achievable through hard work, focus and constant research. He wants the young students to know that by putting the effort day and night, there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

He concluded by saying : “You join AUB as a carbon atom, and I believe that the rigorous AUB system that pushes you every day to work hard will eventually turn that carbon into diamond.”

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