“Civil engineering is crucial for damaged structures in Gaza”

Although Shaqfa, born in Palestine, is now happy with his young career as a civil engineer, he was not allowed to go into the field he’d always wanted to study: mechanical engineering. That field was forbidden when Shaqfa started university. “I chose to study civil engineering because I’d always been intrigued by mechanics and math. In Gaza, it's very challenging to get a mechanical engineering diploma. That would’ve been my first choice if enrollment had been possible back in 2009. But at that point mechanical engineering was still prohibited. Today there are some M.E. research facilities but no labs are allowed to be fully equipped. They mostly do just theoretical work,” he says.

Shaqfa is also interested in computers and computer science in general. “But my dad advised me not to take that route since with only eight hours of electricity in Gaza, it's almost impossible to study anything related to IT.”

A valued profession

Within civil engineering, Shaqfa chose to specialize in structural engineering because it’s fairly close to his initial career wish. Civil engineering is a popular field of study in Palestine. “In general, students’ first priority is a medical discipline of any kind. These disciplines are more appealing and can lead to a prestigious position within the community. And engineering typically comes next,” he says. “Personally, I believe that – especially in a war zone like Gaza – civil engineering is crucial for restoring buildings and infrastructure that have been damaged deliberately by the occupation. For example, our school, the Islamic University of Gaza, was shelled at least twice, in 2008 and 2014.”

After graduating in 2014, Shaqfa wanted to get a Master’s degree abroad. But it took a while to make that dream come true. “I applied for many scholarships and universities abroad. My first choice was Germany. But since the borders in Gaza are seldom open, it was a challenge to get out and enroll in a program. I missed the opportunity for two years in a row because my planned arrival date was deemed ‘too late.’ In the second year Hungary accepted my delayed arrival – six weeks after the start of the semester,” he says.

The big departure

In 2016, Shaqfa left Gaza after living there for all of his 25 years. And he figured his trip would be one way. “It was a hellish three-day journey through the Sinai desert under the protection of the Egyptian army. That experience left a mark on me. Then I got jumpy really easily, even after the tiniest incident – like after the third random inspection in one hour at a transit airport, for example.” Since leaving Gaza, Shaqfa has never been able to return home to see his family. “The border crossing is still difficult and I could simply get ‘trapped’ inside the country for a full year,” he says.

After spending two years at the University of Pécs in Hungary, Shaqfa decided to pursue his career goals and keep working in engineering and mathematics. He applied to several PhD positions while he was finishing up his thesis during his last three months in Hungary. “I realized that completing my Master’s degree without already being enrolled in a PhD program could simply cost me another two years in Gaza before I could get out again.” Of the three programs that accepted his application, he selected the one at EPFL, to work in the Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics Laboratory (EESD) headed by associate professor Katrin Beyer.

Protecting historical structures

Today Shaqfa’s work focuses on restoring and preserving various types of structures – especially historical ones. He is currently developing 3D micromechanical simulations of stone masonry structures. “It basically involves simulating old buildings that were made out of rubble stones under certain conditions. The results will help us better understand how such buildings would behave in an earthquake, and whether they need to be reinforced – of course without losing their historical value,” he says.

Looking ahead, Shaqfa plans to stay in academics and conduct more research in computational mechanics and possibly artificial intelligence. Considering how far he’s already come, there’s no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him.