Google gives scholarship to Ph.D. student at Pitt

In seventh grade in Alexandria, Egypt, Neven “Nevine” Abou Gazala took her first computer… In seventh grade in Alexandria, Egypt, Neven “Nevine” Abou Gazala took her first computer programming class. Today, she is in Pitt’s Ph.D. program and is in the middle of extensive research on power management in computing systems.

Her hard work over the years paid off in the form of Google’s $10,000 Anita Borg Scholarship – an award that went to 20 of 384 female applicants from 90 schools nationwide.

“The scholarship celebrates the achievements of women in technology,” said Jennifer Bostrom, who works in Google’s university programs.

“It’s for students that have a lot of potential, have done great things and really care about women in computer science.”

Abou Gazala, who has received two Andrew Mellon Pre-doctoral Fellowship awards, among several other honors in the computer science department in recent months, got both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the Arab Academy for Science and Technology before coming to Pitt.

The Anita Borg Scholarship, Abou Gazala said, will not only be helpful financially, but it has added a new purpose to her work.

“The biggest impact [the scholarship] has had is it made me morally committed to increase the involvement of women in the field,” she said. “Before, I didn’t really have a thing to hold onto, and now I have to be very, very active in this field.”

Working as both a teaching assistant and a research assistant doesn’t leave Abou Gazala much time. But when she does have a minute to spare, she doesn’t let it go to waste.

Along with organizing tutorial programs, volunteering and helping her students, she also loves art – painting and pottery especially.

Her husband and fellow Ph.D. student, Mahmoud Elhaddad, remembers a noticeable pause in the flow of their undergraduate graduation ceremony because it took so long to read off all of the awards Abou Gazala had won. He recalls a similar situation at the department’s annual computer science day.

“Nevine has always been an achiever wherever she goes and in whatever she does,” he said.

With several articles already published, she is at the forefront of her field and sets an example for others – especially women – to follow suit.

“She has a very good work ethic, and she has been working very hard on her research for a long time in an environment where there aren’t many girls,” Elhaddad said.

And the scholarship not only recognized that she is a woman in a predominantly male field, but it speaks to her intelligence, said Pitt Professor Rami Melhelm.

“This kind of award is a testament to the quality of her work,” he said. “It’s a scientific award.”

Abou Gazala hopes this recognition for her research will help her in the future. She plans to work in the academic world where she can continue with her two passions – research and teaching.

This sort of multi-tasking is what suits her, though, said Professor Daniel Mossee. She is concerned with helping her students, with leading other women in the field of computer science.

Mossee said that whenever Abou Gazala presents him with research and he asks for an additional piece or just a bit more, she will be one step ahead, ready to make the extra effort.

“She’s always so caring and is prepared to do anything anyone asks her,” Mossee said. “If you tell her you have three wishes, she’ll go out and get a lamp.”