ASU has its first visiting Fulbright grant recipient, Amer Dalain from Damascus, Syria.  We are excited that Amer has chosen to pursue the Master of Science in Information Systems & eCommerce, offered by the Department of Computer & Information technology.

Originally enrolled in the Information Systems master's program at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Amer transferred this spring to ASU.  Amer says that NJIT is a great technical university, but it did not give him what he wants. NJIT is focusing on the technical aspects of information technology; on the other hand, ASU's program covers the business and management aspects as well.  In addition, ASU is located in a rural region of the US, and this will give Amer the opportunity to learn about local government efforts to develop rural areas.   

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 and aims to increase mutual understanding among people of the United States and those of other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills.  Many Fulbrighters are young professionals who will return to responsible positions in their home countries.  They often are involved in building institutions and government service when they return home.  Not only does Amer's joining us bring an unprecedented level of prestige to ASU but it also strengthens our program to have a person of such high caliber among our graduate students.

Amer, 25, earned his Bachelor of Science in Information Technology Engineering, with a minor in Computer Networks, from Damascus University in 2003.  He started working with computers when he was 14 and he soon began serving as a computing instructor, since Syria was suffering from a shortage of computer professionals. He managed both school and work and also learned English on his own by interacting with computers and by watching English-language videos.  When Amer was 19 years he began his studies at Damascus University and, during his time there, he also worked with a local branch of BFIGroup.com, an international software development house.

At the time Amer graduated, the war in Iraq was taking place, so he accepted a job with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.  UNHCR was helping refugees who fled to Syria from Iraq.  UNHCR built camps on the borders to accommodate refugees, and a robust technical infrastructure was needed in those camps as well as in the main offices. Amer's job was to provide UNHCR officers with technical support.  In addition, he interviewed refugees, asking them questions and comparing answers against a database to check for discrepancies. Consequently he talked with many refugees. This resulted in a big change in his life as he learned the value of family from those who had lost theirs.  He also saw traces of torture on the faces and bodies of those he interviewed, and this exposed Amer to a human aspect that he didn’t see when he was sitting in front of his computer.

After the war he took another job with the UN, this time working with the United Nations Development Programme (www.undp.org.sy). Amer worked for the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) group, which provided support for development projects.  He soon became a Program Officer and had to manage three important projects by himself.  One of these was the national eStrategy, a project to set the country's strategic ICT goals for the next ten years.  Another project was the Strategic ICT for Socioeconomic Development, which aimed at integrating ICT with the national socioeconomic development efforts, especially in rural and remote areas.  During that period, Amer was active on another front as well:  he had his own TV show.  The mission of the show was to promote the use of computers by answering audience questions, introducing new technologies, and demonstrating some useful applications of computers.  (You can check the website of the show at www.dotsy.org.)

Amer has married an ASU alumna and is planning to work in the US for a year following his anticipated December 2005 graduation.  That work should give Amer the opportunity to learn firsthand the American way of doing business.  After that, Amer intends to move to a developing country to help in spreading the knowledge he will have reaped while in the US.