- Reporter: Hana Ibrahim
What began two years ago as a student-led initiative to give children with disabilities the chance to play freely and safely, has now become Egypt’s first inclusive playground.
Driven by a belief in equality and supported by the AUC community service club Hand in Hand and the El Toukhy Learning Factory that provides teaching and workshops, the project was designed, developed, and implemented by AUC’s Mechanical Engineering students to ensure that no child at the Dar El Eman orphanage in New Cairo is left behind on the playground.
One of the inclusive playground’s main features is the merry-go-round swing, a 2-in-1 recreational equipment, where the child in a wheelchair enters the cabin without getting off it, is secured, and can choose to play on a swing or on a merry-go-round.
Design team member and Mechanical Engineering alum Seif El Din Mansour said that his colleagues from the Hand-in-Hand club went to the Mechanical Engineering technical director, who connected them with the learning factory to begin turning their vision into a tangible product.
“My passion for wanting to make the world a better place and putting smiles on other people’s faces motivated me,” said Mansour.
Youssef Sharaf, a Mechanical Engineering senior and former Hand in Hand president, worked on this project from day one and helped with fundraising. He confirmed that it’s only the beginning—the playground will expand to include more projects, ensuring inclusivity.
“From the moment I learned about the project, I felt a personal responsibility to contribute, not only through my engineering skills but also by supporting its funding,” said Sharaf.
The vision is to reshape how society views inclusion and accessibility, “where people with disabilities do not feel left out and can enjoy life and perceive it just like we do,” said Sharaf.
Beyond the social impact of the project, it also enriched the students’ professional growth.
“The project has helped me become more familiar with industry standards and become a much more capable design and manufacturing engineer,” Mansour explained.
From the earliest sketches to the careful selection of the materials used, every element was chosen to ensure safety. Steel, in particular, was the material used for the swing because of its reliability in supporting the load required safely and without risk.
Mansour explained that the team went through three design iterations before finalizing the swing. The process began with brainstorming, research, and sketching ideas, followed by stress analysis on the swing body and bearing calculations.
They then created 3D models using SolidWorks, focused on the aesthetics, and reviewed the design to make the necessary adjustments. Once the mechanical drawings were finalized, the team moved on to procurement and manufacturing.
Safety was a critical goal that posed a challenge for the team.
“To ensure safety without compromising inclusivity and entertainment, we introduced an extra factor of safety to all components. A factor of safety expresses how much stronger a system is than it needs to be for its specified maximum load,” Mansour explained.
The inclusive playground is already sparking broader conversations about what it can achieve.
“When people see what’s possible, it will inspire more projects that focus on inclusion and accessibility, not only at AUC, but across the whole world,” said Mehraeel Nathan, an accounting junior at AUC.
As the final bolts were tightened and the paint dried, what stood before the AUC community wasn’t just a swing, but a very significant symbol.
“With one swing, students collaborated to have a long-term impact on the world,” Mansour said.
“Being disabled does not mean that you cannot have entertainment facilities, disabled people have the right to have fun too.”
