Prominent Marrakech-based professors Khalil Ezzinbi and Ali Akhaddar gain yet another international recognition for their contributions to science.
Rabat – Two prominent Moroccan scientists have won COMSTECH Science Awards for their important scientific work. Professors Khalil Ezzinbi shared the award for mathematics while professor Ali Akhaddar won the award for authoring the best scientific book.
The two professors, both based in Marrakech, received the awards based on their accomplishments in mathematics and neurosurgery. This year’s awards, confusingly called the “2019 awards,” celebrate the scientific achievements of scientists in the past years.
Hosted in Islamabad, the COMTECH awards celebrates scientists from countries that are part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (IOC.) COMSTECH refers to the Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the OIC, which aims to strengthen collaboration in science and technology between OIC member states.
This year’s awards marked the first time that a Moroccan scientist has won a COMSTECH prize. Not since 1996 had a Moroccan won anything until this year when two Moroccan scientists won the contest’s top prizes. In addition to the recognition of their important scientific achievements, the two moroccan scientists are set to receive a $5000 cash prize each.
Mathematics and Neurosurgery
Professor Khalil Ezzinbi of Marrakech’s Cadi Ayyad University won the COMSTECH award in Mathematics, which he shared with Dr. Sajad Jafari of Iran’s Amirkabir University of Technology. Ezzinbi received the award for his work that has “inspired many researchers and influenced many publications worldwide,” according to the awards committee.
Professor Ezzinbi’s work in the field of mathematics has resulted in over 190 papers and 3091 citations, making him a prominent scholar in his field. He is a member of the African Academy of Sciences and supports or supervises PhD students across Africa.
In the category of “excellence in science and technology,” the COMSTECH award committee chose to celebrate the writings of Professor Ali Akhaddar. Professor Akhaddar is the Head of the department of Neurosurgery at the Avicenne military hospital in Marrakech. He also teaches neurosurgery at Mohammed V University’s medical school in Rabat.
Over the years, Professor Akhaddar has won several international awards for his work in neurosurgery. Akhaddar authored the “Atlas of Infections in Neurosurgery and Spinal Surgery,” among 8 other books. The book, which is his most recent, is a reference neurosurgeons, spinal surgeons, radiologists, neurologists, microbiologists, researchers and certain infectious disease specialists.
The deserved international recognition for the two Moroccan scientists comes after years of valued contributions to science. Their achievements are likely to serve as inspiration for thousands of young Moroccan students who aspire to become scientists like Professor Ezzinbi and Professor Akhaddar.
