As part of an initiative to engage with the Academic Community, CMIC signed on July 1st the University Grants Gift Letters and Agreements to fund four worthy projects to be a part of a collaboration effort between CMIC and the Universities. The four universities included in the grant programs are The American University in Cairo, Helwan University, Ain Shams University, and Cairo University. Each University research team has a CMIC Researcher as part of the collaborative research to lead them and mentor them throughout the project duration.

The CMIC participants involved in the grants are Dr. Ahmed Morsy advising Helwan University (with Dr. Mohamed Zahran as a major consultant on the project); Dr. Motaz El-Saban advising Cairo University; Dr. Kareem Darwish advising The American University in Cairo; and Dr. Nayer Wanas advising Ain Shams University.

The Open Day was held to welcome the universities' research teams to CMIC and to invite them to tour the facilities. As part of the day the CMIC team and the University research teams, including all student participants, got a chance to discuss each project and to hash out new ideas and to shape existing ones.