International ODUOnline Scholarship Recipient Plans to Pursue Civil Engineering

Mar 01, 2022

Photo of Sadiq Karim Omer standing next to a flag
Scholarship Winner Sadiq Karim Omer of Sulaimaniya, Iraq

Old Dominion University has announced that Sadiq Karim Omer of Sulaimaniya, Iraq is the latest winner of ODUOnline's International Student Scholarship.

Omer plans to continue his education in the field and use the knowledge he obtains through his master's studies at ODU to tackle water access in his region.

"The city where I live, Sulaimaniya, [has the] highest rate of rain across my country but we do not have a proper system to use it," said Omer in his scholarship application essay. "The [rain and waste water] pour to the rivers and contaminate the quality of the water and ruin the life of living creatures."

With these challenges in mind, Omer sought out a university in the United States where he could research and learn about storm water solutions. ODU's Batten College of Engineering was the right fit. Omer stated that, "the high qualification of the academic staff and its location near to the east coast have caught my attention. I am truly confident that they will help me [by offering] the most substantial and practical courses in storm water design."

ODUOnline International and Old Dominion University's English Language Center (ELC) have established a partnership with Cihan University Sulaimaniya (CUS). “We are grateful to see ODU’s partnership with Cihan University Sulaimaniya making an impact and bringing opportunities for our friends overseas,” said Mitsue Shiokawa, director of ODUOnline International. "We look forward to welcoming many more students and deepening our relationship and collaboration."

Old Dominion University, located in the coastal city of Norfolk, is Virginia's entrepreneurial-minded doctoral research university and has been delivering distance-learning programs for 35 years. It offers more than 120 programs through ODUOnline in a variety of formats, allowing students to complete degree programs across the world. ODU serves more than 24,000 students annually by providing the same rigorous academics online and on campus. Learn more about ODUOnline's programs by visiting online.odu.edu. To learn more about international study options, visit online.odu.edu/international.