Abed Schokry comes from a large family with eleven siblings in Gaza. Shortly after leaving school, he came to Germany in 1992 to study biomedical engineering at the Technical University of Berlin. There he attracted attention in the Catholic student community through his great commitment to both Christian-Islamic dialogue and various areas of society. He was involved in a TU Berlin project on the topic of "The answer to terror is peace". He received a KAAD scholarship for the second half of his degree programme.
After completing this degree, he completed his doctorate at the TU Berlin on the "Holistic design of work systems in developing countries" by designing an ergonomic model with the medical-technical equipment of the rescue transport vehicle, which meets the special requirements for use in Jordan and the Palestinian territories.
Immediately after completing his dissertation, he returned to Gaza and became a research assistant at the Institute of Industrial Engineering at the Islamic University of Gaza. Since 2016, he has been Vice Dean and Professor of Labour Science, Occupational Health and Safety and Quality Management there - fields that are particularly relevant in the Gaza Strip.
The recurring military operations in Gaza, in which acquaintances, neighbours and relatives of Abed Shokry have lost their lives or suffered serious injuries, repeatedly raise the question for him as to whether returning was a good idea. In addition to the existential problem of supplying water, electricity and food in the Gaza Strip, issues such as rubbish (plastic) and noise from traffic, car horns and drones are omnipresent in Gaza City. Building on his previous research, Abed Schokry was able to spend a research stay at the Centre for Ergonomics and Medical Technology at Münster University of Applied Sciences in Steinfurt during his 2019 semester break with a KAAD scholarship. He researched the noise level to which premature babies are exposed in incubators and how these incubators can be improved in this respect.
But despite the difficult and sometimes inhumane situation in the Gaza Strip, he is aware of the contribution he is making to Gaza by returning and through his daily work on the ground. His greatest wish is that the people of Gaza can live in peace and dignity.
