When Youssif Galal returned to Egypt after earning his mechanical engineering degree from Drexel, he didn’t step into a ready-made job — he stepped onto a vacant plot of industrial land his father had quietly purchased while he was abroad. That empty stretch outside Cairo would soon become the foundation of his future. After months of discussions and many late-night brainstorming sessions, the idea emerged to address the need for food manufacturing, especially frozen fruits and vegetables. Egypt is one of the top agricultural producers in the region, but much of the value-added processing happens elsewhere. There was a gap to be filled. To seize on that opportunity, Galal would need to manage not just real estate and construction, but also the nuances of food manufacturing — regulations, cold chain logistics, hygiene standards, export requirements. “This was when I really began to lean on what I learned at Drexel,” he recalls.

Drawing on that solid foundation, Galal worked on the ground every day, from surveying and trench digging to overseeing equipment installation and to later production trials. Two years later, the facility is fully operational and continues to grow. It has received BRCGS food safety certification — the “gold standard” for food manufacturers — which opened up new international markets. With a team of over 50 employees, Galal’s frozen fruits and vegetables are now being exported to Europe, the Gulf and beyond. “I realize how much Drexel prepared me for this. It wasn’t just the classes or the textbooks. It was the whole ecosystem: The fast pace, the emphasis on practical work, the culture of pushing forward,” he says. “At Drexel, I learned how to work under pressure, how to think critically and how to build something real.”