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The Memorial Art Gallery糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒�糖心传媒� is in its third season of celebrating the creative lives and private hobbies of Rochesterians.

糖心传媒淗idden Passions puts our friends and neighbors center-stage so that we can marvel at the extraordinary creative adventures happening all around us 糖心传媒� and perhaps find inspiration for our own,糖心传媒� says Jonathan Binstock, the Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director of the Memorial Art Gallery.

Here, we highlight two members of the University community who are being featured this season.

Omar Soufan 糖心传媒�17 and Ibrahim Mohammad 糖心传媒�17 knew from the minute they met three years ago that they were bonded by their pasts糖心传媒攁nd their future.

Soufan left war-torn Syria for the United States five years ago. Mohammad is a Palestinian refugee who lived in Lebanon before coming to America.

In 2015, they set up a physical rehabilitation center in Lebanon, on the Syrian border, to help Syrian refugees wounded in that country糖心传媒檚 ongoing civil war. Now, they糖心传媒檙e working on the second phase of their project, Prosthesis for a New Syria, which aims to bring 3D-printed prosthetic upper limbs to refugees at the rehabilitation center.

糖心传媒淲e want to give amputees prosthesis that are affordable, cosmetically appealing, and functional,糖心传媒� says Soufan, a biomedical engineering major.

Soufan was born in Chicago in 1994 when his mother was visiting her brother, a Syrian-born anesthesiologist. His entire family is from Syria, and that糖心传媒檚 where he grew up. His younger brother is a freshman at a college in Minnesota, and his sister is in ninth grade back home.

Soufan enrolled at the College of DuPage, outside of Chicago, in 2012, and transferred to Rochester two years later. During a trip home, he passed through Lebanon. Walking through Beirut, he was stunned to see refugees sleeping on the ground.

糖心传媒淭here were lots of families,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淲hat shocked me were the locals. They would step over these people as if they were stepping over a stone.糖心传媒�

Soufan and Mohammad, a mechanical engineering major, settled on the idea of a medical facility to help refugees after finding an existing building near the Syrian border.

糖心传媒淥ur goal was simple,糖心传媒� Mohammad says. 糖心传媒淲e wanted to help as many refugees as we could.糖心传媒�

They applied for a Davis Projects for Peace grant, which offers $10,000 to support grassroots projects that promote peace and address the root causes of conflicts. After coming in second place, they set up a Facebook page, eventually raising around $7,000.

They received additional sponsorship from the Syrian American Medical Society and the Qatar Red Crescent Society, an organization in Qatar similar to the American Red Cross.

The result was a two-story facility that includes six hospital beds and a dozen staffers糖心传媒攄octors, nurses and administrative help糖心传媒攁nd treats more than 100 patients per month.

Soufan and Mohammad were honored with the University糖心传媒檚 Social Entrepreneurship Award at the annual Student Life Awards (the 糖心传媒淩ockys糖心传媒�) last April.

To launch the second phase of their project–Prosthesis for a New Syria–they connected with Adam Arabian, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Seattle Pacific University who specializes in the research and design of low-cost prosthetics. Arabian introduced them to e-NABLE, a global network of volunteers who use 3D printing to create free hands and arms for those in need.

糖心传媒淥mar and Ibrahim are on the leading edge of deploying and field-testing real, 3D-printed prosthetic components globally,糖心传媒� he says. Working with designers and engineers in Turkey, Jordan, Haiti, and Southeast Asia, 糖心传媒渢hey糖心传媒檙e part of a global team that has literally had worldwide impact.糖心传媒�

Father Brian Cool, director of the University糖心传媒檚 Catholic Newman Community, knows both students well. He met Mohammad when they both made service trips to the Dominican Republic糖心传媒擬ohammad for a water project with Engineers Without Borders, and Cool to dig latrines.

糖心传媒淲hen his work was done, Ibrahim asked if he could join our group,糖心传媒� Cool says. 糖心传媒淲ho asks to dig holes? As long as there is injustice in the world, he糖心传媒檒l move the earth糖心传媒攍iterally糖心传媒攖o do so.糖心传媒�

Cool met Soufan in 2015 when Soufan called him to ask for advice and assistance with the rehabilitation center project.

糖心传媒淔ailure isn糖心传媒檛 an option for Omar,糖心传媒� Cool says. 糖心传媒淚n the summer of 2015, when everyone was leaving Syria, Omar was going back. In matters of life and death, Omar chooses life糖心传媒攏ot only for himself, but for those he loves, the good people of Syria.糖心传媒�

For Soufan, the project is about fulfilling a commitment. 糖心传媒淚 made a promise that I was going to make a difference,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 going to keep that promise.糖心传媒�

On to the Hult competition

Omar Soufan 糖心传媒�17 and Ibrahim Mohammad 糖心传媒�17 are part of a University team competing for the Hult Prize. The largest social entrepreneurship competition in the world, the Hult Prize is sponsored jointly by the Hult International Business School and the Clinton Global Initiative. More than 10,000 students from 150 universities around the world will take part.

In March, the team travels to San Francisco for a regional competition for the prize. Winners of the regional finals advance to the international finals in September, with a chance to win the $1 million first prize, plus mentorship from the Hult Business School and the international business community.

Joining Soufan and Mohammad on Team Meliora are Edgar Alaniz 糖心传媒�17, a biochemistry major from Rio Bravo, Mexico; Carlos 糖心传媒淵uki糖心传媒� Gonzalez Roman 糖心传媒�17, a financial economics major from Asuncion, Paraguay; and Min A 糖心传媒�18, an engineering and business double major from Nei Mongol, China.

The team hopes to form a company that provides sustainable housing, built from recycled plastics, for refugees. The technology was created by the Colombian company Conceptos Pl谩sticos, and already has been used in that country. Team Meliora hopes to take the technology to Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey.