The Center of Excellence for Water is designed to be a state of the art, modern applied research center located within the premises of Alexandria University (AU), Egypt. The Center will be the hub for research and a vibrant network of Egyptian industries, research centers, and ministries. In the frame of the COE activities, the Center provides research grants for researchers in the water sector, undergraduate scholarships in water engineering, informative online webinars, among many other activities.

The American University in Cairo was awarded the Center of Excellence for Water, which was established at Alexandria University in September 2019, in cooperation with a large consortium of US and Egyptian Universities, US and Egyptian private sector companies and several Ministries and Public entities in Egypt.

From the Government of Egypt, the project is supported by the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Research, the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the Alexandria and Beni Sweif Governorates, the National Research Center, the Center for Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, the National Water Research Center, and the Water Desalination Alliance.

The Consortium of the project includes several prestigious US and Egyptian universities: University of California at Santa Cruz, Utah State University, Washington State University, Temple University, Ain Shams University, Aswan University, Beni Suef University and Zagazig University.

The consortium also includes a number of US and Egyptian private sector companies and NGOs: SEKEM Group, Lotus Company, Demerdash Group, Engazaat Development, and the NGO IBSAR, as well as AECOM, Amriton LLC, Apogee Instruments, Carollo Engineers, FREDsense Technologies, Purolite Corporation and Waters Corporation.