Dezeen Wire: Zaha Hadid will join the judging panel for Iraq's first design excellence award for architecture graduates.

The winner of the Tamayouz Award will be selected from 135 entries by a 12-strong panel that also includes Paul Ivey, the dean of engineering at Coventry University, and Katherine McNeil, the chief executive of Architecture For Humanity London.

See more stories about Zaha Hadid here, including her proposals for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 later this month.

Photograph is by Simone Cecchetti.

Here's the full press release from the award organisers:

Zaha Hadid to judge Iraq’s first design excellence award

Dame Zaha Hadid, DBE was announced today as the last member of the judging panel of Tamayouz Award Iraq’s first design excellence award for graduation projects in Iraqi Universities.

The Priktzer Architecture Prize winner will be joined by 11 other high profile architects and academics such as the Dean of Engineering and Computing Faculty at Coventry University Professor Paul Ivey, Ayad Al-Tuhafi the CEO of The Forma Group, The Iraqi award winning architect and researcher at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark Dr. Khaled Al-Sultani.

Dame Zaha Hadid who has signed earlier this year an agreement to design the Central Bank of Iraq has also offered diamond sponsorship to this award to ensure the award’s future development.

Tamayouz Award coordinator Ahmed Salah said: “Tamayouz Award has achieved an important milestone by bringing together prestigious International organisation like Zaha Hadid Architects and Coventry University with Iraqi construction firms and universities to work together in order to improve the architectural situation in Iraq”.

All of this comes as a reaction to what is happening in the Iraqi cultural and architectural scene where developers are knocking down historical buildings, the only evidence of Iraqi traditional architecture left, replacing them with low quality schemes.

Iraqi firms have shown an unprecedented support for Tamayouz as two of Iraq’s major construction and architecture firms - Al-Dulaimi Group and Dewan Architects and Engineers - offered jobs for the winners.

Tamayouz Award 2012 judges who will select the best 3 projects out of 135 submitted are:
» Dame Zaha Hadid, DBE. – Founder of Zaha Hadid Architects
» Professor Paul Ivey – Dean of Engineering Faculty, Coventry University
» Dr Khaled Al-Sultani – Architect and researcher at The Royal Academy of Fine arts – Denmark
» Ayad Al-Tuhafi – CEO of The Forma Group, London
» Paul Longdin – Co-founder of Constructure Design Consultancy, London
» Jerome Goyard - Architect at Fevre Gaucher, Paris
» Linda Bennett – Architect, founder of Archi-Ninja, Sydney
» Rashed Al-Nasaa – Jordan’s national coordinator for Carboun initiative
» Katherine McNeil – Chief executive of the London chapter of Architecture For Humanity
» Moira Lascelles – Curator of Special project at The Architecture Foundation, London
» Manhal Abdulateef – Architect and Academic, Sydney
» Philip O’Reilly – Architect/ interior designer, building MSc, London

Zaha Hadid Architects, Coventry University, The United Nation’s Global Compact – Iraq, Al-Dulaimi Business Group, Dewan Architects and Engineers, Iraqi Business Council in Jordan and Architecture For Humanity have put all their weight to support this initiative and introduce design excellence to Iraqi students of architecture.