Alumni

Dr. Melhem received the Electrical and Electronic Engineering diploma from Conservatoire National des Arts et des MÃtiers, Paris, France. He also holds a master research degree in renewable energy from Saint-Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon, and the Ph.D. degree in engineering science (energy management) from Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (UBFC) in France. He is currently Electrical Laboratory Unit Head at Industrial Research Institute (IRI), Lebanon, and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Lebanese International University (LIU) (Master courses in renewable energy).

Fady is selected as one of the eighteen Future Energy Leaders of Lebanon by the World Energy Council (WEC). He is a certified trainer of solar photovoltaic system. He is a member of the Order of Engineers and Architects (OEA) in Beirut and member of the Association Nationale des Docteurs (ANDès) in France. He has a number of refereed journals and has participated in international conferences as a speaker concerning the optimization on renewable energy systems and energy management. His current research interests include the future electrical smart grids, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and many others.

Yara is a former technical consultant, ex-head of sales & proposals department, ex-co-founder of family business in Lebanon, UAE’s Masdar WiSER alumnus and WEC Future Energy Leaders of Lebanon alumnus. She is currently working as a manager in PwC’s consulting Power&Water business pursuing her passion in building trust in society, solving world’s most important problems and making a difference in communities by collaborating with others who want to be part of shaping big, meaningful change in the world.

Throughout her career, she has been driven by her intellectual curiosity to find answers to the most pressing questions. Her analytical, managerial and communication skills, linked with the ability and will to think outside of the box, always bringing fresh perspective has added great value to the team she's working with. Yara is capable of making reliable decisions quickly and accurately and she always welcomes responsibility and new challenges. She is fluent in three languages (Arabic, English and French).

Sara is a Senior Sustainability Consultant at AESG working on advising clients and design teams to improve the sustainability of the built environment. She has over 10 years of experience in the green buildings and sustainability domain in the region. Sara has also been an active participant in creating standards for green buildings in Lebanon with LIBNOR and the OEA, and a lecturer on the topic at the Circular Hub. She was selected to be a FELL18 and a FEL100 member by the World Energy Council.

Marc is an Energy Policy researcher currently working at the University of Limerick in Ireland on investigating battery storage policy within the EU. He is an associate fellow at the AUB Issam Fares Institute of Public Policy and International Affairs, where he previously coordinated the Energy Policy and security program . His work in Lebanon revolves around influencing policy making through evidence-based research. Specifically, he advocates a national energy policy that utilizes renewables as a center piece of the energy mix rather than just a policy add-on, while keeping an eye on the interlinkages between energy policy & planning and Lebanon's political economy.

Marc also worked on conducting energy audits and proposing energy efficiency measures on water and wastewater utilities across the country, and participated in producing papers on how to restructure and unbundle Lebanon's electricity sector, as well as enhancing transparency in the power sector. Marc holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Balamand, & a BS in Chemistry from the Lebanese University. He is currently doing a Masters by Research at the University of Limerick in Ireland."

Farid Comaty is a Senior Energy Consultant at AFRY Management Consulting. He served private and public clients in Europe and the Middle east previously, held several stakeholder workshops and immersed himself in various interdisciplinary topics of the energy transition, focusing on power systems and buildings. He has advised the European Commission, German government and several utilities on the needed strategies to accelerate the energy transition and reap the benefits from smart grid investments. Farid presented at the BEF the results of a two-year project on accelerating energy efficiency in the building sector of Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. He is part of the core team who will continue working in the next two years on the implementation of the policy recommendations. Farid holds a MSc. in Energy Science and Technology from ETH Zurich and worked six months in research. He has valuable modelling experience of power systems focused on the integration of high-shares of renewable energies. Prior to his master, he studied Mechanical Engineering at McGill University in Montreal. Farid is a native French and Arabic speaker and speaks fluently English and German. 

Dyaa is a Power System expert in the application engineering team of GE Digital Grid. He holds an engineering diploma in Energy Management and a Master of Business Administration. He started his experience with Wind Turbines projects in H2air and then moved to GE to work on Energy management systems (SCADA). 

He contributed in commissioning SCADA systems and training end users for several TSOs and Generation companies in EURAF region.

Christina is a project manager at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. Her work focuses on researching technologies and policies that drive decarbonization of the building stock and other sectors of the economy. She has engaged with the Swiss government and multiple multinational firms with policy and strategy recommendations regarding building energy regulations, building retrofit strategies, the use of digital technologies and others. Christina has previous experience in climate-responsive building design including passive design and the use of thermal simulations to assess the energetic performance of buildings. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and an MBA in Energy Management from the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin).

Omar is a Research Assistant at the Energy Section of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA). He is currently supporting the REGEND project; “Regional Initiative for Promoting Small-Scale Renewable Energy Applications in Rural Areas of the Arab Region”.

Omar provided key support to REGEND's solar energy field projects, capacity building workshops, publications, and events in Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia. Prior to joining ESCWA, Omar worked for 8 years as an Electrical QS Engineer at KVA, the electric distribution service provider in Lebanon (Beirut and Bekaa areas). He worked on projects related to MV/LV substations, reinforcement of electric networks, installation of customers' meters, rollout of smart meters, and preventive maintenance on the electricity distribution network. He provided strategic support for KVA’s management in terms of cost control, planning and budgeting, KPIs, and invoicing.

In 2012, Omar graduated from Rafik Hariri University, with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and in 2016 he completed a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Lebanese International University. He has co-authored and presented several peer-reviewed research papers in the fields of Renewable Energy and Smart Grids. Omar is a member of the Order of Engineers and Architects, IEEE Smart Grid Community, and RHU Alumni Association."

Ali is a competent engineer with excellent communication, organizational and coordination skills. Has a proven track record in preparing and executing project plans and programs, ensuring that work is carried out on time and in accordance with company procedures and client satisfaction. Provides timely, safe and cost- effective design and implementation during the life cycle of projects from conception to handover.

Serge Saad is a Mechanical engineer graduate from NDU with emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficiency. In his 3rd year, he started an internship at the Lebanese Solar Energy Society (LSES), where he grasped hands on experience in the renewable energy field in Lebanon. Through his internship he worked on transforming the idea of Lebanon hosting a solar car challenge, he was so motivated by this challenge that his senior project at the university was the first solar race car fit to the world solar challenge regulations. After his internship, he stayed with LSES as the administrator where he was in charge of the ECOtruck an educational tool visiting schools and spreading knowledge about solar energy. In addition, Serge handled the public relations of LSES and represented it in multiple conference and exhibitions such as IBEF and project Lebanon. After his diploma, he started working with energy independence solutions as a freelance project engineer, where he designed solar systems and optimization projects. Last year, in March, Serge participated in the first Urbhackathon in Lebanon, his team came second and they won a two-month incubation with Berytech. Starting January 2018, Serge is the data center cooling, maintenance engineer at OGERO. 

Perla is a Renewable Energy Engineer, with 5 years of experience in the development and design of solar power plants. Perla is currently working in France.