In line with the Department of Communication Arts’ goal to expand LAU students’ international experience, 21 aspiring scholars packed their bags and set off for a three-week academic and cultural media program in Salzburg, Austria.

Running from July 15 to August 5, the 2018 Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change brought together undergraduate and graduate students from various majors and international universities to expand their knowledge of vital global matters affected by media representation.

With this year’s theme of Re-Imagining Journalism: News and Storytelling in an Age of Distrust, participants addressed pressing media challenges, from fake news and hate speech to the polarized world political scene.

“The Salzburg Academy is a unique, transformative experience during which our students meet professionals, students and faculty from all over the world,” said Communication Arts Chair Dr. Jad Melki, who is one of the co-founders of the academy and whose lectures there focused on how to approach coverage of terrorism and war, as well as the pedagogies of genocide. 

Accompanying the students with Melki was Assistant Professor of Multimedia Journalism Dr. Claudia Kozman, who said the program represented “an exceptional experience that empowers students to think outside the box.”

The program is open to students from LAU and other Lebanese universities, who this year joined more than 125 students and faculty members from universities in the Middle East, the UK, China, Eastern Europe, East Africa, and Latin and North America. The program counts as two courses, which can be taken as major or free electives.

“Although I’m a business marketing student, I saw this opportunity as a way to expand my knowledge of the media industry,” said LAU undergraduate Samer Wehbi. “The importance of this lies in the great impact media has on our societies.”

In one project during the academy, students originated approaches that re-imagine the current media situation and aim to restore the public’s trust in media institutions. Some of the methods worked on were innovative storytelling and new ways to run newsrooms and websites.

“From an academic standpoint, Salzburg Academy elevates students’ thinking, challenging them to go outside their comfort zone and allowing them to create various means to bring positive change in the daily work they do at their home universities,” said communications major Mai Al Khouri. “The caliber of the faculty here is an essential component of the academy as they lead students’ ideas in that tangible direction.”

The dynamic academy spurs students to become deeply invested in global issues, noted Melki. “The high energy in this program sparks long-lasting motivation to engage in social justice matters of global proportion.”

Beyond the academic aspect, participants were also able to make invaluable connections.

“The cultural mix gave Salzburg Academy the global feel it needed to take on new approaches in journalism,” said multimedia journalism major Rana Tabbara. “It also acted as a catalyst to spread cultural awareness and knowledge all over the world.”

The collaboration between LAU and the Salzburg Academy started in 2015, when Melki joined the Department of Communication Arts and also became director of the Institute of Media Research and Training at LAU.

The group of LAU students with Dr. Melki and Dr. Kozman.

Participants in the academy included students and faculty members from universities in the Middle East, the UK, China, Eastern Europe, East Africa, and Latin and North America.

Dr. Zahy Ramadan, assistant professor of Marketing at the Adnan Kassar School of Business, has been cited by Forbes Magazine for his work on the Chinese social credit system, a controversial plan by the Chinese government to track citizens’ online activity, purchases, voting records, financial information and more. Using the collected data, the government assigns each person a Social Credit Score, much the way credit agencies across the world assign cardholders credit scores.

One of the first academics to study the system, Ramadan published his findings in the article The Gamification Of Trust: The Case Of China’s “Social Credit” in 2017.

The Forbes article cites Ramadan’s paper twice, when discussing the history and ethical ramifications of the social credit system.

“I worked in China for around a year and a half before moving to the academic world,” Ramadan explained to LAU’s Marketing and Communications Department in an interview on his research. “I was fascinated by the country’s exponential use of locally driven online platforms given the restrictions that were imposed on the usage of foreign social platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.”

As a leading voice in marketing research, Ramadan has won awards for his work, including receiving a prize for best paper at the European International Business Academy (EIBA) Conference last year, along with AKSOB Associate Professor Dr. Maya Farah for their article The Consumer’s Journey in The Era of ‘The First Moment of Truth 2.0.’

At AKSOB, Ramadan continues his research on social media saturation, brand-consumer relationships and shopper marketing.

Traffic congestion is present everywhere, no matter the country. However, it is an especially complex problem in Lebanon as it is influenced by numerous factors. In a recent interview on the LBCI show Naharkom Saeed, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering John El Khoury, who has done extensive research on traffic congestion and is part of Lebanon’s Traffic Management Center, spoke about the issue and possible ways to resolve it.

El Khoury first highlighted the great number of cars and trucks on Lebanon’s roads as a main contributor to the prevalence of traffic congestion and accidents. Lebanon’s roads, highw­ays and thoroughfares see 1,800,000 officially registered vehicles, which is one of the highest rates in the world relative to population. This might render ineffective the efforts of the Internal Security Forces, who are charged with road safety, as there are not enough personnel to monitor all the cars and trucks.

Another factor is the fragile public transportation system in Lebanon, which is neither organized, clean, civil nor particularly safe. Most of the 120,000 people who commute to Beirut each day through the northern entrance prefer not to use public transport, El Khoury told the show’s host.

Moreover, a string of violations take place every day, mostly by operators of trucks, many of whom are not Lebanese and do not have licenses to operate such vehicles in the country. “The government is doing its best to reduce law violations and ensure road safety,” El Khoury said, “but more should be done.”

For instance, and while the drivers responsible for two recent truck accidents that made the news in Lebanon were foreign, the truck owners were Lebanese. “The fine for such a violation is only 200,000 LL,” said El Khoury. “The owners would pay the ticket and close the case without the drivers actually being prosecuted.”

The problem is compounded by the lack of streetlights and road markings as well as the poor infrastructure of most roads in Lebanon. “Urban planning and road infrastructure did not develop in parallel with the country’s development and population growth,” he noted.

All of this, however, is not caused by the absence of laws. “Lebanese traffic law is good enough, but we have to make more of an effort to ensure that it is being properly enforced,” he said.

The good news, according to El Khoury, is that much can be done. First, it is important to provide deterrents to drivers, such as sharing driving records with insurance companies and increasing traffic fines. Moreover, the Internal Security Forces must develop a highway patrol unit such as that in the United States, which is responsible solely for regulating road traffic. Driving hours for commercial drivers should not exceed five hours a day. And finally, more research and planning should be done, especially in Beirut. “Most big cities in the world use a transportation planning model to simulate urban growth and identify weak links in the highway network before implementing any construction project,” El Khoury explained.

The traffic and transportation expert noted that people’s frustration and anger play a huge role in road rage and incidents. Therefore, it is up to Lebanese citizens to look at driving from a different perspective. “Driving is influenced by the culture, and it requires awareness that must start in schools. It is indeed a huge responsibility because a car can become a murder weapon.”

The Media and Digital Literacy Academy of Beirut (MDLAB) launched its sixth-annual training program on August 7 at LAU’s Beirut campus, which consolidates LAU’s role as a driving force in media education in the Arab world and a champion of social justice and critical inquiry into digital and social media practices. The academy will continue until August 17.

MDLAB 2018 is organized by LAU’s Institute of Media Research and Training (IMRT) and sponsored by the Bosch Foundation, Deutsche Welle Academy, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the European Union (EU), and UNESCO.

This year’s academy brings together 75 faculty, students, journalists, and activists from various Arab and non-Arab countries, including Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, as well as Germany, the US, and Bulgaria. The two-week program is at the forefront of the battle to counter extremist ideologies by advancing media and digital literacy education in the Arab region. The academy tackles topics of media, radicalization, human rights, feminism, empowering marginalized communities, and digital security, among others.

MDLAB 2018 kicked off with a welcome speech by Chairperson of the Department of Communication Arts and Founder and Director of MDLAB Dr. Jad Melki, who laid out the academy’s mission to integrate a media literacy curriculum in all universities in the Arab world by 2020.

“LAU is working toward implementing the principles and values of media literacy and disseminating them in the Arab region with the objective of reinforcing critical thinking, responsible media, digital empowerment, civic participation, and social justice,” he said.

“MDLAB is proud to be part of a global network of media literacy educators led by the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change. During the six years MDLAB has been operating, over 50 universities and schools in the Arab region have adopted media literacy in their curricula.”

In addition to attending lectures, students and academics at MDLAB take part in workshops on various digital skills, including photo shooting and editing, audio editing and podcasting, video production, and data analytics.

Faculty participants also attend pedagogical workshops led by Dr. Claudia Kozman, MDLAB’s director of research, Dr. Mona Nabhani from LAU’s Education Department, and Dr. Lindsay Palmer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. These workshops focus on curricular and syllabi development, as well as active and experiential learning methods –methods of teaching that LAU is well known for championing. The goal of these workshops is to equip faculty participants with the skills needed to advance media literacy education at their home universities and to incorporate the latest pedagogical practices in their courses.

“Faculty development has become a crucial component of MDLAB,” said Kozman. “As we try to spread media literacy in the Arab world, it is essential that we also invest in the faculty who are championing these courses in their home institutions. The most effective way to do this is to provide them with the proper tools that create a positive learning environment, which enhances student engagement with the course material.”

In another lecture, Associate Professor of Journalism Studies at Emerson College Dr. Paul Mihailidis, director of the Salzburg Academy and associate professor at Emerson College, discussed the opportunities and challenges of media literacy around the globe.

The second day of the academy unfolded with a talk by LAU Assistant Professor of Media Studies Dr. Gretchen King, who spoke about the political economy of news, highlighting issues of colonialism and imperialism in the media.

The correlation between media and gender was also one of the academy’s dominant themes. In one lecture, Melki spoke about the media’s role in the normalization of rape culture, subservience, unattainable physical beauty standards and thinness, among others, which reinforce the sexual objectification of women.

“I am super impressed with the topics picked for the sessions because they are highly diverse and are less tackled in the Arab world,” said Egyptian participant Rana Khaled, who is a PhD student at the University of Logan in Switzerland.

The lectures on gender are an opportunity “for people from all over the Arab world to understand how the media can be highly connected to gender, and how social norms and values influence how people perceive media and gender, and vice versa,” said Khaled, who is also a writer for the Oxford University-led European Observatory.

“Honestly, it has exceeded expectations. I imagined the style of lectures was going to be a little bit classic, but it is very interactive, and the topics are very new,” said Palestinian participant Ramz Shalbak, who works in communication and knowledge management at the United Nations Population Fund in New York.

She was particularly happy with the workshops, which were “a good experience for someone who does not have a technical background to learn about video editing and photography.”

Shalbak also saw in the academy a valuable opportunity to network with media professionals and academics from the region. “I think the main goal of being here is to try to create change in the media region,” she said.

“If the change is not interrelated, it will not have the highest impact, so starting from the bottom with a good strong network that the MDLAB is facilitating is going to create a real change.”

During the second week of the academy, participants will work on their final projects, demonstrating the potential to spread media literate campaigns throughout the Arab world.

MDLAB will conclude with the presentations of projects, the distribution of certificates and a closing ceremony.

For the full program of MDLAB 2018 go to https://goo.gl/zqq5DU. All morning sessions are open to the public.

Dr. Claudia Kozman, MDLAB’s director of research, gave one of the pedagogical workshops that focused on curricular development and experiential learning.

Participants were encouraged to engage in the interactive lectures and workshops.

Students and academics took part in workshops on various digital skills.

Dr. Paul Mihailidis held a lecture on the challenges and opportunities of media literacy worldwide.

Dr. Jad Melki set out the academy’s mission to integrate a media literacy curriculum in all universities in the Arab world by 2020.

I Have a Dream, Thank You for the Music, Havana – to the tune of these songs, 32 teenagers wrapped up IMAGINE’s second-annual Summer Arts Camp with a full-length performance at LAU’s Gulbenkian Theater in Beirut. The young singers, actors and dancers charmed the audience with a musical production they had been practicing the previous three weeks of camp.

The IMAGINE Summer Arts Camp – open to 12 to 17 year-olds from across Lebanon – mirrors the School of Arts and Sciences’ Performing Arts Program, but “on a smaller scale for younger kids,” said camp founder and director, Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Amr Selim.

The interdisciplinary nature of the program is at the core of the camp’s philosophy. Campers are taught a number of areas of performing arts and choose an emphasis in music, dance or theater.

“We want the kids not only to understand the value of each art individually, but also the value of adding them and using elements from one and another,” Selim said. 

For the end-of-camp performance on August 3, the campers presented a musical play based on Cinderella but with a modern twist. The horse-drawn carriage was replaced by an Uber ride and the glass slipper was a mobile phone. The production ended with Beyonce’s Put a Ring on It, much to the audience’s amusement.

Television and Film Instructor Omar Moujaes, who taught acting, said the production was a great challenge because the students had to work together to “produce a single play with one storyline.”

“This was immensely difficult, as they needed to learn sequences, dances, songs, along with dialogue and proper characterization,” he said, adding, “They were challenged to express themselves through a variety of emotions and taught how to respect one another and work as a team.”

Assistant Professor of Dance & Associate Chair of the Department of Communication Arts Dr. Nadra Assaf, who taught dance classes with LAU Instructor of Dance Sarah Fadel, said the main objective behind the classes was to “raise the bar of body awareness. Based on the exit interview we had with the dancers, I think we achieved our goal.”

She complimented the participants on their high caliber. “They amazed us all with their ability to learn, retain and perform material so quickly.”

For 14-year-old Leya Hamza, who chose an emphasis in dance, the summer camp was a medium through which “you can choose whoever you want to be and you can be that person.”

The camp also offered classes for those interested in rock music. In addition, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Seba Ali gave classes in chamber music, training two violinists, a vocalist and a pianist.

Rock enthusiast Sami Khudr, 14, who lives most of the year in Saudi Arabia, said the band was “a way to communicate with each other, and to express your feelings and your emotions through music, through old songs that are sometimes very popular and sometimes new to your ears.”

Classes were interspersed with daily workshops focusing on a different theme each week, in order to expose the campers to an even wider range of subjects.

The first week was about creative storytelling, and campers were given workshops in clowning, poetry and songwriting. The second theme was filmmaking, which culminated in the students creating a film shot and edited solely by mobile phone. The third workshop focused on fashion design.

Selim underlined that with each session, the camp aims to create a competition-free and supportive learning environment for the students.

“Our motto here is that it is all about the [learning] process not the product. There is always that competition that puts so much pressure on the kid, and doesn’t let them learn,” he said.

At the end of the camp, the Department of Communication Arts offered five individual LAU scholarships ranging from 15 to 30 percent of tuition for the soon-to-be college students. The scholarships were given to the “most improved students, not the students who came to us and were already the best,” said Selim.

The main objective behind the dance classes, said Dr. Nadra Assaf, was “to raise the bar of body awareness.”

The camp also offered classes for those interested in rock music and songwriting.

Campers chose their emphasis in music, dance or theater. (Photos courtesy of Samer Beyhum)

As both LAU campuses gear up for the fall semester, incoming students are excitedly taking in the new views and getting acquainted with student life and academic processes. Among them are 66 public high-school graduates who have been granted full tuition and board as part of the University Scholarship Program (USP), funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The new cohort brings the total number of USP scholars who have joined LAU to 541. A special orientation event to welcome the new USP VII scholars took place on August 17 at the Beirut campus.

Students will experience LAU’s rigorous academic standards that develop their leadership skills and critical thinking and a campus environment that promotes social equality. In addition to their studies, students are expected to play an active role in extracurricular and community activities.

“Besides getting a good education, you will have the resources to become public speakers, volunteers, leaders and advocates for your country,” said Vice President for Student Development and Enrollment Management (SDEM) Dr. Elise Salem, referring to the mandatory volunteering hours the students will have to fulfill, in addition to attending multiple soft-skills workshops and participating in student clubs. “Your dreams will reach new heights,” she added.

“At 16, I realized that my only chance for a good education was through a scholarship,” said former USP graduate Yara Issa, who told her story in a short video screened at the event. Upon graduation, Issa launched an urban planning platform bringing together youth from Tannourine, her hometown, to share their ideas on urban planning, while also starting her career in advertising and PR. Toward the end of the video, Issa said that her experience as a USP student at LAU led her to understand firsthand what being boundless means: “It’s being one person with huge dreams and having the drive to accomplish them.”

USAID Education Office Director Bruce McFarland touched on the idea of boundlessness at the orientation event. “What we’re seeing is not just the potential for you, but also the potential for Lebanon,” he pointed out, telling the students that they will have influence in varying degrees on the Lebanon of the future, and encouraging them to “seize the opportunity and engage with the country as fast as possible in order to move it forward.”

Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management Abdo Ghié reminded attendees of the rigorous process that USP scholars have to undergo. LAU’s SDEM staff, he said, had promoted the scholarship in more than 300 public schools across all Lebanon’s governorates, resulting in more than 800 applicants, who were whittled down by the selection committee based on eligibility, competency, exams and, finally, interviews. He congratulated the students on making it through to LAU, where “you are not a number, but a student with strong potential.”

Assistant Vice President for Outreach & Civic Engagement and USP Program Director Elie Samia spoke of the USP graduates who have made a difference in their communities since the program’s launch in 2010. “It’s evidence-based that the USP program is successful,” noted Samia, explaining how it is structured to bridge the gap between the knowledge and skills that university students acquire and those demanded by the job market. He went over the parameters of the grant in detail, explaining the role students will have to play through volunteerism, extracurricular activities and community engagement, all while maintaining high academic standing.

Toward the end of the session, SDEM staff fielded questions from the new scholars, helping them shape a clear idea of what their scholarship entailed, and filling them with excitement over their upcoming years at LAU.

Elie Samia gave examples of previous USP students who have made a difference in their communities.

USAID Education Office Director Bruce McFarland touched on the idea of boundlessness.

Dr. Elise Salem briefed the students on the benefits they will draw from their experience at LAU.

The 66 USP scholars pictured at the end of orientation day.

On September 1, Dr. George K. Najjar will be handing over the provostship to Dean of the School of Engineering (SOE) Dr. George E. Nasr in order to assume the role of vice president for Advancement at LAU. Since taking up his position as provost in 2012, Najjar has worked with the Council of Deans to strengthen the academic division of the university, implemented LAU’s Strategic Plan II (SPII) and, with the help of the Steering Committee, initiated SPIII.

In addition, Najjar has doubled the number of graduate programs, increased the number of graduate students by 50 to 60 percent, almost quadrupled the research output of the university, and instituted interschool programs like Actuarial Science.

He also takes pride in having created with the President’s Cabinet and his colleagues “a culture where we are very mindful of the importance of strategic positioning, competitive profiling, and the fact that LAU is not only about a proud past but is also about a challenging future that we must be prepared to deal with.”  

Najjar looks forward to a smooth transition, knowing that he will be handing over his post to “someone who is a distinguished academic, a loyal citizen of LAU who has served in multiple capacities over many years and knows the ins and outs of the Dean’s Office as a profile as well as the Provost’s Office.” 

Indeed, since joining LAU in 1993, Nasr has served the university in multiple capacities, rising through the ranks of academia to head the School of Engineering in 2009. He played a major role in securing LAU accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) as well as accreditation for the SOE’s undergraduate programs by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) in 2011, which was successfully renewed in 2017.

“I am privileged and honored to be assuming this position at a time when change has become the language of the day,” Nasr says of his new appointment. Recognizing the support he will be receiving from the deans, faculty, President’s Council and President Joseph G. Jabbra, he adds, “We have started with our Third Strategic Plan guided by Provost Najjar, which will make my job simpler. We have a clear plan, and what remains to be done is its efficient implementation.”

Commenting on a future compounded by economic, social and political uncertainties in the region, Nasr notes that the university will continue to invest in its intellectual and physical capital.

Since its inception, he points out, the institution has continuously shown resilience in the face of adversity, sustaining a level of excellence for more than a century.

Taking into account the university’s history, its current status and strategic planning process, Nasr’s vision encompasses three main areas: teaching and a liberal arts education; faculty recruitment, retention, promotion and renewal; and research.

His chief aim is to capitalize on LAU’s strength as a liberal arts university and “build a global liberal arts-based education to enhance universal citizenship,” by increasing the number of courses, establishing an effective administrative structure for the liberal arts curriculum and integrating it with the major course requirements.

Furthermore, “emphasis on learning, constituency engagement, faculty participation and continuous improvement,” he explains, “will encourage institutional cultural change and help faculty respond with greater accountability and productivity, and strengthen faculty participation in the university’s shared governance process.”

Research, he insists, is not an option, but an integral part of faculty’s duties. To ensure better visibility and ranking for the university, research needs to be boosted and faculty encouraged to publish and apply for grants.

Of vital importance to both Najjar and Nasr is the student centeredness that sets LAU apart. “There will be no zero-sum game,” says Najjar, “no research breakthrough at the expense of good teaching, no good teaching at the expense of student centeredness.”

LAU’s mission, they stress, is not only educating the whole person but also safeguarding the sustainability that has distinguished the university for generations in an ever-changing world.

“Our raison d’être is simple, it is all about making the world a better place through education, research, and outreach,” says Nasr. “We have a strategy, and what will differentiate us from other universities is how well we implement it, how we benefit students and ensure the sustainability of what they take away from the experience.”

In that, he adds, “the liberal arts education breeds a person committed to his country and to his family. Such a person will have the perseverance and determination to change things for the better.”

Both Dr. Najjar (left) and Dr. Nasr (right) stress that student centeredness is what sets LAU apart.

For many students in under-resourced schools, a good teacher is all it takes to instill a lifelong love of learning. That is the conviction that Teach For Lebanon (TFL), a non-profit organization that started in 2008, was built upon. This year, TFL’s tenth cohort – a remarkable group of top university students from across the country – are being placed at the schools in which students need them most.

In August, the new teachers, referred to as “fellows,” were granted certificates from LAU’s Continuing Education Program (CEP), which specially trained them in educational pedagogy with both theoretical and hands-on learning during the TFL’s Summer Institute on Byblos campus.

“As one of Lebanon’s leading universities, contributing to building a generation of leaders who will work toward the vision of a better Lebanon was really an honor,” said CEP Assistant Director George Obeid, who worked closely with TFL on the Summer Institute.

The institute is an important step in achieving TFL’s goal of “working toward eliminating educational inequality in Lebanon by fostering a generation of socially responsible youth,” said Farah Abou Matia, TFL’s education manager.

After receiving their Summer Institute certificates, the next step for graduates is to be placed in schools across Lebanon for the two-year Teach For Lebanon Fellowship Program.

“After I started the Summer Institute, I got acquainted with the system, and I felt like this is where I belonged,” said Maria Jabra, one of the TFL fellows in training. “I want to give 100 percent to make sure my students are happy.”

Moataz Al Mousawi, another fellow in training, felt the same. “I never imagined myself as a teacher… but I’m the type of person who always wants to make things better for others, and I think Teach For Lebanon allows me to do that.”

He added, “It’s very fulfilling to see yourself having a positive, long-lasting influence on a child’s life.”

The students themselves see the positive impact of having young, aspiring teachers at the helm of their classes. In a promotional video for the Summer Institute, a young student at a Lebanese public school spoke about how his time in class helped him continue to learn over the summer and keep his mind sharp for the next school year.  

As Dima Sawda, another fellow in training, said, “In order to be a good teacher, you have to be a good leader.” The CEP and Teach For Lebanon 2018 Summer Institute are making sure Lebanon’s force of teachers are ready to lead. 

Teach For Lebanon “fellows” in training take a break on Byblos campus.

George Obeid and Teach For Lebanon CEO Salyne Samarani (C) celebrate the closing of the Summer Institute.

Within the world of engineering, a micrometer makes all the difference. Studying the implications of surface protection and frictional energy losses in lubricated machine elements is an intense process, one made easier with a new book by a faculty member at LAU’s School of Engineering.

Associate Professor Dr. Wassim Habchi is the author of Finite Element Modeling of Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Problems. The book, published by Wiley and released earlier this year, is a compilation of years of Habchi’s research revolving around computer simulations of lubrication phenomena within moving parts.

Most machinery, from small machines used in daily life to large industrial equipment, involves moving elements such as gears, bearings and other rotating parts. Problems can occur as friction develops between these moving parts and surfaces. This is where Habchi’s research comes in: “If we can understand the lubrication of working parts, we can increase the working life of these components, especially in an environment where these parts are expected to function under harsher conditions,” Habchi explains.

The book is a culmination of more than 13 years of research, devoted to simulating what is happening within these working parts, down to the micrometer level. By using finite element modeling to simulate the lubricated contact between the surfaces of the moving parts, Habchi was able to study these contacts and improve their lubrication performance, thus increasing the efficiency of their corresponding parts.

Although the book is theoretical in nature, the findings have meaningful applications for any industry that uses machinery. By understanding the lubrication of mechanical elements, both the useful life and efficiency of the parts are enhanced, as well as safety in the use of the machinery itself.

For instance, through his research, Habchi discovered that using a surface coating on elements can reduce internal component friction and power losses by as much as 50 percent. “For example,” he explains, “on average, a car experiences about 40 percent of its losses due to friction. So, based on thermal properties of the coatings applied to the parts, those losses can be reduced.”

Most of Habchi’s research is focused in this direction, and major companies are taking notice. Manufacturers have already invited him to give seminars on his research, and many are using the methodologies and software developed in his book to study the performance of working parts and optimize their efficiency.

The book is expected to serve as a resource for graduate students, faculty and researchers, and includes a downloadable software tool that allows for practical application of Habchi’s theoretical findings.

Habchi’s work has thus helped transfer new technological understanding from LAU’s research labs to the manufacturing floors of heavy industries.

Dr. Habchi’s book has helped transfer new technological understanding from LAU’s research labs to the manufacturing floors of heavy industries.

L’Oréal and LAU have a shared vision to transform the way students are educated and prepared for their business careers in global organizations. This shared vision has led to the creation of a long-term relationship that focuses on activities such as research, curricula and internships, as well as L’Oréal’s Brandstorm Competition.

The Brandstorm Competition is held in more than 60 countries with over 25,000 university students. With more than 120,000 participating since its creation, the Brandstorm Competition is one of the most reputable and recognized contests in the business world. LAU has taken part in the competition for the past six years, and won it nationally and regionally in 2017.

L’Oréal’s objectives with the competition have always revolved around enhancing brand awareness and image among university students, capturing creative and original ideas from youths, and enriching its HR talent database for future recruitment. From its end, LAU has embraced this key yearly competition in order to transform the way students are trained in the classroom and on the job, to enhance the exposure and employability of LAU business students, as well as to drive innovation in university education and brand design, development, technology and strategy management. Furthermore, LAU has strived through this competition to deliver long-term value to both institutions as well as to the broader community in Lebanon and the region, while creating a sustainable model for world-class university-industry collaboration parties.

Following this close value co-creation and shared vision between the two institutions, L’Oréal and LAU have announced the launch of a new joint collaboration in developing an academic case study on the Brandstorm Competition. The case study will discuss a new model for creating a relational – rather than transactional – university-industry relationship that stems from student competitions such as Brandstorm. The case study will also demonstrate the importance of having academic institutions build long-term strategic relationships with industry collaborators across inter-related areas of research, curricula, internships and community engagement (as emphasized by accreditation body AACSB). The case study can be used as a teaching and learning tool in marketing, business strategy, IT/innovation management, instruction design, and material delivery innovation courses, as well as acting as a discussion topic.

LAU faculty members Dr. Manal Yunis and Dr. Zahy Ramadan, who attended the Harvard Business School Global Colloquium on case teaching and writing at Harvard from July 2017 to January 2018, will be leading this project with L’Oréal.

LAU’s team, pictured here, won the regional finals of the 2017 Brandstorm competition.

Eliya El Khoury has some pretty tall goals – literally. The LAU alumnus, who graduated in 2014 with a BS in Business, is pursuing his quest to scale the highest mountain on each continent, and he hopes to be the first Lebanese to ascend Mount Everest without the use of bottled oxygen.

El Khoury began his pursuit in 2015 by climbing Mount Elbrus, the highest summit in Europe, at 5,642 meters. In 2016, he was the first Lebanese to scale Aoraki/Mount Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand, unguided. Two years later, in May 2018, he led a successful, unguided expedition to the highest mountain in North America, Mount Denali (6,192m). “Mountaineering is much more than reaching the summit,” he says. “It is about embracing the experience and realizing how vast and wonderful is the world we live in.”

Though he has been mountaineering for more than five years, his passion for outdoor activities started at a young age. El Khoury spent much of his childhood outdoors, camping and hiking in the countryside.

As a student at LAU, he expanded his repertoire of athletic interests, taking place in the Polyathlon des Cèdres 2014 race, the Raid des Cèdres 2015 race and the Beirut Marathon. “LAU is one of the main reasons I was able to take part in several outdoor activities,” he says. He also joined the Hiking and Camping Club, discovering a new passion.

“Being a fan of endurance sports, mountaineering was the perfect activity to pursue, as it is a combination of both endurance and climbing.” 

His mother, Senior Executive Assistant at the Office of the President Norma El Khoury, has always supported his endeavors. She notes that her son’s endurance was sharpened by his activities at the university. “I thank LAU because it opened wide opportunities for him,” she says, noting that he recently joined the LAU Alumni Association Sydney Chapter.

Like any sport, mountain climbing poses a set of challenges. Aside from the logistical preparations to be made before each trip, extreme weather conditions, the absence of clear routes to follow, and the lack of support on the mountains pose high risks. These are magnified when a trip is made before the official climbing season starts, as with El Khoury’s trek up Mount Denali early last May with two Australian friends. “We were stuck in our tent for five consecutive days due to big storms, and the temperature reached minus 40 degrees Celsius,” he says.

Despite the risks that accompany such a sport, El Khoury has remained determined, and has proudly raised the Lebanese flag on each summit he’s conquered.  “Representing Lebanon in mountaineering makes me happy and proud,” he says. “It gives me the opportunity to show the real side of Lebanon, with its stunning mountains, amazing food and beautiful people.”

El Khoury’s passion does not end here. Currently, he is working with his partner on establishing the Lebanese Alpine Club, a united community of mountain enthusiasts working to help people discover the great outdoors and to raise awareness of environmental conservation. He is also interested in cycling, and hopes to be the first person to bike around the Mediterranean Basin. 

To El Khoury, the sky is the limit, and he hopes Lebanese youth believe the same. “I encourage Lebanese youth to dream big, follow their passion, take advantage of each opportunity, and never stop learning,” he says.

El Khoury waves the Lebanese flag on Mount Cook.

Descending Mount Dixon.

Heavenly view from Denali summit.

Ascending the summit ridge of Mount Denali.

El Khoury hoisting the Lebanese flag atop Denali.

A new high-tech simulator was installed at the Comprehensive Stroke Center Tuesday, allowing physicians to receive pre-clinical training in a simulated clinical environment.

The Comprehensive Stroke Center opened this year under the auspices of the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine and is located at the LAU Medical Center-Rizk Hospital in Beirut.

“We, at the school of medicine and medical center, are very proud to be the pioneers, not only in treating patients, but also in training the younger generations of physicians to minimize errors,” said Dr. Michel Mawad, dean of the Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine.

The machine, called a replicator, is the first of its kind to be used anywhere in the Middle East, Europe or Africa. It serves to train physicians in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms, a cause of hemorrhagic stroke and acute ischemic stroke. By using 3D technology, the simulator recreates the anatomy of the blood vessels in the brain and allows physicians to control heartbeat, temperature, blood pressure and brain flow, reproducing a real-life situation with high accuracy.

This advance in pre-clinical training is possible thanks to a partnership with Medtronic, the international medical device company that manufactured the replicator. “We have partnered with the company to create a first-class, state-of-the-art training center for all physicians in Lebanon and neighboring countries in the MENA region,” said Dr. Mawad.

Nadine Hans, senior director of medical affairs at Medtronic, said the partnership is founded on a shared vision between the company and LAU. “LAU is the very first center in which Medtronic has installed this simulation because we both share the ultimate goal of improving clinical outcomes through training,” she said, noting that the progress LAU has made in stroke treatment has positioned it as the region’s center of expertise in the field.  

The replicator is a welcome addition to the state-of-the-art technology available at LAU’s Clinical Simulation Center, which provides hands-on practice in medical education.

Dr. Mawad highlighted the importance of using simulation prior to treating real people to “avoid complications, accelerate the learning curve and eliminate human errors.” He noted that physicians can use the device repeatedly, make mistakes in a safe and controlled environment, then move to treating real-life cases with confidence.

This sophisticated technology places LAU in the lead when it comes to pre-clinical training and education. “Not only is the Comprehensive Stroke Center one of a kind and the first in the region, but it is now also backed up with a high-level simulation solution,” said Dr. Mawad.

The Comprehensive Stroke Center team with Medtronic representatives.

The replicator serves to train physicians in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms, a cause of hemorrhagic stroke and acute ischemic stroke.

Assistant Professor of Multimedia Journalism Dr. Claudia Kozman has become the MENA representative of the International Communication Division (ICD) of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).

The Washington-based AEJMC is the second-largest international communication association in the world, whose mission is “to promote the highest standards for journalism and mass communication in education.” In an effort to bring more of an international perspective, the ICD created four regional divisions, including one for MENA.

Though she is currently in academia, Kozman began her career as a sports journalist. She worked for 13 years as a reporter and represented Lebanese media in various regional and international competitions, the most notable of which was the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. After receiving her PhD from the University of Indiana, and at the outset of the Arab Spring in 2011 and the subsequent war in Syria, Kozman’s research focus shifted.

“I still count sports as my sub-specialty, but now my bigger specialty is Lebanon and the Arab region,” she said, adding, “I know it will sound cliché, but I really felt that I had an education from abroad, and I wanted people to benefit from it in my country.”

She began a project in collaboration with Department of Communication Arts Chairperson Dr. Jad Melki in which they study access to media and its uses by Syrian refugees based on a survey of 2,192 people displaced in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. “I thought we needed to do more research on both Lebanon and the Arab region,” she explained. 

Their most recent paper, “News Media Uses During War and Conflict: The Case of the Syrian Civil War,” was published in 2018 in the Q1 academic journal Journalism Studies. Two others from the same dataset were presented last year in conferences in San Diego, USA and in Limassol, Cyprus, and will be submitted for publication soon.

Kozman and Melki’s research explores accessibility to news media during periods of conflict with the ultimate aim of offering “a better understanding of how news sources can deliver appropriate content to populations during dangerous and uncertain situations,” according to the abstract.

“We, the people who are from the region, are most qualified to do this research because we understand all these ins and outs and how it works,” Kozman noted.

“The value and the significance of all these studies is that they are done on a region that nobody knows anything about,” she said. While there are many theories tested in a foreign context, Kozman explained that having the opportunity to test them on the Lebanese and Arab media “adds to the literature.”

This is why being selected as the AEJMC MENA representative is a significant step in her efforts to make research about the region available to international media professionals. Part of Kozman’s objective will be to recruit scholars to become members of AEJMC’s ICD division. There is also the potential, she said, to host events at LAU with the co-sponsorship of the associations. “This can absolutely be a channel for LAU.”

Kozman was additionally selected as a fellow with the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication in August 2018. The center is another well-known US-based institution that advocates for female causes and works closely with AEJMC’s Commission on the Status of Women. 

“I thought it was really relevant because it talks about female junior faculty in communication; it’s tailored for people like me,” she said of the fellowship, adding that it presents an opportunity to interact with women from different cultures.

Considering her career successes, Kozman compared her experience as a student to that of today’s young journalism majors. She says she sometimes feels she “had it easy.”

“Nowadays, knowing how to write is not enough. You need to know so many other things. When I was a journalist, for instance, digital skills weren’t required,” she said.

In this new media age, where anyone can play the role of the journalist and post online, Kozman believes that students need to specialize in a discipline, such as economics, that will distinguish them from others in the field.

“You have to create that niche market,” she advised. “You have to set yourself apart from others. And one of the ways to do so is through education. Take classes, be an expert.” 

Dr. Kozman with Professor Stephen Reese of the University of Texas at Austin, during the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change. (Photo courtesy of Salzburg Global Seminar)

LAU’s School of Engineering (SOE) hosted last week a delegation from Germany’s BMW Group to increase collaboration between the two entities and identify future areas for research and student opportunities.

LAU has an established relationship with BMW. Since spring, LAU engineering students have been selected for short-term internship opportunities at the company’s headquarters in Germany to observe, learn, and contribute to research and development.

On August 27, the BMW delegation made their third visit to LAU’s Byblos campus, where they were given a tour of the new 10,000m² engineering laboratory facilities. Many of these labs had special points of interest that parallel BMW’s work, such as the Mechatronics and Internal Combustion Engines Labs. The tour was followed by presentations from BMW, SOE faculty and students.

Participants discussed how industries are moving into augmented reality, and noted that developments in artificial intelligence research must be made to keep up.

BMW recognizes increasing costs related to logistics. For example, since design, assembly and marketing are done in multiple locations worldwide, the company is developing robotic solutions to streamline their production process.

This is where LAU comes in. “The exchange of students [from LAU] is very beneficial; LAU students are very strong technically,” said Thomas Irrenhauser, BMW Group team leader for logistics and robotics.

Irrenhauser added that the benefit of the LAU-BMW relationship is bilateral: “Although students’ algorithms work well in the lab, production poses problems that are often unpredictable until they are implemented in the field.”

Christian Poss, also part of the BMW Logistics and Robotics Team, concurred. “Development of cars is complex, but production [of cars] is even more complex.”

BMW’s solutions for reducing the complexity of their processes are based on the concept of robots working “hand-in-hand” with humans to get the job done while maintaining the highest level of efficiency.

The company’s development of robots that contribute to a wide range of production activities closely aligns with LAU’s Industrial and Mechanical Engineering programs. The foundation that students gain at LAU positions them well for the direction that companies like BMW are heading.

“Our goal today is not just to further the collaboration between our two organizations, but also for our students to realize the industry relevance of their degree and pursue future opportunities in robotics with BMW,” said Assistant Provost and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Barbar Akle.

The visiting BMW team members emphasized that the typical path for BMW employees starts with an internship, followed by the pursuit of advanced degrees via research within the company. Based on this, LAU SOE students are perfectly poised for future career opportunities at BMW and elsewhere.

And a number of LAU students have risen to the challenge: three from Electrical and Computer Engineering – Farhan El Ghareeb, Guy Abi Hanna and Rayana Jaafar – presented research projects they are working on with SOE faculty. Their presentations not only highlighted their technical skills, but also their research interests and desire to make strides in the realm of artificial intelligence and robotics.

“Today, BMW has identified areas of interest for future collaboration with LAU,” said Irrenhauser, and LAU faculty and students look forward to maintaining this partnership.

Following the presentations, a roundtable discussion focused on the next steps and expectations of the cooperation between the two entities.

Dr. Akle and SOE faculty members gave the BMW delegation a tour of the Engineering Labs and Research Center.

Last spring, he helped stump listeners who were trying to distinguish human-composed music from AI-generated songs. Last week, he received an award from the School of Engineering (SOE) for his work with LAU.

Jean-Marie Riachi is a celebrated Lebanese composer and architect of the hit TV show The Voice Kids. Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Interim Assistant Dean of the SOE Joe Tekli visited him at his studio last week to hand deliver an appreciation award for his work with LAU and his support of engineering.

At a very memorable event this past spring, Riachi took part as a panelist in the SOE’s AI Rivals Human Music Composers workshop, along with composer and LAU Music Instructor Joseph Khalife, multimedia computer engineer and musician at Antonine University Anthony Bou Fayad, SOE alumnus and Oxford graduate student Ralph Abboud (BE ‘17), as well as SOE’s own Dr. Tekli and Dr. Barbar Akle.

At the event, the musicians – Riachi, Khalife and Bou Fayad – spoke of the process of creating music and what it means to listeners. Abboud then demonstrated his research project: the AI computer program Music Sentiment-based Expression and Composition (MUSEC), which can automatically compose music based on the mood of a user, and can analyze emotions being expressed in real music pieces. It was up to the audience to guess which music was created by the composers, and which by MUSEC.

After presenting Riachi with his award, Tekli was invited to tour the studio. He was “impressed with the high-end sophistication of the signal capture and processing, analog filtering and digital rendering equipment available.” 

“We rely on state-of-the-art analog and digital equipment,” noted Riachi. “Analog allows us to capture the authenticity of the voice and music recordings, which is then converted to digital for rendering and recording at high bit rates, ensuring optimal quality.”

“The quality and beauty of the music would be lost if not for cutting-edge computerized recording and processing equipment allowing to preserve and highlight its authenticity,” Riachi added.

“This is electrical and computer engineering in the service of music as one of the noblest art forms,” Tekli enthused.

 Akle and Tekli also presented Khalife with a token of appreciation for his gracious participation in the event and his continued and valuable support of artistic, music-related, and extracurricular activities at the SOE.

In addition, Bou Fayad and Abboud have been invited by the SOE to participate in two upcoming special events, during which they will be recognized for their keenness, and their passion for LAU and the school.

LAU’s SOE continues to regularly organize special events, exposing its students to different innovations and application areas in the various fields of Engineering.

Jean-Marie Riachi in his studio.

Joseph Khalife (C) holds up the appreciation award presented by Dr. Tekli (L) and Dr. Akle (R).

With the start of the 2018-2019 academic year, the Adnan Kassar School of Business (AKSOB) is welcoming a new interim dean.

Dr. Wassim Shahin is succeeding Dr. Said Ladki, who has held the position since 2013. The business school is not a new environment for Dr. Shahin, who was the founding dean of the School of Business on Byblos campus in 1996. Over the years, he has also been a well-known professor of banking, finance and economics, and most recently acted as assistant provost for special external projects at LAU.

LAU President Dr. Joseph G. Jabbra referred to Shahin’s contributions to LAU as “significant and exemplary,” and highlighted his dynamism, noting that Shahin had sat as a member on multiple boards, was a regular editorial reviewer, and was a sought-after strategic consultant for issues pertaining to risk management and banking regulation.  

In an interview, Shahin looked back at how AKSOB has changed since his last deanship, and revealed what is next for the school and the strategic prospects he plans to pursue.

How do you think the school has evolved in the years since your last deanship?

Back in 1996, we did not have many departments, institutes or graduate programs like the EMBA, Human Resources or Applied Economics that we now have. We were not looking for any type of accreditation – it was just a very critical building stage across two schools on each of the campuses.

Today, we are an internationally accredited school, one that has been unified and integrated – not assembled – to cater to Lebanese youth from all backgrounds. We offer a number of robust undergraduate and graduate programs and stand among a select five percent of AACSB – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business – accredited business schools worldwide. The school’s operations run seamlessly, as we have opted to move away from positions that are tied to geography between Beirut and Byblos in our modern, ever-connected world.

What are the strategic milestones for AKSOB as a leading business school in Lebanon and the region?

Looking back at all these facelifts that AKSOB undertook, it might come as a surprise now to announce that we are actually still building, as I am a strong believer that advancement is a never-ending process.

Above all, we are aiming for a “triple crown” accreditation. This includes the AACSB accreditation that we already have, but we will also target the Association of MBAs (AMBA) accreditation, as well as the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) accreditation.

Apart from the “triple crown,” accreditation remains the name of the game. For this to materialize, we will need differentiators, such as program-specific accreditation, or European accreditation. In the long run, this will improve students’ employability and their acceptance into graduate programs, as well as higher international recognition. Our vision is to remain competitive and become number one.

What is your plan for advancing research and promoting AKSOB’s international affiliations – especially in line with LAU’s strategic plan?

The quality and quantity of research – with more emphasis on quality – is strictly tied to a culture that nurtures it. At LAU, this is not only an actively sought-after objective, but a goal of the university’s strategic plan, and we have what it takes to further our university on the research map. More specifically at AKSOB, we know that research is achieved through partial time release from teaching and fundraising for sabbaticals, conferences, exchange initiatives and summer grants, and this is something we are actively acting upon. The aim is to have 100 percent of our faculty involved in research.

On international affiliations, the strategic plan’s third pillar cites “transforming LAU into a university without borders.” This does not mean that we will be everywhere all the time. It translates into seeking partnerships with renowned universities across the world and building a structure for “twinning” at the level of programs with prominent schools. Examples include offering dual degrees, securing exchange programs for both students and faculty members, as well as joint research agreements.

In parallel, our strategy is to continue with proactively identifying and creating fortified links between the school and the industries that are connected to it. Across the banking, advertising, finance, economics, hospitality and tourism sectors, we aim to expand our reach and secure memorandums of understanding to produce internships for our students, among other vast opportunities.

Dr. Shahin was the founding dean of the School of Business back in 1996.

For the first time in the history of the annual Miss Lebanon contest, participants trained on gender equality, redefining beauty standards, negotiation, conflict resolution, public speaking, effective communication, and other topics that many would not necessarily associate with the pageant world.

The training took place on both LAU’s campuses in August and early September, and was carried out in cooperation with the university’s Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW). Thirty Miss Lebanon hopefuls took part.

On IWSAW’s role in the training, the institute’s director, Dr. Lina Abirafeh, said, “Rather than lament the toxic beliefs and behaviors beauty pageants perpetuate, IWSAW sought a positive and proactive way to increase attention and accountability.” She added that she hopes “this unexpected reframe will spark conversation” and entice people to “think differently about what beauty really means,” given the widespread popularity of the pageant in Lebanon.

LAU Director of Media and Public Relations Nada Torbey – who worked closely with the network that airs the pageant, MTV Lebanon – noted that the university’s mission underlines commitment to civic engagement, education of the whole person, and the formation of leaders in a diverse world. “This initiative not only reflects LAU’s values, but also the spirit of our times and the global values we work to promote,” she said.

Three LAU entities were primarily involved in the training, which kicked off with sessions by IWSAW’s Associate Director Myriam Sfeir and Research Consultant Gabriella Nassif; followed by workshops by Communication Arts Department Chair Dr. Jad Melki, Dr. Lina Abiad and Dr. Nadra Assaf; and closing with Outreach and Civic Engagement (OCE) sessions by Assistant Vice President Elie Samia.

The training sessions were an important factor in deciding to join the pageant for Chloe Abi Zeid, a third-year mechanical engineering student at LAU. “I’ve always wanted to sign up for Miss Lebanon, but hesitated considering the social controversy,” she said. When she found out about this year’s positive modifications in the pageant, she thought: “It’s now or never.”  

For Melki, “The training will help reinvent the whole beauty pageant spectacle into a mechanism that empowers women and represents their whole human beauty, and not only their physicality.” He is hopeful that these sessions will pave the way for the future Miss Lebanon to “effectively champion social justice causes in society.”     

During one of his sessions, Samia took the contestants to visit local non-profits in order to foster a sense of civic duty. “Civic mindedness is a pivotal pillar of social consciousness and engagement that contestants should espouse as future opinion leaders and ambassadors of social causes in their country, and as global citizens of the world.” He also commended the contestants for their “high motivation, intellectual curiosity and willingness to serve society.”

Looking ahead to September 30, when the actual pageant takes place, Abirafeh said she hopes the training sessions will have a lasting impact, not only on the contestants, but on the broader audience as well. “Redefining beauty has the potential to be transformative for women,” she declared. “For IWSAW, this is not an isolated event but rather the beginning of longer-term challenge and call to action – to instigate a critical, courageous and long-overdue conversation on beauty.”

The contestants during an interactive session by IWSAW.

IWSAW’s Associate Director Myriam Sfeir fields questions from contestants.

Miss Lebanon contestants enjoy one of the many meals prepared by the Hospitality Department at the Adnan Kassar School of Business.

Nurses are sometimes referred to as the “glue that connects all healthcare.” This certainly holds true at LAU’s Alice Ramez Chagoury School of Nursing (ARCSON), where interprofessional education and collaborative practice put patients first and give health sciences students the chance to learn from and with each other, paving the way for better patient care.

“Our aim is not only to educate future nurses to be patient-centered, but to make sure they graduate with a strong understanding of the healthcare needs of the community beyond campus gates,” said ARCSON Dean Dr. Anahid Kulwicki. In line with LAU’s strategic plan to be a university without borders, the school has partnered with local organizations that cater to a number of social and humanitarian causes.

“From mental health to providing free-of-charge health assessments and psychological support, our students earn a strong sense of real-life practice – beyond bedside care,” Kulwicki added, pointing out that many such activities are part of students’ coursework, while others are driven by students’ and faculty members’ own initiative.

ARCSON students are shining equally on an academic level. Every ARCSON student who sat for the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) passed, enabling them to practice nursing in the US and Canada. Every student who sat for the Lebanese colloquium passed as well.

Recent graduates of ARCSON have also opted to further their studies. Grace Derboghossian, who graduated last June, is currently in Boston, pursuing a PhD at the University of Massachusetts.

“During my time at LAU, I made the most of two major opportunities,” Derboghossian noted. The first, she explained, was a research project she undertook as part of her coursework, which exposed her to “work under tight deadlines on healthcare research and evidence-based practice.” Another experience, part of her community course, was learning firsthand that “so many underserved, at-risk and economically disadvantaged women suffered from chronic diseases that could have been prevented through healthy lifestyles and behavioral change.”

Dean Kulwicki capitalized on Derboghossian’s talent and commitment to the underserved populations when she was a student in her class and mentored her throughout the application process, whereby Derboghossian, along with two other students from LAU, ultimately secured a scholarship and assistantship in the prestigious BS to PhD program in Population Health.

Sarin Tapalyan has been a nurse anesthetist at the LAU Medical Center-Rizk Hospital since her graduation in 2014. Looking back, she feels that her ARCSON education equipped her with “every aspect of nursing” from literature reviews to evidence-based practice.

According to Derboghossian, the nursing program at LAU is the key “to improve our country’s health care system,” serving as a reminder that nurses are not just the “glue” but true catalysts for change.  

Grace Derboghossian (R) receives her pin from Dr. Kulwicki at the 2018 Pinning and Recognition Ceremony.

Sarin Tapalyan (R) in action.

With the 2018-2019 academic year came a series of new appointments across the board, including at the School of Engineering (SOE), where Dr. Raymond Ghajar was promoted to interim dean to replace Dr. George E. Nasr, who is now the new provost.

Dr. Ghajar is not new to the school, as he has been the associate dean since 2013, as well as a full professor of electrical engineering. Commenting on the appointment, President Joseph G. Jabbra pointed out how Ghajar’s contributions to LAU and the country at large have been vital, “from having chaired the steering committee that was charged with developing the first systematic and disciplined strategic plan for LAU,” to providing advice on energy and power to the Lebanese government.

In an interview, Ghajar highlighted SOE’s growth, and talked about pivotal partnerships and the importance of driving research.

How has the School of Engineering grown in the five years you were associate dean?

The SOE has grown exponentially, thanks to the implementation of a number of projects and initiatives that improved the image, ranking and notoriety of the school in Lebanon and the region.

Most prominently, we have launched two new programs in petroleum and mechatronics engineering, as well as new graduate programs. We have also witnessed the completion of the Engineering Labs and Research Center, celebrated the re-accreditation of all five engineering programs by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), introduced an honors program, and established the online Progreen Professional Diploma in green technologies in collaboration with the American University of Beirut and American University of Cairo.

Partnerships with key stakeholders in the field have produced unique academic and internship opportunities for our students – the best that LAU and world-class institutions like New Jersey Institute of Technology, BMW and ParisTech have to offer, while teaching them how to solve real-world problems.

Where do you see the school heading from here?

Today, we are proudly a destination for students and faculty as well as a hub for scholars who want to engage in challenging research using state-of-the-art equipment. Over the next five years, the SOE will continue to implement a number of strategic initiatives that are independent, mutually supportive and firmly linked to the goals of LAU’s third strategic plan (SPIII).

Namely, we are working to improve student learning, build sustainable research, strengthen services and outreach, expand external collaborations, and improve faculty welfare.

Why is research vital to LAU and the SOE specifically?

Institutions of higher learning strive to attract and retain high-caliber faculty by establishing good research environments. Schools with good research output are highly ranked and sought after by excellent students and faculty alike. Therefore, LAU’s reputation can only grow through academic excellence that is firmly rooted in research and scholarly work.

The overarching purpose is to continue to strengthen our position as a destination for qualified students and faculty alike, and to become a hub for scholars wanting to engage in challenging research using state-of-the-art equipment and tools.

You are an expert in the area of energy and power, and have done consultancy with the Lebanese government. Why is knowledge on energy and power particularly vital now, and what role does the SOE play in this regard?

Human dependence on energy dates back centuries. However, the scarcity and volatility of fossil fuels coupled with recent advents in affordable renewable energies have changed the energy mix significantly over the past 30 years. The issue of finding a sustainable and clean source of energy to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gases on global warming has world-scale implications.

Closer to home, the faculty and students at the School of Engineering have the necessary expertise that can assist the Ministry of Energy and Water and other government agencies with consultancy services in the areas of feasibility studies, environmental and social impact studies, bidding documents, economic models and conducting research, to name a few. In fact, we are working toward building a framework for collaboration to provide such services.

Dr. Ghajar has been the associate dean at SOE since 2013, and a full professor of electrical engineering.

Numerous applications for mathematical equations have had a positive impact far beyond the halls of academia.

Now, Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics Dr. Leila Issa has developed efficient models to simulate and optimize fluid flows on the micro and macro scales. These models give us the power to analyze and understand phenomena that impact us everyday; from the flow of air in the airways of a tiny neonate to the mesoscale currents in the ocean and their role in transporting pollutants.

In a recent research paper “A Simplified Model for Unsteady Pressure Driven Flows in Circular Microchannels of Variable Cross-Section” published in the high-impact journal Applied Mathematical Modelling (Elsevier), Issa developed an accurate and fast model that simulates the fluid flow in long and variable microchannels.

Issa’s model can be used, for instance, in helping doctors understand the airflow of premature babies’ airways, allowing them to devise better artificial respiratory support for the tiny patients. It can also be applied in the operation of an emerging technology known as lab-on-the-chip systems, described by Issa as “devices made of several connected microchannels, which transport small volumes of fluid, in order to implement a lab operation or function.”

Optimizing the design of these devices entails simulation and re-simulation of the full system, which is both time-consuming and costly due to its complexity and the many branching channels. 

“For scientists to optimize their design, it is necessary to have an efficient and precise model of the fluid transport in these channels,” Issa said. “My work in this area is to come up with fast and accurate models for this purpose.” Notably, her model is 500 times faster than doing a full simulation.

Issa holds a PhD in Computational and Applied Mathematics from Rice University in Texas. Following her return from the United States, she was driven by a passion to find impactful solutions to problems in Lebanon. She also likes her projects to be scientifically challenging.

She partnered with France-based L’OCEAN Lab and the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) to model surface currents between Lebanon and Cyprus using smart floaters that communicate their location via satellite at different time intervals.

The objective, Issa said “was to take collected data, and to come up with an accurate model to reconstruct these surface currents, which has applications that include tracking pollutants accidentally released near the coast or in the open sea. Marine litter in our part of the Mediterranean is a great concern, especially with the repeated garbage crises in Lebanon.” 

The project resulted in an article titled “Modelling Surface Currents in the Eastern Levantine Mediterranean Using Surface Drifters and Satellite Altimetry” published in another high-impact journal, Ocean Modelling, and featured in QS WOW news, in February 2018.

Most recently, Issa collaborated with the American University of Beirut and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, on a project to track pollutants in the Red Sea. The resulting paper, “Lagrangian Tracking in Stochastic Fields with Application to an Ensemble of Velocity Fields in the Red Sea,” was also published in Ocean Modelling last month.

In the context of the newly established master’s degree in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Issa teaches partial differential equations, which can be applied in the design of an airplane, the prediction of fluids flows, oil exploration and ultrasounds, to name a few.

“There is not an area of technology or science that does not use math,” she said, “or to quote the theoretical physicist Richard Feynman ‘People who wish to analyze nature without using mathematics must settle for a reduced understanding.’”

Dr. Issa’s models help understand everyday phenomena, from the flow of air in the airways of a tiny neonate to the mesoscale currents in the ocean and their role in transporting pollutants.