AUB Professor Nesreen Ghaddar Appointed to Endowed Qatar Chair in Energy Studies

Dr. Nesreen Ghaddar, currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering at AUB, has been selected to fill the University's endowed Qatar Chair in Energy Studies. This appointment will support expanded research activities in the field of energy at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at AUB and allow more graduate students to be recruited for scientific research.

Professor Ghaddar, who was selected after a two-year long international search, is well-known in her field, having collaborated with other scientists in the region and internationally on many energy-related research studies. "It's an honor and recognition of the work that I have done," said Ghaddar, of her appointment. "I realize the value of having this chair as it is always difficult to get resources."

Dr. Ghaddar has focused her research on heat transfer and efficiency in cooling and heating models, while maintaining thermal human comfort. This research has wide-ranging applications in air-conditioning and heating systems as well as fabric design. After earning her masters and doctoral degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Ghaddar first worked as assistant professor at Kuwait University before joining AUB in 1990. She is currently the chairperson of the Mechanical Engineering Department. In 2000-2002, she was also the Energy Research group Coordinator at AUB, which is a multi-disciplinary group conducting basic and applied energy research in Lebanon and the region towards sustainable energy in the future.

Ghaddar is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering; a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Green Energy; and has published over 41 articles in prestigious scientific journals.

Professor Ibrahim Hajj, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, said that Ghaddar's appointment was "an acknowledgement of her accomplishments and will strengthen the activities and increase the visibility of the Energy Research Group in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture."

"The appointment recognizes both the achievements of Nesreen Ghaddar and the importance of energy studies in this region," said Professor Peter Heath, AUB provost.

The Qatar Chair for Energy Studies, which was first known as the State of Qatar Chair of Petroleum Studies, was initially filled by late Professor Ziad Beydoun from 1977 to 1980, during which time he developed the Petroleum Studies Program. With the progress of the civil war, the Chair became vacant. Recently, the Chair was renamed the Qatar Chair for Energy Studies, in consultation with Qatar Foundation, a private non-profit organization established in 1995 by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Given the evolution in energy studies in recent years, both AUB and the Qatar Foundation saw the need to expand the scope of the chair to encompass all energy studies rather than restrict it to petroleum studies.