I'm passionate about discovering and learning new things, and I've always enjoyed being intellectually challenged. Quite naturally, this led me to the field of research and to Laborelec.
I'm of Lebanese origin. I've been living in Belgium since 2021, but I was quickly integrated thanks to the kindness of the people I work with and meet.
I'm passionate about discovering and learning new things, and I've always enjoyed being intellectually challenged. Quite naturally, this led me to the field of research and to Laborelec.
I studied at the Lebanese University, in the Faculty of Engineering, where I obtained a master's degree in electrical engineering in June 2019.
But I had already started my professional career because in 2018, I did an internship with an EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction) company in Lebanon in the solar sector (an EPC contract is a project delivery method that integrates design, engineering, materials procurement and construction). After 2 months' work experience, they offered me a contract, first part-time and then full-time, whilst I was working on my thesis. During the day, I worked on my projects and at night, I focused on my thesis. It was a small company, but there were lots of projects, and the working hours were very long!
The positive aspect of this, I think, is that from the start of my career I've been lucky enough to work on a lot of different projects, particularly solar photovoltaic, which has given me an A to Z view of both engineering construction and solar photovoltaic projects.
After 3 years, I decided to embark on a new experience and came to Belgium to work as a consultant, initially on solar photovoltaic projects and cogeneration projects, electricity plus heating. I was project manager for the solar section, but I also worked on the Automation section of the cogeneration project. After 6 months as an external consultant in the Solar team at Laborelec, I was hired at the beginning of 2024. I think that my experience as an EPC specialist was well suited to Laborelec’s R&I needs in terms of operational excellence, in particular anything to do with optimising the performance of solar modules and solar farms.
I don't really have a researcher’s profile, I don't have a PhD, I've got more hands-on experience, which fits in well with my role.
When I joined the solar team within the Renewables & Urban Business Line, my main mission was to assist the various ENGIE entities in contributing to ENGIE's global objective of Net Zero Carbon by 2045. In this context, I have worked on a number of research projects that aim to optimising the performance of solar farms, including PV Health Scan, a project developed by Laborelec, and other projects that help to optimise the performance and maintenance of solar farms.
We have tested a number of technologies for detecting defects, correcting deterioration to panels after a few years, etc... The aim was to de-risk these new technologies and find an effective way of solving problems. In general, the operating units come to us with technical problems that are difficult to solve directly, and we have a research programme focused on these issues.
As part of these projects, I work a lot on collecting feedback from the entities, this feedback is a very helpful for me. We're a very large company, we have colleagues in North America, Europe, Asia... who sometimes are faced with similar problems, but who are not in contact with each other. With these projects, we are the link between these entities. In addition, my experience as an EPC specialist has given me the chance to work on several Root Cause Analysis (RCA) cases.
Sometimes we are confronted with under-performance on sites for which we do not know the cause, sometimes accidents or fires, and so forth. In most cases, Laborelec's experts carry out the Root Cause Analysis, and I was able to work on 2 or 3 cases, which I also found very interesting. Once we have solved the problem for one entity, we can share the solution with the other ENGIE entities. Our aim is to bring real operational value to our clients.
If we're working on a battery + solar project, for example, I contact several entities in Australia, Chile and Mexico where there are these large solar farms plus batteries, to get their feedback, find out what challenges they've encountered and how they've solved them. And sometimes we also contact equipment suppliers for the same purpose.
Finally, we draw up a report listing the problems, solutions and possible scenarios, and share it internally. This enables the different entities to learn from each other's experiences and avoids repeating the same problems.
Yes, it's the complicated questions that make me tick! And Research is all about asking the hard questions, because if it were easy, all you'd have to do is look up the answer on Google! Research programmes address problems for which it takes several months, sometimes years, to find an answer. And that's what really fascinates me about this mission.
Yes. When I was at university, there was something called 'Rally Papers', it was a competition you played by teams with logic questions, riddles and challenges. Every year, I took part because it's something that interests me and yes, it is similar but on a different scale.
Yes, absolutely! And now that we've bought a house in Belgium, the enigma we are solving is to do the work ourselves, to think of all the possible scenarios, how to do this or that, to find the best solution both technically and economically.
And sometimes I also like to discover new places. As I'm relatively new to Europe, there are lots of things to do and places to discover. I love visiting historical sites and understanding what happened there. History is very much alive in Europe, and there are many beautiful landscapes as well. In the South of France I discovered a landscape that resembled the south of Lebanon, in the region of Jezzine, which is where my mother is from, and where I spent my summers with my parents. These are truly magnificent landscapes and I didn't know you could find them in Europe.
I also enjoy spending time with my family and friends here in Belgium. And to keep in touch with my friends in Lebanon, I've recently started playing video games because during the day we're too busy with our respective jobs. So, at night, 2 or 3 times a week, we get together on the internet to play video games and chat while we play.
Yes, it's a sentence that says "I make my own luck".
It's something that emphasises the responsibility I have for my own successes. For me, luck is not just the action of external forces, it depends above all on my own actions and choices. I influence my results through hard work and preparation, but the main thing is to seize opportunities when they arise. My decisions will have more impact on my life than happenstance.
And I believe that this way of thinking encourages a positive mentality. I don't wait for luck to strike, I create opportunities for myself. I'm sure that hard work will generate good results. If someone is really serious and positive about their work, with a plan and well-planned scenarii, even if something negative happens during the day, the end result will be positive. And if something doesn't go according to plan, I don't blame it on bad luck, I adapt, I try to understand what I didn't plan properly and I try again.
I think this resilience characterises a lot of Lebanese people. Lebanon is a small country with big problems, but we always try to find solutions to make it through. My life story so far exemplifies this! I worked whilst studying at one of the most demanding universities in Lebanon, I started in a small company in Lebanon and now I'm at ENGIE. This is not luck, it's hard work. "I make my own luck", as I used to say.
I think that what could improve the situation is promoting science, technology and mathematics to girls from a very young age. And it's the 30% of women who are now in research who need to get involved in promoting this, by going into schools and universities to explain what research is and what it's for. This is a question that is not always well explained. Sometimes people think that research is boring, not interesting!
We also need to shine a spotlight on women who have achieved great success in these fields, and give them greater visibility. We now have many women in management positions in research institutions, even in large companies such as ENGIE. We need to promote the successes of these women to encourage girls and young women.
We should also encourage cultures that are more collaborative and inclusive, and promote the diversity of viewpoints because it is always beneficial to a project. In particular, in my experience, the women's attention to detail, calm and precision are invaluable.
Ambitious, calm and persevering
