Beirut Arab University Joins the International Society of Petroleum Engineers

Beirut Arab University has officially joined the International Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) as the first ever branch in Lebanon, under the auspices of Prof. Amr Galal El Adawi, President of the University.
The Department of Petroleum Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering organized the launching ceremony of the branch. The event was attended by the SPE – Baghdad Branch, represented by Eng. Ali Nahi Hasnawi and Eng. Ahmad Husseini, and the Petroleum Administration in Lebanon, represented by Dr. Nasser Hoteit. The event was also attended by Prof. Adel Kurdi, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Hadi Abou Shakra, Head of the Industrial Engineering and Management Department and the Petroleum Engineering Department, Dr. Rami Harkous, BAU Coordinator at SPE, Eng. Hussein Ghareeb of the Petroleum Engineering Department, as well as a number of heads of departments and staff-members at the Faculty of Engineering at BAU. 
The ceremony opened with the Lebanese National Anthem and the BAU anthem, followed by a welcoming note by Prof. Adel Kurdi. In his speech, Prof. Kurdi highlighted the most prominent achievements of the Petroleum Engineering Department at BAU, especially in terms of cooperation with international petroleum companies.

Eng. Ali Hasnawi in turn expressed his deep appreciation of the efforts exerted by the Petroleum Engineering Department to attain the licensing of the SPE as a branch. He emphasized the important role of the Department in collecting, distributing and exchanging technical information pertaining to the discovery, mining, development and production of petroleum products. The Department also seeks to provide opportunities for specialists to enhance their professional skills. 
Dr. Nasser Hoteit reviewed the history of how people have dealt with petroleum, beginning with Hammurabi in Mesopotamia, to the Pharaohs of Egypt, down to our present time. He also indicated the importance of preparing a technically qualified cadre of Lebanese engineers who specialize in petroleum. 
Dr. Rami Harkous tackled in his speech the branch’s future plan to increase the number of its members and to participate in all the petroleum-related activities in Lebanon. The branch also intends to organize workshops and lectures, as well as social activities, in their belief that these various activities need to be integrated to impact positively on the personality of the students. 
The final word was given by the student head of the BAU branch at SPE, Hussein Mhanna, who stated that this branch will open new horizons for the students and enhance their skills and abilities, which in turn would promote the University’s name internationally. Rami Saad and Ghadeer Ayyash, two students, gave an orientation presentation about the new branch. 
The ceremony closed with a lecture delivered by Eng. Ahmad Husseini and a workshop organized by Eng. Ali Nahi Hassnawi from Baghdad, Iraq.