CMS Stakeholders:
Martin Gastal
CMS Experimental Area Manager / CERN Advisor for MENA Region
Mr. Martin Gastal (MBA and MSc Physics) is a senior staff member of CERN, the largest laboratory in the world dedicated to research in particle physics. Since 2006 Mr. Gastal has been the manager of the experimental area of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector, one of the two experiments involved in the discovery of the Higgs Boson. This apparatus, designed to uncover new particles over 30 years, is one of the largest and most advanced machines that human kind has ever built. Mr. Gastal is also a facilitator for the integration of new universities into the CMS collaboration through engagement focused on engineering and technology development. He sets-up and supports the development of projects that, using CERN technology, benefit local communities and promote economic development in partner countries. He also leads outreach efforts to bring CERN and CMS closer to the general public. Since 2018, he is also the CERN adviser for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Zein Zebib
CMS Experimental Area Software Developer
Mr. Zein Zebib obtained his B.E. in computer and communications engineering from the American University of Beirut. Zein is currently working in software development and project management at CMS.
LAU Stakeholders:
Dr. Barbar Akle
Dr. Barbar Akle is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering and the assistant provost of the Lebanese American University (LAU). He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. His main research is focused on improving, modeling, and characterizing Electro-Active Polymers (EAP) that are also known as artificial muscles. His work led to better understanding of Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMC) and to the development of applications such as robotic jellyfish, wall shear stress sensors, and currently working on developing Inner Ear Hair Cell sensors for the hearing disabled and highly efficient buoyancy engines. Recently, he is leading a new research to develop a low cost and healthy exoskeleton system for the paralyzed, and working with CERN to develop magnetic field resistant robots. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed international articles, and authored 5 US patents. Dr. Akle is an associate editor of the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures (JIMSS) and a member of the ASME Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Technical Committee.
Camille Abou-Nasr
Mr. Camille Abou-Nasr was appointed as Assistant Vice President for Information Technology in August 2010, leading the four IT departments responsible for IT Security, Infrastructure, Support, and Applications and Solutions. In his role, Mr. Abou-Nasr provides leadership for implementing IT initiatives that are aligned with LAU’s mission. He works closely with LAU’s academic, medical and administrative executives to determine and plan their technology needs. He is also responsible for expanding the scope of evolving technologies, implementing innovative applications, and enhancing the university’s information technology function while keeping close control of the allocated budget. Mr. Abou-Nasr joined LAU in 2006 as the Director of IT Applications and Solutions, leading a team of intrepid programmers and managers toward success. Mr. Abou-Nasr holds a B.E. in Computer and Communications from the American University of Beirut.
AUB Stakeholders:
Dr. Yousif Asfour
Dr. Yousif Asfour currently serves as Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer managing the consolidated Office of Innovation and Transformation at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). He is also heading the Talal and Madiha Zein AUB Innovation Park and the transformation of Online Education at AUB. Dr. Asfour is also the President of the CIO Lebanon Association, and played a key leadership role in establishing TechCARE, the Lebanese National Research and Education Network (NREN).
Prior to AUB, Dr. Asfour served as the founding Chief Information Officer for New York University Abu Dhabi and Associate Vice President, Global Technology Services for New York University where he led the design, implementation and operations of IT services for its new campus.
Dr. Asfour has also held several executive leadership positions with a number of technology companies in the US. Dr. Asfour received a B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from Northeastern University and a Ph.D. in cognitive and neural systems from Boston University. In addition to several publications in professional journals, Dr. Asfour holds a patent related to fast data transfer for multi-processor systems.
Rami Farran
Mr. Rami Farran is a seasoned executive in Information and Communications technology, Higher Education Operations and Leadership, Research Computation and High Performance Computing, eLearning and Software design and architecture, and Machine Learning / Deep Learning. He holds an Executive Master degree in Business Administration with a computer and communications engineering undergraduate background from the American University of Beirut. As the Director for Academic Services (Innovation and Transformation) at AUB, and being a Software Architect with hands on experience on full stack development, Micro Services, Cloud Computing, Mobile Development, Integrations and Modular Software Design, he currently oversees digital transformation in Research Activities (computational research, high performance computing, grant writing, software architecture and data sourcing). As for the teaching experience, he also has extensive teaching expertise at the Computer Science Department at AUB since Fall 2014 (Mobile application development, and Software Engineering), in addition to teaching experience in Scholars in Health Research Program Data Science courses. In addition, Rami has been an innovation speaker in top international programs and events such as Ellucian Live – Denver (top higher ed operations event worldwide), Moodle Moot – Philadelphia (top higher Ed event worldwide), and DevLearn – Vegas (top higher ed technologies event worldwide), and prestigious local events (such as ABLE, UXB and DHI Beirut).
LU Stakeholders:
Dr. Haitham Zaraket
Dr. Haitham Zaraket has been a professor at the Lebanese University (LU) since 2000. Founder and director of the optics and fiber optics lab at the Lebanese University. Haitham is also the CMS-LU team leader. Involved in several EU projects related to innovation and capacity building. He is scientific director of the HPC4L project.
USJ Stakeholders:
Dr. Ziad Francis
PhD in Radiation Physics and particle collisions, applying computational approaches to reproduce and solve physics problems. Member of the Geant4 Monte-Carlo toolkit community for radiation track structures simulation and developer member within the Geant4-DNA project. Main areas of interest are radiation biology and medical applications, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications for diagnosis and predictions, statistical approaches for data analysis.
USEK Stakeholders:
Dr. Charles Yaacoub
Dr. Charles Yaacoub received the Ph.D. degree in Signal and Image processing from Telecom ParisTech in 2009 and the Engineering degree in Computer and Communications from the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) in 2005. From 2009 to 2014, he was an Assistant Professor with USEK, and then an Associate Professor until 2020. He is currently a full Professor of Telecommunications and Computer Engineering and Assistant Dean of Engineering for Accreditation. From 2012 till 2017, he served as the Chair of the Telecommunications Engineering Department at USEK. He holds a postgraduate certificate in "Teaching and Learning in Higher Education" from the University of Texas at Austin. He is an author of more than 60 research papers. His research interests include deep learning, Internet of Things, image and video processing, multimedia communications, source and channel coding, and sensor networks.
BAU Stakeholders:
Noura Shaaban
Almost 30 years in the field of IT in the Higher Education industry. In this interesting journey from the birth of PCs to the cloud, lead the IT team in collaboration with the staff and faculty to define and implement latest information technology trends and solutions for the benefit of the teaching/learning process, and recently the telehealth. Believe strongly in the importance of strategic partnerships and collaboration with peer institutions for the sake of education and research.
OGERO Stakeholders:
Dr. Imad Abou Rached
PhD in Telecommunication engineering, OGERO Strategic Planning and PMO Director, deeply involved in the modernization of the Lebanese Telecom sector from technical and strategic perspective. Driving several projects related to the Lebanese Telecom sector digital transformation such as the FTTx project, LTE-A/5G, 5G use cases, Internet of Things for Smart Cities, leverage machine learning and Artificial Intelligence in the Telecom network, High Performance Computing for Lebanon (HPC4L), Solar energy for the Telecom Infrastructure among many other projects within OGERO and the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications.
Mostafa Berro
Mr. Mostafa Berro graduated from the Lebanese University - Faculty of Engineering in 2010 with a Bachelor Degree in Computer, Telecommunication and Information Technology Engineering. He has 12 years of experience in the telecom field. He worked on several projects where he designed data centers according to the telecommunication infrastructure standards: EN50600 and ISO22237, TIA-942 and the Uptime Institute. Mostafa has an experience in Physical Security Systems such as Fire Alarm System FAS, Closed Circuit Telivision CCTV, Access Control Systems SACS, etc.
Zeina Bou Harb
Ms. Zeina Bou Harb is the Head of International Cooperation at OGERO Telecom. She has 22 years of experience in Marcom, Regulatory Affairs, and International Cooperation following her BA in Business Administration: Marketing and Management.
With the aim to position Lebanon on the global stages, she organized the Lebanese National Pavilion at MWC for 3 consecutive years.
On Internet Governance, Mrs Bou Harb was appointed by the UN General Secretary, as Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) member for 3 years.
She is the organizer of the Lebanese Open Forums at IGF Geneva 2017 and IGF Berlin 2019 and Member of the Arab MAG and the Technical Cooperation Working Group, nominated by the League of Arab States and ESCWA, to work on the enhancement of the Arab IGF where she was leading the Arab team working on the reorganization of the forum. In 2020, Zeina submitted the HPC4L to the WSIS competition where it was selected a Champion Project in the E-Science category.
She is the General Secretary of the Lebanese IGF and currently, the coordinator of "We Protect" and "We the Internet" initiatives in Lebanon.
She is also member of the National committee for Children Online Safety and lately selected for ICANN 72 fellowship program.
Hassan Nasser
Mr. Hassan Nasser, Master of Science, Civil Engineering/Construction Management. Deputy Director Admin / Engineering; Managing the maintenance and operations of the Ogero / Ministry of Telecommunication Exchange Buildings and sites. In charge of running the Engineering, office responsible for supervising all building’s maintenance and facility management operations and the rehabilitation works of all “Building Sectors” all over Lebanon. Previously assigned to the ISO committee who worked on obtaining and maintaining ISO 9001: 2000 certification for OGERO. (First Lebanese Public institution to receive ISO certificate). Also held the position of “Head of Quality Control”; Responsible for devising quality system for the services provided by Networks / Provision of Service (OSP) Directorate.
CRNS-L Stakeholders:
Dr. Hisham Hajj-Hassan
Hicham Hajj-Hassan, Researcher and Coordinator of Information and Communication Technologies Services, CNRS, Lebanon. Dr. Hicham Hajj-Hassan is a researcher and Coordinator of ICT Services at the National Council for Scientific Research, Lebanon. At CNRS-L, Dr. Hajj-Hassan participated in several local and international projects in the IT field. His research projects involvements focuses on data governance and management. Before joining CNRS-L, Dr. Hajj-Hassan worked in the private sector between 1994 and 2003 in Lebanon and Africa where he participated in the operations of IT services for corporate clients. With the experience from both private and public sectors, Dr. Hajj-Hassan is committed to coordinating locally and globally with other institutions strengthening ICT evolution in the research and education sectors. Dr. Hajj-Hassan received a B.S. in computer and communications engineering from American University of Beirut, Lebanon, M.S in Telecommunications Systems and Computer Networks from university of Toulouse III, France and a Ph.D. in geomatics from University of Montpellier, France.
MoT Stakeholders:
Dr. Antoine Aoun
Antoine is a telecom engineer with a master’s degree in telecom networks and an MBA; He has extensive experience and management skills and works for the Ministry of Telecommunication Lebanon and Ogero since 1992. In the Ministry of Telecommunication he is the head of national exploitation services with responsibilities covering the management of the frequency spectrum, frequency licensing, telecom equipment importation licensing and approvals, data service providers and call centers licensing and supervision. In Ogero, Antoine is the CTO VP for IMS & LTE affairs, assisting the CTO in managing the upgrade of the existing PSTN TDM network toward a nationwide IMS network with FTTC & FTTH for access and complemented with Fixed LTE for wireless service provisioning where needed.
Antoine was the chief of switching department in Ogero for 14 years with a team comprising 25 engineers and 105 technicians, he collaborated in the development of the fixed telecom network with wide experience in switching technologies TDM, VoIP and IMS, intelligent networks, payphone systems, billing data provision and process, national and international call routing, backup management, SS7 and QSIG signaling, network element managers, telecom training and programming;
Furthermore, Antoine is a part time lecturer at the Lebanese university faculty of engineering, and at the department of computer sciences at the university saint Esprit – Kaslik covering courses related to telephony, computer network, project management, systems and network administration, programming, electronics and logic circuits.