PHOTO
(Abu Dhabi, UAE.) Gannett Fleming strengthens its presence in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region with the promotion of Hazem Barakat, PhD, to general manager of Abu Dhabi operations and business development manager for the MENA region. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of Gannett Fleming's operations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as well as managing the firm's strategic growth and business development initiatives throughout the MENA region, which includes Gannett Fleming's office in Doha, Qatar.
Barakat is based in the Abu Dhabi office, where the firm developed award-winning technology applications for the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council, including a project administration system and GeoPlanner, a geospatial web portal. The Abu Dhabi team also developed the Complete Emirati Communities, an innovative mapping portal that aggregates and presents Abu Dhabi Housing Authority (ADHA) geographic information system data through an intuitive dashboard interface to ADHA executives.
Commenting on the appointment, Gannett Fleming Vice President and MENA Regional Manager Matthew Schiemer, PE, said: "Hazem is a talented and versatile leader. With strong business skills and experience, he is the right fit to manage the business development component of our growing MENA operations. Also a technical talent, he has a diverse civil engineering background, along with significant experience in photogrammetry and remote sensing, to serve a growing number of clients across the region."
Barakat joined Gannett Fleming in 2014 as a program manager in Abu Dhabi, bringing more than 20 years of experience in business development, sales and marketing, technical and project management, information technology, and training. Also prior to joining Gannett Fleming, Barakat developed an integrated web-based geotechnical information management system, a first-of-its-kind database for the Spatial Data Division of the Abu Dhabi Municipality.
Barakat brings a wealth of academic experience and credentials to his new role. He holds a bachelor of science in civil engineering, as well as a master of science in civil engineering-surveying and photogrammetry, from Egypt's Cairo University. At Purdue University, he earned a master of science in surveying and photogrammetry and a doctorate in photogrammetry.
As a member of Cairo University's faculty of engineering, he served as an associate professor for undergraduate and graduate courses in surveying and photogrammetry. He also led lectures in surveying and photogrammetry for undergraduate and graduate courses as a post-doctoral research associate at Purdue University. Recognizing his academic accomplishments, Barakat was awarded the Robert E. Altenhofen Memorial Scholarship for photogrammetry from the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
Gannett Fleming has served as a partner in global infrastructure for 100 years. We have helped improve communities through transportation, environmental, water, power, and facility-related projects in more than 65 countries. As our 2,000 employees celebrate this milestone, we look forward to a second century of delivering innovation and excellence. We provide planning, design, technology, and construction management services for a diverse range of markets and disciplines. From more than 60 offices around the world, we embrace sustainability and innovation for all activities, finding the best solutions and the most efficient processes to meet our clients' complex challenges. Founded in 1915, Gannett Fleming had $327 million in revenues in 2014. We are proud to be ISO 9001:2008 Certified.
© Press Release 2015
