MEET THE PROFESSIONAL
July 2018
Rawad Hani
Rawad Hani is a professional transportation planner and traffic engineer. As Director of Transportation Engineering, he works on striking the right balance between mobility and sustainability considerations. Rawad assists city governments as well as private and institutional clients in planning and engineering a wide variety of transportation systems, including for motor vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and transit riders.
We are very excited to feature him this month in our “Meet the Professional” series.
Below are a few questions to help facilitate this interactive connection. At the end of the page you will have an opportunity to post your own questions for Rawad.
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Describe your current Occupation & Degree/s and Universities.
- BA in Civil Engineering from the American University of Beirut
- Masters in Transportation from the American University of Beirut
Discuss a moment or turning point in your life that led you to your career path:
I have always been fascinated with the changing landscapes from new buildings to roads, trails, bridges, monuments, etc. As such Civil Engineering was a natural choice for me. I was attracted to transportation (as a practice within Civil Engineering) due to the profound impact mobility has on our everyday lives. With technology becoming an even bigger part of our lives, my career is evolving again towards technology applications in transportation.
Discuss a role model or mentor who influenced your career choice:
Over the years I have learned and been mentored and motivated by many people who to large extent helped me be the person I am right now. However, by far my father has always been a role model and mentor who had the largest impact. He is probably that most strategic thinker I have come across – he is able to think of scenarios 5 to 10 years into the future and at the same time act tactically to make them happen. I still learn from him big picture thinking and also operational tactics to get things done.
Do you recall any specific challenges you encountered and overcame?
As an engineer, I usually get hired to solve problems. Every project I work on, has its own challenges, issues, and also opportunities. Usually the technical components of the job are the easier and more straight-forward aspects, while the more difficult issues are usually the public engagement elements. In my career that often translates to public resistance and opposition to new development because people do not want more traffic. However, I learned that communications is the key element that helps resolve many issues. Proper communications allows people to come together and builds trust – and that is equally true professionally, institutionally, and personally.
Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?
On the personal front I see myself tag teaming with my wife on the most exciting project in our lives: that is raising our first child. Professionally, I see myself immersed more and more in the technology side of things particularly self-driving cars and smart cities. I believe we are at the cusp of an exciting period where we will see in our lifetimes a drastic change of how we travel, work, and interact with our surroundings.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?
The following items have worked out for me and I hope they will also help those starting in the field:
- Learn from everyone and everything around you.
- See change for the opportunities it brings. Be positive.
- Stretch yourself and insist on excellence
Tell us a little bit about your hobbies outside of your field:
I love socializing and enjoy exploring natural beauty (hiking, biking, sight-seeing) and try to combine them on a weekly basis. I enjoy visiting new places and even exploring new ways to get to places I already know – probably driven by the traffic engineer in me. But by far I mostly enjoy spending time with family especially our first son who is 11 months now.
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