The LAU School of Engineering has joined the Regional Network in Energy for Women in the Middle East and North Africa region (RENEW MENA). The network, hosted by the World Bank, aims to strengthen women’s role in the energy sector by giving them access to successful female mentors in the field and supporting their entrepreneurial ideas.

LAU Assistant Professor Nagham El Ghossein was instrumental in liaising the collaboration with RENEW MENA, which will provide engineering students at LAU with valuable connections to internships and job opportunities, as well as exposing them to experts in the industry. “Joining RENEW MENA is a pivotal step for our female students at LAU,” said Dr. El Ghossein, adding that the collaboration “demonstrates our commitment to nurturing their talents and supporting their ambitions, and ensuring they can make significant contributions to the energy sector.”

Last month, the IEEE Women in Engineering and the IEEE Power and Energy student clubs hosted a panel discussion on the Byblos campus that featured Senior Energy Governance Specialist and Advisory Board Member for the Lebanese Gas and Oil Initiative Diana Kaissi, who is also RENEW MENA’s representative in Lebanon. The panel also included Software Engineers at InMind Mira Jamaleddine and Afrah Hassan and TECHlarious Founder Nisrine Abou Ghannam.

Highlighting the gender gap across the different engineering fields, Kaissi pointed out that while most of the science, technology, engineering and math students are women, a very small percentage of them end up working in their respective industries after graduating. She encouraged those in attendance to “aim big and surround yourselves with the right company, such as the members of the IEEE student chapters at LAU.”

For Professor and Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Chadi Abou Rjeily, these student-led events are catalysts to “empowering and driving our community of women in engineering.”

Dean Michel Khoury expressed the school’s pride in joining the network, and therefore “contributing to bridging the gender gap in the energy sector.” The collaboration, he added, perfectly aligns with the SOE mission “to empower female engineers and equip them with the skills and network to become leaders in this critical field.”

Reporting by Mechatronics Student Wajih Georges El Tayar.