Project Manager Alain Eid Brings His Energy and Success to AUB

Alain Eid

It is seldom that a fresh architecture graduate can rise so quickly to become a "project manager" after only four years of experience. This is the case of Alain Eid, who proudly spoke of sailing smoothly through his professional challenges and about how he quickly moved to the coveted position he now occupies as the project manager at AUB's Facilities Planning and Design Unit (FPDU).

Eid, who earned his BA in architecture from AUB in 1995, worked in several local design offices and construction firms for a period of eight years, first as project and freelance architect and then as a design project manager. The distinction between the two positions, Eid explains, is that project architects are usually fresh architecture graduates who are only given technical responsibilities, while project managers perform managerial duties, including the supervision of different kinds of operations carried out by architects, as well as by electrical, mechanical, and environmental engineers.

In 2003 Eid, who completed a master's degree in engineering management at AUB and also reached the position as project manager of FPDU, returned to his alma mater as both a graduate student and a university employee. He admits that the significant professional expertise he initially gained was crucial in his recruitment to his current position, adding that his graduate degree provided him with the academic anchorage he felt he needed for the professional practices he has been applying in the workplace.

Currently, Eid is mainly responsible for the implementation of AUB's Master Plan projects, including the Irani Oxy Engineering Complex and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs. In sum, he has been working for twelve years on various types of projects that have been mostly large in scale and scope and of high technical complexity.

Eid, who has now spent ten years in team leadership on university-type projects, with an overall of eight years as project manager, records no "negative moments" in his career. This is not to say that this energetic young man has been spared the "downs" of a position as demanding as his. Rather, Eid says it is the redemptive mixture of optimism, hard work, positive learning experiences, and challenges that has enabled him not only to overcome efficiently difficulties but also, not surprisingly, to enjoy "every minute of it."

Perhaps the potentially most stalling obstacle in Eid's work has been the prolonged volatile security and political situation in Lebanon. And yet even here, Eid's efficiency is evident in his management of FPDU's operations, which have been carried out with as few time delays as possible. Consequently, one of his most memorable moments was the inauguration of the Consolidated Contracting Company's Scientific Research Building, which was constructed under time constraints exacerbated by the July 2006 war on Lebanon, "without delaying the academic operations of the concerned end users."

Given his experience in the field, supplemented with project management education courses, Eid has become eligible for the Project Management Institute certification that he expects to receive at the end of the year. The happy father of two children, Eid enjoys spending quality time with his family. He relaxes by listening to music, writing, and fishing. Eid also loves ball games and enjoys playing basketball and football, as well as trying his occasional hand at the pool table.