Tala Matar

I am a  civil engineer, recently graduated from the Lebanese American University with High Distinction and CGPA of 3.85/4.0 (top 5% of students). 

I have performed two previous summer internships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In the summer of 2019, I served as a strategy intern at Steel Wood Industries FZCO, Dubai, where I developed strategies with a team to enhance the company's operations. To minimize the company's high maintenance costs, I supported the analysis of the firm's financial reports and proposed a preventative maintenance schedule for the machinery. Moreover, during the tenure of my internship at Erga Progress Engineering Consultants in Dubai, I was able to be entirely immersed in the responsibilities of a structural engineer and was given a realistic picture of the complete structural design process. In this experience, I completed the entire structural design of a G+1+R proposed residential villa in Nad El Sheba, Dubai, and assisted with multiple on-site inspections, risk analysis, and condition assessment of ongoing projects. These experiences amended my design, calculation, and computer skills as well as allowed me to gain exposure.

In addition, I served as a library assistant, faculty assistant, and academic tutor at LAU, which have helped me incredibly enhance my interpersonal and communication skills. Due to my academic excellence at university, I worked as an academic tutor and assisted over 15 undergraduate students from the Lebanese American University in various civil engineering and mathematics courses. Some of the courses I taught include Civil Engineering Management Fundamentals, Construction Planning & Scheduling, Engineering Economy, MATLAB Programming Language, Calculus III, Highway Engineering, Hydraulics, Mechanics of Materials, Concrete Structures, and Stress Analysis. Following this experience, my students showed great improvement in the courses evidenced by not only their excellent grades but also their enhanced analytical and problem solving skills.

I also worked as a research assistant and participated in Transportation Safety research with my civil engineering professor at LAU. The focus of our research was to investigate social, behavioral, and cognitive factors related to transportation engineering and driver psychology/behavior mostly within the Lebanese context. During this research, I collaborated with a multidisciplinary team consisting of students and professionals of various backgrounds. With the team, I assisted in the formation and delivery of surveys, expanding the outreach to over 160 participants.  After testing a sample of Lebanese drivers on the state-of-the-art lab facility driving simulator, I aided in collecting data, analyzing output from surveys, and assessing the overall driver’s performance. In addition, I was responsible of conducting literature searches, specifically related to driver’s behavior in yellow interval at signalized intersections. I also examined possible engineering solutions that could be administered to enhance traffic safety and pedestrian crossings at intersections. 

I earned my Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from the Lebanese American University, an ABET accredited and top university in my country, in December 2021.