Construction Engineering Graduate Student Receives Award for High Performance

Yasmin El-Hakim ’13, ’21, master's student and research assistant at the Department of Construction Engineering, received the Mohammed Bin Abdulkarim A. Allehedan Award. This award is given to the highest performing student in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) bi-annually. This is the first time it is granted to a construction engineering graduating student.

"When I received this award, I felt delighted that all my hard work paid off in the end," she said. "I would like first to thank God for enlightening my path and giving me strength and the ability to pursue my studies and finish my degree satisfactorily. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my professors who gave me support and advice whenever needed, especially my advisor, Professor Samer Ezeldin. And, my sincere appreciation goes to my mother and my husband as well for their continuous support, care and motivation through out my studies. I am looking forward to keeping up my achievements and gaining more knowledge in my field of study that will enable me to have a positive impact in the construction industry."

In her thesis titled “Analysis of Concurrent Delays in the Construction Industry,” El-Hakim integrated her technical expertise as a former planning engineer at Dar Al Handasah firm, which is one of the top ten international design firms according to the Engineering News Record, with her academic studies to develop an analytical model to help experts in the industry identify concurrency and delay responsibility for each party. The developed model could be considered a useful tool for claim management, as it facilitates the analysis of concurrent delays which are usually surrounded by ambiguity in identification and reimbursement. Her work under the supervision of Samer Ezeldin, professor of construction engineering, will be published in the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers 2021 Conference.