{"529281":{"#nid":"529281","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Malek Boulos Bitar\u0027s Graduate Student Journey","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMalek Boulos Bitar\u0026nbsp;is earning a Master of Science in Building Construction\/Facility Management with a focus in Integrated Project Delivery Systems\u0026nbsp; (IPDS).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe sat down with Bitar, who recently received an offer from Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), to discuss the path that led him to the School of Building Construction and the milestones in his graduate journey so far.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is Bitar \u0027s story, in his own words:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMy background is in Business with a focus on Entrepreneurship. I received my bachelor\u2019s from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. I\u2019m interested in Construction Management. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere is a real need in the middle-east for advanced construction trends. I want to change the way we do construction in the middle-east and bring these advanced construction methods to these countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt Georgia Tech, the overall experience -- the facilities, entire campus, the professors, people I met -- all were impressive. This environment made me want to move forward, it was a helpful and supportive environment for graduate study. I knew it was a great school. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI was seeking a serious academic environment. I had narrowed my search to six universities in the US. I was so pleased to be accepted and matriculate at Georgia Tech. When I arrived on campus, it was my first time in the United States.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELast summer I had the opportunity to do a professional internship in Lebanon. This added good experience to my resume. Now, I am pleased to announce I received an offer from Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) for a consulting position in their Dubai office. This is the position I have wanted. I can directly apply my educational experience and deliver the advanced construction methods I\u2019ve learned to the middle-east.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003EI think the Integrated Project Delivery Systems track is the most serious and challenging of the focus areas in the School of Building Construction. I think all students in Building Construction should take some of these courses. The IPDS class taught by Mike Kenig and the Advanced Project Management course taught by Craig Mitchell were some of the best classes I had.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.bc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EVisit our website\u003C\/a\u003E for more information on the School of Building Construction. Connect with Malek Boulos Bitar via \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/lb.linkedin.com\/in\/malekboulos\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/lb.linkedin.com\/in\/malekboulos.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMalek Boulos Bitar recounts his experience as a graduate student studying Integrated Project Delivery Systems (IPDS) in the School of Building Construction.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Malek Boulos Bitar recounts his experience as a graduate student studying Integrated Project Delivery Systems (IPDS) in the School of Building Construction."}],"uid":"27520","created_gmt":"2016-04-25 15:58:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:21:28","author":"Brenda Morris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-04-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"529231":{"id":"529231","type":"image","title":"Bitar","body":null,"created":"1461895200","gmt_created":"2016-04-29 02:00:00","changed":"1475895307","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:55:07","alt":"Bitar","file":{"fid":"214730","name":"img_1406.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_1406_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_1406_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":209035,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_1406_0.jpg?itok=VD5WdVY5"}}},"media_ids":["529231"],"groups":[{"id":"1221","name":"College of Design"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"171961","name":"Project Delivery Systems; ipds;"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor more information contact:\u003Cbr \/\u003EBrenda Morris \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brenda.morris@coa.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrenda.morris@coa.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brenda.morris@coa.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}