Dr. Ziyad Abunada
BSc (Civil eng), MSc.(Eng.), PhD (Cambridge)Senior Lecturer/Head Of Course - Project Management
School of Engineering and Technology
Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre
3rd Floor, Room 3.12 - 120 Spencer St. vic3000
Dr Abunada is a Senior Lecturer and the Head of Project Management Courses, College of Project Management, Built Environment, and Asset & Maintenance Management-School of Engineering & Technology. Ziyad obtained his PhD in Environmental Management from Cambridge University-UK where his PhD was part of the largest UK collaborative research project between academia and industry through Soil Mix Remediation Technology (SMiRT). Dr Abunada has accumulated intensive professional experience working in various senior roles including Project & Program Manager, Procurement Manager, and Team Lead at various international firms- Human Appeal-UK, The World Bank. Moreover, Ziyad has been serving as an EIA Specialist and Principal Environmental Consultant at various consultancy tasks with International Organisations including UNICEF and UNEP.
Ziyad's Current research interests include circular economy towards a wasteless future, water and sediment quality, engineering for sustainable development, complexity and risk management, and more broadly, the application of analytical and decision-making tools in environmental management context. Ziyad is a principal supervisor of a number of RHD students working on various topics including coupled human-environment interaction, Complex management of climate change, life cycle assessment of Modular construction method, and many others. His research also investigates the impact of net-zero emission plans on the project management framework within the mining industry. He is currently working on funded research projects in collaboration with the Australian College of Kuwait. Dr. Abunda's research has been recognized internationally where Dr Abunada’s research was ranked first and awarded the best research award by ISESCO in the theme of environmental management. He is also the recipient of the best paper award- Environment Theme- at AINAC 2012 conference- UAE. He is currently a member of the Institute of Civil Engineering (ICE), the International Center of Complex Project Management (ICCPM), and the Royal Society of Chemistry-UK. Ziyad is a peer reviewer for many SCI index journals including Hazardous Material and the Journal of Environmental Management.
Background
Ziyad is a civil engineer with a PhD in sustainable remediation. He has hands-on academic and professional experience working in various roles with International NGOs, Construction companies, consultancy firms, and research institutes. He has long-term teaching university teaching experience in various engineering and management courses. His research interest spans from core civil and environmental engineering applications to engineering for sustainable development and project management. Ziyad's current research focuses on environmental management, circular economy towards zero waste, complex management, the application of analytical and decision-making tools in environmental management, and digitalization.
Universities Studied At
Cambridge University- UK.
Universities Worked At
Cambridge University- UK
Antalya International University- Turkey
Awards
ISESCO, 2017 Best Research Paper Award in the field of environmental management (2017).
Cambridge University Trust- Islamic Development Bank Ph.D. scholarship
AINAC (Innovation Network Annual Conference- 2012) Best Research Paper in the Environment theme.
2nd best MSc thesis award- Universität Heidelberg- Germany, 2009.
Previous teaching
- Engineering for Sustainable Development
- Construction management
- Water Quality
- Sanitary and Wastewater Treatment
- Fluid Mechanics
- Hydraulics
- Soil Mechanics
- Contaminated Land and Remediation Technologies
- Introduction to Engineering Science
Professional Experience
Ziyad works as a program manager at Human Appeal International- UK.Project Manager for various mega- construction projects. He also served as procurement and project manager for projects funded by the World Bank before he then worked as a
Professional Memberships
- Institute of Civil Engineering (ICE-UK)
- Project Management Institute (PMI)
- International Center of Complex Project Management (ICCPM)
- Member of the International Water Association (IWA)Scottish Contaminated Land Forum (SCLF)
- Member of Cambridge University Engineering and Energy Society (CUEE)
- Member of Cambridge University Environmental Consulting Society (CUEC)
- Fellow at Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
- Member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU-USA)
- Affiliated member at the Water Science and Technology Association (WSTA-Bahrain).
Responsibilities
Discipline Lead- Project management (Dec. 2019- June 2020)
Head of Course- Project Management (June 2020- Present)
Professional Interests
- GIS-Modflow Catchment area modeling
- Machine Learning (Neural Network)
- Optimization and decision-making tools
Key Achievements
Best Paper Award (20012 and 20017)
KFAS funding:
1- Constructed Wetland for sustainable wastewater treatment
2- Low-cost material for Solidification/ Stabilization of contaminated soil
Computer Software
- Microsoft Project Management (MS Project),
- Machine learning (Artificial Neural Network (ANN)
- Decision Support System & Multi-Criteria Analysis (DEFINITE),
- Green Buildings Design HVAC (REVIT)
- SIMAPRO (LCA)
- MODFLOW, Flow Path, GIS,
- WATERCAD, EPANET,
Editor
· Guest Editor- International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering
Consultancy Work
- Environmental Expert: Universal Group Consultants- UNICEF.
- Project Manager: ENTEGRE Consultancy Group- Istanbul
- Project Manager: YAPI ve ALTYAPI Engineers- Istanbul
Accreditation
I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:
- 0502 Environmental Science and Management
- 4005 Civil Engineering
- 4011 Environmental Engineering
At the level of Principal Supervisor
Current Capacity
Current Supervision
Strategy, management and organisational behaviour - Project management
Complex Management, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management
Civil Engineering - Infrastructure Engineering and Asset Management
Eng. Applications Artificial Neural Networks, GIS and SWAT vulnerability analysis
Environmental Science and Management - Environmental Rehabilitation (excl. Bioremediation)
Low Cost Materials.
Innovative Remediation Technologies
Environmental Science and Management - Natural Resource Management
Circular Economy
Complex management, wicked problems,
Climate change
Life Cycle Analysis
