For the second consecutive year, Prof. Joseph Assaad, Chairperson of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Balamand (UOB), has ranked among the top 2% of researchers worldwide in an international study by Elsevier.

Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps institutions and professionals’ advance healthcare, open science, and improve performance for the benefit of humanity. The ranking is performed under stringent conditions (with or without self-citations) and is based on career-long or single-2020-year impact; in which Prof. Assaad scored within 2% across all categories. Prof. Assaad has more than 96 peer-reviewed papers published in renowned journals such as ACI, ASCE, CBM, and others indexed in Scopus. His current h-index is 29 (according to Scopus) with more than 2950 citations (according to Google Scholar).

Commenting on the occasion, Professor Rami Abboud, Vice President for Internationalization and Engagement and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering stated: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Prof. Assaad on this tremendous and sustained achievement and commend him on his dedication to providing excellent research output placing the Faculty of Engineering at UOB amongst the top international engineering faculties. I am confident that Prof. Assaad will receive more recognition in the years to come for himself and UOB alike.”

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UOB has always been a leader in research in Lebanon and regularly receives awards at national and international events bringing prestige and recognition to UOB. The department places a strong emphasis on research, specifically research that can impact society, and provides students with ample opportunities to improve their design skills and abilities to make a difference after graduation. ​