Mount Carmel Fitness & Health

   Tarek Birkdar, a 5th year senior studying Architectural engineering with a mechanical option specialization. One of the main reasons I picked this major is to have a focus in sustainability design. About 40% of the United States energy is feed to the building industry. Therefore, it is important to make sure that our buildings are utilizing this energy conservatively.

Throughout my internship experiences I always tried to focus on working with HVAC equipment so that I have a clear image of how everything works. Having that background helps with being able to make a decision when it comes to sustainability design. When interning as a HVAC project engineer at World of Design I was in charge of load calculations, technical support, and quality assurance.

   This gave me a wider perspective of how different mechanical equipment functions. In addition, I was able to develop my problem solving skills. Also, I have interned in Kuwait which is what differentiates me from other candidates. Working in such an area with one of the harshest climates gave me confidence when having to deal with unusual cases. Aside from that, being the treasurer of my fraternity taught me how to be organized and be able to manage multiple things at once. I had to make sure that the budget was checked weekly along with payments that had to be paid on a daily basis. Also, mentoring the comptroller helped in developing my leadership skills. I conducted weekly meeting with him making sure he would be able to handle the job when my term was over. Being the treasurer was a job that had to be done precisely allowing no errors at all. In other words, I am an organized individual with great leadership skills and have a good amount of experience when it comes to my field.