The AWA Board Constituent
Prof. Almas Heshmati
President
Heshmati is Professor of Economics at Jönköping
show moreHe held similar positions at the Sogang University, Korea University, Seoul National University, University of Kurdistan Hawler, and the MTT Agrifood Research (Finland). [/expander_maker] He was a Research Fellow at the World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), The United Nations University during 2001-2004. From 1998 until 2001, he was an Associate Professor of Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics. He has a Ph.D. degree from the University of Gothenburg (1994), where he held a Senior Researcher position until 1998. His research interests include applied microeconomics, globalization, development strategy, efficiency, productivity, and growth with application to manufacturing and services. In addition to more than 200 scientific journal articles, he has published books on the EU Lisbon Process, Global Inequality, East Asian Manufacturing, the Chinese Economy, Technology Transfer, Information Technology, Water Resources, Landmines, Power Generation, Renewable Energy, Development Economics, World Values, Poverty, well-being and Economic Growth. He has conducted research for governments and NGOs related to economics, higher education, and well-being.
show lessAwat Najmaddin
Vice President
Awat is a director general at the Iraqi Presidency,
show moreAwat is specializing in fostering positive relations among coworkers. Awat holds a bachelor degree in electrical engineering (1987-1991) from Almustansiriya University in Baghdad with over 25 years in both public and private sectors, Awat has experience in management consultation, team building, professional development, and strategic implementation. He also worked in the media and pursued different positions such as general director in two broadcasting corporations, and a member of the trustees board in the Iraqi media and communication commission (MCC).
show lessDr. Lars Hartvigson
Board Member
Lars is Director of International Development
show moreLars is working at Jönköping International Business School at Jönköping University, Sweden. He has been into international partnership programs since the late 1980-ies working with funding, designing, managing, implementing, reporting, and evaluating such programs in various development sectors. For the last fifteen years, he has been responsible for international partnerships with some prominent African Universities in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Mozambique developing their capacity to train PhDs in the disciplines of management and economics. In addition, Lars has designed and implemented inclusive and participatory leadership programs for senior managers within the civil society in Southeast Europe and Ethiopia. In post-war former Yugoslavia countries, an intervention was designed and implemented to address capacity building among young people using partnerships between Swedish universities and Local universities to train young people in leadership and conflict transformation. This intervention later became a UN best practice working with young people. Lars Hartvigson has been working in a variety of countries and cultural contexts and are familiar with funding and reporting systems and mechanisms used by most funding agencies. Lars Hartvigson has taken a particular interest in inclusive and participatory approaches to achieve sustainable results and to link sustainable outcomes with necessary policy adaptation.
show lessDr. Hamed Alavi
Board Member
Hamed is a professor and in Management and Law.
show moreHamed’s career path can be divided into three different phases of humanitarian activities, business development and academia. He started his journey in Iran as team leader with UNHCR and Assistant to Voter Education Officer with IOM. In 2005 he joined Schering AG, the German pharmaceutical company as Area Manager in Tehran, Iran. Three years later in Georgia, he entered the academic world with Caucasus University as International Project Director and Faculty Member. Ever since, he is an active academician, researcher and consultant in Europe and the Middle East. Among others, he worked with Caucasus Business School (Georgia), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia), Riga Business School (Latvia), Thomas More University (Belgium), Lazarski University (Poland), Warsaw University of Economics (Poland), Donetsk State University of Management (Ukraine), AkDeniz University (Turkey) and University of Kurdistan Hawler (Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq). He holds a PhD in Management from Estonian Business School, Estonia. PhD in Law from Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. LLM in Maritime and Energy Law from University of Oslo, Norway. LLM in International Trade Law from University of Torino, Italy. Advanced Master in European and International Studies from CIFE France. MBA with Specialization in International Management together with Executive Diploma in Management Consulting from Grenoble Graduate School of Business, France and Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Azad University Iran. His areas of interest are mostly interdisciplinary and can be summarized but not limited to: International Business and law, Trade Finance, Supply Chain Finance, Project Finance, Energy, Education, Sustainable Development and Advocacy.
show lessMeet Our Team
Dr. Nabaz T. Khayyat
Country Director
Dr. Nabaz is an Engineering Economist, he has an MSc and a PhD in IT Engineering from Seoul National University (Seoul, South Korea). He has another PhD degree in Economics from Swiss Management University (Zurich, Switzerland). He is currently working for the World bank as a private sector specialist. He was a Vice President for Academic Affairs, Knowledge University, and the Head of Economics Department at the University of Kurdistan Hewler. He was also worked as a faculty of business in University of Liverpool in the UK. Dr. Nabaz Khayyat has worked for the United Nation Mine Action Program (UNOPS) as an Information Officer, he held a similar position in Mine Advisory Group (MAG), and worked as an Information Management Advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources- Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq. Dr. Nabaz is very active in research, he has numerous publications (published books and journal articles) in international journals, he also supervised numerous students in their master and PhD studies both from University of Liverpool and the University of Kurdistan Hewler.
show lessDr. Sergio David Aldana
Senior Project Manager
Sergio Aldana has a Doctor of Philosophy in Energy Engineering from Seoul National University, South Korea, he has an MA in International Trade and Economic Cooperation with a Concentration in Korean Economy and Development Cooperation (from Kyung Hee University, South Korea), and a BA in Business Administration (from Universidad Rafael Landívar, Guatemala). He served for 19 years at the Instituto Nacional de Electrificación -INDE- (National Electrification Institute), where he started as Technical Assistant of the Technical Advisor of the General Management of the Institute. During the last 11 years of his career, he assumed the position of Chief of Section (Assistant Manager) of the Rural Electrification Management Office where he worked as Chief of Section, and also as Chief of the Electricity Distribution Department. Dr. Sergio served as Director and Professor of Master Programs in Economics at Universidad Rafael Landívar during the period 2015-2017. He also worked as a consultant in administrative and financial audits, working for the Fideicomiso para el Desarrollo Local de Guatemala -FDLG- (Local Trust Fund for the Development of Guatemala) supported by the Swedish International Development Agency -SIDA.
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Mohammed Abdullah
Consultant
A sustainability fanatic and a Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineer, he has a BSC and MSc from Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, and works for Hyundai Engineering CO. Ltd as a Construction Quality Engineer. Mohammed is passionate about renewable energy technologies, focusing on solar energy conversion systems and applications. He worked as a researcher at the Advanced Energy Conversion Materials and Devices center at Korea University, where highly efficient solar cells are designed. Mohammed dedicates his time and strength to shifting the world’s direction towards a balanced and sustainable future.
show lessEmad Anwar
Project Manager
Emad Anwer, an experienced architectural engineer, holds a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from the University of Salahuddin. Emad has more than 10 years of experience in architectural engineering and design, and experience in managing projects such as interior and exterior design, implementation, supervision, BOQ creation, and building analysis. Emad is very passionate about constructing sustainable buildings, trying to incorporate insulation and greenish in his designs due to the world climate change, Emad is interested in reading new building technology and self-development books during his free time.
show lessTawar Qaderi
Business Development Consultant
A business counselor with a big interest in business communications and management who focuses on providing highly valuable and practical solutions to problems.
Tawar holds an Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Natural Resources Engineering. Also, she holds a certificate of Study from the United States Institutes in New Media and Communications from Washington State University. She is interested in the business world and development programs, digital marketing and social media management, and providing practical communications solutions.
Naz Taher
Admin Officer
Naz is a committed and professional business management graduate from Tiskh International University. She developed her skills and has qualifications to support administration and HR issues within AWA. She has extensive knowledge of in-office administration, data collection, and analysis techniques to identify the potential impacts and outcomes of different strategies.
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