Board of Trustees
Khaled Husein – Chairman of the Board
Khaled T. Husein is currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees with the Tri-State AAAEA and past Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the 2014-2015. Khaled is the Past President for the 2016-2018 and 2012-2013. Khaled is the currently serving as a Senior Vice President and Department Head of the Construction Management Division at ATANE. A Certified Construction Manager (CCM) with more than 27 years of experience in the construction industry working nationally and internationally on both public and private sector projects. Khaled previously spent 22 years tenure with URS and 2 years working in the Middle East as a Deputy General Manager for the largest KSA General Contracting firm SBG.
Morsy Said, PE – Vice Chairman of the Board
Mr. Said is the Principal/Executive Vice President of CES Consultants, Inc. responsible for all NY operations. He leads the business development department and manages all REI/CM anddesign projects administered by public agencies such as the New York City Department of Design and Construction (NYCDDC) and New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) among other agencies. Mr. Said has over 30 years of diverse experience in the civil engineering industry and has proven his ability to lead projects from initial concept through completion, in both the public and private sectors, respectively. He has received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the City College of the City University of New York. Mr. Said is also a licensed Professional Engineer in the states of New York and Florida.
George A. Sholy – Co-Chairman of the Board
Mr. George Sholy is an Associate Vice President/Senior Project Manager with over 28 years of experience in the transportation private sector. Currently, he is working for AECOM Technology, Inc. in Piscataway, NJ. Mr. Sholy graduated in 1986 from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. with a B.S. degree in Civil/Construction Engineering Technology. Mr. Sholy also graduated in 1984 from Franklin Peirce University in Rindge, NH with a B.S. in Business Management. As a Project Manager, Mr. Sholy managed several large scale projects including the Route 42 widening in Gloucester and Camden Counties ($42M), Route 33 Bypass Extension in Freehold, NJ (43M) and Route 31 Bypass ($125M) and westbound Atlantic City Expressway from MP 8 to MP 31. Mr. Sholy was also involved in several value engineering workshops including the Route 18 widening project in New Brunswick, NJ which was completed recently and had received ASCE and ASHE awards from the NJ Chapters as well as being one of the top 10 projects nationally recognized by the ASCE Magazine.
Michael A. Shamma, PE – Vice-Chairman of the Board
Michael A. Shamma, PE, is currently the northeast region transportation (DOT)/tolls business line leader for Gannett Fleming. Based in the New York City office, he is responsible for guiding the firm’s DOT/tolls business strategy and growth across the northeastern U.S., serving as project director and manager on key projects, and supporting the company’s broader transportation business line initiatives. Prior to joining Gannett Fleming, Shamma was the president of HAKS Engineers and Architects, a 650-person firm where he led all aspects of the company’s operations and business development activities.
Shamma brings nearly 30 years of transportation experience to Gannett Fleming. He served as chief engineer of the New York State Thruway Authority and Canal Corporation where he was responsible for a $1.5 billion, multi-year capital program encompassing 2,400 lane miles of interstate, 809 bridges, and 1,025 building facilities, as well as 524 canal system miles. During his tenure, he served as ombudsman for the new $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge replacement in Tarrytown, New York, the largest bridge project in North America.
Prior to his position with the New York State Thruway Authority and Canal Corporation, Shamma served 24 years with New York State Department of Transportation. He held progressively senior positions while working at NYSDOT, including Region 2 director with responsibility for the safety and integrity of the region’s six-county transportation system that included 2,800 lane miles of state highway, nearly 800 bridges, and other significant infrastructure, and chief engineer responsible for leading all activities of the Engineering Division to ensure the delivery of an annual $2.2 billion capital construction program.
Shukri Abuhuzeima – Vice Chairman of the Board
Shukri Abuhuzeima is a Executive Regional Manager with the NJ Department of Transportation, Division of Local Aid and Economic Development. Shukri has 31 years of experience with the Department. He is currently in charge of the federal Aid section of the Division of Local Aid. He oversees the development and performance of locally administered federally funded programs such as Federal State Transportation Program (STP), Safe Routes to School, Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program, and the Local Safety/High Risk Rural Roads Program. Shukri worked as the Program manager of the NJ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Program for Local Projects. His experience also includes State funded transportation programs and projects for counties and municipalities. He also represented the NJDOT Local Aid on the FHWA and AASHTO’s Every Day Counts initiative that promotes the speed up of the delivery of highway projects and to address the challenges presented by limited budgets.
Prior to Local Aid, Shukri worked on major highway projects in the State of New Jersey including the construction of the Route 287 missing link that was completed in 1994. He served several years as a resident engineer on various NJDOT construction projects.
He is a graduate of Rutgers University with an MS degree in Construction Management and a B.S. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Eli R. Khoury, PE- Vice Chairman of the Board
Eli R. Khoury, PE, is a Senior Vice President and the East Region Transportation Director for HDR, working out of its New York City office. Mr. Khoury has more than 29 years of comprehensive experience on major transportation projects. Prior to joining HDR, Eli served as Vice President and New York Regional leader for HNTB Corporation as well as their Chief Strategic Planning Officer for the Northeast division. He has played a major role in transportation projects in the New York region and nationally involving bridges, highways, railroad/transit, and aviation systems and has provided unique and innovative solutions to complex design projects, such as the Bayonne and the Tappan Zee bridges, particularly for the New York State Department of Transportation, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the MTA-Bridges and Tunnels, the Long Island Rail Road, the New York City Transit, the New Jersey Transit, The NY City Department of Transportation, and the New York State Thruway Authority.
Mr. Khoury holds Professional Engineer registrations in New York and New Jersey, serves on the State Board of Directors for ACEC and Chairs the ACEC NYCDOT Committee. He also serves on the Foundation Board for the New York Building Congress, and he is a Board member of The NJ NEW JOBS President’s Club. He holds a BE in Civil Engineering and an ME in Structural Engineering from the City University of New York and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
Ibrahim Odeh, PhD, MBA- Vice Chairman of the Board
Ibrahim Odeh is currently the research director and founder of the Global Leaders in Construction Management (GLCM) initiative at Columbia University. The main objective of the GLCM team is focused on: (1) studying major challenges faced by management team in international construction projects; (2) analyzing the international construction market industry; (3) developing a SWOT analysis of these markets; and (5) building a comprehensive database of major best practices and trends in managing signature global construction projects. Dr. Odeh also teaches courses in the area of construction engineering and management (CEM) where he also direct the CEM program at the department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics for both the on-campus and on-line tracks. Classes he teaches are focused on: Entrepreneurship for Civil Engineering & Construction; Managing Engineering and Construction Processes; and Principles of Construction Techniques. In addition, Dr. Odeh is consulting with several construction companies as well as other academic institutions on areas related; but not limited to, strategic and business development as well as program and curriculum development. Dr. Odeh received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Construction Management from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also holds an MBA degree with an emphasis on Finance from Minnesota, USA.
Hesham Kotby, PE- Vice Chairman of the Board
Mr. Kotby is a Vice President at HAKS Engineers, Architects, and Land Surveyors. One of the fastest growing firms in the Metropolitan area, with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida focused on facilities and infrastructure markets. He is responsible for leading business development and supporting public sector clients in the New York area working with New York City Department of Design and Construction, and New York City Department of Economic Development. Mr. Kotby has over 29 years of diverse domestic and international experience in the Structure and Infrastructure sectors, including 22 years of rehabilitation of underground facilities. He has been an ASCE member since 1998; a member of CMAA; and currently serves on the board of the Arab American Association of Engineers, Architects and IT Professional (AAAEA). Mr. Kotby received a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt in 1984. He is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the states of New York, and Delaware.
Rifat Saleh, PE – Vice Chairman of the Board
Mr. Saleh holds a master’s and a bachelor degree in civil engineering. He is an alumnus of University of Hartford, and the University of New Haven, Connecticut. He is the founder of RHS Consulting Design in 2003. He is licensed professional engineer in multiple states. Currently he serves on the Board of Trustees for AAAEA. He is also an adjunct professor at University of Hartford, teaches structural engineering courses, and serves as a structural engineer specialist with Urban Search and Rescue of Connecticut (USAR-CT). As president and chief engineer, Mr. Saleh is responsible for all the engineering and management activities of the firm. With more than 30 years in the design and construction of the infrastructure projects, his diversified experience includes highway and railroad bridge design, buildings, condition evaluation and rehabilitation of existing bridges, construction administration and management. He has managed and overseen a vast variety of multi-million dollar projects for ConnDOT, MassDOT, Mass Turnpike, RIDOT, NYDOT and other state and government agencies.
