SyraQs: A young engineer from Lebanon gives back to his homeland and Syracuse

Abbas Kazan

Abbas Kazan, a transportation engineer with Barton & Loguidice, in Liverpool, was recently honored by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Editor’s note: Central New York is full of vibrant, intriguing, thoughtful, bright people committed to making our region a better place. Every Monday, we’ll publish a fast-paced question-and-answer session with one of them. Here is today’s interview, edited and condensed for clarity.

* * * * *

Abbas Kazan, 26, a native of Lebanon who designs roads and bridges for the Liverpool firm Barton & Loguidice, was recently honored by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his dedication to the field. Kazan, the first in his family to attend college, sat down with syracuse.com recently to talk about his journey from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to snowy Syracuse, why it’s hard living so far from family, and why he totes an earthquake simulator to local schools.

Tell me a little bit about your background and kind of how you got where you are.

I was born and raised in Beirut, and we moved to my dad’s hometown of Tyre. In 2014, I graduated high school and got a full scholarship to (SUNY), and I started at Mohawk Valley Community College. I started applying for another college because I didn’t want to be Utica. We had a very bad winter. It was snow on top of snow on top of snow.

I went to Duchess Community College for two years and enrolled in the engineering program there. I got my associate’s degree in engineering science, and then I transferred to SUNY Poly in Utica. I moved to Syracuse in 2019 for my job at Barton and Loguidice.

You thought Utica had a lot of snow, and then you moved to Syracuse?

It’s definitely not as bad (here) as I remember in 2014. Maybe because it was my first time seeing a lot of snow.

Your company recently said that you “know first-hand the struggles of being an international student in the STEM industry.” What were some of those struggles? And how did you overcome them?

I was a first-generation college student for my entire family. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn’t have the financial means to do that, and I didn’t want to put too much on my parents to put me through college. I was fortunate to get a scholarship that allowed me to venture out and leave my country, leave my home, because it really created a different person in me than the person I was eight years ago. I learned independence, I learned to figure things out myself and not depend on anyone. I learned to be more resilient, learn faster. I had to learn (English) within three months.

You were recently named a “2022 New Faces of Civil Engineering.” What does that mean to you?

As an international student from a disadvantaged background, I had to work twice as hard as everyone else to be where I am now. For people to realize that and for people to commend me for that -- it was very humbling. It reinforced the idea that all the struggles that I had on my way, I went through those and got to where I am now.

It kind of validated everything you’ve done.

Yes, and it reinforced that I want to continue not just working as a civil engineer, designing roads and bridges, but I also want to inspire the future of our industry and inspire people that look like me or speak like me or come from backgrounds that are similar or even different than mine to go after their dreams. That’s why I volunteer in schools.

Can you tell me about that experience?

I go into fifth grade school classes and high schools, and talk about what I do as an engineer. They seem very excited to know and they ask questions, and I wish I had had someone that helped me learn these things when I was a kid. Seeing how excited they get to see how a car goes through a bridge without falling off, or holding an earthquake simulator machine, makes me happy.

As a bridge engineer, do you have any thoughts about what we can do to stop trucks from hitting the bridge on the Parkway?

As much as we kind of laugh about it every time it happens, like, “Oh, that bridge again,” it is still a safety hazard, and people’s lives are at stake. I hope within the next few years that gets resolved. I know the county’s working hard towards fixing that problem.

One of the things we talk about in STEM is trying to diversify the field in gender, minority and ethnic backgrounds. How is that proceeding in the U.S.? Is there a way we can do it better?

In civil engineering class, we had one female student out of 26. I always questioned why, but it’s definitely moving in the right direction. Through my involvement with ASCE, I’ve seen so many female engineers at a level that in their careers that it’s very, very inspiring to see that. It makes me hopeful for the future.

The other part is diversity in terms of ethnic and diverse backgrounds. There’s definitely room for improvement there. I was the only person of color in my entire class, and you always have that feeling that you’re different than everyone else. I think we got to a certain point where other students noticed that it’s not just this Arab guy in class, but I was at same level as they are.

Do you miss home?

Definitely. I haven’t been back since 2018. I’ve been wanting to go, but with the pandemic it kind of ruined my plan. And the country is not stable right now. Inflation is extremely high.

Worse than here?

Oh, yeah. One U.S. dollar used to be a value of 1,500 Lebanese pounds. Now $1 is worth 38,000 pounds.

Wow. That’s a huge difference.

It is. And it has made living conditions harsher than they need to be. People are not able to sustain themselves, they’re not able to put food on their table on a daily basis. In the beginning, I felt a little guilty, I felt some sense of responsibility that I had to do something for my people, my family. I worked hard with different organizations here. I could at least volunteer some help, financial help.

It must be hard to be so far away.

It is hard. I look at pictures and news reports and it’s like, I wish I was there. But I’m also glad I’m not. I know that if I was there, I wouldn’t be able to help as much as I can here. At least here I have a stable life, I have a job. So at least being here is allowing me to support my family back home. If I was back home, I would be struggling just like everyone else.

Do you know of a fascinating and engaging community member whose work and life we should highlight in SyraQs? If so, let us know. You can email me at gcoin@syracuse.com or add their name and contact information to this Google form.

We hope to hear from you, and we hope you’ll tune in to SyraQs every Monday. Catch up on our previous SyraQs interviews:

SyraQs: As a deputy, she had to evict families. Now she makes blankets for kids in their darkest moments

SyraQs: What a former writer for ‘Pappyland’ TV show learned by listening to seniors

SyraQs: From hauling junk to building McDonald’s restaurants, entrepreneur Eli Smith has made his mark

SyraQs: SU climate professor researches the past to help understand the future

SyraQs: Onondaga County’s new health commissioner on ‘Novids’ and what Covid-19 taught us

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.