Master (MSc) in Engineering

- Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne: 2013 - 2015

Erik Zakhia obtained his Master of Science (MSc) in Energy Management and Sustainability from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in July 2015. He is thus authorized to use the professional title of: Engineer in Energy Management and Sustainable Development.

Erik Zakhia obtained the 2nd Prize for Excellency, with the final average of 5.40/6. In reason of his excellent results, Erik was granted a two-years full scholarship at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne covering all his expenses as a student (university fees, housing, living, insurance, and travels).

Erik Zakhia took a great diversity of courses at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) covering all the spectrum of Sustainable Development, ranging from air pollution, soil ecology, water treatment, renewable energies, urbanism and how to plan the towns of tomorrow, sustainable construction, and energetical policies. Erik decided to specialize on the transportation / urbanism dimension, studying as his first year semestrial project the case study of how Copenhagen (Denmark) managed to promote the use of bicycles at a very large scale, and analyzing the reasons of its success. On his second semester, Erik worked on the case study of Lausanne's agglomeration and its 2030 vision, interviewing dirigeants, mayor, and politicians, in order to confront engineering, sustainability, and politics. As a final year project, Erik worked under the supervision of Professor Vincent Kaufman, on the agglomeration of Sion (Valais Canton), analyzing how to increase the modal share of public transportation, walking and biking, using advanced mapping tools (arcgis...) in order to precisely study the behavior of the inhabitants of the Valais Canton, and relate it with the urban typology of the places where they lived.

Professional experiences

- Internships

-- Alstom Hydro Power (Grenoble, 2012)

Erik Zakhia did his first three-months internship at Alstom Hydro Power in Grenoble (France) in the summer of 2012 in the context of his studies at the American University of Beirut. Erik worked on a complex mathematical method called "The method of singularities" studying the possibility to use it in order to do simulations to enhance the efficiency of turbines. After determining that it was feasible to use "The method of singularities" in order to optimize water turbines, Erik designed a complex system of equations that he coded on C++ in order to make a fully functioning program that would later be used by Alstom Hydro Power, as a faster way to test turbines. Joel Marin, the supervisor of Erik was very pleased with his work saying that "Erik demonstrated high levels of rigor and logic, great autonomy and understanding capabilities in a domain that was, to a great extent, totally new to him."

Required skills: numerical modeling, hydraulics, computer science engineering, advanced C++ coding, mastering of French language

-- State of Vaud Canton, Transportation Department (Lausanne, 2015)

Erik Zakhia did another, two-months internship in the Transportation Department of the State of Vaud Canton in between January and March 2015. Erik worked on constructing, framing and writing the first "Rapport de l'Observatoire de la Mobilité" that analyzed and described the behavior of the inhabitants of the Vaud Canton in terms of mobility, the progression of the modal shares of each transportation modes over the last decades, the evolution of the quality of the air (air pollution...) in function of the policies that were adopted, etc.

Christian Liaudat, the supervisor of Erik, was greatly satisfied with his work that he described as going far beyond what was expected from an intern, describing Erik as "a quiet and agreeable person, who worked with great efficiency and a lot of enthusiasm in the missions that were confided to him, taking a lot of initiatives, demonstrating great analytical and writing skills."

Required skills: transportation engineering, air pollution indicators, correlation studies between mobility and sociology, advanced microsoft excel use, analytical writing

- Extracurriculars

While studying at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Erik Zakhia made it a point of honor to visit Switzerland in its entirety. He organized walks and hikings with his fellow students, in many remote places of the country, visiting historical towns and castles, valleys, mountains and lakes that would later inspire him in his writing projects.

Erik also got used to practice jogging on a daily basis, along the shores of the Leman Lake, running in between 3 and 10 kilometers almost every evening.

Erik continued working on his project of a historical novel taking place in Mount Lebanon in the 1600s, writing the first hundred pages of his novel at night, after full days of studies.

In October 2014, Erik met Annelies Broeders who would later become his writing partner. In February 2015, Annelies Broeders and Erik Zakhia started co-writing a historical-fantasy novel taking place in Lausanne. They together wrote the first 150 pages of their novel in the next three months, in parallel of their studies/internship, working late at night on their project.

Meeting Annelies Broeders changed the life of Erik, as, he recognized her as his twin soul, his other half, discovering they had the same dreams, the same sensitivities, the same way of perceiving life, the same passion for reading and writing, the same love for drawing, the same interest for urban planning and historical towns. Things were never the same afterwards.

During his experience at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Erik did a bit of theater, and he continued to read book after book, during his free time, discovering a whole new genre Annelies Broeders introduced him to: that of fantasy novels, that very soon, became Erik's favorite, giving him the idea to mix historical and fantasy elements in the books he would write.

Erik also hopped up a train from time to time, exploring the nearby countries, such as Germany, France and Italy. The two pictures below were taken in Dieppe, France, and Mount Vesuvio, Italy. 

And for longer holidays, Erik returned to Amchit, Mount Lebanon, where his family lived, never losing touch with the land where he grew up. During the month or two Erik spent in Amchit, he took care of the garden, as much as he could, to help the small trees he had planted several years before survive and thrive. Planting was something that missed in Switzerland, as there, Erik had no garden and no land to plant.