Adam Chehouri WRITE

When my director proposed that I should begin writing a review article few month into my PhD program, reflecting on that moment now I would have hoped to cross a prep-article with some insights and tips on how to write a scientific review article. Unfortunately I did not, and now that I have finally submitted my second revision (fingers crossed that it will be finally approved for publication), I've noted for a while on my To-Do list the writing of this post. I will try to be as clear and honest as possible highlighting some tips to complete the task of writing a scientific review paper.    Yes it is unusual that a first year PhD student writes a literature review even before beginning his research. Most PhD candidates if not all must go threw the phase of a bibliographic study, reading hundreds of research papers, dissertations and reports to familiarize themselves with their thesis. Into their second year they've published one or two conference papers and writing a rev...

It is difficult for me to speak about the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (A.S), the event of Karbala or about the meaning of Martyrdom in Islam thought, because it evokes in me the highest feelings of sorrow and grief. I cannot examine this topic as a Historian, reciting the historical events which led to the tragedy, nor can I wear the lens of a Psychiatrist and try to imagine how these men and woman felt 61 years A.H, nor can I illustrate the blood-stained field from the inks of a Poet. I cannot, because I've failed to fully grasp the supreme lessons from the Imam and his Companions. My current intellectual capabilities don't permit me to perform such assignment. I can only examine, and my weapons are only science and logic. 

As a PhD student I try my best to surround myself with other researchers, experts and pioneers and when I am notified of a conference nearby, I try my best to find space in my calendar to attend. Now some might debate that the content of some lectures are outside their expertise and so their presence is of no use, but one cannot deny that science is converging towards multi-disciplinary at a high speed and in a direct or indirect way, your research will reach and become tangent with other fields we might today believe are distant but the future will most likely proof otherwise. Held at the Faculty of Engineering at the Lebanese University in Hadat, Beirut from the 16 till the 18 of October 2014 , CITEF 2014 (Conference International des Formations d'Ingenieurs et de Techniciens) examined the subject of international cooperation for teaching and engineering research. One can only congratulate and appreciate the work of Dean Rafic Younes (Lebanese University, Lebanon) for ma...

Much has been said and written about Imam Hussein and the event of Karbala, examining the historical role of the Imam but rarely have the purpose for which Hussein sacrificed himself been  particularly  inspected. In Arise and Bear Witness , Dr Ali Shariati examines the concept of sacrifice, that idea we call ‘martyrdom’ from an intellectual, philosophical and scientific point of view.   In order to understand the true meaning of martyrdom, the ideological school from which it originates is first clarified. We understand from the first few pages the choice of the title Arise and Bear Witness , the Islamic meaning to martyrdom, in opposition to ‘death’ or ‘to die’ in non-Islamic rites. Therefore, Shariati dissects the concept of martyrdom within the context of its school of thought, viewing Hussein and the battle of Karbala as an eternal and transcendent phenomenon rather than solely a tragic event to cry about.  

This post is dedicated to a close friend of mine that I've had the great pleasure and honour of knowing since 2008. Earlier this year, in the month of March I opened my inbox and attached to an email was a letter titled The Journey of a Researcher Seeking Supremacy ( مسيرة باحث يطلب العُلى).  I created this blog to satisfy some of my natural needs... the need to communicate and discuss with others. However as I previously confessed in the description of this blog , there is a story, a history of events that led to this awakening. A Journey. A Journey  that was at times difficult to swallow and digest, and yet found it challenging to define, to admit... to confess until... Until this small letter...

Where shall we begin? An ethical question that Dr Ali Shariati tries to provide an answer in seven parts. A close friend of mine introduced me to Dr Ali Shariati's philosophy after I had noticed the amount of shares and likes his Facebook page receives. Although he died in 1977, his sociology on religion and discussions are today examined by scholars and are unfortunately valued more than 20 years after his death. Upon listening of Sayed Ammar Nakshawani's lecture on Shariati famous work Fatima is Fatima , I decided that it is important that I enter the knowledge of Ali Shariati. Where shall we begin? A title that captivated me and by the end of the first part I realized why Dr Ali Shariati is considered one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century. I invite you to read this book on the following links either read it online or download it from  Google Play Books .

I am often asked the question, actually often is an understatement, rather frequently prompted to answer the following question: Where Are You From? Born in Montreal, raised for 6 years in Canada, moved to Lebanon in 1996 only to move back in 2000 to Canada (Montreal and Windsor back and forth), returned to Lebanon in 2005, by then I was in my 9th grade and in the summer of 2006, moved back to Canada (this time Ottawa) only to return again in 2007 to complete my senior year in Lebanon. Graduated from the faculty of engineering in 2013 and now completing my PhD in Chicoutimi, Quebec. Put yourself in my position, what would you answer if someone asked you where are you from ? 

Let's face it, writing a research paper is not a simple task to say the least and surely we can agree managing your references and citations is time consuming if you don't use a citation software. I found this post on MIT Libraries that compares three of the most used reference managers: EndNote , Zotero and Mendeley   that is worth sharing. Currently I am using EndNote, and honestly I don't have any experience with any other reference manager software. Personally I cannot but say that I feel very comfortable using EndNote because it always me to synchronize my references between my Home and Work computers threw my EndNote account. But what I find the most useful is the ability to auto-attach my pdf files to its reference by simply importing them to my EndNote from Google Scholar for example. It can be very troubling to sort your files into categories, rename each file and pdf and yes, accessing that article you downloaded last month can be challenging. Hopefully th...

My recent publication is a paper accepted in the proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Power Engineering in Bacau, Romania (CIEI 2014). Abstract This work presents an experimental stand for the study of a power electronics control system to locate and track the maximum power point of a photovoltaic (PV) array to ensure efficient power transfer from the solar cells to the load under varying environmental conditions. A real-time photovoltaic solar cell measurements and a control system was developed to guarantee that the maximum power output is attained. This stand is built at the Electrical Machinery Laboratory of “Vasile Alecsandri” University of Bacau, Romania. The full paper can be found in the  Constellation UQAC  repository and below you will find the power point presentation presented on May 22, 2014.

It doesn't take a genius to tell you that violence and triggered wars are occurring in the Middle East. As much of a pain it is to witness such violence and hate, there should be no place for pessimism. Therefore, this post is not aimed at discussing the reasons, but rather the impact of the political conflicts of the last decade on research publication in Lebanon, a small study that I hope will touch others, whom share the same responsibilities.  At first, if you are not familiar with  SCImago Journal & Country Rank , I suggest you get to know the SJR metric. It basis it algorithm on the information contained in the  Scopus  database (Elsevier) since 1996. It allows you to visualize, compare, and analyze the ranks of journals, countries and even regions. I based my analysis and study on the results generated by  SCImago   on the region of the Middle East; particularly on Lebanon.   Lebanon ranks 9th in the Middle East in ...

You have just finished writing your research paper and your advisor requested that you should start checking for possible journals to submit your paper... This is a common event to every PhD students, and in particular it is a new experience to first year PhD students. So here are few tips you should consider while publishing in a scientific journal based on my personal journey so far.  1. Evaluate Your Work... Please be Realistic !! Often students aim to publish their work in high-ranking journal. I will talk about journal rankings later, but do not exaggerate too much when evaluating the impact of your research if you are a first year PhD student and this is your first publication. Be realistic, and if you need advise, find a referee, a third person if you want, and based on his feedback, you will decide to either submit your work as a conference paper or to a scientific journal. You do not want to get yourself i...

This post is intended for all researchers that want or thinking of attending the Montreal 2014 Conference organized by WASET (that is theoretically supposed to occur at the Ritz-Carlton Montreal   hotel) AND to all who wish to attend future conferences held by WASET, please read below: I submitted my abstract February 7 2014 and selected the option to have an oral presentation rather than a poster. March 6 I receive an email informing me that my paper was accepted (although they did not properly copy and paste the title of my paper) anyway, you can check the official acceptance paper. Since the topic of my paper is on wind turbine blade optimization, I believed that by the name of the chosen conference  ICSREE 2014: International Conference on Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering , researchers in this domain from around the world will be gathered with interesting papers and presentations.... Well, judge yourself, take a look at the ...

In a recent search to find the All Time greatest books, I stumbled upon many lists. However I find this list pretty realistic and fair. Honestly I haven't read all the books on that Top Ten... This is my current quest :) Take a look at the complete list of All Time 100 Novels from 1923 to 2005. ( Source ) Happy Reading :) 1 To Kill a Mockingbird   by   Harper Lee   4.23 of 5 stars  4.23 avg rating — 1,755,344 ratings 2 1984   by   George Orwell   4.08 of 5 stars  4.08 avg rating — 1,142,184 ratings 3 The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3)   by   J.R.R. Tolkien   4.43 of 5 stars  4.43 avg rating — 257,343 ratings

If you are a huge TED fan like myself, then you will find this post I came threw will surfing the web very tempting. This years TED2014 conference will be held in the beautiful city of Vancouver, Canada and the theme this year is The Next Chapter . This conference will mark the 30th anniversary conference, a sold out event, next month between March 17 till 21. Mark your calendars and prepare yourself by reading about the presenters and their amazing work ( Source ). Books to get for TED 2014 At TED2014, astronaut Chris Hadfield and journalist Jon Moollem will give talks, and Sting will perform.