,

Ahmed Abukhater ( ar, أحمد أبو خاطر) is an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

environmental scientist Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

, and an urban and regional

planner Planner may refer to: * A personal organizer (book) for planning * Microsoft Planner * Planner programming language * Planner (PIM for Emacs) * Urban planner * Route planner * Meeting and convention planner * Japanese term for video game designer ...

by trade.• University at Albany, State University of New York, Faculty Experts: Ahmed Abukhater. Available at: http://www.albany.edu/news/experts/48853.php He is an author,

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

, and the first athlete to represent

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

at the World Association of Bench Pressers and Dead lifters (WABDL) World

Powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

Championships in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, in 2006.• IMEU. (2007). “Dr. Ahmed Abukhater: Author, Business Executive, and Record-setting Athlete” Institute for Middle East Understanding - August 10. Available at: http://imeu.net/news/article006168.shtml In November, 2007, Abukhater represented Palestine again in the WABDL World Championship, in Anaheim, California, where he won his division and set a new Palestinian world record.• IMEU. (2007). “Dr. Ahmed Abukhater: Author, Business Executive, and Record-setting Athlete.” Institute for Middle East Understanding - August 10. Available at: http://imeu.net/news/article006168.shtml He set a new record for the state of Illinois in 2004, and holds many national and international records in

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

International and world records

Open and elite men's division -198 lbs weight class : ''Set in official drug-tested competition'' * Squat: 630 lbs *

Bench Press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

: 610 lbs *

Deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

: 705 lbs

Personal records

Powerlifting Gym Records: : ''Done in the gym (unofficial)'' * Squat: 705.4 lbs *

: 727.5 lbs *

: 749.5 lbs *

total: 2182 lbs He also bench pressed 413.3 lbs for 10 repetitions, touch and go in the gym.

Professional career

Abukhater is currently working for

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

in Digital

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

. Previously, he served as senior director of GIS at

Trimble Navigation Ltd Trimble Inc. is an American software, hardware, and services technology company. Trimble supports global industries in building & construction, agriculture, geospatial, natural resources and utilities, governments, transportation and others. Trim ...

, global director of product management at

Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes Inc. is an American technology company most known for its postage meters and other mailing equipment and services, and with expansions into e-commerce, software, and other technologies. The company was founded by Arthur Pitney, who i ...

Software,

Esri Esri (; Environmental Systems Research Institute) is an American multinational geographic information system (GIS) software company. It is best known for its ArcGIS products. With a 43% market share, Esri is the world's leading supplier of GIS ...

’s global industry manager for planning and community development and director of PLACES in California and a

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

manager and instructor at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

.• University of Towson GIS conference, 2010: http://tugis.towson.edu/ He is keynote speaker in a number of areas including

solutions and strategic marketing in Planning and

Community Development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

Urban and Regional Planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

, and trans-boundary

water resources management Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...

and

Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abou ...

.• Johnson, Allan. (2007). “World-class weightlifter chases PhD at Texas - Student takes long journey from Gaza Strip to UT-Austin.” The Daily Texan – February 15, Austin, TX, USA. Available online at: His expertise is focused on the geopolitical and hydropolitical aspects of water resources in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the transboundary management of water resources, and multinational

environmental policies Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem mana ...

in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

.• McKetta, Elisabeth. (2008). “Everyday Excellence.” GradNews – March 2008. Available at: http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/gradlife/excellence/abukhater.html

Early life

Born in the Palestinian city of

Rafah Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian ...

, Ahmed Abukhater grew up in a world of environmental inequity.• University of Texas. (2010). Former powerlifter Ahmed Abukhater fights for water rights in Palestine by Amy Maverick Crossette. Available at: http://news.utexas.edu/2010/05/21/ahmed_abukhater Being a native Palestinian from the Gaza Strip and raised during the Palestinian

Intifada An intifada ( ar, انتفاضة ') is a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement. It is a key concept in contemporary Arabic usage referring to a legitimate uprising against oppression.Ute Meinel ''Die Intifada im Ölscheichtum Bahrain: ...

(uprising), he recognized the value of water as the sustainer of life and peace.• Robbins, Kevin. (2007). “Lifting himself - and his people: University of Texas doctoral student is first Palestinian at world weightlifting championships.” Austin American-Statesman - January 16, Austin, TX, USA. Abukhater holds a Ph.D. in community and regional planning from the

with a focus on water resources management and

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abou ...

and

mediation Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...

(

alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...

) and a master's degree in

urban and regional planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering.

Specialization

Through education and professional experience, he developed specialization in fields ranging from Planning Analysis and

Geographic Information System A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

(

), Geospatial analysis and multi-criteria evaluation (MCE),

groundwater modeling Groundwater models are Computer simulation, computer models of groundwater flow systems, and are used by hydrologists and hydrogeologists. Groundwater models are used to simulate and predict aquifer conditions. Characteristics An unambiguous defi ...

Environmental Science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

and

Sustainable Development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

, to

and Mediation. Abukhater has authored numerous publications, served on governing and advisory boards, and received over 20 awards for his work. His recent book entitled
Water as a Catalyst for Peace - Transboundary Water Management and Conflict Resolution
' is a book that describes a water negotiation framework and provides an exposé of how equity can be linked into the process of international treaty negotiation and governance.• Abukhater, Ahmed. (2013)
Water as a Catalyst for Peace - Transboundary Water Management and Conflict Resolution
Routledge.

Publications

* ''Palestine - Peace by Piece: Transformative Conflict Resolution for Land and Trans-boundary Water Resources'', Springer International Publishing. * ''Water as a Catalyst for Peace: Transboundary Water Management and Conflict Resolution'', Taylor & Francis Group (Routledge).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abukhater, Ahmed 20th-century births Living people American geographers Businesspeople in software Environmental scientists Palestinian powerlifters American powerlifters Palestinian emigrants to the United States American business executives 21st-century American architects American urban planners National Geographic Society Palestinian strength athletes Palestinian sportspeople University of Illinois School of Architecture alumni University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture alumni Year of birth missing (living people)