Events

Connect With Your Future: Career Exploration for Architecture & Interior Design

LAU Byblos Campus - Selina Korban Auditorium


The Career Development Office, in collaboration with the Department of Architecture and Interior Design, AIAS, and Architecture & Design Club, is organizing a panel discussion to help students explore diverse career paths in architecture and interior design.


Distinguished alumni panelists will share their professional journeys, insights, and experiences while highlighting the skills, challenges, and opportunities that have shaped their careers. This interactive session will give students the chance to learn from real-world examples, ask questions, and gain valuable guidance as they plan their own career paths in the design world.

By the end of the session, students will be able to:

  1. Explore Career Paths and discover unconventional opportunities.
  2. Gain Real-World Insights from the experiences, challenges, and successes of alumni and professionals.
  3. Network and Connect with industry professionals.
  4. Get Inspired by innovative career journeys and receive guidance to support your own professional growth.

Registration link

Moderator:
Mr. Roger Skaff - Lebanese American University

Panelists: 

  • Ms. Jemma Chidiac, (B. Arch ‘08), Architect, Researcher & Faculty Member
  • Ms. Joy Ziade Stephan, (B. Arch ‘03), Architect
  • Ms. Martine J. Zaarour, (B. Arch ‘14), Architect & Entrepreneur
  • Ms. Nayla Khoury, (BS ‘01), Interior Designer
  • Ms. Samar Zakhem, (BA ‘98), Interior Designer

About the Panelists

Jemma Chidiac is a practicing architect and researcher based in Beirut and the UK. 
In 2016, Jemma Chidiac established her studio, Jemma Chidiac Architects, leading small-scale residential, large-scale commercial, landscape and interior design projects. Her studio is a design platform that fosters a collaborative environment of intellectual discourse. Jemma Chidiac Architects latest unbuilt and built projects have been recognized across various online platforms. 
Jemma joined Lebanese American University, Lebanon, in 2017 as a faculty member to teach architecture and interior architecture studios. Her research interests include representation and design through the power of analysis and doubt, the impact of construction on urban and social sustainability, and the fusion of theory, context and design within architecture, planning and landscape. 

Joy Ziade Stephan is a team manager at Carl Gerges Architects and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture with honors from the Lebanese American University. She brings over twenty two years of experience across leading regional firms, including Raed Abillama Architects, Galal Mahmoud Architects, Jamil Saab & Co, and My Projects. Her work spans hospitality, residential, and commercial projects, overseeing design development, technical coordination, and site execution. Joy’s strengths lie in detailed design, project organization, and team management.

Martine Zaarour is an architect turned entrepreneur and the founder of Jar Thuraya, a women-led Lebanese enterprise preserving local culinary heritage through handcrafted plant-based spreads and jams. Drawing on her design background, she has built a brand that blends aesthetics, sustainability, and social impact. Beyond entrepreneurship, Martine trains and mentors youth and women across Lebanon in business development, innovation, and entrepreneurship, helping them transform their ideas into thriving businesses.

Nayla Khoury is a Beirut-based interior designer with over 20 years of experience across Lebanon, Europe, and the Middle East. Her portfolio includes high-end residential interiors—apartments, villas, beach and mountain retreats—alongside carefully curated restaurants, cafés, shops, offices, and boutique hospitality concepts. She studied Interior Design at the Lebanese American University, followed by a postgraduate degree in Contemporary Art and Design at Christie’s Education in London. After years with leading design and architecture studios in Lebanon, Nayla founded her own practice, Nayla Khoury Interiors.
Rooted in her Lebanese heritage, shaped by European sensibility, and enriched by extensive travel, Nayla brings warmth, clarity, and a deeply personal approach to each project. She believes that good design doesn’t need to shout—it should feel lived-in, personal and quietly powerful.
 
Samar Zakhem is an Design consultant with extensive experience in commercial, retail as well as office spaces. Her portfolio boasts a variety of design concepts that range from retail shops, office spaces to fashion catwalks as well as events and exhibition concepts. She’s the founder of Samar Zakhem Design, a studio that blurs the boundaries between interior design, architecture, and experience, while redefining the language of commercial interiors on a global stage.