Assaad Mrad is a Shadow Participant of Hoda Touma. Assaad Mrad is a PhD candidate at Duke University in North Carolina, researching in the physical science fields of hydrology and micrometeorology. His most notable achievement on a social level is a volunteering action, which he undertook for a period of two years as Red Cross first aider. Educationally, he is passionate about environmental sciences and is willing to use his background in Mechanical Engineering to tackle challenges such as climate change. The long term goal is to enter a tenure track faculty position in a top international institution.