Our story is simple. We came from the construction site. Having worked in several energy projects around the world we spent time in various construction functions. Construction is, until today, a very decentralized and silo oriented industry. We believe that the current technology and processes in our industry need to be updated and upgraded. While project profit margins go, down more and more of the problem appears to be with information, its availability, accuracy, and meaning. This is why at BlackSmithSoft we are focusing our site experience on information and integration so that we breakdown the borders between these silos and give our customers one “visual” source of truth.

MEET OUR FOUNDERS

Che Kassouf, VP Operations

Our story begins with one of its founders, Chehade “Che” Kassouf, a Mechanical Engineer by profession with several years experience in implementing and championing Advanced Work Packaging and Workface Planning in his capacity as a project controls manager (PCM). These included oil and gas projects in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Qatar, Equatorial Guinea, and Oman.

Che had a lead role in the team working on the ISO 15926 “PIF” initiative in FIATECH (currently CII). He has also actively given several workshops and expert panel sessions at the AWP Conference, FIATECH technology forums, and other industry events.

After working on several “AWP-made solutions”, we realized that a big gap exists after the creation of the IWPs. It is as if IWPs are created, distributed, and left to be completed by themselves, cut-off from the project’s reality.

The idea behind BlackSmithSoft AWP was to organize IWPs, link them to the necessary information and push them to the field on a platform that can handle several model formats and is accessible from anywhere. Moreover, it had to be secure and fully integratable within the ecosystem of AWP applications as well as the ERP, scheduling software, etc.

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Rami Santina, VP Engineering

Rami Santina is BlackSmithSoft’s VP of Engineering overseeing the company’s innovation capital. A Computer Science graduate from the American University of Beirut, Rami has over 18 years of experience in leading teams specialized in developing 3D and 2D graphics solutions for the engineering and construction industry – namely WebGL, OpenGL ES, High Performance Computing (HPC), Building Information Modelling (BIM), Augmented Reality, and mobile site applications. Rami was also a major contributor to the opensource Graphics API – JOGL part of the JogAmp ecosystem. Rami holds a US Patent on 3D Methods, as well as several publications. In 2018, he was awarded the prestigious CETI Award by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) for the development of an AI-based Human Proximity Alert and Vehicle Control system.

Rami is also a Senior Member and Siggraph Pioneer of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), as well as a founder and first President of the Syndicate of Computer Sciences in Lebanon.

Within BlackSmithSoft, he is responsible for overseeing the global development and integration efforts of the company and its strategic technology partners, in addition to managing the product roadmaps of BlackSmithSoft DC, AWP, Power Search, DoCheck and customizations for Autodesk and Procore AEC products. Rami is also responsible for R&D related to new technologies including augmented reality, laser scanning/point-cloud delivery on Forge, AI for construction schedule optimization, and digital construction rehearsal.

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Chakib “Chuck” Ferzli, VP Sales & Marketing

Chakib “Chuck” Ferzli has over 20 years of Business Development experience in AEC solutions. Chuck started his career with PwC, then moved to Aspentech Middle East Kuwait, a leading US-based multinational engineering solutions and consultancy provider for the process industries, heading their business development efforts in the Middle East and North Africa.

Chuck then joined Consolidated Contractors Company (an ENR top 100 global contractor), leading the Sales and Marketing arm of their primary technology and consultancy company, CCT International. The company specialized in project management, piping detailing, fabrication, BIM, Lean Construction, and WFP solutions and consultancy with customers on 4 continents. After 8 years with CCC, Chuck joined BlackSmithSoft B.V. to establish the sales and marketing department.

Chuck holds a BBA in Finance, and an MBA in Operations Research and MIS from the American University of Beirut.

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Our Developers and Implementors

Our team includes members specialized in

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