About the principal
Dr. M. Mahfouz
Air quality scientist and consultant with more than 25 years across regulators, heavy industry, consultancy and research in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.
I bridge the three places air quality decisions get made: the plant, the regulator, and the laboratory.
My career started installing and calibrating ambient stations on a national monitoring programme, then moved into an EU-GMP pharmaceutical plant where I built environmental, quality and safety management systems.
At an industrial-city regulator in Saudi Arabia I ran the regional monitoring network and reviewed the compliance submissions of an entire petrochemical base: CEMS, stack tests, LDAR, EIAs, environmental permits and annual emission inventories.
Since then I have led CEMS testing on LNG trains, modelled emissions for exploration and chemical projects, audited fugitive emission programmes, and served as principal investigator on nationally funded air pollution research, including black carbon, bioaerosols and mercury.
Clients bring me in when the numbers have to hold: when a network is being specified, a permit challenged, a contractor’s data questioned, or an EIA must pass regulatory review.
Career
From station technician to regulator to principal
Each role added a vantage point: how instruments fail, how operators report, and how regulators decide.
- Egypt
Environmental engineer, national monitoring programme
Installed, calibrated and maintained 11 ambient air quality stations across northern Egypt under a donor-funded national programme, with quarterly and annual reporting and industrial compliance assessments.
- Egypt
Process and environmental control supervisor, EU-GMP pharmaceutical plant
Built and ran the ISO 14001 environmental management system, led HACCP and OHSAS teams, contributed to ISO 9001, and supervised the in-process control laboratory.
- Saudi Arabia · 2007–2011
Senior air quality scientist and deputy section head, industrial-city regulator
Managed a 7-station network plus mobile laboratory, monthly data ratification, AERMOD reviews, budgets and equipment, and evaluated industry CEMS, stack testing, FEM, ESQs, EIAs and permit packages against RCER and U.S. EPA standards.
- Kuwait · 2012
Senior environmental superintendent, national seaport construction
Supervised implementation of the Construction Environmental Management Plan on a large island port development.
- Qatar
Consultant, project manager and principal investigator
RATA and bias testing on 24 CEMS, LDAR audits on LNG trains, ESHIA and EIA dispersion modelling, offshore station feasibility, indoor air and occupational noise studies, and nationally funded research on urban air pollution, aerosols and mercury.
Core competencies
What I bring to a programme
Six capabilities, each practised in the field and in front of regulators.
Continuous ambient and meteorological systems
Installation, operation, maintenance and calibration of stations and networks.
Station and CEMS audits
Technical system and performance audits to 40 CFR Part 58 Appendix A; CEMS field audits to Part 75.
QA/QC and data validation
Validation and ratification procedures for networks following U.S. EPA and DEFRA practice.
Testing and control
Point-source testing to Part 60, pollution control assessment, and evaluation of pollution incidents.
Dispersion and transport
AERMOD, ISCST3, SCREEN3, CAL3QHCR, ALOHA, and HYSPLIT forecasting and trajectories.
Management systems
ISO 14001, ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 22000 and EU cGMP, built and maintained in operating plants.
Research leadership
Science behind the advice
Funded research keeps the consultancy current on the methods regulators adopt next.
International team
Scientists and technical specialists from Europe and the Middle East
Over 25 years I have worked alongside scientists and technical colleagues from Spain, Slovenia, Norway, Germany, Egypt and across the Middle East. Large programmes are staffed from this network, matched to each client’s needs.
Scientists and researchers
Atmospheric science, aerosol characterisation, modelling and data interpretation.
Technical and field specialists
Monitoring stations, instrumentation, sampling campaigns and quality assurance.
Planning a monitoring or compliance programme?
Request a confidential briefing. You will receive a written response within two working days.