Mr. Samaha is the Chairman and CEO of the SOFFIMAT SA, which is a Paris-based private corporation active in energy conversion and power generation in Europe for the past 20 years. Mr. Samaha is an electrical engineer trained at AUB and Berkeley, and co-founded Soffimat in 1988. Soffimat has participated as either contractor, operator, owner or promoter in power projects representing over 1.4 gigawatts of installed capacity of different energy technologies, including gas turbines, gas and diesel engines, microturbines and thermal energy recovery systems. Since 1998, Mr. Samaha has been actively developing Soffimat’s strategic focus on renewable energy and innovative concepts to save energy and increase fuel efficiency. He has personally championed the development of over one hundred megawatts of biogas and biomass power plants as well as environmental friendly public transport vehicles, including an electric car called Bi-Scot, the first electric vehicle certified roadworthy in France. Mr. Samaha has also concluded the acquisition of over two dozen businesses and has built an extensive business network across Europe in the energy field.
A mechanical engineer at age 20, Mr. Ahmed began his career in a paper mill, before discovering his lifelong passion — the HVAC industry. Rapidly promoted to sales manager for an HV and plumbing distribution company, he secured distribution rights for air conditioning equipment lines, and the organization later became the largest HVAC distributor in Canada. Sham then joined Westinghouse Electric Corporation as the company’s first applied product sales manager for Canada. At the time, Westinghouse’s air conditioning division was a relatively unknown manufacturer of centrifugal chillers and high temp centrifugal water-to-water heat pumps. Sham spearheaded a new high pressure centrifugal compressor technology initiative that quickly generated several millions of dollars in sales.
When McQuay Perfex Inc. acquired Westinghouse, Sham became the founding General Manager and vice president of McQuay Canada Inc. In addition to securing CSA and ASME product certification, he built a coast-to-coast sales organisation that became recognized as one of North America’s best in terms of talent and engineering expertise. Sham also engineered the acquisition of several service companies across Canada to support the product line in major cities. Within 10 years, McQuay reached $45 million in sales and became the top selling applied products company in Canada (ARI ranking).
Growth for the company continued when he enlisted a local entrepreneur to manufacture ventilation, heat recovery and air handling equipment for the Canadian market. This local company was later acquired by the Carrier Corporation for several millions of dollars.
In the 1990s, Sham developed a business plan to leverage the dot-com boom and bring custom air handling solutions to the health care sector. Ultimately approved by the chairman of Nortek, a NYSE public company, he received the green light to build Ventrol Air Handling Systems. Sham leveraged his sales abilities and strong business relationships to launch the venture without any investment from Nortek, growing the new business to $40 million in sales by the fourth year. Under Sham’s leadership and expertise for over 14 years, Ventrol evolved into a tier-one custom air handling company by 2011 with brand recognition across North America.
Sofame annonce des changements dans son conseil d’administration
M. Samaha agit à titre de président et directeur général de SOFFIMAT SA . Soffimat est une entreprise basée à Paris qui œuvre en Europe depuis plus de 20 ans dans les secteurs de la conversion d’énergie et de la génération d’électricité. M. Samaha est ingénieur électrique de formation, il a étudié à AUB et Berkeley et a co-fondé Soffimat en 1988. Soffimat a participé en tant qu’entrepreneur, opérateur, propriétaire et promoteur à des projets en énergie totalisant plus de 1.4 gigawatts. Soffimat offre une expertise d’exploitation de différentes technologies énergétiques, incluant les turbines à gaz, à, microturbines et des systèmes de récupération d’énergie. Depuis 1998, M. Samaha a orienté toutes les stratégies de Soffimat afin de trouver des concepts innovateurs en matière d’économie d’énergie, d’énergie durable et d’augmentation de l’efficacité du combustible. Il a personnellement contribué à l’implantation de plus d’une centaine de centrales énergétiques fonctionnant au biogaz et à la biomasse ainsi que des véhicules de transports publics environnementaux, incluant la voiture électrique Bi-Scot, la première voiture du genre à être autorisée sur les routes françaises. M. Samaha a également fait l’acquisition d’une douzaine d’entreprises et a bâti un réseau d’affaires notoire à travers l’Europe dans le domaine de l’énergie.
