VALE ADEL KHREICH

IN MEMORIAM

Former President of the AIPM NSW Chapter, Adel Khreich, passed away in October 2020 after a courageous long battle with cancer. He was a significant contributor to AIPM and the wider project management industry.

Adel came from humble beginnings. In 1976, at the age of 12, he migrated to Australia with his family for a fresh start from war-torn Lebanon. Despite the apparent challenges in adapting to a new culture and learning a foreign language, Adel excelled in school and was accepted into the prestigious University of New South Wales (UNSW), where he graduated with an Honours in Civil Engineering.

After more than a decade of working for various companies in the project delivery industry, Adel made the jump to start his own business. In 2001, blueVisions was established with the aim to close the customer experience gap and produce better project outcomes for clients.

Enterprising and immensely passionate about making a positive difference, Adel believed that understanding and appreciating the clients’ requirements is key to the success of any project. He also had an uncanny ability to size up situations and articulate the issue in the simplest terms possible. Because of these skills, complemented by a commanding presence, strong attention to detail, and a strategic project planning ability, many have said that he was the perfect mix of a great project manager and inspiring business leader. This was evident in his highly motivated team, acknowledgements received from his peers as well as the high levels of repeat business.

As competitive as Adel was, he always remained a gentleman – looking for win-win solutions wherever possible. He did not believe in “a pound of flesh” and lived by the values of trust, loyalty, friendship and above everything else, integrity. It was in his nature to give more than he received.

Adel’s ambition was to expand blueVisions into the Middle East and Asian countries.

His unwavering dedication and hard work – restless business journeys, long-haul flights, sleeping with one eye-open (as he used to describe it) to endless emails and phone calls – has seen the company evolve into the remarkable organisation it is today, ensuring a secure future for his family.

Over the decades, Adel immersed himself in everything related to project management. He held the president’s office and was a board member for the AIPM, UNSW Civil Engineering and University of New England Management during his career.

Adel lived a full life for 56 years – travelling the world, creating a global business legacy, marrying the love of his life, Molita before raising a family with her and their two sons, Daniel and Justin. He used to joke that his life was equivalent to 7 lives of anyone else!

Adel, sometimes the match ends before the final whistle, and the sun disappears before the actual sunset; all heavenly wisdoms that we cannot comprehend yet we always trust that the sun will rise on the other side of the universe, your current abode.

Molita Khreich and the executive management team at blueVisions continue to uphold the values instilled by Adel and further his vision to deliver the highest level of project services and capability development to clients across Australia, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.