Hani Azer
Hani Azer is an Egyptian civil engineer. He was born in Tanta, Egypt to a Coptic family and moved to Cairo for High School and University. In 1973, after earning BSc degree from the Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. he moved to Germany to study Post-Graduation in Civil Engineering in Bochum.
Azer headed the construction of the tunnel beneath Berlin's Tiergarten in 1994. Subsequently, he became the Chief Engineer of Germany's fourth largest train station in Berlin, Germany, also known as the Berlin Hauptbahnhof. The station is a modernistic structure with a roof built almost entirely of glass blocks. The project cost $700 million. Berliners voting Azer 13th among the top 50 Berliners of the year in 2006.
Azer was honored by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 26 May 2006 at the inauguration of the Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Azer was also later honored by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. On 1 October 2006, Azer received one of Berlin's most respected distinctions: the Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin, for outstanding service to the state. Azer is also considered nowadays as one of the top Tunnelling and Bridges Engineers at the global level.