Scholarship

Congrats to the 2025 IFMA houston scholarships

 BETHANI LINDSEY

I’m a fourth-year Interior Design student at the University of North Texas, living in Dallas with my husband and our four amazing kids. I work for a local hospitality design firm, MatchLine Design Group, where I am mentored by an experienced team of designers and gaining hands-on experience in creating thoughtful and engaging spaces.

When I’m not designing or studying, you’ll find me riding my bike, thrifting for one-of-a-kind treasures, or spending time with our lively little crew—including our dog and two cats. I’m currently working toward becoming a licensed interior designer in Texas, with the goal of blending my creative vision and technical knowledge. I have a deep love for the built environment. I am especially interested in addressing the housing crisis in my community through thoughtful solutions like ADUs, adaptive reuse, and innovative, multi-family residential design that prioritizes accessibility and sustainability. 

OLUWAFEMI AWOLESI

Oluwafemi Awolesi (LEED Green Associate) is a dual-degree graduate student at Louisiana State University, completing a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and an M.S. in Construction Management. His doctoral research, titled “Rethinking Green Building Development Through Policy and Operational Metrics: Insights from Baton Rouge and Beyond,” explores building performance, user perception, and sustainability policy. He is the developer of the Operational Sustainability Index (OPSi), a novel metric for evaluating facility performance. His MS thesis focuses on indoor environmental quality and energy efficiency in college residence halls and civic buildings.
Femi previously served as an Environmental Officer at PAMM Environmental Services Ltd., where he managed staff recruitment and led sustainability initiatives across shipping and telecommunications facilities. He has also managed academic chemistry laboratories, with responsibilities in instructional support and lab safety. In addition, he has led safety and sustainability assessment projects in small businesses and industrial facilities (including food and beverage production) through his volunteer work with the LSU Industrial Assessment Center in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy.
As he prepares for graduation, Femi is actively seeking full-time opportunities or internships in facility operations, where he can apply his expertise in sustainable facility management. He is currently enrolled in IFMA’s Sustainability Facility Professional (SFP) program.

Issam Boussenane

Issam Boussenane is a seasoned Instrumentation and Process Safety Engineer with over 17 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, spanning upstream and downstream operations overseas and in the United States. He currently serves at Baker Hughes as a Maintenance Coordinator (Maintenance Electrician III) in a Flexible Piping System Manufacturing Facility, where he leads all aspects of maintenance, including proactive, reactive, and complex corrective repairs, while managing new equipment installations and capital project execution. Previously, he worked as a Field Service Company Representative at Evolution Well Services, overseeing safety-critical operations in high-pressure hydraulic fracturing environments. Issam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Oil Instrumentation from the Algerian Petroleum Institute and will earn his Master’s degree in Facilities Management from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in Summer/Fall 2025. His career is marked by technical excellence, safety leadership, and a strong commitment to driving operational reliability and continuous improvement in complex industrial environments.