How an Aggie transformed a small startup into a global enterprise
Hala Ballouz ’89 transformed a small firm into an industry-leading power engineering company, and now she’s using her skill set to elevate student success at her alma mater.
Hala Ballouz 89’, the founder, board chair and chief vision officer of Electric Power Engineers.
Hala Ballouz is an innovator in the power industry who turned a lifelong dream into a booming global enterprise.
An engineer and people-first leader, she is the founder, chair of the board and chief vision officer of Electric Power Engineers (EPE) — a company she helped transform from a three-person enterprise into a 700-person, global engineering firm.
She attributes her success to simple values: remain steadfast in your vision, understand people and serve them well. Those principles have guided every stage of Ballouz’s journey from a curious engineering student at Texas A&M University to a successful entrepreneur in the power industry.
“I believe that staying the course takes you somewhere — but it has to be rooted in purpose,” she said. “It’s about knowing where you’re meant to serve. That’s what our values at EPE are all about.”
Today, that same philosophy shapes her work as a mentor and advocate for the next generation of Aggie engineers, extending her impact beyond the company she built and empowering future innovators.
Discovering a passion for power engineering
Ballouz’s interest in power engineering began at a young age, sparked by a question her father asked her while they were walking together in her home country of Lebanon.
“He said, ‘Look at our footsteps — look how powerful they are. Why can’t we generate energy from them and store it?’ That question stayed with me,” she said. “It sparked a lifelong curiosity at an early age about what we could do with energy and electricity.”
This interest eventually led her to Texas A&M, where she began her journey in electrical engineering. During her junior year, she took classes with Dr. A.D. Patton, who specialized in the electric grid and energy. The two clicked, and he invited her to work with him on a master’s program, where Ballouz explored energy storage for the electric grid. It was a field that was still in its infancy at the time — decades before storage became central to the modern grid.
“It was fascinating,” she said. “This was the door that opened my mind to how much we could improve the way we deliver electricity. It showed me the possibilities of making electricity more affordable and reliable, and it made me fall in love with what I was studying.”
Ballouz completed her thesis on power systems under Patton’s guidance with a groundbreaking study on grid cost and reliability benefits of fast-acting energy storage. This project solidified her interest in the field she would pursue throughout her career.
Her journey to success
Hala Ballouz receiving the Aggie 100 award for Electric Power Engineers.
After graduation, Patton connected Ballouz with EPE, which was then a small, one-man startup in College Station founded by a fellow Aggie. Ballouz took the job, thinking it would be a short stop in her career.
“It was supposed to be transitional, but life had other plans,” she said. “I fell in love with working in a small company and being a pivotal decision maker. I learned right there that I could run a consulting firm.”
Ballouz ultimately discovered she’d found her calling at EPE. She bought the company and charted her own vision for it, remaining resolute throughout obstacles along the way.
“Coming into a male-dominated engineering field in the 1990s as a young woman and an immigrant, I was at a disadvantage. I had to work twice as hard and constantly find ways to overachieve and innovate. It wasn’t easy,” she said. “I just did it anyway, and it was fun.”
As she pressed forward, Ballouz built a name for herself by anticipating where the power industry was heading and embracing emerging technologies. From renewable energy and energy storage to grid modernization and increasingly complex power systems, she worked to position EPE at the forefront of industry change while maintaining a people-first philosophy. The company grew into a global force in the power industry.
Today, EPE stands as a leading power engineering firm, helping utilities and energy and technology developers address evolving power grid demands worldwide. The company has won Texas A&M’s Aggie 100 award nine times in a row and is nominated for this year’s honor, as well.
Turning power into impact
Having built a successful enterprise, Ballouz is turning her attention to another challenge: bridging academia and a rapidly transforming electricity industry. In doing so, she plans to help prepare the next generation of Aggie engineers for the grid they will inherit.
“At this stage of my career, it feels like the right time to give back — and where better to do that than the school that gave me so much?” she said.
As an alumna and industry leader, Ballouz has become deeply involved in mentoring and supporting current students. She is a dedicated member of the Texas A&M University College of Engineering Advisory Council, Texas A&M’s Legacy Society, as well as the electrical and computer engineering department’s Alumni Collaboration Team and External Advisory Development Council. She has also received the department’s 2025 Eminent ECE Graduate Award for her outstanding achievements and leadership and established the Hala Ballouz ’89 Endowed Scholarship.
Ballouz remains passionate about connecting students, faculty and industry while helping shape curriculum to prepare students to meet today’s technical challenges and design the power systems of the future. She also remains focused on reshaping how we generate, deliver and consume electricity to keep the essential commodity affordable and reliable for all.
“It’s a two-way relationship,” she said. “Our industry needs engineers who understand more than just the technical fundamentals, and students need to understand what the industry actually needs. Together, we are building the workforce of the future.”
