Samar Yahya Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – Egyptian engineers in the Kingdom have been making concerted efforts to enhance their professional caliber and help each other by sharing experience in the field. They have also been extending much-needed social services to Egyptian workers in general. The Egyptian Engineers Association was set up in Jeddah seven years ago and engineers in other cities such as Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and Yanbu followed suit by establishing their own groups. The idea of the group came up spontaneously after some Egyptian engineers organized informal gatherings for their families to meet, talk and get acquainted with each other. Then came the idea of scientific meetings within the same social gatherings to discuss issues related to their professions. Two years ago, the Egyptian Consulate-General in Jeddah recognized the association as an official body of Egyptian professionals. This recognition enabled them to hold cultural and scientific meetings on consulate premises. Alaa Labeeb, chairman of the Egyptian Engineering Association, took the initiative and got in touch with the Egyptian Consul-General to obtain approval for the association. Labeeb said at first people were not keen to attend social and professional events at the consulate, but the situation changed gradually with more and more people showing their interest. Symposiums and seminars on various topics in the field of engineering have been held. The Project Management Profession (PMP) preparatory seminars and sessions helped engineers interested in sitting accredited exams reach global standards. The course was given at a minimal fee. Some engineers offered free locations to hold the courses, helping the association to minimize expenses and offer greater convenience to the participants. Lectures are held on weekends and at the end of the course participants are given certificates in coordination with accredited engineering offices. Such courses make it easier for aspirants to sit final exams conducted by specialized institutes in the United States and other countries. According to records, about 350 engineers have successfully completed PMP courses in the Kingdom. “The association is happy to mention that up till now we successfully supported 36 engineers to attend the final exam and get the accreditation of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the latest one being only two weeks ago,” said Sayed Zaki, a consultant civil engineer and board member of the association. Being an important element in projects, schedule programming courses are also held, presented first by an introductory seminar and then full courses. In addition, contract management courses are offered with the help of accredited offices. In cooperation with the Egyptian engineering syndicate chief, Assyut University professors were invited from Egypt to prepare a course as an accredited diploma on Vocational Engineering Arbitration. This diploma is very helpful for mega projects as a guideline in dispute resolution. Three courses were held in Jeddah, Riyadh and Madinah giving everyone a chance to benefit. Coordination with different universities in Egypt is currently underway to organize other required courses, sessions or seminars. FIDIC Red Book is a value engineering course concerned with quality, function and cost of projects, paving way for the engineers to measure the value of projects and their compliance with specific standards. Another course was Geographic International System (GIS) that simply teaches engineers how to apply data to a map and then add the map to Google Earth. Specialized courses in water and sewage networks and systems are also planned. On a social level, the association helps Egyptian expatriates with procedures of registering their offspring, renewal of passports and other related matters. The association also helps children attending exams in the Egyptian curriculum in coordination with the consulate. A new campaign under the slogan “Get rid of what is not needed in your wardrobe” was recently launched by the association to needy people in Egypt by providing them with clothes, hand bags, school bags and bed covers, blankets and other needed items was a great success. The association's role in helping people during the parliament elections was remarkable. Members of association helped people register at the election centers after making sure they had all of the necessary documents. The association also encouraged community members to attend consulate events. The association invites as many Egyptians as possible to the annual iftar gatherings in Ramadan which are held during the first 10 days of Ramadan. The Jeddah association currently has more than 600 members, most of them active on Facebook and other social networking sites. Professionals in other fields, such as doctors, pharmacists and teachers, have emulated the association's example by forming their own groups to share experiences and render social services.
