DAMMAM — The Indian Engineers Forum (IEF) Dammam Chapter held its annual meet “Techno Feast 2012” at the Sheraton Hotel here. Shuja Sheriff, president of IEF Dammam Chapter, said: “Engineers have a vibrant passion toward their profession and find every excuse to enhance quality of performance.” Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao was the chief guest on the occasion and Najeeb Al-Zamil, Shoura Council member, the guest of honor. Abdulrahman Zaid Yousef Al-Arfaj and Dr. Saleh Al-Mogrin of Saudi Engineers' Council and Syed Abdallah Rizvi, an expert in management principles, were also present. Al-Afraj said now all expatriate engineers can vote and run in elections to the Saudi Engineers Council board. These elections were previously open to Saudi engineers only. Al-Zamil spoke about Indian culture and its rich and varied civilization. He said India is an example to be emulated and expressed his admiration for Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru for their contributions to the nation. Rizvi spoke on CoMoL — Communication, Motivation and Leadership — and how they are intertwined as a whole concept that plays a vital role in today's fast-paced and highly demanding management system. The presentation drew applause from the 150-strong audience. “Add an element of warmth and feelings in your communication and see how the response changes,” he said. Ambassador Rao spoke on the fast-developing relations between the two countries. Trade between India and Saudi Arabia has grown over 140 percent in the last five years. “Today there is great mutual reciprocity on almost all fronts, most notable being trade and culture. There is strong interest among the Saudi businessmen to invest in India,” he said. “It is a matter of pride to be associated with Indian Engineers Forum, which is playing a positive role in the development of Indian engineers.” Rao lauded the Saudi Council of Engineers for initiating the process to have a memorandum of understanding between the Saudi Council of Engineers and its counterpart in India. Rao and Ather Jamal, editorial team member, released the souvenir “IEF Spectrum 2012”. The fourm also recognized the contribution of S.M. Javed Zaidi and Saleem-Ur Rahman for their excellence in engineering and awarded them Innovative Indian Engineers of 2012 in Saudi Arabia. IEF Chairman Amir A Khan traced the history of the forum since its inception in 1998. “To meet the modern-day challenges we always need to refine ourselves, redefine our capabilities and be prepared to meet the global challenges. This platform is now gearing up to next level, which will provide opportunities to all technocrats in enhancing their skills through webinars, focused workshops and eventually a sustainable model to continually engage engineers for quality learning and development.” M.Z. Nadeem, IEF Vice President for Public Relations, anchored the proceedings. Senior IEF core group members Javed Farooq, Feroz Sulaiman and Syed Imran presented bouquets and mementos to all the sponsors and guests of honor. IEF Vice President (Technical) Imran Ali gave vote of thanks. — SG
