Local, regional and international experts in the fields of engineering and industrial development will meet from May 31 to June 2 at King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) to discuss the latest trends in the engineering profession, as well as to share their technical expertise and knowledge. The conference, titled Collaborative Engineering and Knowledge Sharing, will be held as part of the 14th Saudi Technical Exchange Meeting (STEM 2010), which is organized jointly by the Saudi Scientific Society of Electrical Engineers (SSSEE) and KFUPM's Electrical Engineering Department. Dr. Samir A. Al-Baiyat, chairman of the conference's organizing committee, said that the event is aimed to create an appropriate atmosphere for experts, academics, researchers and professional electrical engineers to meet and share their knowledge and transfer experience and expertise in order to chart the future roles of engineers in all sectors. “Collaborative engineering has a profound impact on many engineering disciplines, and especially on nanoelectronics and software engineering, as well as electrical, mechanical, chemical and civil engineering; hence this conference is being called to address ways to cope with the scientific and technological challenges that engineering has to face with innovative, distributive and collaborative work,” Al-Baiyat said. The main objectives of the meeting are to enhance engineering collaboration practices and develop the management competence, practical engineering skills and best practices of industrial enterprises; present the importance of integrated knowledge from multiple disciplines, including social, cognitive, management, system, decision, and information sciences that are relevant to human collaboration; and discuss urgent professional issues and develop techniques and methods to lead large-scale international projects. Among the key speakers during the three-day conference are Saleh Al-Awaji, Deputy Minister for Electricity; Isam Al-Bayat, Vice President, Engineering Services, Saudi Aramco; Faleh Abdullah Al-Sulaiman, Vice President for Technology Development and Industrial Relations, KFUPM; Amer Al-Swaha, head of the IPP program, Saudi Electricity Company; Omar S. Bazuhair, Chief Engineer of Saudi Aramco; Hosam Sheikh, Vice President of Saudi Transformers; Prof. Mohamed El-Sharkawi, University of Washington, USA; Dr. Ayman Habib, Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada; Dr. Badrul H. Khan, McWeadon Education, USA; and M. Hisham Hamdan, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Lean Applied Sdn Bhd, Malaysia. The conference is being held under the patronage of Prince Muhammad Bin Fahd, Emir of the Eastern Province.
