822P801238PCE UAE(NEWSLETTER 2008No2   DOWNLOAD A COPY IN WORD                                             CHECK WEB    www..pceuae.net

PCE   PROFESSIONAL   CHARTERED   ENGINEERS         NEWSLETTER 2008No2

UAE    UNITED ARAB EMIRATES GROUP (PCE UAE)         AGM REMINDER   

We welcome all UAE based Chartered Engineers (CEng), Incorporated Engineers (IEng) and Engineering Technicians (EngT)

Registered with the Engineering Council (EC) plus all other members of the 35 EC Linked Professional Engineering Institutions (PEI)

Date & week numbering aims to comply with International (ISO), European (EN), & British (BSI) Standards

Eg.:  ISO 8601& BS EN 28601:1992 “Representation of dates & times for information interchange”, & BS 4795:1972.

 

We meet on the first & second Tuesday of each month in Abu Dhabi & Dubai respectively & plan related visits on the third Tuesday plus other events throughout the Emirates.  Come along for Continuing Professional Development (CPD), meet colleagues and network

 

Dear colleague

 

I start writing this aboard a vessel on the Nile, heading for Aswan and a visit to the High Dam.  My first visit was in 1976 accompanied by my family while returning home at the end of an interesting two year contract as Project Director, Jeddah for contracts for the development of the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. 

 

We had driven to Jeddah from Beirut via Syria and Jordan and later had driven on ‘side trips’ to Riyadh and Kuwait and back as well as Aqaba and Petra.  So we decided – rather than flying direct to Scotland that day we would take a long route home.  We left Jeddah by ship to Suez and flew from Cairo to Aswan and on to Abu Simbel to view the wonders of ancient Egypt and the High Dam as a more modern engineering wonder.

 

My interest in the dam had developed from my very first site job with Babtie (now Jacob) on the Glen Shira Hydro-electric pumped storage project in Scotland with its four associated dams and three power stations (one underground) and miles of tunnels and aqueducts.  Having seen Aswan again I suppose the next aim will be to see the Three Gorges Dam and power plant and think more of the ecological impact of such developments.

 

You may wonder what all this has to do with PCE UAE?  Well, ICE and IMechE (but regrettably not IET and other PEI) agreed to hold a convention in Cairo on the joint themes of “Sustainable Development”, “Climate Change” and “Urban Planning” for PEI Country Representatives (CR) from Middle East and Africa.  Included was a Young Engineers presentation Competition.  I listened to the six finalists and the winner was a young Egyptian Engineer Ahmed Fateh Elbab, who spoke about Systems Simulation.

 

As Chair of PCE UAE and formal CR for ICE, IMechE and IET I felt duty bound to try to attend and had hoped some PCE UAE Committee Members and others might have managed.  Notes on Convention programme, delegates etc will be added to this or be available on our PCE UAE web pages at www.pceuae.net.later.

THURSDAY 2008 01 24 - PCE UAE COMMITTEE MEETING, ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & DINNER.

In NEWSLETTER 2008No1 we stated that due to the scheduled 2007 AGM landing on the Eid Holiday and heavy seasonal commitments including the Cairo convention that the AGM would be postponed to the above date with a Committee Meeting at 18:30 and the Reception followed by the AGM at 19:30 and dinner at 20:30.  Attached is a NOTICE giving more details based on that issued and executed in 2006.

 

COMMITTEE 2007

Also attached is a listing of PCE UAE Committee Members for 2007 plus co-opted volunteers who have agreed to fill vacancies.  All Committee posts are deemed to fall vacant and be open for re-election or nominations of others subject to voting for specific posts where relevant.  It is also hoped that others will volunteer to be included in a small pool of potential committee members who will be able to be co-opted to committee as such vacancies occur.

 

WHAT’S ON ?  QUITE A LOT ACTUALLY  -  (SEE OUR DELIBERATELY BASIC  B & W WEB PAGES)

In 2007 we achieved many of our AIMS, PLANS & PROGRAMMES with active support of some of the 36 EC licensed Professional Engineering Institutions, companies and individuals.  However, such support has been significantly lacking from many, illustrated by complete lack of co-ordinated communications, financial support and voluntary assistance.  While members of PCE UAE Committee acting as UAE Country Representatives and as Chartered Professional Review (CPR) organisers we arranged over 30 Interviews for members aspiring to EC Registration we only had four responses to 68 letters sent to CEng F/M of one PEI seeking volunteer interviewers. Eventually the five applicants were interviewed in November along with 11 from another PEI.  Today I had a call from a potential applicant. He has been two years in UAE with a leading UK based consultancy yet no one told him about PCE and our regular Professional Review Preparation (PRP) meetings!

---

82P80118PCE UAE(NEWSLETTER 2008No2                                    CHECK WEB    www..pceuae.net

PCE PROFESSIONAL   CHARTERED   ENGINEERS           NEWSLETTER 2008No2           (PAGE 2 / 2)

UAE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES GROUP (PCE UAE)             AGM REMINDER     

We welcome all UAE based Chartered Engineers (CEng), Incorporated Egineers (IEng) and Engineering Technicians (EngT)

Registered with the Engineering Council (EC) plus all other members of the 35 EC Linked Professional Engineering Institutions (PEI)

 

When formed effective 1996 01 01 PCE UAE had about 1000 potential members in 40 Engineering Council (EC) licensed Professional Engineering Institutions (PEI). In 1995 members of ICE and IMechE who had formed local branches here in 1969 and 1993 respectively arranged a survey of all disciplines in UAE and held a meeting one weekend at Ghantout where it was agreed to petition their respective UK based Councils to disband the respective branches and give a lead to the formation of one Group in line with Proposals for Unification of the Engineering Profession as published in the Fairclough Report which suggested a basic structure related to ICE, IMechE, IEE and IChemE and all other PEI.

 

In1996, although fully represented on the original Interim Committee due to multi-discipline membership, IEE members decided to establish their own Branch but dissolved it in 1998 to join PCE UAE and be fully represented on the PCE UAE Committee along with IChemE representatives.  That year PCE UAE wrote specifically to the President and the Chief Executive of all 40 PEI inviting them to be formally involved with and be represented by PCE UAE.  A number agreed, others wavered while two or three maintained independence – mainly due to special local support.  Today members of ICE, IMechE, IET and IChemE in UAE total over 1000.

 

However, PCE UAE led and supported initially by ICE and IMechE has aimed to welcome all EC registrants and all other members of all PEI, so making it a unique group worldwide and better able to work directly with Government and National bodies such as The UAE Society of Engineers (UAESE) which welcomes all engineering disciplines plus Professional Architects, Builders and Surveyors.  The PCE UAE Chair and HonSec are members of the UAESE Technical Committee and ‘marketing’ EC UK-SPEC and CEng, IEng, EngT. 

 

The EC who initially provided us with contact address labels for all EC registrants in UAE stopped doing so on legal advice following the introduction of the Data Protection Act.  Also, they were unable to act as our UK Administrative link and the ICE agreed to act in that capacity.   That means we can only contact potential members via 36 PEI as some PEI will not release such data (while others publish membership lists openly!).

 

While we have met many aims with the support of some PEI, for other organisations and individuals we could have done better had we had greater pro-active support of all our related organisations in UK, individual members and their employers in UAE.  We held meetings every month of the year but had to change many topics and venues due to the business commitments of individual speakers and development of venues.  We are grateful to have had continuity of use of facilities in Abu Dhabi at The Club on the first Tuesday of every month. 

 

We had similar facilities for many years at The Club in Dubai which has now been demolished for development.  Quoted charges for alternative facilities range from Dhs 500 to Dhs 1600 for the evening so it proved difficult to find a new fixed venue.  However we did so with the help of Rev Stephen Miller, who gave us interesting presentations and arranged the shipyard site visit to The Angel in Dec 2006. 

 

However, all members wishing to attend events are asked to register and check with our PCE UAE HonSec.  We can then follow up for changes and facilities.  While average attendances are below 30 we did have 120 at the site presentation on the interesting topic of Burj Dubai ‘The tallest Building in the world’.

 

That brings me back to the start and site visit to the High Dam in Aswan.  As related conference visits we visited a coastal monitoring site near Alexandria where the coast has eroded 5 km as it is not now receiving the silt which settles behind the dam.  We also visited the Alexandria University Engineering faculty plus the dramatic new Library replacing the ancient one with its 500 000 scrolls and which confirms the close link between Architecture and Engineering – as of course do the temples at Karnak etc of 4000 years ago.

 

We arrived back on Sunday afternoon and managed to get to St Andrew’s Church for the inaugural visit of the new Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf and noted that over 10% of the male congregation were Chartered Engineers or at least members of a PEI.  Monday 2008 01 21 saw the opening the three day ‘Future Energy Summit’ meeting at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition Centre with 3000 delegates and 200 Company Exhibitors.  It was an interesting and dramatic event with key introductory speakers including

- HH General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces,

- Dr Sultan AhmedAl Jaber, CEO of MAZDAR Future Energy Company,

- Prof Dr Klaus Topfer, Former Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme,

- HRH The Prince of Wales (by Holographic Video Address which was quite dramatic - as he finished, he was beamed up and out!), 

- Prince Andrew, Duke of York, followed by

- the Presidents of Iceland and Djibouti linking Geothermal developments and the President of the Maldives and

- Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, rounded off by

- William McDonough architect and sustainable energy visionary and by

- Lord Browne, MD Riverstone Holdings (alternative and renewable energy markets) and former Chair of BP

There was a lot to take in even before the first keynote session on ‘World Future Energy Policy and Strategy’ followed by ‘’Finance and investment opportunities for global future energy development’.   Also, MEED were present eg seminars 2008 01 27-28 RAK Conference, RAK, 01 28-29 Middle East Port Development 2008, Dubai, 02 26-27 10^th ME Project Finance, Bahrain, 03 03-04 Dubai Mega Projects, Dubai.  Again, it was good to meet or see many Chartered Engineers present – some heading up Engineering Consulting and Contracting companies exhibiting.   Unfortunately PCE UAE had no direct presence or even representation at the UK Pavilion although SDI was apparently there.  PCE UAE representation may be relevant for the future as nearly all engineering disciplines were represented eg Energy, Chemical, Mechanical and Electrical related to solar and wind power and process plant plus urban development plans by MAZDAR.(www.worlffutureenergysummit.com)

Regards,

Alister

Er Alister I M Macmillan, Chair PCE UAE                                                                                    2008 01 22 

---

823P80124PCEUAE(ntc)(AGMDIN)                                                                                         CHECK WEB  www.pceuae.net     NL3/4              

PCE PROFESSIONAL   CHARTERED   ENGINEERS         REMINDER NOTICE

UAE  UNITED ARAB EMIRATES GROUP (PCE-UAE)         WEEK No.    2008W04

PCE UAE welcomes all UAE based Chartered Engineers (CEng), Incorporated Engineering (IEng) and Engineering Technicians (EngT)

Registered with the Engineering Council (EC) plus all other members of the 35 EC  licensed Professional Engineering Institutions (PEI)

We meet at minimum in Abu Dhabi & Dubai on the first and second Tuesdays respectively of each month.

Visits to sites are arranged for the third Tuesdays plus dinners and other events subject to members interest and support.

PLEASE COPY & PASS THIS NOTICE ON TO RELEVANT INDIVIDUALS

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT THE ORIGINAL PROGRAMMED EVENT HAD TO BE RESCHEDULED FROM DECEMBER 20 DUE TO EID HOLIDAY THAT DAY AS NOTIFIED ON WEB & IN NEWSLETTER 2008No1

 

EVENT: RECEPTION, AGM & DINNER

“ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & DINNER”

 

VENUE:            JAZIRAH RESORT TULIP HOTEL, GHANTOUT

                   (On main Abu Dhabi to Dubai Highway less than 100km from both cities, Sharjah & Alain)

                        Tel: 02- 562 9100, Fax: 92-562 9035, e-mail:  reservations@goldentulipaljazira.com

TIMING:            THURSDAY 2008 01 24,     19:00 – 20:30    RECEPTION

                                                                   19:30 – 20:00 + AGM

                                                                    20:30 – BUFFET DINNER  

COST:              Dhs 150 including dinner & refreshments (Committed on registration with HonSec)

TO REGISTER:             CONTACT HonSec (Fax: 04-337 8340,  e-mail:  chisholm@arencoar.com)

FOR SECURITY:           HAVE IDENTIFICATION AVAILABLE (PEI Member CARD or PCE UAE NOTICE)

OUTLINE                      The reception with light refreshments will be open for all members, families and guests.

Members will leave reception for AGM.  Please have available your PEI Membership number in event of voting.

 

PCE UAE COMMITTEE MEMBERS (including Co-opted/Ex-Officio) (to Represent members of all EC / PEI disciplines)

All posts are deemed vacant at the end of 2007 and appointees are open for election / re-election unless otherwise indicated by ‘V’.  

New nominations (with confirmed agreement of nominee) to be with PCE UAE Honorary Secretary prior to meeting

Voting will take place if required – Nominations for Chair and other vacancies again particularly welcome

Voting members shall be those confirmed as current members of EC licensed PEI whose UK Council have formally confirmed involvement with and support for PCE UAE resulting from PCE UAE invitation sent to all  PEI in 1996 .                 ‘V’  Vacancy

PLEASE check, complete, update and notify PCE UAE HonSec of any errors, corrections warranted in above information

822P80122PCEUAE(CommMem)             POSTS & APPOINTMENTS – COMMITTEE ETC 2007     NL4/4

PCE UAE  PROFESSIONAL CHARTERED ENGINEERS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES GROUP

PCE UAE welcomes all UAE based Chartered Engineers (CEng), Incorporated Engineers (IEng), Engineering Technicians (EngT)  registered with The Engineering Council (EC) plus other members of the 35 Professional Engineering Institutions (PEI) licensed by EC

All posts are considered open for re-election, nominations (with support & voting if necessary) for 2008