822P90419PCEUAE(NEWSLETTER 209No5)(AM)                  VERSION IN WORD                                                        CHECK WEB    www.pceuae.net

 

Dear Colleague                                                                                                             UAE, Sunday 2009 04 19

The general economic situation has not improved - unless you have a large mortgage with reduced interest rates or are planning to rent or buy a property in the depressed market in the UAE – or indeed UK. 

Should we start this NEWSLETTER with the good news – or the bad news?   

This NEWSLETTER is long, but let’s hope it covers two months.  It has NOTICES for May and June attached.   These are all now sent by e-mail to all EC licensed PEI who are then invited to forward them complete to their members in UAE.  Unfortunately last month some PEI were ‘selective’ by forwarding only parts.  Hence some members were unaware of the official visit to UAE in March of The IStructE President and his wife and related events.   Also, we ask members who kindly forward NOTICES to others to do so to a limited, preferably in-house, circulation as we have cases of individuals arranging ‘blanket issues’ to up to 40 with some having addresses repeated up to four times in addition to any they should get via their PEI. (one is now in The Falklands). That is  ‘Negative marketing’!

Let’s start with the relatively cheery note mentioning PCE UAE members’ participation and relatively high rating of events arranged by our Programme Secretary for activities in March and so far in April and then  go on to list Planned, Past, Present, Pending for April and Proposed events for May and June this year.  The draft Planned Programme Framework on the web still stands.  We aim to be achieved it. Here is a summary:

2009  (Please also refer to web  www.pceuae.net )

Tue 03 03     Abu Dhabi                                Audio Visual Presentations on ‘Time Management’

Tue 03 10     Dubai                                Repeated with useful feedback ‘Time Management’

Tue 03 17     Dubai                                Visit to Workshop Labs – postponed to later date

S-T 03 21–24Dubai &                                Official visit to UAE by President of IStructE, Dr Graham Owens FREng,

                     Abu Dhabi                                MSc, PhD, CEng, FIStructE, FRSA. accompanied by his wife

Tue 03 24     Ghantout                                Reception, Address by President to Members followed by Dinner

                                Discussed Buncefield Incident Report – Explosion caused £1bn damage

Tue 03 31     Ghantout                                IMechE CPR Interviews & Professional Review Preparation meeting

Tue 04 07     Abu Dhabi                                Talk Production/Manufacturing Engineering, Mark Stevens CEng, MIMechE

Tue 04 14     Dubai                                Repeat of scheduled event of previous week

Tue 04 21 Al Ain                        Visit-Manufacturing plant for Curtain Walling, Glass & Kitchen Units

Tue 04 28 Ghantout                        Meeting - Professional Review Preparation (PRP)              

Tue 05 05 Abu Dhabi                        Talk – ‘Project Control Technology’ – Software Systems by SnagR

Tue 05 12 Dubai                        Talk – Repeat   - drive over if you missed it last week

Tue 05 19 TBC                        Visit – TBC Possibly a site related to Topic of month

Tue 05 26 Ghantout                        Professional Review Preparation (PRP) meeting – Mentors welcome          

Tue 06 02 Abu Dhabi                        Talk – ‘Conditions of Contract & Arbitration’ by Aziz N Karim FRICS

Tue 06 09 Dubai                        Talk – Repeat of previous week’s presentation – NB book published

Tue 06 16 TBC                        Visit – eg: Petroleum Exhibition suggested subject to registered interest

Tue 06 30 Ghantout                        PRP meeting subject to demand and topic decision by younger members

Above we highlight next Tuesday’s Factory visit, PRP meeting and main Presentations for May.  

There were extras for the thirty or so members who attended in Abu Dhabi on  April 07 and Dubai April 14.

Tue 04 07 Abu Dhabi                        Harm Tegelaars, Chairman of Structural Science Composites Company gave a demonstration of their versatile products including a complete manhole frame and cover he carried in.  Its use and whole life costing matches the older cast iron versions which have ‘stressed many a back’ – including my own - and the mere fact that he was able to carry the product sample in to the meeting room at the Club was a recommendation in itself!   An interesting discussion ensued with civil, water and services members present.  Dr Roger Brooks CEng FIChemE appropriately thanked both the main speaker Mark Stevens CEng, MIMechE and Harm (www.structuralscience.net).      

Tue 04 16 Dubai                        Cdr Paul Gelmartin MA of USS Comstock held the fort pending arrival of Mark Stevens the main speaker for the evening who had to drive over from Al Ain, reach Dubai, cope with traffic and find the Centre.  The Chair persuaded Paul – complete stranger - to give a brief presentation when he found that he was Commander of a USS Navel Vessel in Dubai Port.  The informal talk proved an interesting preliminary to the main presentation.  He described his Service Career,  Vessel, Project Management and Maintenance tasks with a crew of 300 supporting 400 Marines on a vessel 608’ long, beam 84’ and  maximum height of 137’ which varied as the vessel could ‘sink’ to allow landing craft to sail direct out of the hull.  One other interesting factor was the effect of a fully loaded Helicopter landing at the stern.  This changed the vessel configuration clearance for the landing craft to sail out!  

The informal talk proved particularly interesting to me – as I am sure it would have for members of RINA, IMarEST and RAeS etc. My interest stems from jobs as a Business Management Consultant in five Shipbuilding and Engineering Companies and as a pilot in the RAF after a simulated landing on an Aircraft carrier which looked to me more like a postage stamp!  Aspects of the brief talk were relevant to many other PCE UAE disciplines including Structural/Electrics/Electronics Engineering. We all thank these volunteers.  If they can do so so can you!  Just offer suggestions to our PCE UAE HonSec  Chisholm@arencoar.com.

On the accompanying NOTICE sheet for June events we mention that in 1985 The General Manager of GASCO, an ADNOC subsidiary was Chair of the UAE Branch of IMechE and that one of our present PCE UAE Committee was Chair of the then ICE Branch.  Both signed the Petition sent to and approved by the respective Councils of these Institutions which at the time had agreed to take the lead to support the formation of PCE UAE.  Its remit was to welcome all UAE based members of all 40 PEI interested. 

 

All  these PEI were contacted and invited to formally join and support PCE UAE in 1996.even if they had no members in the country at the time.  Many confirmed support. Under our Constitution based on Regulations for Groups of Professional Engineers liaison with such bodies was understood to be part of the remit of the PEI selected and agreeing to act as Administrator for the Group. Now nearly 30 of the current 36 PEI are represented by at least one member in the country.  One such PEI is the Institution of Water Officers (IWO founded 1945).  We were delighted to have a call from what he said was the sole IWO representative in UAE!  He is welcomed and is unlikely to form an IWO UAE Committee!

 

Also, I came across a cutting dated 1996 03 25 from ‘The New Civil Engineer International . The journal of ICE published monthly for overseas members by EMAP.   The article is headed ‘Emirates Joins Up’.  I quote from it for the historical record.

‘Emirates Joins Up’

“A joint group set up by the Institutions of Civil and Mechanical Engineers  has been launched in  the United Arab Emirates.  The inaugural meeting of the Professional Chartered Engineers joint group took place in January attended by Engineering Council director Robin Bond.

Plans  to form the group followed a poll last year of 600 EngC registered engineers and was formally approved by the councils of ICE and IMechE.  Membership is open to all classes of members of the two institutions and also other institutions. Total potential membership is estimated at around 1000.

The joint group will provide a focal point for individuals working in engineering in the UAE.  A number of lectures and site visits have already been planned…… ”.

Estimated potential membership of PCE UAE had doubled by last year to 2000 – before the ‘Credit Crunch’. 

 

It is therefore appropriate to refer to aspects of our PCE UAE Constitution based on: 

Sponsored by THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS 1 Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London SW1H 9JJ THE INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL

These Regulations Supersede- REGULATIONS FOR GROUPS OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS 1960  AND REGULATIONS FOR JOINT GROUPS OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF CIVIL, OF MECHANICAL AND OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS 1949 (REVISED 1956 AND 1960)

We quote below some relevant extracts for guidance of PCE UAE Members and others

1.                .DEFINITIONS - In these Regulations "The Sponsoring Institutions" means The Institution of Civil Engineers, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers and The Institution of Electrical Engineers."Councils" means the Councils of the Sponsoring Institution. "Groups" means a Group of Professional Engineers operating in accordance with these Regulations."Committee" means the Committee of the Group.

 We now include - “EC” means The Engineering Council UK and “PEI” means any or all of the (presently 36) Institutions licensed by The EC and “PCE UAE” means The Group ie Professional Chartered Engineers United Arab Emirates Group and “PA” means the Professional Affiliate bodies recognised by EC eg The Association for Project Management (APM founded 1972).. 

2. CONSTITUTION - The Group shall be constituted and its affairs shall be carried on in accordance with these Regulations and with any supplementary or modifying Regulations which the Committee and the Councils may jointly agree from time to time.

3. CREATION AND DISSOLUTION - A Group may be established in any area overseas where there is a sufficient number of members of any of the Sponsoring Institutions interested to form a Group, without prejudice to the right of any one Institution to form a separate unit, when the number of its members is held to justify it. The Councils shall, upon receipt of a petition together with supporting information regarding its proposed operation, consider approval of the formation of a Group provided that they are presented with satisfactory evidence that an adequate measure of local support would be forthcoming, together with an indication of the geographical area to be covered by the proposed Group. The Councils shall in consultation with the Committee have power to dissolve such Group at any time if it is considered that there is no longer sufficient local interest to support the Group activity.

4. OBJECTS - The objects for which a Group shall be established shall be (a) In the spirit of the Charters of the Sponsoring Institutions, to promote and encourage the acquisition of knowledge relevant to the engineering profession; (b) To establish friendly exchange between members; (c) To arrange meetings for the reading and discussion of papers; (d) To organise visits of engineering interest; (e) To stimulate among members interest in the work of the Sponsoring Institutions; (f) To promote the Sponsoring Institutions locally; (g) To provide a focus for all engineers in the area of the Group in matters pertinent to the Sponsoring Institutions; (h) To perform where appropriate, similar functions for an other societies who are represented within the Group, in accordance with their regulations and with the Group's constitution.

9. MANAGEMENT - The affairs of the Group shall be managed by a Committee all of whom shall be members of the Group. Not less than half of the Committee shall be members of one or more of the Sponsoring Institutions. The composition of the Committee shall reflect the interest of the members of the Group. The Committee shall comprise:  A Chairman  At least one Vice-Chairman (but not more than two) An Honorary Secretary An Honorary Treasurer (this office may at the discretion of the Committee be combined with that of Honorary Secretary) Not less than four or more than twelve Ordinary Members of Committee The most recent Past Chairman available and willing to serve

The local representative (if any) of each of the Institutions and Societies from which the membership of the Group is made up, provided that such local representatives serving as such on the Committee does not exceed five.  Wherever possible the Chairman shall be a Fellow, but if not, he shall be a Corporate Member of one of the Sponsoring Institutions. In selecting its nominations for the forthcoming year, the Committee shall ensure that the Committee reflects the proportion of members form the Sponsoring Institutions and participating Societies comprising the Group, that the office of Chairman shall be, as far as practicable, rotated accordingly, and that there should be due representation of younger members.

14. INSTITUTION AND SOCIETY MATTERS - The Group shall not carry out any political activity, or express approval or disapproval of any law of any country or become involved in any matter affecting the management or administration of any or all of the Sponsoring Institutions, or of Societies, whose members are members of the Group, but shall abide by the Objects as specified in these Regulations, unless sanctioned otherwise by the Councils.

15. MEETINGS - (a) Each Session of the Group shall last for a period of one year. (b) Ordinary Meetings of the Group shall be held at such times and intervals as the affairs of the Group require, but the interval between meetings shall in no case exceed six months. (c) The Annual General Meeting of the Group, shall be held towards the end of each Session, when the Committee shall present their Report upon the work of the Session, and the Committee for the ensuing Session shall be elected. (d) The quorum for the AGM of the Group shall be ten members of the Group.

18. CORRESPONDING INSTITUTION - Each Group shall normally correspond solely with one of the Sponsoring Institutions, which will usually be the one to which the largest number of members of the Group belong. The Institution shall be agreed by the Councils with the advice of the Committee.

Since 1996 the PCE UAE Committee has endeavoured to operate to the letter and spirit of the terms outlined in the original Petition, Regulations and Constitution. However, it has proved difficult for a number of reasons – not least being the limited pro-active support and participation of members and volunteers willing to be nominated and occupy Committee and other posts and so meet rotational criteria as well as a quorum. This situation may be due partly to work hours and the mainly transient expatriate status of many members, and to the regrettably limited (but recently encouraging) involvement of UAE national graduates willing to supplement their academic qualifications and go forward to obtain full Internationally recognised professional qualifications such as CEng via corporate membership of an EC licensed PEI

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) – In view of decisions made by ICE in UK in 2008 it is relevant to comment on the new status of the Institution and its members based in the UAE who back in 1995 gave the lead along with those of IMechE and other PEI to the Petition to form PCE UAE after survey, voting, submission, and Council approvals..

As one of the key aims of PCE UAE is to provide a service to all members and potential members of all disciplines, nationalities and ages based in UAE we hope you as reader will subscribe to that aim and support the operations of the Group.  In particular, we seek greater participation of younger members and UAE National Graduates – plus senior members as volunteer mentors, sponsors, speakers & supporters.

Now the bad news!   Many have been losing their jobs as contracts are cancelled or delayed all over the country.  It is small consolation to know that Abu Dhabi Emirate has the largest Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWL) in the world.  In NEWSLETTER 2009 No4 we mentioned some sad tales eg a staff of 180 cut by 130, a new project team of 45 having reached 27 cut by client to 15 and next day to 5.  Today I hear from my wife that a firm on what was considered a sound project related to MAZDAR has cut staff by 59. 

The sequel to the first case was that our PCE UAE member who was not among the 130 laid off suddenly had his bank account blocked, had to send his young teacher wife back to his home country only to find that his firm had notified his bank - as they have to do for redundancies - in error!  One other case involved the banks cancelling all staff personal accounts of an engineering consultant which had paid the bank a lump some for the salaries and then had it returned – all in error!  Many of these are panic moves to be watched.

 

One only needs to read the captions on many press articles to appreciate the traumatic problems being faced by many – even allowing for the fact that an unemployment rate of 10% means 90% still have jobs. 

If you are still secure in a job do think of those less fortunate and consider how you might help.

As many of our PCE UAE members are involved with or affected by the property market and its related infrastructure developments I quote from the Current edition of Property Weekly related to Cityscape Abu Dhabi from April 19 – 22 .  Many headings are far from cheery. Eg:

‘Contract cancellations from 2008 December to 2009 February:

• 87% of companies had one or more contracts cancelled or postponed and 35% had five or more
• 61% of companies report their order books shrinking for 2009
• 96% sees some of the development companies failing this year because of the downturn

UAE banks feel the heat as loan defaults rise – property market woes and personal debts could produce a noxious portfolio.

 

I quote from  ‘Live work explore in UAE’  - April-May 

Job today gone tomorrow’ – The Global recession has swept through the UAE, when at first it seemed the country was immune from the world’s financial woes’ ‘Jane Roberts explores how to cope and what to do if you are made redundant here’   Also reflecting the tone:-

‘CV Secrets – Revamping your CV is one of the oft-postponed tasks, but a good resume is a crucial tool in beating your rivals to the job.’

Such statements continue even in the National press.  Like many of our members we have all gone through similar highs and lows – not least in UAE in 1987 when oil prices were low.  The difference for many of our members who are expatriates is that they have no social security to fall back on and visa requirement and restraints add to stress and pressure on individuals and families. 

The Engineering Council states that currently they are experiencing an increased surge in individuals applying for or querying requirements for registration.  They state that many employers seek staff with higher and international qualifications.  Such registration as a Professional can only be gained via corporate membership of one of the 36 PEI.  Most of these PEI have active well resourced Benevolent Funds.  PCE UAE members can network and provide moral if not actual constructive support.  Membership of a PEI provides access to Benevolent Funds.  They can be accessed via Country Representatives. 

As a Country Representative a few years ago I had the case of one CEng member having set up a Construction Company in the Emirates had his partner in business ‘walk away’, leaving him with contractual liabilities.   Bridging help was needed to keep the family together.  The Benevolent Fund considered help,   However, there were problems in fully conveying to UK the nature of expatriate life overseas eg rents and school fees were demanded ‘up front’.  The individual has since fully recovered and we wish him good fortune.   Contact your country representative.  He or she may be able to offer advice or help to contact Benevolent Funds.  Please help by passing on contacts for members who may need confidential assistance..

Some companies are still recruiting and one Architect friend who was made redundant recently has since found a new challenging job while others have been redeployed by their employer in this country or internationally.  This may be the time to use your initiative and employ Management Skills. 

Reported in the Press was the sad story of a qualified married expatriate woman in Dubai having to live in her car.  Yesterday’s paper had an article about 26 year old Alex Light in Dubai who having lost his job has set up a free ‘Bad Times Boot Camp’ where individuals in similar circumstances can meet on Jumeirah Beach three mornings a week and work out as well as network and help each other and provide at least moral support and contacts.(visit: www.badtimesbootcamp.com )  Not much is new. - I have found a letter dated 1996 01 04 of a 55 year old CEng who lost his job in Al Ain!   Do not forget most PEI have Jobs Lists. 

Regards, Alister

Er Alister I M Macmillan, Chair PCE UAE                                                                         UAE, Sun 2009 04 19