+ A
A -
Malek Helali
Doha
REGARDLESS of the current blockade, Qatar is a workshop of engineering marvel and certain projects need to be planned and executed for Qatar's FIFA 2022 World Cup and Qatar National Vision 2030, said the President of the Federation of Arab Engineers (FAE) Eng. Ahmad Jassim al Jolo.
According to Jolo, there will always be a demand for engineers for these mega projects involving the development of railways, the expansion of the airport and the port, drainage networks, bridges and tunnels extending to the outskirts of Doha.
"Therefore, the demand for engineers is continuous for both Qataris and non-Qataris since we are all one family living on this land as HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani had previously said," Jolo told Qatar Tribune in an exclusive interview recently.
Jolo noted that the scheduled projects are ongoing and need to be implemented faster considering the current blockade."The Qatar National Vision 2030 projects are divided into strategic plans over a five-year period and each ministry has to meet certain standards to be reviewed by the Cabinet during that period," he added.
The FAE president further noted that the demand includes all types of engineers."Even with the diversification of economy, petroleum engineers are still in demand for the expansion projects and maintenance of the oil and gas sector," he explained.
There has been a great awareness on the importance of diversifying the economy even though the oil and gas industry still play an important role, according to Jolo. Additionally, he asserted that there's a need to focus more on entrepreneurship and small and medium industries.
"The mission of local organisations such as the Qatar Society of Engineers (QSE) is to contribute to the development of Qatar in general. They need to play a greater role in protecting the profession of engineering," Jolo said, adding:"QSE has been cooperating with educational institutions such as Qatar University and meeting with students and professors in the university's engineering programmes."
In fact, Jolo, who was also the former QSE chairman, noted that QSE conducts workshops to expose young engineers to the profession and familiarize them with the industry as well as the practical skills required, besides the academic aspect.
"Sometimes we go all the way down to high schools to encourage students and their parents to pursue a higher education in engineering as it's a great career and there will always be a demand for engineers," he added.
As former chairman, Jolo also highlighted QSE's collaboration with government institutions such as Ashghal and Kahramaa. According to him, the QSE is affiliated with many organisations outside of Qatar such as the Gulf Engineering Union and the FAE."Now, QSE is also a member of the World Federation of Engineering. And the QSE is expanding rapidly," Jolo said.
Commenting on the challenges that newly graduated engineers face in acquiring the experience many companies in Qatar require, Jolo noted that private companies are looking for profit and aren't willing to spend time training newly graduated engineers.
Jolo suggested that government organisations and their human resources departments and training departments are supposed to take these factors into consideration and be in charge of taking care of new graduates and refining their training programmes to include more experts in the field and have more specified training programmes for different engineering specialities.
"Training and development are one of QSE's major interests and they offer training courses for both newly graduated engineers and experienced engineers who need to be up to date with the modern practices and techniques in the field," Jolo said.
Engineers, according to him, should seek career development themselves and avoid relying on companies and organisations to train them.
"There are so many initiatives they can take individually to refine their skills and the opportunities are out there for them to take. Companies provide trainings that serve their needs, and what we are looking for is engineers with a broad range of skills and who can fit in wherever they are placed," Jolo said.
"Engineering is the future," he added, urging parents to encourage their children to pursue a career in engineering.
