AlMuhandes ‫اﻟﻣﮭﻧدس‬
Monthly Publication of the National Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects
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From the President’s Desk...
Dear All,
CONTACT
AAAEA:
[email protected]
www.naaaea.org
P U BL I C A T I O N
C O M M I T T EE :
¡ Moe Fridy
(Chair)
¡ Bilal Almasri
¡ Amjad Obeid
I want to thank all who supported my decision to
run for president of the Na onal AAAEA, I did
that with agenda to strengthen what brought us
together in the first place, our values, in addi on
to growing our associa on’s membership,
exposure & visibility.
I want to take the opportunity to thank Rabih
Najib for his leadership as the Na onal AAAEA
president for the past two years along with the
execu ve board, job well done.
Outreach commi ees, 2016 started out with
I look forward to working with the newly elected Arizona forming a chapter and joining the
Na onal Execu ve Board, Nader Abuhassan (VP), na onal, WELCOME, other outreach efforts are
ongoing with North Carolina and Ohio
Gus Nakhoul (Secretary), Jamal Grainawi
(Treasurer), Amro Kudssi (IT), Soliman Khudeira I want to take a minute to thank our colleague,
(Educa on), Ammar Qashshu (Career) and Moe Raed Milhem for his very generous dona on of
Fridy (Publica on) in addi on to the Board of
$10,000 to the Na onal scholarship fund in
Directors and the Chapter presidents moving us addi on to a pledge of $5000 annually. On
ahead toward our common goal of serving our
behalf of the Na onal AAAEA, we thank you for
members, our professional community and
your trust in us and we hope this will be the
strengthening our associa on.
catalyst for other generous acts to follow. (See
I have a couple of items to report on:
ALMUHANDES
E-MAIL
[email protected]
$$$
El-Sheikh, Egypt (details to follow)
Add hoc commi ees: By-Laws, Rabih Najib
was selected by the NEB to lead.
Outreach, Bilal Almasri was selected by
the NEB to lead. Other commi ees will
be formed in the near future.
Na onal Conference 2016, loca on was
selected to be in Las Vegas. More
details to follow
GeoMEast 2017 Interna onal Conference,
the Na onal AAAEA is cosponsoring
this highly an cipated conference
scheduled for July 15-19, 2017 in Sharm
full ar cle).
I would like to close by invi ng All our chapters
to ac vely par cipate in the AAAEA Na onal
commi ees, the backbone of our associa on, it
would be great to have a representa ve from
each chapter on every one of the commi ees
listed above, the exchange of ideas benefit all
and par cipa on is the best avenue for each
chapter to voice their opinion and be heard.
Hani AlMoghrabi
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AAAEA-Texas
News
THIS
ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS
Scholarship DonaƟon
PAGE 11
GeoMEast InternaƟonal
Conference
PAGE 3
Interview—Ahmad Omais
PAGE 21
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International Conference
GeoMEast 2017
Dear AAAEA Members and Friends,
The Na onal Arab American Associa on of Engineers and Architects
is a proud co-sponsor of the GeoMEast 2017 Conference in Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt between July 15 and 19, 2017.
Addi onal Informa on about the conference can be found using the
following link:
Click Here for more Info.
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2016 Summer Internship
Civil/Construction Engineering
Shell-Houston, TX
Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemicals companies with over 90,000 employees in more than 70
countries and territories. In the US, we have operated for over a century and are a major oil and gas producer
onshore and in the Gulf of Mexico, a recognized innovator in exploration and production technology, and a leading
manufacturer and marketer of fuels, natural gas and petrochemicals.
We deliver energy responsibly; operate safely with respect to our neighbors and work to minimize our
environmental impact. We are in search for remarkable students interested in a career in Civil/Construction
Engineering. By creating advanced technology solutions and deploying them at scale, you'll help Shell be a
thought leader in designing the energy systems of tomorrow.
Where You’ll Intern
x Houston, Texas
New Orleans, Louisiana
Assessed Internship Program
Shell’s Assessed Internships consist of well-defined projects with clear objectives and deliverables that will allow
you to work with a number of interesting and stimulating colleagues on projects that have a real business impact.
You will gain valuable experience and skills to equip you for your future working career.
Program Objectives
Our internships are carefully framed to allow you to benefit from regular performance evaluation and feedback
throughout your time with us. We believe that looking at past and present behavior is a useful tool in understanding
and predicting an individual’s future performance.
Taking part in a Shell Internship is a way for you to discover what Shell has to offer as an employer, and for us to
see if you have what it takes to become a part of Shell. You will benefit from regular performance reviews that will
enable you to enhance your strengths, while continuously building upon your development areas.
Minority, Female, Disabled and Veteran EEO/AA Employer
To learn more and apply online, visit www.shell.us/students . When entering your contact details, select ‘Other’ in
response to ‘Where you found out about this Shell opportunity’ . Click ‘Next’ , and then type in “Intern 2016”.
Job Type: Internship
Required experience: Actively enrolled student; will complete at least one more semester following internship; 3.2
GPA: 1 year
Required education: Master's
Apply!!
http://www.shell.us/careers/students-and-graduates/shell-graduate-program.html?
cid=:Display:Indeed:Americas_Grads:US-H1150116-techJPTextOther-link
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2016 Summer Internship
Lockheed Martin
Hanover, Maryland
Please see below and share it with students that you know may be interested in this opportunity.
N9064:College Student Tech Spec
Req ID :
342601BR
Job Code/Title :
N9064:College Student Tech Spec
Job Description
This is a 2016 summer engineering internship position under the Partner Programs portfolio. The selected
candidate will be assigned a mentor/buddy to help him/her learn about our processes, practices and policies, and
to acquire needed domain knowledge. The candidate should have at least theoretical/classroom experience with
the system lifecycle (e.g., requirements analysis, system design, implementation, integration and test, and
deployment). The candidate should be able to work in a team environment to assist in the integration and test
activities, as directed. The candidate may be asked to create new or update existing documentation used in the
system lifecycle. Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility
requirements for access to classified information.
Basic Qualifications
Knowledge of engineering practices Understands the system lifecycle Good communication skills Knowledge of
the Linux operating system.
Desired Skills
Programming experience Scripting experience.
As a leading technology innovation company, Lockheed Martin's team of 113,000 people works with partners
around the world to bring proven performance to our customers' toughest challenges. Lockheed Martin has
employees based in all 50 states and more than 570 facilities that span 70 countries.
Join us at Lockheed Martin, where we're engineering a better tomorrow.
See more at:
http://search.lockheedmartinjobs.com/ShowJob/Id/47663/College%20Student%20Tech%20Spec
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AAAEA-Wisconsin News
Board Members
Election Results
Dear Members,
I would like to announce that the AAAEA - WI had conducted the elec ons for the AAAEA-WI Boards
members, below you will find the new Members of the Board:
Aziz Aleiow - President
Nader Jaber - Vice President
Wafa Elqaq - Treasurer
Eyad Omari - Secretary
Basel Shehadeh - IT
Please note that the new vote for the WI Board term extension to 2 years instead of only one year had
passed, and the Bylaws had been amended to reflect the change.
Congratula ons, and good luck to the new Board.
Regards,
-AAAEA- Wisconsin
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AAAEA-California News
First 2016 Networking Luncheon
Featuring Dr. Issa Nesnas
Saturday, February 27
11:30AM - 1:30PM
Arab American Community Center
907 S Beach Blvd, Anaheim CA 92804
Tickets: $25 Non-Member / $20 Member / $15 Student
Free ticket with on-site membership registration
http://aaaea.org/sc/
Program
11:30 Registration and Networking
11:45 Lunch and Networking
12:00 Opening Remarks by AAAEA-CA President, Adel Hagekhalil
12:15 Membership Contribution
12:30 Speaker Presentation, Dr. Issa Nesnas
Dr. Issa Nesnas is a principal technologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and supervisor of the Robotic Mobility group. He leads research in extreme terrain and microgravity mobility. Prior to that, he led
a multi-center project for developing robotic autonomy software. He also contributed to developments in
autonomous rover navigation and visual target tracking and participated in the development of the Curiosity rover. He received a B.E. degree in Electrical Engineering from Manhattan College in 1991, and
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in robotics from the Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Notre
Dame in 1993 and 1995 respectively.
Planetary Robotic Exploration: Mobility and Autonomy The success of the Mars rovers has provided
a wealth of information leading to major scientific discoveries. Planetary mobility has proved to be an
invaluable tool of surface exploration, complementing orbital observations. In this talk, Dr. Nesnas will
provide an overview of robotic mobility for a range of planetary bodies such as the Moon, Mars, asteroids and comets. He will highlight advances in robotic autonomy that have contributed to the success of
the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers. Advances in robotic mobility and sampling would enable future access to extreme terrains such as crater walls, gullies, and skylights as well as provide mobility on
small bodies. He will share results from recent rover field tests and flight experiments toward such future
exploration.
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AAAEA-Capital Area News
General Brainstorming Meeting
Under the leadership of the 2016 Execu ve Board, the AAAEA Capital Chapter held two strategy mee ngs on January 30 and
February 18, in Maryland and Virginia, respec vely, to kick-off 2016 with a great program of technical and social events. Our
members were spoiled by the hospitality of our Virginia hosts and were offered an excellent lunch and Kanafie. Several new
Commi ee Chairs were selected to lead the Membership, Educa on, By Laws, Social, Financial Review, and Elec on Commi ees. Our members are very excited this year to jump starts our Student Chapters in Maryland and Virginia. Also, the majority of the members expressed interest in providing educa onal seminars on non-technical topics to benefit start-up businesses with ac vi es such as risk assessment, taxa on planning, re rement planning, healthcare benefits, financial planning,
business insurance, stress management, and the like
Our By Laws Commi ee will review the current By Laws and a empt to streamline some of the provisions to be more in line
with how our Board of Trustees believes that we should operate. Prac cality and simplicity will drive most of the proposed
changes. Our Social Commi ee has started to plan our picnic some mes in June. If you are planning to be in the Washington
Metropolitan areas please visit our website so that view upcoming events. We are poised this year to seek students for the
scholarship awards. The Capital Chapter awarded five scholarships last year to students in the Maryland-Virginia-DC regions.
Ziad A. Sabra Ph.D
President- AAAEA Capital Area
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AAAEA-Chicago News
2016 Haflah
March 12, 2016 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Belvedere Chateau
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AAAEA-Houston News
Networking and Social Events
Dear all,
AAAEA Houston would like to announce and invite all of you to attend our networking & social
event : on Saturday March, 5th., 2016 in la Madeleine @ 10:30 AM
Address: 770 West Sam Houston Pkwy N, Houston, TX 77024
Phone:(713) 465-7370
Menu: viewmenu.com
Our second event will be on Saturday April, 2nd., 2016. The place will be announced later. A presentaon/lecture will be made by Engineer Helmi Al-Jamal
(Owner of Center of Numerical Analysis Technology). More detailed information about Mr. AlJamal is available
h ps://www.linkedin.com/in/helmi-al-jamal-07508ba
These events are for all of us. Please, please lets all attend and participate. Please feel free to
distribute to others. Engineering and Information Technology Students are very welcomed and
encouraged to attend . Professionals and members are expected to attend. This e mail is for
AAAEA-Houston distribution list, if you would like NOT to receive future e mails, please reply
back to : [email protected] with remove in the subject line.
Thanks,
Shareef M. Abushaban
[email protected]
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NAAAEA
New scholarship to our students
IN MEMORY OF MOHAMMAD AYYASH
MILHEM (1927-2015)
FIRST STANDING DONATION TO
THE NAAAEA's SCHOLORSHIP
FUND
Raed Milhem, has chosen to honor his father, Mr. Mohammad
Ayyash Milhem, through a donation to the National Arab American
Association of Engineers and Architects' Scholarship Fund. This
generous gift is the first such that we have received.
Mr. Raed Milhem has, through the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP), established a Donor Advised Account, to the benefit of our National Scholarship Fund. Raed Milhem has donated an initial ten-thousand dollars ($10,000) to fund the National Scholarship Fund, and has pledged five-thousand dollars annually.
This commitment is the first of its kind in the relatively short history of the National Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects. It reflects well upon our organization’s credibility.
And upon the quality and dedication of our members. Most importantly, this donation will help
educate qualified engineering, IT, and architecture students across the nation who apply for our
assistance. .
The late Mohammad Ayyash Milhem was born in Halloul, Palestine, in 1927. He was an attorney and writer. Throughout his adult life, Mr. Milhem was civic minded leader and a champion
of human rights.
He will be missed and long remembered.
Bilal Almasri
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AAAEA –Business Directory
The Na onal Arab American Associa on of Engineers & Architects is working on publishing its First
Business Directory.
If you would like to be included in our first Business Directory, email us the following by September 30,
2015:
·
Business Name
·
Business Address (Street, City, State, Zip Code)
·
Business Website
·
Business Telephone
·
Descrip on of Your Business
·
Business Category
·
Your contact informa on
·
Business Logo in High resolu on Image Format
The directory will be published by the end of the year.
Cost: FREE to AAAEA members. $50 for non-members.
Email Na onal Career Commi ee : [email protected]
AlMuhandes Upcoming Deadlines
ARTICLES DEADLINE DATE
PUBLICATION DATE
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
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AAAEA Online EIT/FE Review Course
Are you planning to take the EIT Exam?
AAAEA-Chicago offers online EIT/FE Prepara on Videos.
The videos were previously recorded at the Illinois Ins tute of Technology (IIT) campus. The lectures
taught by highly knowledgeable professionals and experts in their fields. These classes are designed
to help you prepare for the EIT/FE Exam and concentrate on in depth reviews and problem solving of
each of the topics listed below.
The videos are streamed online and can be accessed from any computer with an internet connec on.
Study, learn, and review at your own pace around your own schedule.
The EIT (or FE) Exam is offered six mes a year . Registra on for the EIT exam is done through NCEES.
Please referrer to ncees.org for exam dates and registra on methods.
Video Topics:
Mechanics of Materials I
Mechanics of Materials II
Mathema cs I
Mathema cs II
Thermodynamics
Probability & Sta s cs
Chemistry
Sta cs
Engineering Economics
Computer Science &
Electrical Engineering
Dynamics- I
Dynamics- II
Fluid Mech.
Instructor
Dr. Khudeira, PE, SE
Dr. Khudeira, PE, SE
Dr. Shuaibi
Dr. Shuaibi
Mr. Ashraf Al Hayek
Dr. Shuaibi
Dr. Aheda Saber
Mr. Grainawi, PE, SE
Mr. Bou-Saab, PE
Mr. Baha Al-Abed
Dr. Elqaq, PE
Dr. Mahamid, PE
Dr. Mahamid, PE
Dr. Mahmoud Issa, PE
Price:
Members: $100
Non-Members: $200
For More Informa on Email: educa [email protected]
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National AAAEA - Identity Brochure 2016
Click to download your PDF copy
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AlMuhandes is published on the last Tuesday of every month. Deadlines are on Thursdays
prior to the last Tuesday.
AlMuhandes is posted monthly at the National AAAEA website and emailed to over 2000
members & Friends.
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AAAEA COMMUNITY IMPACT
Scholarship Program
AAAEA Has contributed more than
$259,000
in Scholarships Nationwide to Arab American
Students between 2000-2015
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SUPPOR T AAAEA
Support AAAEA by shopping on Amazon
If you already shop on Amazon, we invite you to
use smile.amazon.com and choose "Arab Americans Associa on for Engineers & Architects" as your charity of choice.
The shopping experience is iden cal to Amazon.com with
the added benefit that the AmazonSmile Founda on will
donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to AAAEA
once selected as the charity of choice. Below are the steps
to do that:
1- Visit smile.amazon.com
The en re shopping experience is the same and most products available on amazon.com are available at AmazonSmile
2- Sign in and choose your charity
The screen will look slightly different depending on whether your not you’re already signed into Amazon. If
you’re already signed in, Simply search for "Arab Americans Associa on for Engineers & Architects", and
then proceed to step 3
You can also click on the following link to search for charitable organiza ons:
h p://smile.amazon.com/gp/charity/change.html/ref=smi_se_abtpo_change_cycsc
f you’re not signed, enter your regular Amazon email address and password. Then do the above step, and then
proceed to step 3.
3- Select "Arab American Associa on For Engineers & Architects" in Chicago, IL
4- Start shopping, and share with your friends and rela ves!
Once you've selected your charity everything else func ons the same. Shop for your favorite products. Most
products are eligible on Amazon Smile–if not, you’ll be no fied. You can checkout normally as well. No extra cost
is passed onto you–Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to AAAEA!
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METLIFE
National Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects
Association Discount Program
MetLife’s Disability Insurance Associa on Discount Program offers you an opportunity to receive
high-quality coverage at discounted rates.
The program offers:
• 10% premium discount with gender-dis nct rates1 and full underwri ng.
• Noncancelable and Guaranteed Renewable coverage available. This means MetLife cannot cancel your coverage or increase your premium before age 65 or 67, or five policy years if later, as long as your premiums are paid on me.2
• Opportunity to customize coverage with op onal riders,3 such as:
> Your Occupa on Rider – If a total disability prevents you from performing the material and substan al du es of your regular occupa on, you could receive your full benefit even if you are able to work in another occupa on.
> Residual Disability Rider – You can receive a par al disability benefit, under certain condi ons, if a par al disability causes
you to lose a por on of your earnings (as specified in the rider).
> Catastrophic Disability Rider – Provides an addi onal monthly benefit if your condi on meets the criteria of a catastrophic disability as set forth in the rider.4
> Guaranteed Insurability Benefit – Allows you to increase your coverage as your income increases over me, without any
medical underwri ng at the me of increase. Financial underwri ng is required to determine eligibility for an increase in
coverage.
> Life Event Rider – Allows you to apply for a one- me increase in coverage following a qualifying life event such as a promo on from your employer; increase in the number of family members; or gradua on from an accredited post-secondary
educa onal ins tu on.5
> Cost of Living Adjustment Rider – Helps your benefits keep pace with infla on when a disability lasts more than one year.
For more informa on, contact :
Hussam Zayyad CFP® , MBA CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ prac
Metlife 2650 Warrenville Road, Suite 100 Downers Grove, IL 60515
Phone (630) 441-1268 Fax (630)725-1240
[email protected]
Website: www.HussamZayyad.com
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oner Financial Services Representa ve
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METLIFE
Guaranteed Level Term
Designed to Deliver Financial Protec on When It’s Needed Most
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19
APPEAL FROM ALMUHANDES
ARTICLES
ANNOUCEMENTS
STORIES
PRESS RELEASES
PICTURES
INFORMATION
EVENTS
ENGINEERING
IDEAS
NEW CORNERS
Email your contribu ons to:
[email protected]
Monthly Networking Mee ngs – You are not alone! Dozens of
professionals a end our collabora ve events
Members Only Discount – Exclusive savings on all your local
professional networking and professional development costs,
Job Opportuni es – Don’t be le out! Exclusive job
opportuni es in the USA and the Middle East
Monthly AlMuhandes Newsle er – Our monthly AlMuhandes
newsle er is full of informa on about the community and the
professional events/opportuni es.
Con nuing Educa on Programs – Gain confidence in your
abili es by keeping yourself knowledgeable and relevant as a
professional while also ge ng members-only free or reduced
cost PDH cer ficates.
Scholarship Program – Our scholarship program is growing
and we have so far awarded over $259,000 of scholarship
money to students all over the United States.
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20
AlMuhandes Notes
Ÿ National AAAEA (NAAAEA) is the publishing organization of
AlMuhandes; NAAAEA is a non-profit organization working to help its
members as well as the community as a whole.
Ÿ AlMuhandes is downloadable and FREE through direct email to all AAAEA
members & friends, and available on the NAAAEA Web site; any content
in the AlMuhandes newsletters is used for informative or educational
purposes only.
Ÿ AlMuhandes is published on the last Tuesday of every month.
Ÿ All news and articles must be e-mailed to [email protected] by the
Thursday prior to the publishing day.
Ÿ All chapters must update their e-mail list in order to ensure the
distribution of AlMuhandes to all their members.
Ÿ Rules for sending articles, pictures, etc.:
1.
2.
3.
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5.
Articles should be sent in their original format in any Microsoft
Office software instead of PDF.
Pictures should be sent in any original picture format, and not
placed in a PDF.
Announcements and email letters of any kind should be sent using
Microsoft Word format instead of the e-mail itself.
Forwarding e-mails from “Constant Contact” should be done using
the Constant Contact “forward” button at the bottom of the email
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We reserve the right not to publish any material sent.
Ÿ Any questions, concerns or feedback regarding AlMuhandes should be
emailed to [email protected]
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Interview of the Month– Ahmad Omais
1Please introduce yourself: education,
background and family......
I was born in Lebanon. I have a masters degree from
Marquette University and a Bachelors from University of
Toledo. I have been in the transportation field for the past
30 years. I have worked for Wisconsin DOT, Arizona DOT
and currently for Kimley -Horn for the past 20 years.
I am married and have two girls and a boy (18, 15, and 11)
Ahmad Omais
2-Briefly,please share with us the history of the efforts to form a
chapter in Arizona?
The journey started about a year ago when Marwan Tamimi was trying to find
a venue for getting the Arab community together. While talking to one of his
friends, he ran across the AAAEA and Marwan thought that it was the ideal
opportunity. He connected with Bilal Almasri and started discussing starting a
chapter in Arizona. Bilal then recruited Ahmad Omais who in turn recruited
Lina Bearat and the steering team started working on getting the chapter
going. The group had several discussions and set a goal for a kick-off in
January.
3As the first president of AAAEA -Arizona ,what is the latest
their and what are the plans for the future.
We are orienting ourselves and forming the team. We had our first meeting
last month and decide d to meet monthly for now. We are planning a spring
picnic and our focus is on recruiting additional members.
4It is a continued struggle to keep members involved and
connected, what ideas you can propose to deal with this continued
challenge.
I think we need to find activities that people would be interested in and
attract their attention. We are brainstorming the kind of things we can do and
will be see eying members along with other chapters to find out what works
best.
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5Do you read ALMUHANDES, what do you think of it. Can you
contribute to it in the future?
I have read one issue and a bit early to formulate an opinion. I will look at
future issues and see how I can contribute.
ALMUHANDES
Ahmad Omais
Interview of the Month– Continued
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23
Building for your future on a solid Financial Foundation !
With the erratic fluctuation of the market at the tail end of
2015 and the first few weeks of 2016, the vivid memory of
what happened in the second half of 2007 and 2008 when
the market went south close to 50 percent. Investors are
becoming jittery. The question that comes to mind how are
we building our nest egg, our retirement? Is it on a solid
financial foundation?
The Financial Foundation is very simple and made up of
four building blocks that are very-interconnected and starts
from the grounds up similar to building a good home on a
solid foundation.
Block I: Insurance (various types). In our society we got accustomed to insure anything
and everything. We insure a car (it’s the law) just in case we get into an accident so we could
repair it or replace it. We insure our smart phones just in case it gets dropped and need a fix or a
replacement. The big one and the most outrageous is when we insure our mortgage (a
requirement to secure a loan), whose benefit are we insuring here? The bank or the lender just in
case we default so that they could secure their money.
So every Monday morning, most of people hit the freeways to work, what happen if you get in a
car accident and heaven forbid the accident was fatal. Now tell me which is the most valuable
investment to your family and loved ones? The “expensive” wrinkled car, the smart phone that
broke into pieces that both could be replaced or fixed or is it the income that you brought home
every two weeks and provided a life style to your family that paid their basic necessity of life?
Can you replace a human being once he or she is gone? The bread winner in the family is the
ultimate investment and should be protected or insured to provide an income replacement to the
family just in case the bread winner and the income are both gone.
Block II: Debt management and elimination. We live in a society that taught us to buy now
and worry later. Every holiday season people get their plastic cards and go shopping with deep
hunger not worrying about the hefty interest rates that these credit card companies charge. The
old saying still applies “live within your mean” is long forgotten. The “bargains” of black Friday
wind up costing us double or triple the prices once we factor all the interests we paid. It does not
make sense to start a saving plan earning few percent when the credit card companies are
charging you 19, 21, 25 percent. Mathematically it does not make any sense. You are better off
paying down your debt and then start saving because “plastic money” will cost you dearly if you
just make the minimum payment.
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Building for your future—Continued
Block III: Short term savings or Emergency Fund is basically liquid money you could
access it on instant notice. At a minimum, a household should have six (6) months its monthly
expenses saved (i.e. rent, mortgage, food, utilities etc.). Why six months? Just in case you lose
your job or you are transitioning between jobs. Does life stop when you cease to draw an
income? Of course not! What happened in 2008, people were living beyond their means, using
their homes as an ATM to draw equity for new purchases, vacations, no saving whatsoever.
Then the inevitable happened, got the pink slip, the following week the mortgage came due, no
short term savings or what we call emergency fund, 90- days behind on mortgage payments and
the bank foreclosed. This is was not a soap opera; it happened not too long ago and contributed
to the Housing Market crash. Too many foreclosures were on the market not too many takers, a
textbook of supply and demands in free market economy that brought the price of homes
tumbling down.
Block IV: Long term savings (Long Term is defined 15+ years) should serve two purposes,
first one if you have kids, 18 years later they will be going to college. To that end I suggest you
do your own research on the cost of higher education on an average figure out $25,000 per year
(NOT a private or an Ivy League school). The second purpose for long term savings is
RETIREMENT. A simple scenario, you retire at age 65 and you live to be 85 years old. The
big question, do you have enough cash to sustain your life style for 20 years? If the answer is
negative, then you need to rethink your retirement strategy. For some who are banking on Social
Security to contribute or supplement their retirement, they are in for a big surprise. In a free
society government is not responsible for one’s retirement, WE ARE At a minimum, 10 -15
percent of the household earnings should be set aside for long term savings. Most individuals do
not plan to fail but they fail the plan. We spend week planning a vacation, months preparing for a
wedding. How about planning for your life, have you consulted with a financial professional lately
to make sure your numbers add up? We all have busy, days, busy weekends, do not let life goes
by you not knowing the outcome of your retirement. Take a breather sit with financial consultant
and device a financial roadmap for you and your family. The Financial Foundation starts from the
ground up with the Insurance (Income Replacement) first all the way to Investments. Most people
starts at the top which odd you never build your home from the top down rather than starting with
a solid rock foundation first
Gus Nakhoul
Investment Advisor Representative
714-249-8100
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Engineering Degrees Evaluations
Do you need to evaluate your degree? Why? How much does it cost?
http://ncees.org/credentials-evaluations/
What is the NCEES Engineering Education Standard that is used to evaluate your
credential?
http://ncees.org/credentials-evaluations/ncees-engineering-education-standard/
Step by step instructions for the process:
http://ncees.org/credentials-evaluations/the-evaluation-process/
I got my degree evaluated. Now what?
It is important to note that NCEES does not make decisions regarding licensure. The appropriate licensing
board will make any decision regarding your eligibility to sit for a licensing exam.
You can send your evaluation results to a licensing board of a specific state (or more) in order to proceed
with the application for sitting for an exam, such as FE or PE. Not every state requires a degree evaluation
PRIOR to taking the exam, (i.e. you can sit for the exam before the degree evaluation), but they might/will
require it to issue the license, along with other requirements for each license (EIT, PE).
How can I contact the licensing board in my state?
http://ncees.org/licensing-boards/
Notes:
The requirements from a state to another are different. Some states are not as stringent as other,
particularly in deciding when you can sit for an exam.
The NCEES evaluation might state that you have a deficit in the credit hours in a certain area
(Mathematics, Humanitarian, Science,… etc.), but the licensing board of your state might decide
that the deficit is more, according to the state’s rules and regulations of licensure. For example, the
professional engineering rules and regulations for the state of Illinois can be found at this link:
http://www.idfpr.com/profs/ProfEngineer.asp
Good Luck,
Fadi Alsharif
[email protected]
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Kuwait Prize 2016
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AAAEA is going to
North Carolina
You can help by providing contact information
of engineers who may be relatives, colleagues,
or friends.
Forward to Mr. Bilal Almasri
Na onal Outreach Commi ee
Chairman
[email protected]
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Picture of the Month
Ferdinand Cheval Palace a.k.a Ideal Palace (France)
Cheval began the building in April 1879. He claimed that he had tripped on a stone and was inspired by its shape. He returned to the same spot the next day and started collec ng stones.
For the next 33 years, during his daily mail route, Cheval carried stones from his delivery rounds and at home used them to
build his Palais idéal, the Ideal Palace. First he carried the stones in his pockets, then a basket and eventually a wheelbarrow.
He o en worked at night, by the light of an oil lamp.
AAAEA Mission Statement
AAAEA is a professional Arab American association dedicated to help, strengthen, empower and inspire its
members for excellence. AAAEA promotes and advocates the Arab American Engineers, Architects and Computer
Science professionals in North America, by providing career and educational enhancement programs, technical
exchange, fellowship, and community service. AAAEA is a non-profit, non-political and non-religious Professional
Association. Membership is open to corporations, academic, professional institutions, and qualified individuals.