Determination of Major Challenges confronted

by the Engineer and the Engineering Sectors

Presented inFirst Saudi Engineering Forum

"Engineering Education in 2020 and Industry Requirements"

Prepared byEngr. Saleh Bin Abdul Rahman Elamr

Saudi Council of Engineers

King Fahd University for Petroleum & Minerals

25-26 Rabi II 1427 23-24 May 2006

2

preambleNumber of engineers and the international averagesNo. of engineers in public sector and some major

private firmsEngineers' specializations and nationalitiesThe size of demandsDimensions of engineering qualifications and trainingQualification and training environment at local

sectorsLevels of qualification

Recommendations

Contents

3

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

MoroccoBahrainKSAKuwaitJordanUAEEgyptGermanyUK

No. of engineers per 100,000 inhabitants

80385460

82110001135

2800

3800

5300

4

0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000 120000

Public

Private

Total

Saudi

Non-Saudi

Total

Engineers in private and public sectors in KSA

5

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

Saudi Aramco

Sabic

Electricity

Saudi

Non-Saudi

Total

No. of engineers in some major firms (private sector)

6

35366983

1454016573

7700

49332

14211422142314241425TOTAL

Increment in number of engineers in past five years in KSA

7

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

Indian

Egyptian

Philippine

Saudi

Pakistani

Syrian

Jordanian

Sudanese

Lebanese

Bangladeshi

Palestinian

British

American

Others

No. of engineers working in private sector, nationality wise (2004)

8

Distribution of engineers working in private sector, as per the specializations

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Civ

il

Mec

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ical

Ele

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Ele

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C

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Arc

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Ch

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9Engineers in the Kingdom: Demand Size

At present, 460 engineers per 100.000 inhabitants, out of them are only 120 Saudis.

If Jordanian Average of 1000 per 100.000 is considered, then KSA needs 220,000 based on last census.

The number of Saudi engineers at present is 26,000 thus 194,000 engineers are to be graduated to meet the current demand.

Average of new engineering graduates from Saudi Universities in 1422-1433 is 1675 engineers.

If the recent annual population growth of 3% is taken into account, then the universities must produce 3300 engineers just to meet the annual population growth.

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Perspectives of engineers on qualifications and training

•Qualification will help in developing engineer's professional skills•Implementation of a national systematic method for professional qualification for engineers is must•Professional qualification will intensify positive competitiveness among engineers•Qualification will help in building qualified cadre of engineers•During the implementation of the qualification method, the extensive experience of the engineers to be considered as the transition phase.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

123456

Disagree

neutral

agree

11 Perspectives of engineers on the importance

of professional qualification

•Is there any systematic professional training for engineers for your employer?•Did you attend any training course in your specialization during last five years?•Is your promotion connected with training courses and is training a condition for that?•Do you possess a professional degree?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1234

yes

no

12 Perspectives of supervisors on

the importance of professional qualification

•Is there any systematic training program for your organization?•Is the promotion of engineers is contingent on training courses and is the training a condition for promotion?

0

20

40

60

80

100

123

yes

no

13

Ministry of Civil Services

Saudi Aramco

Civil Aviation

Saudi Electric Company

Sabic

Saudi Telecom

Local Experiences in Qualification

14 Qualification Levels

ENGINEER

ASSOCIATE ENGINEER

In this grade an engineer is not required to practice any

specific responsibilities and will not be entitled for any

specific privileges, where he will focus on training and

qualification and providing technical support to his work

team

Sign reports and designs along with a

professional engineer

Provide engineering services through

corporate bodies

Execute engineering duties under supervision

and authorization of a professional engineer

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PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER

CONSULTANT ENGINEER

Qualification Levels

•supervision, development, projects management,

maintenance, factory management, operation)•Sign reports and designs related directly or

indirectly  with public service•Train engineers and associate engineers •Engineering arbitration and dispute settlement

services to related parties•Sign engineering services contract as the second

party.

•All responsibilities of Professional Engineer•Engineering consultancy services•Authentication of professional consultancies•Leading the work group in various engineering disciplines.

16Recommendations

1. Implement the results of National Systematic

Procedure for Professional Qualification for Engineers

study that defined the qualification levels and outlined

a mechanism for implementation;

2. Support studies for defining the engineering HR

requirements in various sectors, based on the actual

demands that assure the perfect performance of these

sectors and promotion of its level, and shouldn't be

based on conserving the finance; and

3. Give importance to revamp the engineering education

plan to suite with the size of challenges that the HR in

the Kingdom faces, especially in the engineering

sectors.

17

Thank You