1. Can you introduce yourself to the members?

Born and raised camping and eventually Diaspora; filled with images and dreams that had kept me going. Success meant self endurance and sacrifice, and fulfillment meant making others benefit from the success I had accomplished. I have celebrated three wonderful events in my young life, the births of my three sons, Laith, Adam and Yousef. Marrying their mother, my wife and my anchor and finally, passing my Structural Engineering exam. The latter culminated all the preceding efforts and crowned them into a number that I will own for the rest of my professional life. Having been on construction sites all my life, I knew I wanted to understand "How do things stand and support load?" Well, I think I have the basics now. I am much focused, I understand priorities and I can't take unlimited risks. My passion is making others better, thereby; I can be surrounded with solid individuals who I call Friends. In my brief 48 young years of life, one thing stood out, I learned how to deal with and tolerate incompetence and mediocrity, forcing myself to be a politician which is my natural innate latent talent. Last time I checked, University of Illinois-Chicago seems to have gotten bigger, better and closer. Twenty some odd years ago, the campus was one pathetic dreary campus, loved the student center, it allowed me to practice my passion, playing pool for hair cuts. Growing up within the profession taught me a lot, engineers need to step out of their eggshell and become more than introverted individuals focusing more on leadership and the business of Engineering. The belief in my own success took me through the ranks of engineering firms holding positions that started from a Design Engineer, Partner, Principal, and Vice President to Divisional Vice President

2. When did you join the AAAEA?

Practically the minute I heard about it and officially when I paid my dues at the very first meeting. It turned out that I was organizing on the North side and the guys were organizing on the south side of the City. I am very happy that we connected and got together to draft the charter and begin the process.

3. As one of the members that have been with AAAEA from the beginning, what does the organization mean to you?

In effort to capture the meaning of such a great collection of wonderful individuals under the banner and the umbrella called AAAEA; one must stop and look at the collective history and attempted formation of such in bringing the minds and souls together for the last 40 -50 years in Chicago . Causes varied, attempts were some times flawed, principals at times were misguided, directions weren't clear, accolades were coveted, egos and self interest became prevalent and rampant, dishonesty sometimes ruled, and the result was a fundamental failure and disappointment in all major attempts at uniting our engineers and our community .We as a community still suffer from that divisive mental blockade to something called "Unity and Service".
There comes a mirage called AAAEA promising to be the antithesis of what had been attempted and preceded it, the difference here, we had a collection of very intelligent dedicated and non-self serving individuals who have been through these other organization and had seen and lived the flaws and disappointments of the past. These seasoned individuals understood the seriousness of the proposed structure, vision, succession, complexions and funding of this endeavourer. We had the foresight to anticipate and predict problems and propose solutions prior to occurrences. We worked as a unit and never had an argument that lingered; things were solved through reasoning and logic. We understood that we must be an integral part of our community; we had to be "the go to group" for what ails our community and members, and we had to practically serve with a smile on all fronts. We discussed scholarships, empowerment, education and community involvement. These organizations achievements are attributed to the hard dedicated silent work of many of its members, that hard work is paying dividends, crowned with an attainable dream, a national engineering organization led and initiated by this organization. AAAEA could not have done that, it couldn't have attempted that without the local strength and confidence that has been harnessed and cultivated by its local members and their input and dedication.

This organization had become the envy and the model of all others out there. With our honest, focused and selfless service, we had become the beacon of all others that had tried and failed. Organizations are not born, they are made. We all made this one, our contribution and continued support, even tacitly, is needed and bringing others to join and become active members will advance our collective single cause and varied future.

4. What do you thing are the biggest advantages of AAAEA to our fellow engineers?

In the purest sense, the mere mention and coupling "advantages" with "aaaea" is in itself an advantage. AAAEA was built by its members for its members. Whatever the individual member's priority, it is the organizations priority .No other organization can claim this. Depending on your point of view, I believe that the biggest advantage is the fact that this organization speaks for us as a single entity backed by hundreds of very well educated smart members. With the diversity, level of experience and the composition of the organization membership, every engineer "member" can capitalize on this foundation and benefit from it. Networking, Education, Career placement, Licensure, Technical questions and Seminars, Community involvement, Philanthropy, Volunteerism, Exposure, Communication development, and the list goes on and on. These are some of the advantages that a member can immediately appreciate within this organization.

5. How can we improve AAAEA?

Taking ownership with dedication and pride is the single most important thing a member can do to the organization. The membership must be maintained and significant growth must happen every year for the sustainability of the organization. Without involvement "as little as it can be ", the membership will deteriorate and the organization will become weaker causing hardship for us all. Unfortunately, I have seen many of our members enjoying the benefits of what we have to offer and retreating to a spectator position after their immediate individual interest is satisfied. I encourage every one of us to get involve in some fashion. The organization needs every little effort and I mean that. This is not an organization for the few, this organization is for all of us and the doors i.e. committees , ad-hoc committees, executive committee etc. are wide open for anyone willing to volunteer with pride to come forth and become involved.
6. As a member of the board of trustees, what are your responsibilities?

The board of trustees was formed to watch from a distance and help the executive committee and be at the disposal of the president for their input and help anytime. The board meets at least twice a year and discussions pertaining to the health and well being of the organization get discussed and recommendations are made to be implemented. The national outreach and the new initiative of going national are a product of the collective wisdom and vision of the board of trustees. We take up issues that are strategic in nature and time consuming in practice. Our meetings are open and any member can ask to attend anytime. Personally, I tend to look at the very big picture and the future when I am a trustee. I always look for ways to empower and solidify our position in the market.

7. What advice do you have for our young engineers?

This organization was built on the very foundations to help young engineers to be involved and get exposure benefiting from the more experienced engineers who are willing and able to help. If you survey our activities and educational programs, in general they are geared to the young membership benefit. We recognize that succession and leadership must be groomed and in position when needed. To that end, we offer several venues for young engineers to be involved and contribute. I would like to see more young engineers contribute to the letters and publications. Take this organization as serious as it tries to cater to your needs. Don't just watch and assume things will happen , things won't happen unless you pick the phone and call someone to become a member, identify a colleague in some other state, write an article, run for committee , arrange for a picnic, teach a high school class and become visible . Serving this organization to serve you should become a priority, because we need all of you.