SOE holds successful Open Day

Representatives from more than 60 companies, along with hundreds of students, faculty members and visitors, attended the Open Day held by the School of Engineering (SOE) at the American University of Sharjah on April 3.

The event was organized to help students look at the diverse field of engineering as practiced in the “real world” and to anticipate the challenges they are going to face once they enter the job market.

Dr. Winfred Thompson, Chancellor of AUS, addressed the opening session, along with Dr. Leland Blank, Dean of SOE, Ms. Maysun Nimr, Manager of the university's Career Advising and Placement Services, and Mr. Abdullah El Doukhei, an electrical engineering major at AUS.

The session was attended by a host of senior officials from AUS, the public and private sectors, as well asfaculty, staff and students. Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Nimr outlined the objectives of the Open Day. She said that the aims were manifold and included bridging “the gap between engineering as a major and engineering as a career.”

She added that the event not only sought to “help students look at engineering with a career perspective and to anticipate the challenges they are going to face once they enter the job market” but also to “put industry and the AUS School of Engineering in contact with each other for faculty and students to explore internship and job opportunities and for companies to get firsthand information about AUS engineering programs.”

The Open Day included engaging presentations by Mr. Riad Bsaibes, Chief Operating Officer, Amana Steel Buildings; Mr. Jihad Yousef, Recruiting and Training Manager, Gulf Schlumberger; and Mr. Stephen R. Phillips, Head of Department, Building Services, Atkins. Six major firms including Halliburton, MIS, ADNOC, and Amana Steel Buildings set up displays in the AUS Main Building during the event.

A wide variety of engineering student activities were also planned during the day, including special project displays, quizzes and competitions.