Alumni Journey

A Chinese proverb says: "To know the road ahead, ask those coming back," to that end our Student Branch was so enthusiastic to organize “Alumni Journey” one of the most anticipated event that took a lot of planning and handwork. The UOS IEEE student branch organized this event on Thursday the 12th of April in the college of engineering, in collaboration with some professors and graduate students. 

The journey started with a welcoming speech by our branch chair “Rami Shublaq.” Where he welcomed the audience and defined the true meaning of being an electrical and a computer engineer. After that we invited four of our ECE department graduates to share their experience with the students and talk about the challenges they faced after graduating.

Eng. Mahmoud Nabag, Bachelor in Electrical Engineering, was the first graduate traveler who shared with the attendants his experience. His talk was about whether to go for a masters degree or join the industry. He explained the major difference between the practical life and the academic life and how that someone should pursue the best thing that suits him/her.

Following that we were excited to listen to the second graduate traveler Eng. Fatma Ali, Bachelor in Electrical Eng., who shared the aspects of her job as a Flight Operations Engineering Specialist in Emirates Airlines. She illustrated some of the capabilities and responsibilities that an engineer should have. In addition to that she gave some steps regarding the problems that could face the engineer in his/her future after graduation and how to deal with them in a clever way.

Our next traveler was not ordinary, but a very unique one, who has been through all kinds of life’s obstacles. He had his Ph.D. in 1981, from the University of Southern California Los Angeles. Prof. Ma’ammar Battayeb, from our ECE department, provided a brief background about his scientific life, in addition to that he gave some advice to students on how to get straight A’s in their university courses.

We continued with our alumni’s, and it was the time for Eng. Muzzamil ElFatih, Bachelor in Electrical Engineering, to give a speech about his experience in working at SEWA “Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority.” He gave a brief about his duties as an electrical field engineer in the power plant. Although he did not have the solid background at the beginning of his career, but the continuous training courses he got specially from experts coming from abroad companies made it possible for him to engage in the field and draw his path as a successful skilled engineer.

We were also so excited to have Dr. Bassel Soudan as our next speaker. Dr. Soudan is also one of the experienced travelers and was really a big influence on all the students in this journey. He had his Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, USA in 1994. Dr. Soudan shared with the attendants his story in INTEL company and how he had to adapt to different types of working environments. He encouraged the student to diversify in the department electives and combine between the hardware and the software courses, especially for those who want to continue their academic life.

Next it was the time for our last traveler for this event “Eng. Osama Alkoky” Bachelor in Computer Engineering, who also shared with us his experience in doing his masters degree while he was working in different companies in the industry at the same time. He explained that it is an extremely difficult task and one should not go for that unless it is really necessary. He also provided the students with some tips or actions that they can follow during the job interviews. 

At the end of our journey we gave the opportunity to the audience to engage with our guests in an open discussion session hosted by Rana Osama, committee member, and Omar Ahmad, branch’s treasurer. With the students asking questions regarding the major, interviews and advices on how they can approach their dream jobs. Our guests were really helpful and tried to give the students the best advice they need to continue through their own journey.

Then we moved to the most thrilling part of the event, the entertainment part. It was a competition between two teams, electrical students vs. computer students. Najla Essam & Sara Al Naqbi were asking general knowledge questions related to electrical and computer Engineering. It was such an exciting competition with each student cheering for his/her team. At the end the computer engineering team won the competition, entitling them for the bigger prizes.

The event was a huge success, everyone was laughing and enjoying their time, along with some serious discussion on future related issues, and the feedback was so cheerful.