Ibrahim Al-Hammad

The Council of Saudi Engineers (CSE) plans to send female engineering and architectural students from three universities in the Saudi capital next summer for training workshops in Stuttgart, Germany.

“This plan is in accordance with the program of the CSE to help Saudi students acquire additional knowledge and improved skills in foreign universities,” said Ibrahim Al-Hammad, a board member of the CSE.

Al-Hammad said that the students to be sent for the summer workshops will come from the Dar Al-Uloom University, Prince Sultan University and King KSU.

Al-Hammad added that for each student, the German university will contribute 500 euros, accommodation, transportation and study offices, while the Saudi side will contribute 1,000 euros and a plane ticket.

Al-Hammad, who established the program while he was serving as a visiting professor at the University of Stuttgart, is also a professor at the King Saud University (KSU).

To establish the program, Al-Hammad enlisted the support of various individuals and groups, including the chambers of commerce and industry. A number of Saudi students have now gone to Germany for summer workshops under the program.

In recognition of his services in advancing the engineering profession, Al-Hammad was honored and recently received an award from a German association of engineers. A team from Germany came to the Kingdom to confer the award on him.

Referring to the students who have undergone and will undergo the summer workshops, Al-Hammad said, “They are lucky. These workshops were not available during our time.”

He added that the students will be exposed to current global trends and practices in architecture and engineering, noting that German architects and engineers had been involved in some of the major projects in the Kingdom.

It may be noted that Gerber Architects were responsible for the design of the King Fahd National Library in Riyadh, the Prince Salman Oasis of Science and the Olaya Metro Station.

Al-Hammad added that “we want to expand the program gradually to fulfill its objectives that include employment of Saudi students in German firms after their graduation.”

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