AAAEA-IL Newsletter
AAAEA
AAAEA - IL Newsletter July 2008
Dear Member,
I am honored to have the opportunity to be part of a wonderful group that is working very hard to put together and send you the newsletter.  Let me start by introducing myself.  My name is Raghad Adeis-Dahhan, and I am the Publication Committee chairperson. 
More importantly, I would like to introduce to you the committee members whose hard work and support made this issue and will continue to make future issues possible:
 
Jamal Grainawi
Luai Abu Hilal
Amro Kudssi

 
Please note that this newsletter is a work in progress.  Your comments and suggestions are very important for the success of the newsletter. 
I would also like to reach out to you so that you can keep us up to date on your news.
Feel free to share with us any articles that you might find interesting and would like to share with our members.  You can contact us through e-mail: aaaea@aaaea.org
Sincerely,
Raghad Adeis-Dahhan
 
 
Dr. Hiba Abdalla
 

AAAE Banner
 
Our past Vice President, Dr. Hiba Abdalla, is moving on to a new opportunity in the Arab Gulf this month.
Hiba joined AAAEA in 2000 when she was a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Prior to joining, she served as an instructor for EIT Mathematics during the 1999 review course offered by AAAEA.
Over the years, Hiba translated her commitment to AAAEA by serving on the Executive Board in different capacities.  She assumed the role of AAAEA Secretary from 2003 to 2006, served as Chairperson of the Women Engineers Committee from 2005 to 2008, and served as Vice President from 2006 to 2008.
In 2007, Dr. Abdalla chaired the Semi Annual Professional Meeting Committee and coordinated the efforts of the committee persons which resulted in one of the best meetings.  She also served AAAEA on other fronts including the Illinois Engineering Council.
Hiba added much to this association.  In addition to hard work throughout her term, she articulated subject and challenges in a very professional way.  She continues to serve as a member of the marketing plan team.
Dr. Abdalla received her Hon. B.Sc. in Civil Engineering at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, Master of Science in Civil Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  She joined Alfred Benesch & Co. in Chicago shortly after graduating where she worked as a Senior Designer.
Please join us wishing Dr. Abdalla the best in her career and life.  We will miss her.  Thank you Hiba.
 
 
National Outreach Committee
On 7/2/08 AAAEA /National Outreach Committee held a dinner for Mr. Fuad Issa (President of AAAEA-Tri State NY,NJ,CT).  The meeting was attended by our president Hasan Algholeh, Chairman Jamal Grainawi, National Chairman Dr. Mustafa Mahamid, Ayoub Talhami, Dr. Soliman Khoudeira, GM Sadat, Mohammad Dasoqi, Abed Ghouleh, and Bilal Almasri.  The meeting was an opportunity for an exchange of experiences and a discussion regarding the national efforts.  Our colleague Fuad was the first to initiate the efforts in these states, and the first chair of the steering committee, and was elected to be the first president of AAAEA-Tri State. We wish our colleagues the best in their great work, and I must say that we have learned few things from them. Go National Together.
 
 

AAAEA 1st Picnic 

As always, AAAEA held its first picnic this summer at Labagh Woods, Grove # 1 on Sunday, June 29,2008.There was a good breakfast for the early birds(Foul, Homos, tea, Arabic coffee, and other good things).Thank you Nabil Refai for your efforts and Falah Elmasri for being there at 7 am to save the place and the water to drink.  

The jumping jack was an enjoyable part of the picnic for the little people, and Volleyball was the favorite for the big kids.  Some younger people liked T-ball.
  While each has his own or her own favorite game, all agreed that the food was great.The stuffed grape leaves, Falafel sandwiches (thank you Basrawi family),and the grilled hot dogs and hamburgers were great.  Please don't forget the watermelon, too.
  The rain showers on and off did not discourage us from enjoying the day,and the picnic was attended by over 100 people (some for the first time... welcome and good to see all of you).
  Our next picnic is a great one,and it will be for the FIRST TIME in Westmont.  Please bring extra clothes for those who will get wet.
  Thanks to each and every one who helped and attended.
Bilal Almasri
Peoria Chapter
 
The Peoria Chapter held elections on June 18th 2008. and below are the new officers that form the executive committee in Peoria:
Dr. Mustafa AlSaleh, President
Mr. Ali Bitar, Vice President
Mr. George Nasr, Treasurer
Mr. Hussien El Bakhit, Secretary 
Mr. Mahmoud Najada, Activities Chair 
Mr. George Ghareeb, Liaison and coordinating committee 

 
Peoria Chapter
 
On Saturday 7/19/08, our chapter in Peoria held its first picnic ever.  Our president Hasan Alghouleh and our trustee Bilal Almasri (from Chicago) joined our colleagues in the picnic. Over 30 people attended the event, DABKEH was performed, and lamb was grilled in addition to the hot dogs and hamburgers.  Plenty of HUMUS and other great dishes served, and I must say that I have seen different great styles of ARGELEH in the picnic. On the side, a discussion was held with our President in Peoria Dr.Mustafa Alsaleh, our national steering committee member George Ghareeb, and the members of the local board regarding the future events and how to expand. AAAEA thanks our colleagues for a great event and wonderful group of people 
CHICAGO ARABESQUE 2008 

Chicago Arabesque 2008 was held from June 25th to June 28th.  Several Members of AAAEA supported Arab Fest in different ways including about $3,000 from our members.  We would like to thank all contributors and ask those who did not to consider supporting this event next year.  AAAEA was provided a booth where we attracted new members who did not know about AAAEA and promoted the association among engineering firms who visited our booth.
Again, special thanks to Ghafar Kazkaz, John Dasoqi, Houssam Elmoursy, Ray Khatib, Bilal Almasri, Mustafa Mahamid, Mousa Issa, Jamal Garinawi, Luai Abu Hilal, GM Sadat, Rashid Gulaid, Raed Milhem, Abed Gouleh, Yousef Alhamid, Anas Alkhatib, Sudud Mahhmoud and Ahmad Hammad for their financial support.

Members Corner

Congratulations:
Congratulations to Talal Almasri on passing the PMP (Project Management Professional Certification), and his recent new title as a Program Manager.
 
Congratulations to Dr. Mustafa Mahamid on passing the SE exam.This accomplishment is unique on many fronts , most importantly is the fact that he accomplished it in such brief time and the first time they allowed him to sit and take the exam.
Congratulations to Hussam Alkhatib on his new job.
Congratulations to Dr. Maher Abu Mallouh on joining Sargent & Lundy.Good luck.


Congratulations (family):

Mabrook to our colleague Naser Alghouleh and wife Hadeel on the new baby boy arrival on 7/11/08.  Baby boy Jude and Mom are doing well
 
Mubrook to Bara,Falah,and Majd Almasri on Bara"s graduation from college with double major International Studies and English
 
Mubrook to Dalia Khilfeh on her wedding and Best wishes.
 
Mubrook to Nasser Grainawi on the birth of his baby boy.

 
Condolences:

Condolences to our colleague Dr. Hossam Abdou on the death of his father last month
 
Condolences to Dr. Ahmad Hammad on the sudden death of his nephew.
 
Condolences Dr. Usama Fayyad on the passing of his father. 
President Message
 
 My Fellow Engineers:
 
     I am very excited to write to you for the second time. This means we (the executive board) are still alive with all the work that is being done.  We still have tremendous work ahead of us. I have excellent, young executive board members who are eager to work. They have dedicated a lot of time and effort to work on your behalf toward leading this association to excellence.  
 
     You are going to see improvements and changes starting in August which will continue throughout the rest of our fiscal year.  You will see the new web site look and its new functions and capabilities. You will also enjoy our new and continued family oriented activities for our members and their families.  We have implemented improvements in the finance aspect by using new software and find a better way to get a better return on our investments.  You will see more networking seminars and activities on all levels. We also want you to participate in all our professional and educational seminars. As you will see, this executive board will keep in touch with its members. All that we are asking in return is for you to be patient with us when we call to thank you for being one of our members, ask you to renew your membership, and update our record information.  However, the most important is for you and your family to participate in our activities and be active with AAAEA.
 
I am proud to be the president of this association, and I am proud to be part of an excellent executive board. I want you to know these hard working people, and I want to give the credit were the credit is due 

Nabeel Aldrees             Vice President                             
Suha Saber                  Secretary                                     
Anas Alkhatib               Treasurer                                      
Amr Quidsi                   IT Officer                                       
Moussa Issa                 Education Committee Chairman      
Muhammad Mikbel        Membership Committee Chairman  
Nabil Refai                   Activity Committee Chairman          
Raghad Adeis-Dahhan   Publication Committee Chairman 
Ghazi Sadat                 Career Enhancement Committee      Chairman  
 
All we are asking is that you be an active member with AAAEA- renew your membership, be on our committees (it's a very exciting and rewarding experience), and participate in our activities. Be A Part of This Great Association, the AAAEA.
 
Looking Forward to Meeting You
Hasan Algholeh
President of AAAEA

Interview with Bilal Almasri
 
AAAEA founding president
 
Q1-How did you start this association?
In 1996 I was the first and only Arab Chief Engineer with the city of Chicago.I realized that other ethnic groups have associations and they network in ways benefiting their membership.Also,I realized that we  are at a disadvantage. As a result I started promoting the idea of an association for Arab American Engineers.I must say that there is a need,desire,and committed engineers to do hard work to form this great association. 
 
Q2-What is the secret of AAAEA success?  
It seems to me there are different factors contributed to the success:
A-Providing services to members(we walked the walk and not just talked the talk)  
B-Focus.Meaning, we did not claim to be  every thing and for everyone.We have specific goals and we did not deviate from these goals, we stayed not political and not religious association.  
C-The need for such organization.Our professionals needed to belong to a network to interact.
D-The continuity in the programs and the expansion of these programs in addition to creating new ones over the years.Talking about continuity,I must recognize and express my appreciation to each and every president after me.They all provided continuity and contributed to the credibility of AAAEA.
E-Hard,hard,hard work and commitment. 
 
Q3--What shows the success of AAAEA?
There are plenty of marks shows this success  
A-Our AAAEA may be the most active engineering association that I know of.If you take a close look,you will notice about 100 activities in year or more(EIT,ACT,job assistance,seminars,conferences,Hafleh,Semi Annual,picnics,monthly networking luncheon,referals,career advise....)  
B-Scholarship program.AAAEA has been awarding scholarships since 2000.Last year we awarded $8,000 to four great students.Note,some other older(25 years old) organizations award $2,000 per year.  
C-The success on the national level is a reflection of AAAEA success.We have sister associations in about 10 states,and a mailing list of 2,000 engineers  
D-AAAEA has 4 chapters in Illinois.Peoria,UIUC,IIT,and UIC.  
E-We are being approached by companies from the US and the Arab world such as DOW chemicals, head hunters,Turner,AECOM, and others to built a relationship with AAAEA.  
F-The quality of programs offered is improving over the years,which is a reflection on AAAEA success.  
G- The involvement of the younger generation in AAAEA.As I stated in the past,our past VP Dr. Hibal Abdalla and the chairman of our National Steering Committee joined AAAEA when they were in college,and we are proud of that.Also,if you look at this board,you see Suha Saber ,Nabeel Aldrees,and Amr Kudssi  who has just graduated or recently did are leading this association. It is essential for the new generation to lead for our continuaty and for fresh ideas.This is why,you did not see any president serving again.  
H- The democratic and professional transfer of power from one board to the next without any problem whatsoever.   I am sure there are other signs of AAAEA success such as the network that takes place without our knowledge among members and firms.All the services exchanged by members,the recommendations from meber to member,and so much more. 
 
Q4-Where do you see AAAEA in 5 years?  
 Our goal is to have a national association in 2011.The 3 rd national conference will be held on 10/18/08 in Chicago.I think we are on our way to declare a national association according to our 5 year plan which was created on 11/11/06 in the first national conference. On the local level,I would like to see more involvement of the members in the programs,and increase our membership by 100%(20% each year).Q5-With all the success you mentioned,what are the challenges we face?  
 
Q5-With all the success you mentioned,what are the challenges we face?
In this kind of work,you are always faced with challenges.Some of these challenges are:
A-Stay focus.
B-Keep members involved.
C-Provide and improve services and programs
D-Keep and expand the membership.
E-Stay inclusive and don't be  exclusive.
F-Maintain and expand our relations with professional associations and our community organizations to impact them in a positive way,and not be impacted in a negative way.
H-Always encourage committees work.  
 
Q6-How could AAAEA be more active in benefiting Arab Engineers across the Arab world?
In order for us to be able to reach out to the Arab World,we must be strong here first.Here,means in the US and not Chicago. The talent and the experience our membership across the country has,and the ability to understand the language and culture back home,makes us unique in this area.  
 
Q7-What is the most critical activity that benefits our AAAEA members?
It is very hard to say this activity or that is more important.The most important service is the service the member needs at one time or another.If you have no job,finding a job is the most important to you.If I need to pass the EIT exam,review courses will be my need,and so on so forth. The wide range of services AAAEA offers makes it more attractive and keeps members more involved.

Q8-Any final word?  
I would like to thank all my colleagues who gave  me the honor and the pleasure to associate with a great association and great colleagues over the years.I would like to wish the new board under the leadership of my colleague Hasan the best of luck,and they have my commitment to support them serving our members.
Also,my thanks to the newsletter committee members (Amr,Luai,and Jaml) for the good work.
As individual,we are succesfull,but collectively,we have not been that successfull.We need to improve in this area.
Last but not least,your individual effort to assist a colleague may seems small to you,but it means so much to him or her.





 
TECHNICAL ARTICLE
 
Bubble Deck: A Revolutionary Method of Designing Two-Way Slab Systems in Europe
 
by:  Mustafa Mahamid
 
Bubble Deck is a hollow two-way slab system that has been used in Europe for the last 10 years in lieu of conventional two-way and one-way slab reinforced concrete slab systems.  The bubble deck system is composed of top and bottom welded steel mesh and hollow plastic ball that replaces the concrete that has no structural function.  The geometry created by the plastic balls and the mesh width, as shown in the Figure, provides an optimized statically stable concrete construction with a maximum utility of both moment and shear zones.
 


 
The reinforcing mesh keeps the balls in exact position while the balls control the level of reinforcing, shape the air volume, and stabilize the spatial lattice making it ready for concreting to obtain a two-way hollow slab system.
 
The main advantage of this system is in reducing the weight of the structure of approximately 35% that eliminates the constraints of high dead load and short spans.  The weight reduction results in smaller column sizes and smaller footing sizes, or up to 50% longer spans that result in fewer columns and footings in the building.  The weight reduction also, has a huge impact on earthquake forces and seismic design.
 


Punching shear is one of the major limit states in designing reinforced concrete slabs. Experiments have shown that shear capacity of bubble deck is 72-91% of the shear capacity of solid slab and areas of high shear require special attention, therefore the punching shear issue was resolved by omitting few balls in the critical area around columns to provide full shear capacity by providing full slab depth multiplied by the perimeter of the critical section around column to resist shear forces and moments.  
 


As green credentials are becoming highly required these days to obtain the LEED certification, this system may provide some credits due to its contribution to reducing environmental impact by saving in material up to 50%, using recycled plastic balls used in the middle of the slab, 1kg of plastic balls replaces 100 kg of concrete, less energy consumption both in production and transportation, less emission-exhaust gases from production and transportation, and no waste generation-100% recycling.
 
Regarding constructability, the slab system is constructed by dividing the overall floor area into a series of individual elements, either 3 meters or 2.4 meters wide.  These elements include the top and bottom reinforcement mesh, sized to suit the specific project.  The top and bottom reinforcement is joined together by vertical lattice girders with plastic balls to fix the top and bottom mesh in their optimum position.  This is known as "Bubble-reinforcement" sandwich which is then cast into bottom layer of concrete to provide permanent formwork within part of the finished slab depth. This is done off-site making it ready to be transported to the construction site.
 

On site, a series of individual elements are placed and stitched together with loose reinforcement across the joints between the elements.  Splice bars are placed above the precast layer and between the bubbles to connect the individual elements together and prepare the slab for the final concrete pour.     
 

http://www.aaaea.org/ftp/local-newsletter/pics/2008-07-16_220424.jpg


The bubble Deck system has been tested in the Technical University of Denmark, Denmark, Technical University in Delft, Technical University in Eindhoven, TNO, Dycore Verwo, Netherlands, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany.
 
The system has proved to be highly successful in Europe for the last 10 years, and has been used in Canada for the last three years.
 
In the meantime, a local US consulting firm is investigating the slab system, discussing it with architects around the country, testing it for UL rating, and in the process of submitting the technical information to get it certified by the International Code Council. 
 
 
Humor
 
 There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired. Several years later his company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multi-million dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine fixed, but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past.

The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day he marked an "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and proudly stated, "This is where your problem is." The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again.

The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his services. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly:

One chalk mark..................$1

Knowing where to put it.........$49,999

It was paid in full and the engineer retired in peace.
 
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