Running Head: ENGINEERING CAREER 1. Mechanical Engineering as a career in Saudi Arabia [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution]

Transcription

1 Running Head: ENGINEERING CAREER 1 Mechanical Engineering as a career in Saudi Arabia [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution]

2 ENGINEERING CAREER 2 Mechanical Engineering as a career in Saudi Arabia Introduction Engineering & Human Life Today we are living in an era of machines and automation, from a wrist-watch to modern state of the art transportation means, the buildings, skyscrapers, ultra modern military and medical technologies and the list goes on. It might not wrong to say that we are enjoying the most technologically advanced age in the human history, and it is an unstoppable and exponential growing progress. But what will be the answer if asked that if all of it was possible without engineers? Well the answer is obviously in negative. Mechanical Engineering, History and Role Engineering has very deep roots in history, making this exponential growth possible. Today we have a very wide sub-fields in the engineering profession but initially engineering as a profession came into existence from mechanical engineering, most of the researches done in the mechanical domain become basis of fundamental research in the second most oldest and vast of field of engineering i.e. Electrical Engineering. Going back into history ancient China and Greece, it is surprising to know that they had developed mechanisms like clocks, steam engines, screw pumps, and even they had successfully invented differential gearing systems, which is heart of today s automobile and manufacturing industries. A major breakthrough came into the field of mechanical engineering, after Newton s Laws of motion and Calculus invention. Because of this change Mechanical Engineering was no more became analytical rather than practical only (asme.org, 2014). In 1825 USA had only three degree awarding institute in mechanical engineering but today this number has grown extensively to a large number and in USA alone we have institutes of international prestige, proving excellence in this field. In this paper, we will discuss the field of mechanical engineering and its broadening spectrum in the other field of engineering and life, the scope of mechanical engineering as a career in world and Middle Eastern countries with prime focus on Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mechanical Engineering as a Career Mechanical engineering education is an excellent pathway to start a successful career to make human lives better and productive. It is not only craft you for an engineering career, rather it prepares one to serve for a leadership role and serve in number of areas ranging from industry to healthcare and academia to public service. Mechanical engineering is playing a vital yet effective role in solving global challenges by providing a safe environment and clean water, producing sustainable energy, designing new means of energy conversion and storage, improving mechanical/electrical systems in buildings, building safe and efficient transportation systems. Emerging high technology fields like robotics, biomechanics and nanotechnology are few more examples of areas where mechanical engineers are serving. Furthermore, other wellknown areas of mechanical engineering include design, automation and control, manufacturing, which are essential elements to drive larger industries and driving the world s economy (Martino, 2011). Due to wide range of application areas including oil refineries, construction

3 ENGINEERING CAREER 3 companies, medicine, automotive, energy and aerospace invite individuals having different interests and skills. All mechanical engineers are not alike, the mechanical engineering profession has a broad spectrum and it is continuously to widen due to exponential development in technology sector. According to statistics, in year 2012 USA alone had 222,000 jobs for mechanical engineers, half of them was in machinery, manufacturing, transportation equipment, computer and electronic products, and fabricated metal products manufacturing industries (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). The survey also predicted that this number will increase up to 10,000 more till year According to this survey, average salary for a mechanical engineer was around $75,000, starting salaries are around $50,000 per annum, and experienced engineer earn even up to $100,000 per annum. These stats may vary from state to state and country to country but they are shown here just to give a brief overview about the scope of mechanical engineering as a career. Scope of Mechanical Engineers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia It is proven fact that mechanical engineering is a much diversified field with its global demand in developed, developing and even under-develop economies. Like other parts of world, Mechanical engineering profession is highly required in the gulf region especially in Kingdom of Saudi Arab (KSA). KSA has proven reserves of 20% of global oil reserves (US-EIA, 2013); it is one of the most strong and growing economy of the regional level as well as on global scale. KSA lacks local expertise on top-tier in engineering industry and most of the employments in the industry on this level are offered to talented foreigners making it the most suitable job market for engineering graduates especially from the field of mechanical, electrical and petroleum engineering fields. KSA has strong international business presence of world s leading construction and oil companies, in fact the state owned Saudi Aramco is world leader in oil production itself and this is just one example. Most of the KSA s economy is based upon growth of these two sectors. Saudi crude oil export plays direct role in its economic growth and construction business is primarily supporting the oil. KSA is the biggest crude oil exporter of the world. Saudi government has control over most of the oil production industry, and this enormous production is generating massive revenues and supporting Saudi s GDP. But government there is very much aware of the fact that they can not rely only on their hydrocarbon (oil and gas) based exports, in order to achieve long term development, they will have to invest on their country s infrastructure and generate revenues from non-oil and gas based business. In general when we are talking about infrastructure than it can have three areas to focus which are energy, transportation, and water management. A further sub-division can be done which may include, airports, roads and bridges, railroads, public transportation systems, dams, electric grids, drinking water, pipelines moving oil and natural gas. This is a hardcore fact that investments in infrastructure boost the economy as it helps in improving the productivity and performance and in turn bring economic growth at the same time it creates a competitive, growing and vast job market. Soon after the discovery of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government has been spending massive capital on revolutionizing country s infrastructure. There has been significant development in country s airports, building architectures, hospitals, shopping centers, schools, highways, refineries, desalination plants, conventional fossil fuel based and alternate energy based power generating plants, shipping ports and long distance oil transportation systems. This

4 ENGINEERING CAREER 4 growth was result of efforts of a very qualified human resource including designers, architectures and engineers especially form fields of mechanical, civil, electrical (Khatib,2012). Role of Mechanical Engineering in Saudi s Infrastructure Development Engineers have played a vital role in Saudi s infrastructure development and oil industry, when we specifically talk about mechanical engineers, then it would not wrong to say that without them it would have been possible. Mechanical engineers have been doing remarkable job as building service engineers, from conceptual design to actual construction, they work in association with the civil and construction engineers. Most of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in buildings are designed and installed by the mechanical engineers, either it s an airport, shopping mall or a hospital, mechanical engineers are highly required for completing such projects. Saudi Arab has been mostly depended upon fossil fuel based power plants for generating electricity but now it has started investing on greener technologies like wind based electricity generation and solar energy based power plants and with its investment of $108 billion, KSA aims to be world leader in the sector (arabnews.com, 2013). This will be bringing more job opportunities for all. Whatever the mode of generation will be used, the need of mechanical engineers will there as they will be playing great role in design and installation of such facilities and turning this dream into reality. Role of Mechanical Engineering in Saudi s Oil Industry We have already discussed the importance of oil industry in Saudi s economy, Saudi Arab has state owned world s largest oil production company Saudi Aramco and it also hold major export share in oil exports in the world (US-EIA, 2013) apart from it there are more government owned companies and international oil companies like Shell, Chevron and Halliburton etc. All of these companies require mechanical engineers from design to development, operation and future maintenances. The major responsibilities of mechanical engineers in Saudi s oil industry includes installation, maintenance of piping, pumps, storage tanks systems for crude oil transportation and storages on ports Most of the senior mechanical engineers look after the design, implementation, commissioning and decommissioning of various mega projects. Mechanical engineers working in oil industries earns above average industry salary with outstanding facilities which makes job in Saudi oil industry a dream job for mechanical engineers. Saudi s Investment in Mechanical Engineering Studies There has been a huge foreign presence of engineers and technologist in Saudi job market after the discovery of their oil reserves and investments over infrastructure development. Saudi nationals were mostly out of the job market in the professions like engineering and oil exploration. This was because of their own educational and experience incompetency, however majority of locals have been employed on labor class. Saudi government has taken strong initiatives to generate job opportunities for locals on higher and senior level. Engineering universities in Saudi Arab have been focusing on developing high quality local human resource in the engineering professional especially in petroleum engineering, mining and mechanical engineering.

5 ENGINEERING CAREER 5 Due to huge expansion in industrial sector because of oil revenues, Saudi government has increased its number of engineering universities and higher degree awarding institutes (Sharaf et.al, 2013). King Saud University is the oldest engineering awarding institute of country ranked 233 rd in engineering and technology categories globally (Quacquarelli Symonds, 2013). Another public sector university is the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFU- PM) which is ranked 95 th in engineering and technology domain (Quacquarelli Symonds, 2013). KFU-PM is offering various engineering program including mechanical engineering program; which meets international standards. KFU-PM has signed a joint venture with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA, which is the number one university of world, to develop curricular material for its student (Merah et.al, 2010). After getting these facts, one can understand the importance and scope of mechanical engineering as a career pathway in KSA. Conclusion Mechanical Engineering is one of the most old and diversified field of engineering with a direct connection to its various sub-fields and other disciplines of engineering. Due to this broaden spectrum of the mechanical engineering field, it is student s top priority to pursue their career in this field. Mechanical engineers have high demands worldwide and they enjoy very good salary scales, but due to developing and massively expanding oil based economies there demand are on peak there. Kingdom of Saudia Arabia is one of the biggest oil based economy and at same time it has massively invested in its infrastructure development which makes KSA a best workplace for Mechanical Engineering professionals.

6 ENGINEERING CAREER 6 References American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). (2014). History of Mechanical Engineering. Data retrieved from Arab News. (2013). Saudi Arabia aims to be world s largest renewable energy market Data retrieved from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), USA. (2012). Occupational outlook Handbook. Data retrieved from Khatib, M.A. (2012). Oil and Infrastructure Expenditures in Saudi Arabia Journal of Business Studies Quarterly Vol.4. Data retrieved from Martino, L. (2011). Manufacturing: Careers skilled workers and the economy Techniques Vol.86. Data retrieved from Merah.N., Yang, M.C., Wallace, D.R.,Seering.W.P.,Tang, V.,Arif.A.F, Eleciche,A.S.,Shuaib, A.R.,Dheir,N.A & Bahaidarah, H.M.S. (2010). A global collaborative effort to enhance design in a Mechanical Engineering curriculum in Saudi Arabia ASME IDETC. Data retrieved from Quacquarelli Symonds(QS).(2013) King Saud University Rankings. Data retrieved from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). (2013) King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals Rankings. Data retrieved from Sharaf.M., Alsadaawi, A.,Elmadany,M., Zahrani, S.A. & Ajbar,A. (2013). Identification of Top Competencies Required from Engineering Graduates: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia International Journal of Engineering Education Vol.29. Data retrieved from US Energy Information Administration. (2013). Saudi Arab Country Analysis Report Briefs. Data retrieved from