Sabah Al-Salem University City & Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Provide Training for New Graduate Engineer.

“Sabah Al-Salem University City is Mega Project that Stands together with the Biggest International Projects”, Stated Areej Al Bnwan

“This University City allows the trainees to experience the real work environment”, Stated Al Semsam

In cooperation between both Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and Kuwait University Construction Program, Sabah Al-Salem University City sponsors the field training for Fresh graduate Kuwaiti Engineers for the purpose of giving them the technical skills and field competencies to ensure developing their abilities, capabilities and qualifying them to involve into the work market through the required competence.

Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development adopted in 2002 a new approach to support Kuwait Development through financing national projects of strategic importance. One of the most important programs in this regard is human resource development to satisfy the private sector work requirements. This fund started implementing this program within the engineering fields for the purpose of providing the fresh graduate Kuwaiti engineers and architects with skills, knowledge necessary for working in the private sector. Goals of this program include also ensuring networking between international companies and their Kuwaiti counterparts, which will help achieving the future administrative and technical development.

In describing this training program, Areej Al Bnwan, the trainee engineer, stated: “This training program is divided into three stages: the theoretical stage during which the selected graduates’ basic skills and knowledge are reinforced through intensive program include lectures, workshops. This stage period is three months. The scientific stage: it include recruiting the graduates in international companies outside the State of Kuwait, where they get acquainted with the new engineering approaches and acquire work experience through performing certain duties assigned to them in those companies. This stage period is six months. The third stage is the field training stage in which the graduates are recruited in national companies so as to apply the skills, experiences and knowledge they acquired in the previous two stages, through certain duties  assigned to them in these companies. This stage period is three months”.

Replying to a question about the benefit achieved from her training in Sabah Al-Salem University City Project, Eng. Al Bnwan stated: “I got good benefit in respect of Kuwait Law, contract forms, legal transactions, the government role in entering and following up projects, as well as the governmental procedures and requirements required for implementing projects”. In comparison between the project follow up in the State of Kuwait and the same in Britain, during her study of civil engineer and the Master Degree of Project Management, she revealed there is difference in the documentary process, requirements for contract completion and obtaining approvals, where this process period in Britain is shorter. She wished reviewing the documentary process size and procedural system in Kuwait to serve quick performance.

Eng. Al Bnwan Expressed admiration to commitment to safety and security rules in the project site, referring that the strict environmental, safety and health rules she studied in Britain are intensively applied in Sabah Al-Salem University City project. She would not expect such interest in the professional safety in Kuwait construction sites. Sabah Al-Salem University City project put safety as top priority and all workers in the project are being trained to know all aspects, which consolidate safe work environment, where the slogan “Safety Comes First” is strictly applied.

Eng. Al Bnwan confirmed that her participation in the meetings and discussions between the project different parties (client, project manager, consultant and contractor), helped her discovering the importance of quality assurance and its application, where safety is assured for all constructional steps before implementing them, plus testing and sampling before implementation to assure the quality and to avoid mistakes. It helps communication and helps problems solution as well as following the appropriate track of work.

Enthusiastically, She admired Sabah Al-Salem University City project considering it as a really mega project that stands together with the biggest international projects. She praised the performance of project management and their ability to provide logistic and administrative services beside the organization of this huge number of workers (about twenty thousand workers) who attend, leave, and work in a very safe environment.

Eng. Al Bnwan is looking forward to increase and encourage work between both the governmental and private sectors. She confirmed: “such type of work would be more fruitful where the private sector participates with its skills while the governmental one with its abilities, which promote the private sector and decrease the related costs”.

On the other side, Mrs. Reem Al-Smsam, the field training officer, referred: “The field training goals include opening cooperation channels between Kuwait University Construction Program and the educational authorities or any authority interested in providing training for their manpower in the field of engineering, construction or any related field.  They also include qualifying the trainees for futures involvement in work market through developing their skills and capabilities, and participation in preparing the practically trained manpower”.

“Kuwait University Construction Program always pursue helping the trainees to experience the real work environment, get acquainted with challenges and how to handle them to find the suitable solutions”, Al Smsam Added.