New Student Chapter Launches at Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus

First IMechE student chapter launched in the United Arab Emirates

The IMechE student chapter at the Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus was launched on 12^th of January 2016 with the well anticipated visit of Professor Richard Folkson, President of IMechE and Mr. Tom Owen, IMechE International Business Development Manager.

The student chapter committee members along with Academic Liaison Officer, Dr. Mehdi Nazarinia, Associate Head of School, Dr. Peter Kew and Vice principal, Professor Ammar Kaka had the opportunity to meet with Richard Folkson and Tom Owen for the official launch of the chapter. The student committee members were delighted to be able to meet the president of IMechE, to know more about his journey in IMechE and receive invaluable nuggets of wisdom!

The meeting was followed by a seminar held for all mechanical and automotive engineering students at the Heriot-Watt University. Students of all years in their engineering academic journey were treated to an inspirational speech by Richard on his personal journey as a student and his success in the industry. It was followed by a question & answer session that most students took advantage of to be able to converse on various topics from Carbon Capture, automotive advancements to renewable energies with a successful industry giant such as Richard Folkson.

Mr. Tom Owen shared about the benefits of being a member of IMechE and how one can get to the chartered engineering status of the Institution.

Richard Folkson discusses the importance of career progression and professionalism with the student chapter committee and how IMechE can support members to achieve this

Here is what some students had to say about the session with Professor Richard Folkson…

"Richard folkson's speech was illuminating, I got good insight on the world of engineering and manufacturing. But the one inspiring advice I got out of that lecture was the '4 Boeing commandments: targets drive designs, panic early, no secrets from teammates, data driven decisions' " Basim Nadeem, 3^rd year Mechanical Engineering student

"If there is one thing I took away from his talk was that learn from failures and work hard till you succeed. Another piece of advice I got from him is that hard work finally pays off. Work smartly by having some internal deadlines to complete a project on time and take things seriously. Always listen to everybody and asks everyone for their opinion in the team. Most of the tasks can be accomplished much quickly if everybody collaborates in the team." Talha Rafi, 3^rd year Mechanical Engineering Student

What inspired me about Professor Richard Folkson was his passion for engineering and his advice to both seek good qualification and experience in the field. As a first year student, despite my interest in engineering, the calculations seem to prove challenging and discouraging at times. But his visit and to hear about his story is an encouragement to keep going and remember how fun it is to be an engineer." Dami Folorunsho, 1^st year Mechanical Engineering Student

What the Heriot-Watt University Dubai Chapter has been up to…

Recently we arranged a LabVIEW workshop offered by National Instruments Middle East. The workshop explored equipment and software that is widely used in the industry. This is especially useful in collecting and managing data, but it is specifically designed to accelerate the productivity of engineers and scientists. LabVIEW is widely used in industry as a graphical programming platform to build fast and effective measurements and control systems.

Upcoming events organized by Heriot Watt University Dubai Chapter

• A visit to Wilo Pump Middle East Company is arranged for early March 2016. A group of year 3 students will visit the company to get more insight into pump industry and learn more about the latest technologies in this field.
• A demonstration seminar by DuPont Middle East on safety procedures and Personal Protective Equipment and Thermo-Man® life-sized mannequin system, an advanced thermal burn injury evaluation device.
• A workshop on ANSYS Simulation software where students can get a better overview about the product and how it is applicable in the industry (especially in the Oil and Gas Industry).