I was born raised and educated in Saudi Arabia. I hold a bachelor degree in Engineering awarded by the King Faisal University (since re-named Dammam University) and majored in Landscape Architecture. I am the son of the founder and CEO of a substantial enterprise in Saudi Arabia involved in transportation, construction and industrial maintenance. My goal is to prepare myself to take a prominent role in the management of the company and to assist in the significant expansion of its activities and, ultimately, to lead the company.
I believe that the program will provide the skills and knowledge that will enable me to add immediate and considerable value to the management of the company’s operations. It is also my hope to pass on the skills and knowledge that I shall acquire to other managers in Saudi Arabia within and outside our own company and so to add to the nation’s ‘skills bank’ and assist in the further development of the national economy.
I was encouraged to take an interest in my father’s business activities since childhood when I would visit the company’s offices and projects and be tutored by my father and his managers in basic business matters. I worked in the business in my vacations and took up a part time role in the last year of my undergraduate career. I rotated between all the departments in the company: Human Resources; Public Relations; Finance; Procurement; Stores; Transportation; Maintenance and Engineering and then took up a role as a Trainee Field Engineer and moved onto a Project Manager role.
I draw enormous satisfaction from converting concepts into reality. I have considerable experience of working within effective teams in order to bring such changes about and have been the member of several award winning student teams for a variety of complex projects as detailed on my CV. I recognize that successful team building and maintenance is an absolute requirement in SE. I am fascinated by this subject and would be very interested in assisting in research related to successful team building, maintenance and dynamics, if the opportunity arises.
Since graduating I have successfully introduced some innovations in the company which have provided positive returns in the areas of administration, communications and operations. For instance, I designed and implemented an improved ‘tracking system’ for our trucks so that they could be more efficiently employed and this provided immediate returns to the company. I was also involved in reorganizing our largest branch in order to successfully streamline its operations.
I have carefully considered the best way to equip myself to take up a leading role in the company and have concluded that a Master’s degree in SE would be the optimum educational route. I successfully applied for a full scholarship from my government which supports my view of the value of this qualification in my circumstances. Having made the decision to pursue the MS in SE, I carefully researched the available programs. The XXU curriculum is of particular interest because of the emphasis on ‘Lean Thinking’ which will be immediately applicable in my work and also the breadth of both required and elective courses. I am particularly interested in the opportunity to undertake substantial work on Case Studies. I am also attracted to studying in the dynamic and multi-cultural environment of Los Angeles.
I am greatly enjoying my time in the US and am happily adjusting to a new culture and environment with my wife and child. I am very widely travelled and have visited 19 countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. This exposure to different cultures has been highly interesting and educative. I have taken every opportunity to study local business environments and have learned much in this way that has added to my store of knowledge. I look forward to meeting people of a wide variety of cultural, social and professional backgrounds in the program and to working cooperatively and socializing with them. I am a founder member of the Saudi Club in my town of residence, Irvine, and am in charge of cultural activities undertaken by the club.
I am aware that there will be many, well qualified applicants for the program. However I do regard myself as an exceptional candidate. I have demonstrated diligence, intelligence and very enthusiastic involvement in my undergraduate academic career; I have proven ability in working on complex projects; I have had exposure to the main departments of a group involved in several areas of commerce; I also believe that my experience and background will enable me to ‘add value’ to my class in the program. But my main recommendation is that I am genuinely and passionately interested in extending my knowledge and skills within the program and to applying and sharing them for the benefit of my company and my country.