Join us for the AAAEA-IL 2019 Social Dinner
Dear AAAEA members and Family,
It is with great pleasure that I write to invite you to the AAAEA Social Dinner on Friday, April 26th, 2019, 6:30pm at Hickory Hills Country Club (8201 95th Street, Hickory Hills, IL 60457).
The evening will commence with reception and registration then halal dinner will be served. The event program is full of activities including $1,500 worth of raffle prizes, music and much more.
If you have further questions and suggestions to make our event brighter, please don't hesitate to contact me at mustafa@aaaea.org.
Yours sincerely,
Mustafa Alobaidi
Activity Chair Committee
RSVP:
Adult Members Register by Tuesday, April 23: $39
Adult Non-Members and Registration AFTER Tuesday, April 23: $49
Kids under 13 YO: $25
Sponsorship:
$200 Silver Level: Includes 2 seats
$400 Gold Level: Includes 4 seats (half-table)
$800 Platinum Level: Includes 10 seats (full-table)
Thank you: AAAEA-IL 22nd Annual Dinner a great success!
The Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects (AAAEA) of Illinois held its 22nd Annual Dinner with great success on Wednesday, October 3, 2018 at Drury Lane, Oak Brook. The event began with an hour of networking, followed by a welcoming message by the president of the association, Amro Kudssi, MSc. This year, 20 engineering students were awarded with AAAEA scholarships. The Service Award for 2018 went to the Chairman of the AAAEA Board of Trustees, Mr. Issam Rayyan. The dinner also featured two distinguished speakers, Elizabeth "Liz" Gorman, Executive Director, Illinois Tollway, and Omer Osman, Deputy Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). During the event, the guests watched an inspiring video by AAAEA titled "A Full Generation Has Passed By." AAAEA Illinois extends sincere thanks and appreciation to the event sponsors, guests, and volunteers who made marking our 22nd year of service a great success.
Watch a quick video recap of the event
See photos from the AAAEA-IL 22nd Annual Dinner
Watch our new documentary "A Full Generation Has Passed By"
Join us for our Summer Picnic on August 12!
Attend our Picnic at Ty Warner Park on June 24!
Join us for the AAAEA picnic on May 6!
- May 6 @ 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
- June 24 @ 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
- August 12 @ 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
- September 9 @ 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
IL Chapter 2016 Haflah
Welcome to the 2016 IL Chapter Haflah! There will be food, drinks, music, prize giveaways, and more! To purchase your tickets, please visit this link!
Tickets can be bought for $65 for members, and $85 for non-members.
Date: 22 APRIL 2016
Time: 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Location:
Belvedere Chateau
8055 W 103rd St.
Palos Hills, IL 60465United States
2015 Spring Career Networking
The career committee of the AAAEA-IL hosted its first career networking event on April 26th 2015. This event aimed to empower the undergraduate and graduate students, unemployed, or underemployed professional in their job track selection, application, interviews, and offer negotiation. Mr. Bilal Al-Masri emphasized on the importance of developing professional networks, which plays a major role in exposing qualified candidates to the right employers. Developing a network could be through student organizations and clubs, professional organizations, or technical committees. Mr. Hani Mayzouni introduced in his presentation essential points to acquire before any job application including a clear business card that describes qualifications and skills, solid and concise resume, and a 30-second introduction that provide a good idea about the candidate. He also talked about the how to establish a professional network through the community, college mates, professional and social events. After that, Mr. Mayzouni discussed the process of job application, interview, and offer negotiation. Dr. Mohsen Issa, professor of civil engineering at the university of Illinois in Chicago, discussed the benefits of graduate studies, and provides tips about managing time between work and studies, as well as how to embark the academic track with solid technical knowledge and qualifications. An open discussion was then held to answer the questions of the audience.
Khaled Hasiba
AAAEA-Chicago
Career Chair
Project Pipeline: Have Your Children Learn About Engineering
AAAEA-Chicago is pleased to support the Illinois chapter of the National Organization of 
Minority Architects (I-NOMA) in their fourth annual Project Pipeline. This collaboration is only the latest of AAAEA’s endeavors to increase involvement in diverse activities and prioritize meaningful community engagement. This follows AAAEA’s recent invitation to speak about diversity at the United States Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board “Celebrate Diversity” Event and successful implementation of the first ever Arab American Big Brother Big Sister Mentoring program.
Project Pipeline is a day camp aimed to expose Chicago 6th to 8 th graders to the design professions of architecture and engineering. This year’s program will take place from August 20th to August 23rd at the University of Chicago campus. Students will be exposed to architecture and design basics including sketching seminars, model building workshops, walking tours, and presentation of real design problems. This year’s theme is “Social Good through Design.”
AAAEA has committed itself to working closely with Arab American Family Services (AAFS) and local schools to reach out to eligible students. Enrollment continues to be successful and AAAEA encourages all interested students to sign up.
Additionally, AAAEA is seeking opportunities for engineering firms and members of AAAEA to collaborate on the project in terms of financial sponsorship or volunteering to mentor during the camp. Educating the youth on the exciting career choices they have in architecture and design is an increasingly important goal for developing future talent.
Please feel free to contact Dana Al-Qadi (dana.alqadi@aecom.com) or Khaled Hasiba (career@aaaea.org) with any questions or concerns.
2015 Annual Haflah
On March 21st AAAEA Illinois chapter hosted the 2015 Haflah at the Belvedere Chateau.The program started with opening comments from Issam Rayyan, the AAAEA-IL Activity Chair, leading to other thankful remarks by Anas Alkhatib, IL Chapter President, and Rabih Najib,National President.
Along with the presence of AAAEA presidents from neighboring chapters, 
Rabih Najib joined the Illinois Chapter at the Haflah enjoying the company of all members and nonmembers present at the event. Rabih welcomed and thanked everyone for taking their and for showing their support by buying tickets to join in the event and also asked everyone to enjoy their time by connecting with other people or by dancing with the music.
Lots of recognition was given to different student and young professional members who volunteered at different AAAEA-IL events and showed their support to the chapter. Some of the volunteers are the following:
IT Student volunteers: Abed Arnaout, Batool Al-Rifai, Faisal Abu-Jabal, Ragheed Basrawi
Engineering Week Volunteers: Hedaia Ahmad, Mohamed Esily, Mouna Abdulrazzak, Batool Al-Rifai.
Big Brother Big Sister Volunteers: Ahmad Issa, Rami Asfahani, Mustapha Al-Obaidi, Fadi Al-Shareef
Before dinner was served, everyone enjoyed a nice one round of fast Bingo that resulted in at least two people winning simple gifts. Following the bingo game (still before dinner) then multiple rounds after dinner, and during the 15mins break from dancing, lots of raffle prizes were handed away to the people present the event. At the end of the day, everyone enjoyed their time especially dancing the Dabki by music from DJ Firas. A lot of people won prizes including a 40” LCD TV from donated by Orland Advanced Dentistry Dr. Sawsan Asfour and the event was a good fun and exciting success.
- A. Rami Asfahani AAAEA-IL Membership Chair
IL 2013 Social Events
Upcoming Activities & Social Events for 2013 provided to you by AAAEA IL Activity Committee chaired by Issam Rayyan.
Dear AAAEA Members:
On behalf of the AAAEA Executive Board and as your activity committee chair, it gives me great pleasure to report that 2012 has been another successful and productive year for the organization at the local and the national level. In 2012, we have held several activities which brought AAAEA members and families together and has given everyone the opportunity to socialize and interact on a casual and professional basis in a relaxed and informal setting. Yet, 2013 will offer more activities to carry on the organization into wider horizons.
We have planned a comprehensive set of activities to offer and encourage everyone to take part in these upcoming activities among family members and professional associates. The intent of the activities is to attract as much as possible of the members. This is your organization and participation is always our full priority and objective. We are always open to suggestions for more activities and we will always listen and act so that our members get the full benefits out of the organization. We are always a phone call away and we welcome your ideas and suggestions.
Our 2013 upcoming activities include:
1. Hafleh: An evening of music, food, fun and surprises packaged as a formal “Hafleh” to be held on Saturday evening, March 23, 2013.
2. Picnics A total of 4 picnics to celebrate the warm summer of Illinois on 6/15/2013 (and welcome summer 2013), on 7/6/2013 (to celebrate Independence Day), on 8/17/2013 (to bid farewell to summer 2013) and on 9/1/2013 (to celebrate all our hard workers on Labor Day). These picnics provide families quality time to enjoy their time among their friends and colleagues and simply to make new friends.
3. Camping An interesting and unique camping experience in Wisconsin, tentatively scheduled for June 7, 2013. Details are still being worked out but we promise a fantastic time to all participants.
4. Semi-Annual Meeting at Drury Lane scheduled for November 7, 2013 promises a successful professional gathering and an opportunity to network.
For full list of 2013 Activities Click here
We are grateful to your continued participation and support of our organization and we all look forward to a prosperous year.
Sincerely,
Issam Rayyan
Chair, AAAEA IL Activities Committee