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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, haflah_2015_postRabih 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


February 2014 Dinner Seminar

Where:
Parsons Brinckerhoff
30 N. LaSalle
Suite 4200
Chicago, IL 60602
 
When:
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014
05:30 PM - 07:00 PM Central
Dinner @5:30
Cost:
Students: Free
Others: $20.00

Event Overview:

Come join ASCE YMG & AAAEA for our February dinner meeting! Kevin Bischel will be discussing High Speed Rail Project- Chicago to St.Louis project and its many facets as well as its challenges. Kevin is Deputy Program Manager at Parsons Brinkerhoff and has worked on the project the past four years.

The Illinois Department of Transportation's (IDOT) Chicago - St. Louis high speed rail (HSR) program has been under construction between Joliet, Illinois, and the East St. Louis area since late 2010. The corridor represents the nation's most advanced joint high speed (110 mph) passenger/freight corridor. Program benefits include the operation of existing Amtrak trains at speeds of up to 110 mph over much of the corridor, supporting an improvement in travel time by about one hour. The project just wrapped up construction for the 2013 season. It is planned that by the end of 2015, infrastructure improvements will be in place to support speeds of up to 110 mph on a significant portion of the corridor between Joliet and Carlinville, IL. Infrastructure improvements to support the remaining 110 mph service, and other upgrades, are expected to be in place by the end of 2017. Daily revenue operation of higher speed Amtrak passenger service between Dwight and Pontiac began on November 22, 2012 and continues today.

For Registration Information: Click Here

 

Event Contact

Hussam Alkhatib (alkhatib@pbworld.com)

Where:

Parsons Brinckerhoff
30 N. LaSalle
Suite 4200
Chicago, IL 60602  

Map

When:

Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014
05:30 PM - 07:00 PM Central
Dinner @5:30

Cost:

Students: Free
Others: $20.00

PE Review Course

Time:            6-9pm Tuesday and Thursdays
Location:            Parsons Brinckerhoff (30 North LaSalle, Suite 4200, Chicago, IL 60602)
Cost:            $545 ONLY! (Includes several sets of practice problems)
Questions/Contact:            Hussam Alkhatib (alkhatib@pbworld.com)


AAAEA & American Society of Civil Engineers, Younger Member Group (ASCE YMG) are once again offering their PE Exam Review Course for the April 11th, 2014  IL Professional Engineer Exam. Our revamped PE Review Course features live instruction as well as focused problem-solving sessions, to best prepare you for this important step in your career.  Our course has received very favorable reviews from past attendees and is the best value available for PE Exam preparation.

Click here to download the flyer for more info


Course Schedule

Day

Date

Topic

Instructor 

Tuesday

2/18/2014

Introduction to class and the exam

Dr. Soliman Khudeira, PE, SE 

Tuesday

2/25/2014

Surveying/ Construction/Economics

Dr. Soliman Khudeira, PE, SE

Thursday

2/27/2014

Surveying/ Construction/Economics

Study Group 

Tuesday

3/4/2014

Transportation

Dr. Zongzhi Li, PE

Thursday

3/6/2014

Transportation

Study Group 

Tuesday

3/11/2014

Geotechnical

Dr. Soliman Khudeira, PE, SE

Thursday

3/13/2014

Geotechnical

Study Group 

Tuesday

3/18/2014

Structural   

Dr. Soliman Khudeira, PE, SE 

Thursday

3/20/2014

Structural   

Study Group 

Tuesday

3/25/2014

Water Resources and Environmental 

Matthew Miller, PE

Thursday

3/27/2014

Water Resources and Environmental 

Study Group 

 Break Until the Exam Time

Friday

4/11/2014

PE Exam

* Dinner will be provided on study group nights. 

To Register:

Please email your name and contact info (address, email, and telephone number) to Hussam Alkhatib at alkhatib@pbworld.com

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE, PLEASE SIGN UP BEFORE February 14th.


For all other information or questions, please contact:
Hussam Alkhatib | ASCE YMG PE Exam Review Director
(312) 803-6486 | alkhatib@pbworld.com

AAAEA ACT CLASS 2014

AAAEA is very proud of the ACT program as one of the many successful programs AAAEA is offering to our members and community, and our belief in providing a solid education for our future leaders.

Course: January 4th, 2014 - March 22, 2014 (an 11 weeks course)

Registration deadline: December 21, 2013 (Instructions bellow)

Location: Universal School in Bridgeview, IL (room 211) - Time: Saturdays from 10:00 A.M to 1:00 P.M


Dear Colleagues and Community Members,

AAAEA is proudly announcing open registration for the ACT Review Classes for 2014. Students are welcome to register early for the course as classroom size is limited.

In order to facilitate the start of the ACT Review program that is set to begin on January 4, 2014 for 11 weeks; and to ensure that the students will be receiving maximum instruction time and benefit, we request that all students register as early as possible since we are limiting class size to 25 students to maximize the learning experience in the classroom. Deadline for registration is December 21st, 2013 to allow timely purchase of the study material, and give students ample time to review the material and prepare prior to arriving to the classroom in January.

Session

Date

Subject

Instructor

1

4-Jan-14

Test 1

Dr. Ahmad Hammad

2

11-Jan-14

English

Mr. Ismael El-Amin

3

18-Jan-14

Mathematics

Dr. Soliman Khudeira

4

25-Jan-14

Science

Mr. Basman Dahleh

5

1-Feb-14

Reading

Mr. Ismael El-Amin

6

8-Feb-14

Test 2

Dr. Ahmad Hammad

7

15-Feb-14

Reading

Mr. Ismael El-Amin

OFF

22-Feb-14

Engineers Week

Du Page College Engineers Week

8

1-Mar-14

Science

Mr. Basman Dahleh

9

8-Mar-14

English

Mr. Ismael El-Amin

10

15-Mar-14

Mathematics

Dr. Soliman Khudeira

11

22-Mar-14

Test 3

Dr. Ahmad Hammad

 

The classes will be held at room 211 at Universal School in Bridgeview, IL, and the time will be from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm on Saturdays. The cost will be $200 per student to cover the cost of the books, printing materials, and supplies. ($100 will be refunded to those students who attend regularly (no more than one excused absence) and show an improvement of 3 points in the overall average throughout the 3 tests)

Please mail your registration information (name, email, cell number, and check payable to AAAEA. Please include the name of the student on the check) to:

AAAEA
P.O. Box 1536
Chicago, IL 60690-1536
email: act@aaaea.org 

AAAEA 2013-2014 Chicago Executive Board Elections

AAAEA 2013-2014 Chicago Executive Board Elections

Date: Saturday MAY 11th, 2013, Time: 11:00 AM
Place: HBM Engineering Group
4415 Harrison St #231, Hillside, IL 60162.

Dear Members,
You are cordially invited to join us and to be part of a successful event for the 2013-2014 AAAEA Election.
The Annual Election Meeting will be held on Saturday May 11th, 2013 at 4415 Harrison St #231, Hillside, IL 60162.

Note-Membership must be current in order to participate in the election.

Lunch will be served.

Meeting Agenda:
11:00 Annual Reports by Officers and Chairpersons
12:30 Lunch served
1:00 Nominee Presentations
1:30 Election Event
1:45 Association Business
2:15 Announcement of new Board Members
2:30 New Board & Existing Board Meeting

All Engineers, Architects, and IT professionals are encouraged to attend and participate.
If you have any questions, please:

Call (312) 409-8560 or

email us at aaaea@aaaea.org.

Regards,
Nomination Committee


AAAEA-IL January 2013 Dinner Seminar

Topic:  “Underwater Bridge Inspection” by Nick Triandafilou P.E., S.E. and Brian Dilworth P.E.

On Wednesday January, 9, 2013, AAAEA-IL hosted a technical dinner seminar at the University of Illinois Chicago Camous. The focus of the seminar was a presentaion on “Underwater Bridge Inspecion” by Nick Triandafilou P.E., S.E., and Brian Dilworth P.E., both experienced bridge and marine structure inspectors and designers, from Collins Engineers, Inc. The presentaion emphasized how bridge inspecion is critical to maintaining our naion's infrastructure and ensuring public safety on our highway systems. The recent collapse of the I35
Bridge in Minneapolis has brought an increased focus to the importance of bridge inspecion. Inspecing the
underwater porions of bridge piers is an integral part of the bridge inspecion program as many structural and
stability related deficiencies can be hidden below water. In fact, the most common cause of bridge failures in
the United States is scour, in which the channel bottom material below a bridge pier washes away and results
in the pier becoming unstable. This presentaion discussed the methods currently being used to inspect and
monitor the underwater porions of our naion's bridges.
For informaion regarding future technical presentaions and conferences offering professional development
credit, or for individuals or companies interested in presening at one of the AAAEA events,
please contact Kevin Mesyef at educaion@aaaea.org.

Best Regards,
Kevin Mesyef
Educaion Committee Chair
AAAEA-IL


Letter from AAAEA-Chicago to our Students in Illinois

Dear Student,

Congratulations on choosing a career in engineering, architecture, or information technology.

The Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects (AAAEA) is committed to supporting you throughout your college years and beyond. AAAEA is a professional, non-profit, non-religious, and non-political organization that was established in 1996 in Chicago, IL. Our mission stems from a realization of the demand for an organization that would address the specific needs of the Arab engineering professionals and the Arab community at large. AAAEA has a track record of technical seminars, conferences, and networking events, all of which will help strengthen your professional prospects. In addition, the association has established exam review classes for the Engineer-in-Training and Professional Engineer licenses. AAAEA has a number of other social events throughout the year for the whole family to participate.

As you endeavor for excellence in your profession, you can benefit from the scholarship program offered annually by the Association. The scholarship is awarded to students based on merit and extra-curricular activities. Awardees are recognized during the annual professional meeting which is a grand gathering of members and leaders in the industry. Seventeen years and growing strong, AAAEA now has chapters and sister associations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California. In 2011, we celebrated the formation of the National Association which will give you, as a member, access to a broader professional network.

I would like to wish you success in your profession, and I would highly encourage you to take advantage of the many benefits AAAEA has to offer by becoming a member. Build your leadership skills through volunteering and serving in the different committees within your chapter. I look forward to seeing you as an active member of the association. AAAEA will help shape your professional outlook as you prepare to shape the world.

Sincerely,
Anas Alkhatib
AAAEA - IL CHAPTER


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. HaflehAn 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