ASME President Honored by Egyptian Engineering Society

(Left to right) Bahaa El-Badry, a student member from the ASME Egypt Section; Moustafa Chaaban, ASME Fellow and former president of ESME; section member Khalid Shalan; ASME President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb, Tarek Hatem, interim chair of the Egypt Section; and Maher Younan, ASME Fellow and professor and chair of mechanical engineering department at the American University in Cairo.

Earlier this month, the Egyptian Society of Mechanical Engineering (ESME) honored ASME President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb at the organization's board meeting, which was held in cooperation with the ASME Egypt Section.

Approximately 120 people, including members of ESME, the ASME Egypt Section and a number of engineering students from nearby universities, attended the meeting on Jan. 5 at the ESME headquarters in Cairo. ESME and the ASME Egypt Section called the meeting to honor Kotb, who was visiting her homeland on vacation for the holidays, as the first ASME president of Arab descent and only the fourth female leader of the Society since its inception in 1880.

Among those attending the meeting, were Moustafa Chaaban, former president of ESME, Tarek Hatem, assistant professor at the British University in Egypt and current interim chair of the ASME Egypt section, and Maher Younan, professor and chair of mechanical engineering department at the American University in Cairo.

During her remarks, President Kotb discussed her experiences during her long and distinguished career, which began as a student at the American University in Cairo and led to her current position as head of the Pressure Vessels Technical Services Division for Regie du batiment du Quebec. Kotb also spoke on the importance of encouraging young women to pursue careers in engineering, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, and ASME's role in addressing future engineering challenges in Egypt and throughout the world.

ASME President Madiha Kotb (third from left) with several students and early career engineers from Egypt who attended the meeting: (left to right) Abdel-Aty Saeed, Ola Hamada, Nadia Salman, Ahmad Esmat and Khalid Shalan.

Following Kotb's speech, the boards of ESME and the ASME Egypt section held a joint meeting, which President Kotb attended. The boards discussed potential areas of collaboration between the two societies.

During the joint meeting, the ASME Egypt Section also announced its plan to establish an award named after Kotb recognizing female engineering professionals in the Middle East and Africa. With the award, which will be given to early career ASME members in Egypt, the section hopes to encourage more women to become involved in both ASME and their local communities.