Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia’s Dr. Ahmed Khogeer has been elected head of the Fuels and Petrochemicals Division at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), becoming the first person from outside the United States to hold this prestigious position in AIChE’s more than 110-year history.

Dr. Khogeer has won the election to this position after stiff competition with senior professors and engineers from many prestigious universities and major energy companies around the world. He had served as the second vice president of the division in 2018 and then first vice president in 2019.

Dr. Khogeer was the first Arab Fellow of the AIChE and the youngest elected member of its Fellows Council. AIChE is the largest professional organization of chemical engineers in the world.

It was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as a profession independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. AIChE has more than 60,000 members from over 110 countries worldwide and its members include a group of the elite from the most prestigious universities, international companies, and governmental bodies, and laboratories for renewable energy. Student chapters at various universities around the world have also been established throughout its history.

Dr. Khogeer holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, and MBA, as well as a Certificate in Investment and Finance from Colorado State University, and a Master’s degree in chemical engineering from the prestigious University of Tulsa. He is registered as a professional engineer in Texas, USA, and a director of professional projects from the Project Management Institute.

Dr. Khogeer has completed 30 years of service with Saudi Aramco. He started his career working on lube & grease formulations, specifications, and production at Petromin Lubricating Oil Company, Jeddah, and was the first Saudi to specialize in breaking heavy petroleum into useful products and extended his career to other engineering departments.

He was sent from Aramco to obtain a master’s and doctorate degrees, which he obtained with first honors, and then joined an engineering team in Houston, Texas, to work on designing the YASREF refinery, which is considered as one of the most advanced in the world.

Dr. Khogeer is one of the founders of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in the Red Sea coastal town of Thuwal.

In 2009, he joined the founding team of KAUST and continued working on various projects of advanced research centers, research buildings, housing complexes, and developing the village of Thuwal.

He led teams of engineers and supports staff and was the primary responsible person for the design, construction, and commissioning of more than 30 advanced research centers and specialized research labs at the KAUST mega project as well as in the KAUST premiere security system project; Thuwal town development projects including schools, roads, full utility systems, mosques, public areas, sewage treatment plant, and heritage convention center; and construction of KAUST National Guard housing complex project. He was also responsible for the advanced research labs including state of the art equipment such as the nanofabrication labs, clean room, proteomics and genomics, and clean combustion center. He was honored with the Royal Affairs Award for exceptional participation in establishing KAUST.

His last project was the Aramco Advanced Center for Research, Development, and Artificial Intelligence at KAUST. He is a member of the Saudi Building Code Review Committee and holds membership in the councils of a number of Saudi universities.

Dr. Khogeer is from a family in Makkah that had been serving Hajj and Umrah pilgrims for decades and has served as the vice president of a Hajj private family business for over 20 years.