Saudi Aramco Hails Workers' WorldSkills Participation
Two employees from the company competed at the Leipzig event in July, one in electrical installations and the other in aircraft maintenance.
Saudi Aramco sent its first two competitors to the biennial WorldSkills competition in July 2013, which is open to competitors up to age 22 and was held in Leigzig, Germany, this time. The event drew more than 1,000 competitors from 52 member countries or regions, and German Chancellor Angela merkel spoke at it, according to the energy company's Aug. 1 news release.
Yahya Alyahyawi, an apprentice in Saudi Aramco's electrical installations from Training & Development, and Sharif Albusayyis, an Aviation Department employee, were the two competitors entered. They were chosen not just on technical ability but also for their ability to endure a stressful international competition.
WorldSkills 2015, the next competition, will be held in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The company's news release said it hopes to enter more competitors in 2015 because the competition encourages apprentices to hone and demonstrate their talents "and it also shows that apprenticeships are leading the way in ensuring that Saudi Aramco has the skills needed in our job market."
The Saudi Aramco team's organizers included Dr. Nasr-Eddine Behilil, team leader; Dr. Andrew W. Batchelor, assistant team leader; Rehman Akhtar, return reception event coordinator; Abdelgayoum H. Elnour, TVTC coordinator; Fatima H. Binsaad, administrative assistant; Mulla M. Omar, aviation coordinator; Paul C. Burgess, wellness expert; Juergen Venzke, motivation expert; Julian P. Harris, Louis J. De Meo, and Rami F. Mustafa, acculturation experts; Amjad A. Hashem and Ali Khalaf, electrical installations experts; and Ibrahim A. Abaakhail, aircraft maintenance expert.