Jamal Al-Foudari loves teaching, motivates students
Aviation training manager approachable
This is the second and the last article on Jamal Al Foudari, a brilliant Kuwaiti Aeronautical Engineer, Aircraft Maintenance Expert at the Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) till December 2012. Presently Aviation Training Manager at the Australian College of Kuwait. — Editor
In mid December Jamal left Kuwait with a group of Indians who made all the arrangements for him to be with them; though he was instructed not to say a word he felt a growing apprehension every time the bus was stopped at a road-block; on reaching Baghdad he felt panicking when he saw all the other buses leaving except his. Though one of his companions was in charge of speaking for the whole group if any questions were asked, he was still in fear of being asked a question and it would be revealed he was an Arab. Even on reaching Jordan he felt very uneasy; he only felt relieved when the plane entered the Indian airspace and landed at Mumbai. Upon his arrival he contacted the Kuwaiti Embassy presenting his passport, which he had hidden in a place no one could suspect; then taking the first plane to Abu Dhabi he was surprised to see his father waiting for him when he landed.
For the first time the old gentleman couldn’t hide his emotions, at the same time he reproached Jamal for not listening to him and leave the country when he told him to. After meeting his father Jamal was expecting to see his mother in Saudi Arabia, he felt cheated when she didn’t come. Obviously she never had the intention of leaving the country and that made him to feel a fool and guilty for being abroad at the time his family needed him because the Gulf war was well underway and he was worried for his people safety. When the liberation of Kuwait was announced he felt glad but could never feel that kind of happiness and exhilaration he would had felt if in that glorious moment he were inside his country!
Gathering
After the liberation Jamal and his father were among the first Kuwaitis allowed to enter the country; traveling by car the moment they set foot in their homeland they were appalled by the destruction they saw everywhere. The whole landscape was strangely unfamiliar: the heavy strata of smoke rising from the burning oilfield hanging between earth and sky was blotting the sun turning day into twilight. At their arrival in Bayan when they found no one of the family in the house his father became very apprehensive, Jamal could sense his state of mind and the suffering he was going through; but then he remembered it was Friday and as usual the family would be gathering at his grandparents house, so they drove there. The rejoicing of family reunion was overwhelming even for his father who at last could put his heart at peace. As for Jamal he finally felt Kuwait was free when in reaching home he could walk through his district and experience that tangible feeling of belonging he had been missing for so long.
At the time of their arrival the whole country was in deplorable conditions: the entire infrastructure of civil life was destroyed, much needed to be done; the production of water and electricity had barely began; most of the land mines had also been cleared away but some were still lurking throughout the desert awaiting to claim new victims. At the burning oil-field teams of engineers and experts were trying hard to tackle the problem; in town teams of young volunteers were clearing the mess especially in schools for the scholastic year to open on schedule. Jamal enthusiastically joined in the effort, leaving Kuwait at the head of a team of Kuwaiti engineers to bring back in operation the Kuwait Airways at the GAMCO facilities in Abu Dhabi. He was then an A/C Maintenance Engineer in both line and Aircraft Heavy Maintenance. Subsequently he headed the KAC engineering team in FLS Standsted-England, and then he was sent to the Airbus Industries Training Center of Toulouse, France for special training courses in Maintenance, Economic and Reliability Control Programs and became a member of the Follow up team at the Air Bus Facilities in Toulouse.
Always eager to expand his knowledge and expertise in his field in 2006 Jamal went to Boston, USA for courses in Business Analysis at the Boston University, he also underwent the MaxiMerlin Super User training program from the SABRE training center in Dallas. At his return to the Boston University in 2007, he engaged in the Business Process Management Professional program, to widen and enhance his experience in evaluating projects opportunities and preparing feasibility studies for the benefit of financing such opportunities.
With the professional experience he gained in the USA Jamal set the implementation of plans for upgrading the KAC’s legacy system (Maxi -Merlin ) and set up training plan for the system users. He also wrote a Heavy Maintenance training Manual for Maxi-Merlin users and conducted user training courses.
Improve
In everything he does Jamal gives 100% of himself, while seeking to improve his performance through gaining more knowledge and experience. While working in close cooperation with the programmer to monitor the system functionality he was training and supporting system users and auditing the system usage.
To Jamal’s credit is the modification and customization of the KAC’s legacy system, the Work Card System, the Pro- duction control system, the Maintenance activity and control history.
During the 33 years Jamal worked at the KAC he was a Legacy System Instructor, a Bar Code Team Leader, an Airbus Online Service Administrator, an on Line Documentation Team leader and he designed, developed and hosted the KAC’s engineering Web portal. He also participated in training and instructing activities and worked with student teams from the Kuwait University – Industrial Engineering, and with students from the Australian College of Kuwait – Aviation program to fulfill their on-job training requirements.
He also supervised on junior aircraft maintenance engineers providing them with in-depth training to produce topquality teams.
During the last period of the 33 years Jamal worked at the KAC he set-up a Maintenance and Engineering support group office he himself headed, in order to update all aircraft and component activities, to monitor and track all functions and to provide all necessary reports, especially Aircraft and components maintenance cost reports.
To turn the KAC engineering from a cost center to a profit center he wrote the KAC’s engineering requirements for a new MIS system and carried out studies to replace the Maxi Merlin with the Latest MRO solutions available in the market.
Jamal thrives on challenge, when the KAC became too uneventful and unchallenging for him; he retired and applied for a job as an instructor at the Australian College of Kuwait Aviation. In December 2012 Jamal left the Kuwait Airways for his new job.
Jamal soon discovered he loved teaching; he loved working with students, to motivate them and bring the best out of them and gain their confidence and cooperation through mutual respect and understanding, while providing them with in -depth training to create a top quality team.
So successful he was as an Instructor that he was soon upgraded to evaluate staff performance, and finally he was promoted to be the Manager of the whole department. Jamal’s affable nature combined to his social skill soon gained him the love and respect of everyone. He started his managerial responsibility with altering some rules and regulations using his expertise in strategic planning and problem solving to create a good working team atmosphere.
After meeting with his staffs he discusses every points with the students to get their opinion and only will pass a resolution or come to a compromise that satisfies them and he gains their full cooperation. He also created a Student Council and encouraged every class to chose one student among them to voice their complaint or suggestion which will be studied with his staff. The result of the meeting is then discussed with the students to reach a solution that satisfies every party. To make everyone feel at ease he created an atmosphere of conviviality when at coffee-break his office becomes the gathering of students and instructors all discussing over a cup of coffee what needs to be done in solving a problem or a situation and reach a solution that satisfies everyone.
By such a policy Jamal not only could gain the full cooperation and respect of both his students and their instructors, he also could create the top working team he has been aiming to achieve.
Concluded