ESME Annual Conference Successfully Accomplished

The Country Needs More Energetic and Creative Engineers - HE Tadesse Haile

The 15th ESME Annual Conference which took place at Churchill Hotel on 31 October 2010, is successfully

accomplished.

HE Ato. Tadesse Haile

Opening the Panal Discussion

We Should Take Action in Designing Concrete Objectives- Dr. Abiy Awoke

On the Occasion of the conference His Excellency Ato Tadesse

Haile, State Minister of Ministry of Industry made an opening

speech. In his speech the State Minister emphasized that the

country needs more energetic and creative mechanical

engineers who could contribute a lot to the development of the

industry sector. He also said that the Government is doing its

level best in creating conducive situation for the development

of the industry.

In this regard, said Ato Tadesse, good example could be

mentioned such as the upgrading of the Metal Development

Center to Institute level and the establishment of the Metal and

Engineering Corporation. He pointed out that transfer of

technology was necessary for sustained economic development

and that this can be obtained through the development of one’s

design and engineering capacity.

(Continued on page 3)

ESME president Dr. Abiy Awoke

Welcoming participants

As the Conference had two major sessions, the

BUSINESS SESSION and TECHNICAL SESSION,

the Society’s President Dr. Abiy Awoke, welcomed

the participants and made the opening speech of

the Business Session.

In his speech, Dr. Abiy stressed the need to prepare

a strategic plan so as to effectively achieve the

Society’s objectives. He briefed the Conference

participants on the status of the Strategic Plan

under preparation and urged Society members to

actively participate in its formulation so as to reach

consensus on its objectives and realign them with

the country’s current situation especially in regards

to the industry sector.

(Continued on page 3)

The Ethiopian Society of Mechanical Engineers (ESME) has recently held its 15th Annual Conference on 31

October 2010.

Both the Business and the Technical Session have served as a forum to evaluate the performance of the

society and to use the panel discussion as an opportunity to get insight on the theme of the Conference

which is “Mechanical Engineering Design and Manufacturing in Ethiopia.”

The journal published by ESME is of paramount importance in promoting the theme of the Conference.

The assessment of the journal writers which addressed different topics could be a valuable input for

professionals who have joined the field recently and also a way to find a solution in alleviating the

problems encountered.

In general the Conference has proven to be very educative and informative and ESME can use this

opportunity as a springboard to accomplish its next task.

Handy Tips

What Does the New Engineer Need to Know?

So many things to know could be the need of a new engineer.

But for today, we will-tip you what you need in relation to- work.

. However menial and trivial your early assignments may appear, give them your best efforts.

. Demonstrate your ability to get things done.

. Develop a “Let’s go see.” attitude.

. Don’t be timid-Speak up-express yourself and promote your ideas.

. Strive for conciseness and clarity in oral or written reports; be extremely careful of the accuracy of

your statements.

Source: - What the Beginner Needs to Learn at Once.

By W.J.King and James G.Sakoon

-Mechanical Engineering, Volume 132/No.10

October 2010.

- Editorial Board ESME Focus

- Publication Council Chairman – Michael Sahlu

- Publication Council Member – Ephrem Tamene

- Publication Council Member – Tomas Deress

- Editor-in-Chief – Sissay Aseffie

- Graphics – Sisay Alemayehu

-

-

In this issue News – 1-3 Editorial - 2 Handy Tips - 2 Guest View – 4-5

Profile of Ethiopian Companies – 6-7

ESME Conference in pictures - 8

ESME shall not be responsible for statements or opinion advanced in papers or printed in its publication.

Editorial Correspondence to: P. O. Box 17626, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Tel. 251-550 60 60 Fax 251-550 60 06

E-mail: esme@ethionet.et www.esme.org.et

The Country Needs…

He stressed the need for a breakthrough in mentality, in mind-set. His Excellency noted that Engineering

Design & Manufacturing was indeed a theme that is timely in view of the Growth & Transformation

Policy of the Country. He concluded by saying that a joint forum will be created in the near future and

that the Society can count on the Government’s and in particular the Ministry of Industry ‘s support in

activities related to the development of the manufacturing sector.

We Should Take Action… (Continued from page 1)

He also emphasized that the Society should take action in designing concrete objectives and the plans

drafted annually should serve as a tool to bring change in the country’s development.

Dr. Abiy finally expressed his hope that the preparation and implementation of the strategic plan will

enable the Society to reach high level and called upon all members to participate in taking major tasks

voluntarily.

FY 2002 Performance Report and FY2003 Plan, the Auditors’ Report, Strategic Plan Study status briefing

and Election and Replacement of Board Members were the major activities of the ESME Business Session.

In this session discussion and approval of reports were held.

During the Technical Session, the major activities were the opening speech by the Guest of Honor and the

Panel Discussion that covered the whole afternoon. The theme of the Panel Discussion was “Mechanical

Engineering Design and Manufacturing in Ethiopia”. The topics of the papers presented by the panelists

were:- “Metal and Engineering Corporation” by Colonel Assegid Tadesse. “Promoting Manufacturing

Industries to Accelerate Economic Growth and Reduce Volatility in Ethiopia” by Ato Naod Mekonnen

and Fitsum Zewdu. “Design, development and fabrication of traditional enjera baking machine” By

Solomon Mulugeta and Balewgize Amare. Tsemex, the Diamond sponsor also presented about its Water

Tanks.

ESME has also published a journal on the occasion of the 15th Conference which contains five different

topics related to the theme “Mechanical Engineering Design and Manufacturing in Ethiopia”. The papers

are:-

“Design, Local Manufacturing and Testing Laboratory Rings for Regular Use in Ethiopia”. By Dr. A.

Venkata Ramayya.

“Clustering of Small Scale Metal Working Industries (Case study on Towns of Oromia Special

Zone).” By Dr. Ing. Daniel Kitaw, Gulelat Gatew and Dagne Birhanu.

“The Effect of Tapers, Apertures and Ribs on the Stiffness of Machine Tool Column Using Finit

Element Method.” By Migbar Aseffa.

“A case Study on Forging Die Design Standardization with and Application to Hand Tool

Manufacturing.” By Ramaprasad. H.

“Design Patterns and design Space Concepts in Modeling Simulation and Visualization of

Mechanical and Thermal Systems” By Dr. SP Chary, Dr. Solomon T/Mariam and Aseffa Ayalew.

Meeting held on Strategic Plan Preparation ESME held its 2nd round meeting on Saturday December 11, 2010 at the A.A. Institute of Technology

auditorium, to brief members on the findings of the Stakeholder Analysis Study and brain storm on

benchmarking and strategic issues. Dr. Abiy Awoke, ESME’s President chaired the meeting. During

the meeting, Ato. Demirew Getachew of the Ethiopian Economic Association contributed a lot.

It is to be recalled that the strategic plan was discussed during the 15th Annual Conference.

(Continued from page…1)

I sincerely believe Mechanical Engineers Can Make a Difference! Dr. Ing. Daniel Kitaw

In this issue, we have invited Dr. Ing. Daniel Kitaw as our guest. Born on 21 December 1955 at Debre

Berhan, Dr. Ing. Daniel Kitaw is an Industrial Engineer by profession. As a son of a civil servant, he first

attended religious school “Kes Timihrt Bet” at Debre Sina. He attended elementary school (Grade 1- 4) at

Debre Berhan, grade 5-8 at Shamboo, Welega and his high school (grade 9-12) at General Winget

Boarding School.

Dr. Ingineer Daniel obtained his BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Addis Ababa University, with

distinction; his MSc. and PhD. in Industrial Engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy. He has also

obtained advanced certificate in informatics from Trinity College Dublin, Diploma in Theology, from IEC

Bible College, and Masters of Arts in Biblical and Theological studies, from the Ethiopian Graduate

School of Theology.

He has served at different capacities and programs at Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar and Mekelle University, at

the Ethiopian Airlines and at the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy.

His experience both in Ethiopia & abroad in organizing seminars, workshops, trainings and in

consultancy and founding company are worth mentioning among other things.

He has over 30 publications including a textbook on “Industrial Management and Engineering Economy;

an Introduction to Industrial Engineering” for undergraduate, and postgraduate students. At present, Dr.

Daniel works as an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at AAU and is

owner and General Manager of NECAT Engineering College.

Dr. Ing. Daniel speaks English and Italian fluently in addition to his native language Amharic. ESME

Focus has interviewed Dr. Ing. Daniel. Excerpts:

Dr. Ing. Daniel Kitaw

ESME Focus:- To what extent is the field, Mechanical Engineering, used in Ethiopia, especially

in utilizing the knowledge and experience of the professionals?

Dr.-Ing. Daniel:- I would like to start by looking at ourselves, we, the professionals. Bluntly speaking,

we haven’t done what we ought to perform, we didn’t use our potential although I

fully understand the stumbling blocks we are facing whenever we venture to do

new things. For instance, the horse cart I knew as a child and that I see now on the

streets outside Addis is the same horse cart without any adaptation & modification.

We control the cart in a traditional way, what we call “liguam”. If it rains while we

are on the cart, we cannot protect ourselves from the rain for nothing has been added

to the cart. We should have done some creative thing on this. We bake enjera always

in a round shape but nowadays we roll it and cut it before it is served and it is no

more served in full circle as it used to be. We can have rectangular shapes instead of

always round. We can help the farmers by improving their farming tool. I sincerely

believe mechanical engineers can use their creativity and make a

difference. It is our duty to improve such things. But we haven’t exerted the effort

they disserved so far.

We always blame others and try to make ourselves neutral. So, we need to improve

our creativity. We need to develop new ways of doing things. For this, we need

to have attitude change, a change of mind set, a paradigm shift. We have to think big

and I think the government’s ambitious Growth and Transformation five-year plan

could be a good example of thinking big.

ESME Focus - What problems have Ethiopian Mechanical Engineers encountered in using

their skill?

Dr.-Ing. Daniel: - One major problem is the loan policy of our banks. You can have excellent idea,

but you cannot get loan without adequate collateral because of the policy problem. In

my opinion, it shouldn’t be only against collateral that you get a loan from a bank.

The project idea should justify for a loan in many cases. I wonder if we can think of

having ideas, like establishing an incubating center for bright ideas and if this center

is authorized to get a loan from the bank, then, many professionals in the field can be

encouraged to utilize their knowledge and experience and their bright ideas realized.

ESME Focus- Do you mean that this is the reason that is hindering professionals to

utilize their skills?

Dr.-Ing. Daniel: - Absolutely NOT! Of course, this is a major problem. But this shouldn’t be a

lame excuse for us not to do what we ought to do. Shortage of money could not be the

only reason. The problem some of us have is, we don’t mostly do things in an

organized or integrated way. We have to think of other means how, when and where

to use our skill. We have to unleash the potential we have.

If you allow me, let me tell you my experience with NECAT Engineering College. I

rented the place where NECAT is built now from my partner. My friends and I

bought a few materials and borrowed some of them. We needed other important

materials but we couldn’t afford them. Then, we assessed a place where old materials

were thrown and not used. Finally, we discovered there were some old materials

(engines, gearboxes, transmissions & components) already thrown away and

considered as out of use at the Ministry of Health. I boldly asked the then Minster HE.

Dr. Adanech, to allow me to take these materials. Although we knew it was unusable

for the Ministry, for us it was a great help to get these materials and the Minster

kindly & generously allowed me to take. My colleagues at NECAT Engineering

College and I carried the materials and brought them to our compound. We sectioned

and maintained these materials and made some useful teaching materials out of them.

The registration fee we collected from our first batch of students also helped us to

start teaching the courses at our private engineering college. After all these ups and

downs, now, NECAT Engineering College, which I am serving as owner and General

Manager, is one of the best private colleges in the fields of Auto mechanics,

Electronics and Electrical, General Mechanics, Construction and Surveying. I

mentioned this just to stress the importance of hard work, creativity and diligence in

our work so that blaming other parties or pointing finger to others could not be the

only solution. We have to do our homework.

ESME Focus - Anything to add?

Dr.-Ing. Daniel: - I would like to mention three things. The first point is that we have to understand

the advantage of a “Delayed Reward”. Some people, especially the youth may be

eager to get everything at once and now. You need to work hard, get the experience,

avoid desperation and be visionary. If you do these things with strong commitment,

(continues on page 7)…

SIGMA Electric PLC: - Recognized as the second most successful in Sub – Saharan Africa!

In this issue of EMSE, we have presented you the profile of SIGMA Electronics which has become one of

the pioneers in the field in Ethiopia.

SIGMA Electric PLC is a multi-disciplinary Electro-Mechanical Engineering company established

according to the 1960 Commercial Code of Ethiopia.

Initially, the company was established in 1993 under the sole proprietorship of two electro-technical

professionals. Encouraged by the vast opportunity created in the construction and services sector due to

the fast growth the country was going through, the proprietorship was restructured and instituted into a

broad based private limited company in July 1999 , what is now called SIGMA Electric PLC.

Since then, SIGMA Electric PLC has gone through a tremendous change both qualitatively and

quantitatively to become one of the best electromechanical companies in the country. Currently, the

company has grown to employ 150 workers on permanent basis and 185 workers on temporary basis

and its annual revenue has reached 30 Million ETB.

Within this short time, it has also evolved from a motor winding company to a company which

undertakes complex multi-million Birr projects in the power, telecommunication and industrial

sectors.

The company’s vision is: “ To be a leader in the electromechanical business in Ethiopia and a player

in the COMESA region by meeting World Class Standards”.

Its Mission Statement tells about its purpose which says that: Sigma Electric is a private limited

company engaged in design, manufacturing, supply, and installation/erection and commissioning of

electromechanical equipment, plant, systems and turnkey projects and also in electromechanical

services and trading activities.

The PLC was established with a registered and paid up capital of KETB 280 and is presently

upgraded to a paid up capital of Birr 7,000,000.00 (seven million Birr).

Regarding Business Licenses: SIGMA Electric PLC holds business licenses for: Electromechanical

Contractor and Electromechanical Services Grade V, Import, Foreign Trade Auxiliary (Commission

Agency), General Civil Construction License Class GCVII.

SIGMA Electric PLC has acquired ISO 9001:2008 certificate from ISOQAR of UK in October 2008.

In addition to this, SIGMA believes that the safety of its employees is of paramount importance, and

therefore has prepared a Health and Safety Policy Manual and appointed a Safety Officer. Both

management and staff have the responsibility and obligation to comply with the Health and Safety

Policy and to adhere to the implementation of this safety policy in the workplace.

SIGMA Electric PLC is a founding member of Ethiopian Electrical Professional Contractors

Association, and a member of Ethiopian Society of Electrical Engineers, Ethiopian Society of Mechanical

Engineers, and Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce.

SIGMA is not limited only to doing its professional activities. It is also engaged in social activities.

Its Future Strategic Plan includes among others: to construct multipurpose mechanical & electrical manufacturing and services workshop on acquired

5147 sq. meter plot and, to become a turn key contractor in Power Systems Projects by

developing its design and sourcing capability, to enter into the international market.

to become a major Supply Company for electro-mechanical products, equipment and systems, and

to establish a specialized training institute in electro-mechanical sector, and a high-tech electrical

testing laboratory.

SIGMA has structured its business areas along the industry (customer) line which are Power &

Communication System Services, Industrial Services, and Commercial Services.

Power System Services Industrial Service Telecommunication Services

SIGMA Electric PLC, has been nominated for the internationally renown Legatum Africa Award for

successful entrepreneurship and is awarded 50,000US Dollars, recognized as the second most successful

in Ssub-Saharan Africa.

SIGMA is competing to participate in the dam works to be constructed in South Africa and Kenya. This

is good news which makes both the SIGMA and ESME Proud.

Guest View (continued from page 5)

then, no doubt that you will bear your fruit and be rewarded later on. So, one should

be very courageous to get a delayed reward.

The second important point is, it is absolutely necessary to strengthen Industry -

University linkage. This helps to have the opportunity to assist the industries in

upgrading their output and on the other hand university students can gain practical

expereince. I am fully convinced, more than ever, that a strong triple helix

(government, universities & industries) fusion is a necessary requirement and the

foundation upon which we can develop our nation.

The third point is, the understanding of the reality that generation comes & goes.

The same is true for governments they come & go. What we have to think is how to

build a strong and prosperous nation. Whether the coming generation is strong or not,

it will take over our role. To have a strong, young and responsible generation, we must

work for our long term national interest. Especially these days, with the Growth and

Transformation Plan, I think, it would be wise to use the opportunity by customizing

the plan to our profession–that is Mechanical Engineering.

Focus – Thank you for sharing your experience.

Dr.-Ing. Daniel: - I also thank you for having me.