About Zuhair

Dr. Fayez was born in Jeddah in 1945.

After receiving his early education in the Kingdom he travelled to the USA to pursue his higher studies. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture (BARCH) (1970), Bachelor Degree (BSC) in Engineering (1970) and Master’s degrees in Urban Design (MARCH) (1971) from the University Of Colorado (CU), USA.

He also pursued his Doctoral degree at the University of Michigan, emphasizing his research on housing for developed countries; targeting a methodology by using Time-Space analysis and using Saudi Arabia as a case study. In April 2010, CU’s Board of Regents conferred on Dr. Zuhair H. Fayez the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa at CU-Boulder.

Dr. Fayez, Chairman, Board of Directors of Zuhair Fayez Partnership, established his Architectural and Engineering consultancy in Saudi Arabia in 1975, on his return from his studies and initial professional experience in the United States. It now ranks with the most eminent consultancies in the world, and has offices in Jeddah, Riyadh, Al-Khobar & Cairo. It is currently licensed by the Ministry of Commerce for the practice of Architecture, Engineering & Information Technology throughout Saudi Arabia. ZFP was the first in the Middle East in its field of A&E, IT Consultancy firm to receive the ISO9001 & Tick-IT Certificate.

Dr. Fayez was recognized by the government for his achievements and contribution to the profession & society and was appointed to the membership of the 1st Session of Consultative Council of Saudi Arabia (Shoura Council, the Legislative arm of the Government - similar to the US Senate) in 1993 for a four year term. Also, he was member of the Provincial Council Makkah Region for 4-year duration (2005 – 2009).

Since 2010, Dr. Fayez has concentrated his efforts in establishing companies that specialized in the fields of infotainment, edutainment, entertainment, training, education through extremely advanced technologies - hardware, software and content development of virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, etc. that resulted in founding several new companies in these fields such as Barajoun Entertainment FZ-LLC, the first CGI studios in the MENA region and resulted in producing several animated full feature films.

Dr. Fayez founded also Midwam Edutainment Limited Company, a company that specializes in education using Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR) and Alif Baa International Systems for Education & Entertainment, a company that invests into entertainment venues using primary VR and AR.

Dr. Fayez is:

• Founding member and Chairman, Board of Trustees, of Dar Al-Hekma University for Girls in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Founding Member of Dar Al-Fikr Schools, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Trustee at the University of Colorado Foundation.
• Member of CU Boulder Chancellor’s Global Ambassadors Council
• Member of the New Advisory Board, College of Architecture & Planning, University of Colorado, USA.
• Founding Member of Fazlur Rahman Khan Chair, Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA
• Board Member, Jeddah Holding Company for Development, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Member, Saudi Council of Engineers, Saudi Arabia.
• Member, U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Fayez was:

• Member, Board of Directors of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry (JCCI), Saudi Arabia for four years (2001-2005).
• Director on the Board of Dar Al-Fikr Schools, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• Member of the Advisory Committee for the Faculty of Environmental Design, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia & for the environment design college at King Fahd University
• Member of the Global Advancement Council, Lehigh University, USA.

Dr. Fayez holds several professional memberships, such as:

Al-Omran Society, CTBUH, AIA, CSI, NFPA & others.

Education

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (1974) Seattle University, Washington, USA

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (1975) University of Washington

Thesis: "The Behavior of Composite Shear Connections With and Without Ribbed Metal Deck"

Work Experience

After acquiring his Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington in 1975, Mr. Abdullah Al-Saady Joined the Zuhair Fayez Partnership in 1976 as a Structural Engineer. After a series of successive promotions he was appointed Executive Vice President in 1987, the position he currently holds. As Executive Vice President, Mr. Al-Saady reports directly to the President regarding all pertinent issues affecting the organization and implements policy directed by the President.

As a Structural Engineer in 1976 he was involved in reorganizing the Structural Department enabling structural design within the firm to be implemented taking advantage of state of the art computer facilities "in house". Mr. Alsaady was then appointed Chief Structural Engineer for a wide variety of projects within the company, ranging from office and commercial buildings to housing and private residences. Later on as a Field Engineer he also gained wide knowledge and experience of construction supervision and construction methods.

In 1978 Mr. Al-Saady was made General Manager of ZFP. Since his appointment as Director General on October 1st 1980, Mr. Al-Saady has held overall responsibility for the executive, financial and administrative functions of the organization, seeing ZFP through a period of rapid expansion and considerable achievement.

His responsibilities mainly comprise the implementing of company policy to achieve long term business goals and objectives and ensuring adherence by the organization to these objectives by directing, guiding and coordinating the general functioning of the company. This is achieved by frequently reviewing progress with relevant members of the organization and by issuing executive decisions on finance and policy to maintain the firm’s progress towards pre-determined business objectives. Mr. Al Saady also represents the firm in its dealings with outside bodies and clients, negotiating terms and conditions of contracts and maintaining required liaison and coordination with the relevant clients and client representatives as well as general public relations. Other executive responsibilities include directing and coordinating ZFP’s employee recruitment, salary scales, evaluation, bonuses and termination.

In 1993, Mr. Al Saady was appointed Chairman of the Quality Council; the internal organizational body responsible for monitoring the Quality performance and improvement of the organization. As Quality Council Chairman and Senior Management member in charge of the Quality Department, Mr. Al-Saady spearheaded the organizational objective to acquire the international Quality certification ISO 9001 + TickIT. This Certification was awarded to ZFP in January 1996 after extensive Quality Auditing by an external international certification body and in recognition of the firm’s commitment to Quality work and service.

Prior to returning to Saudi Arabia and joining the Zuhair Fayez Partnership, he was employed for two years as a Research Assistant in the University of Washington Civil Engineering Laboratories.

Born: 1960

Nationality: Saudi Arabian

Education

BSc. Civil Engineering – Saint Martine College, Washington, USA in 1983.

MSc. Engineering Management - Saint Martine College, Washington, USA in 1985. Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers (FICE)-2001.

Trainings

Project Supervision for 6 weeks full time - Institute of Public Administration. Passed with excellent grade.

Engineering Design Management with DMJM Company in Phoenix, U.S.A. for four months.

Value Engineering Course with General Directorate of Military Works, MODA for 4 weeks.

FIDIC Conditions of Contract in the United Kingdom

Membership, Affiliation And Fellowship:

Chartered Civil Engineer & Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers – U.K.

Member, American Society of Military Engineers

Member, Project Management Institute, U.S.A.

Work Experience

2016 – present

Chief Executive Officer

Zuhair Fayez Partnership Consultant, Saudi Arabia

From 1996, Mr. Al-Assaf has been appointed Senior Vice-President & General Manager. He was Vice-President from 1994. Prior to this he was Assistant Vice-President from March 1993. Since 1992, he has been a Board Member of the company.

He joined Zuhair Fayez and Associates in June 1991 as Manager of Riyadh Office and since then, he has been involved in the projects’ overall supervision, project management, construction management, as well as design-built projects.

Responsibilities generally cover staffing and monitoring of each project. He is currently responsible for managing more than 1,000 staff in the Riyadh Regional Headquarter. He participates in the technical discussion and some of the material selection, Client coordination, marketing etc… As the representative of the company to negotiate, confer with the Clients, contractor and government officials, he is also duly authorized to sign any and all contractual documents, financial commitments with banks…etc.

Presently he is handling the overall management of the following projects:

• Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu Headquarter
• Saudi Arabian National Guard projects
• Dammam University projects
• King Faisal University projects
• 2 private Royal Palaces
• Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) Headquarter
• Communication and Information Technology Commission Headquarter
• King Abdullah Financial District
• KAFD Dedicated Car Park
• KAFD Data Centers
• KAFD Science Museum & Geo-Climate Center
• Information Technology & Communication Complex
• Oleya Twin Towers
• SABIC Academy Building
• SABIC Plastic Application Development Center

Prior to the above, he joined the General Directorate of Projects - Ministry of Interior from July 1985 to June 1991 and worked as follows:

18 May 1987 to 23 June 1991

Assigned to work as Assistant Project Manager and Acting Project Manager most of the time at the Ministry of Interior HQ Building in Riyadh which is considered one of the most prestigious project in the Kingdom with a contract value approximately US$250million.

He participated in committees for project related activities ie. Project’s evaluation and handover, budget and change order negotiations with the contractor then presentation to concerned committees.

1 April 1986 to 17 May 1987

Assigned to SAPKT Project which is a Nine Village Project scattered on 9 sites around the Kingdom with a total value approximately US$350million as Riyadh Site Project Engineer that is considered the largest site with a budget of approximately US$100million.

15 July 1985 to 13 March 1986

On the job training with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/General Directorate of Military Works - Ministry of Defence and Aviation at King Khaled Military City - Hafr Al-Batin trained under experienced personnel at the construction site.

Also assigned to be in charge of very important rectification works in the existing Ministry of Interior Building including HRH The Minister’s Office.