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Sami Al-Hawaj '08
Saudi Arabia
“I now have the tools to understand the global economy, to do business in different cultures, and to understand the accounting and finance sides of business... The hands-on learning trips to Europe, Russia and China were invaluable.”


Sami Al-Hawaj '08

A Saudi national growing up in Qatar, Sami Al-Hawaj ’08 has known nothing but “global” his whole life.

In fact, his current position as an engineering expert and consultant with the Qatar-based Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) has augmented the 40-year-old’s lifelong journey among varied cultures.

As a manager for GOIC, Al-Hawaj serves the organization’s member states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He also interfaces with colleagues and technology representatives in Asia and Europe.

“Our role is to diversify and develop industry throughout our member states, providing the public and private sectors with research information, consulting services and technical services,” explains Al-Hawaj. He spends much of his time investigating new industrial investment opportunities as he conducts market surveys in the engineering sector.

Close to his heart is also an interest in entrepreneurial companies. “I came from a business family,” says Al-Hawaj. “My father and grandfather were traders of traditional dresses, and I used to be at the shop after school.”

Over the years, Al-Hawaj has dabbled in his own entrepreneurial endeavors as well. “Most of these attempts were not mature,” he explains, “so I now know the importance of business strategies and feasibility studies. Now I’ve decided to help new entrepreneurs avoid the mistakes I made.”

During the last decade, as young business owners in Qatar left the industrial field to pursue interests in real estate and stock investments, Al-Hawaj developed programs to encourage technology entrepreneurship in the region – a role he continues to play for GOIC.

Thunderbird’s Executive MBA-Europe program, he says, has helped tremendously. “I now have the tools to understand the global economy, to do business in different cultures, and to understand the accounting and finance sides of business I didn’t understand as an engineer. The hands-on learning trips to Europe, Russia and China were also invaluable.” Thunderbird’s Executive MBA, he says, was the perfect complement to the mechanical engineering degree he earned from the University of Qatar.

“A distance-learning program was the only possibility for me because of my workload and responsibilities,” says Al-Hawaj. “Thunderbird was the perfect fit, because it offers an international degree that covers the global economy and is taught by professors with practical experience. It was also accessible with weeklong classes held every six weeks in Prague, and offered a few Web-based courses.”

In his spare time, Al-Hawaj can be found playing tennis, the billiard-like game of snooker, and football. He also hopes to add to his list of travel destinations that currently includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Egypt, Italy, France, Czech Republic, Germany and the United States.