CSU Professor Uses Construction to Build a Bridge Between Two Cultures

(04/01/2006)
By Diana Murphy

Mostafa Khattab, construction management coordinator for the graduate program at Colorado State University and the director of the Construction Management Applied Research Center, has launched a partnership between the Fort Collins school and his alma mater, Helwan University in Cairo.

In December 2003, Colorado State University professor Mostafa Khattab was sorting through the papers on his desk, planning for the coming year.

Khattab, construction management coordinator for the graduate program and the director of the Construction Management Applied Research Center, was inspired when he came across a letter from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the country's citizens.

"He challenged all Egyptians to come up with solutions to the problems Egypt faces - especially the lack of affordable housing in Egypt and a lack of employment opportunities," Khattab recalled.

Khattab, a native Egyptian who has lived in the United States for 24 years, answered the call. He quickly replied to Mubarak's letter with one of his own, outlining a proposal to create a partnership between Colorado State's CM program and Helwan University in Cairo, his alma mater.

"I do recognize that my achievements in the United States, as a student, as faculty and as a leader in construction management is a direct result of the culture I come from," Khattab said. "So it is my responsibility, too, to provide, as much as possible, a service opportunity to the students where I come from."

Within three weeks, Khattab had an answer from Mubarak - and an appointment with Ahmed Nazif, the prime minister of Egypt.

"It was unbelievable. I felt this letter maybe might open the door for people in Egypt to start addressing some of the issues they face, and that would have been more than enough," Khattab said. "But to actually be involved with promoting ideas in Egypt was a wonderful thing."

As Khattab envisioned it, the partnership would provide project management learning, research and hands-on experiences for students at both schools, with the goal of creating an affordable, sustainable community in Cairo.

"The idea is to educate [Egyptian students] about project management in the U.S.; at the same time, our students get to interact with students from a different culture," he said.

Cultural Understanding

Khattab's idea quickly caught fire. By June 2004, he'd submitted a grant proposal that would net $100,000 in funding from the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development. By September 2004, the international project management program was under way.

About 30 students from each university participate in the program via WebCT and video conferencing, which allows them to interact face-to-face.

The program isn't without its challenges, including an eight-hour time difference.

"Also, the structure of education in the U.S. versus the structure of education in Egypt - the expectations are different," Khattab said. "Research in Egypt isn't really a top agenda item for faculty like it is for faculty in the United States."

For CSU students, especially those who wish to one day do business in the Middle East, the program helps them understand how other cultures work - an aspect that's often lacking in traditional American coursework.

"Here we focus on the process of project management. We don't really address the issue of culture," Khattab said. "But in Egypt, personal relationships and social activities come first between contacts. Our students don't have a clue to how you deal with something like that. [The program] helps them understand what it takes to address contract issues in another culture."

The Big Picture

Already the partnership has been so successful that others are interested in joining.

While on a visit to Helwan University last June, Khattab also met with faculty from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Studies, which has an engineering and CM program that complements the existing program at Helwan and CSU. In December, Khattab and fellow professors Angela Guggemos and David Gunderson, and Peter Dorhout, vice provost for graduate studies, signed an agreement between CSU and the Arab Academy.

Faculty from the two schools want to create a master's degree program in which students would complete their studies and internships in Egypt and the United States.

Also, Durra, an Australian-based manufacturer, has agreed to donate and ship wheat drywall to Egypt for use on a pilot single-family home that students, faculty and local construction companies will build.

Another Letter

Though the launch of the international partnership was a success, Khattab isn't ready to rest.

"Because of Homeland Security issues, as of today we have not been able to bring faculty from Cairo to the United States," Khattab said. "It's a very challenging process - the documentation, the number of offices you have to deal with - but we're hoping to solve that."

Securing continued funding and multi-agency support is also a concern. But, he's not done writing letters.

"My plan is to write a letter to Secretary [of State Condoleeza] Rice to ask for support," he said. "The funding of this community is going to be a long process so I'm going to ask for support of the U.S. administration and the World Bank. I'm going to write to President [Jimmy] Carter, too.

"Even though [the partnership] is a small step, it's going to have a significant impact in the future, an impact on how the United States is perceived in the Middle East. This is one small way of trying to build a bridge between the two cultures."

For More Information

To learn more about the international project management program between CSU and Helwan University, go to: cmarc.colostate.edu/egypt/Team.htm or contact Professor Mostafa Khattab at 970-491-6808, mostafa.Khattab@cahs.colostate.edu.

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