JEDDAH, 25 October 2005 — The Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers — Western Region Saudi Arabia (PSME-WRSA) has added two more lines to its already storied list of accomplishments.
The national governing body in Manila chose the PSME-WRSA as “Best Chapter” for 2005, and its current president, Ernie Cala, as “The Outstanding Mechanical Engineer” for 2005.
This is the first time in the history of PSME-WRSA that the organization won two different prestigious awards in one year. The last time the organization won the best chapter award was in 2001.
In 2003, two of its members won the outstanding mechanical engineer awards. Cala is the sixth to win the coveted award. The others are Felimon Agulo (1999), Napoleon Cepriaso (2002), Julio Caringal (2003), Wilfredo Ruiz (2003), and Jose Emmanuel Acebuque (2004).
Cala attributes the strong support of the members for the group’s success.
“You may call that (winning) teamwork in action. In previous years, members were lukewarm in their membership. This year there was a surprising shift in enthusiasm that translated into various successful projects. I was even telling our members to slow down a bit and reserve some of their ideas for next year,” he told Arab News.
Without a doubt, the leadership of Cala was a factor for the PSME winning again. After he was elected president last year, Cala has been advocating teamwork among the ranks of mechanical engineers.
Cala said he didn’t expect to win the individual award because he was lined up against an array of nominees from the Philippines, South East Asia, Africa and other parts of the Middle East.
“I didn’t expect to win. I’m thankful to our members for their support. I think the various projects we were able to carry, and the surge in enthusiasm among our members helped my nomination,” Cala said.
This year, PSME was a beehive of activity. The group’s monetary donation to the Philippine National Red Cross early this year started the ball rolling. There were the quarterly plant tours and educational seminars.
The group also sponsored various sports activities for its members, including bowling, tennis and scuba diving. PSME’s scuba divers also recently helped in the clean-up of the shores of the Red Sea.
Through these activities, the group was able to attract 22 new members in six months. Even old members, who were dormant for some time, came alive after learning of the activities and programs promoted by the PSME.
Cala, however, said that the formation of the group’s Toastmaster’s Club added to the attraction. Initially, the club was intended for the members of the board only, for them to enhance or polish their leadership skills. Later members showed interest and joined the club. Through the club, mechanical engineers got the training they need in parliamentary procedures, not to mention training in evaluation and delivering speeches be it prepared or extemporaneous variety.
Some members of PSME even brought prestige to the club by winning in the area contests. The winners include Henry Cabansag (winner of Division G Prepared Speech contest), Pete Entico and Art de la Cruz, (first and second placers in Prepared Speech contest) and Raul Sienes (third placer in Table Topics) in the Area 24 speech contest last year.
After the successful formation of the PSME Toastmasters Club, the club sponsored the formation the electrical engineers Toastmasters Club. The successful formation and accreditation of this club, earned for the PSME Toastmaster’s Club a presidential citation from Toastmaster International. The current Toastmasters’ Area 24 governor, Nilo Lucena, is a mechanical engineer.
Incoming chapter president (2006) Willie Leoncio said one of their main targets is continued membership growth. “We will also continue with our seminars to update our members with the latest development in the field of mechanical engineering. We are also hoping that, next year, we can conduct a licensure mechanical engineering board examination here in Jeddah,” he said.