Al Maerifa Public Seminar Series
Presented Digitally by Texas A&M University at Qatar
Football World Cup and its Engineering Feats
Thursday, 25 February 2021 • 12–1 p.m.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM has not only broken the mold by bringing this mega event to the Middle East for the first time, but also created a new blueprint for stadium design, fan experience and national development. To top it all, engineers are at the heart of the preparation and organization of a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most of the people involved in it.
Qatar promised to build iconic stadiums for the top 32 football teams of the world to display their skills. Seven new stadiums are being constructed while Khalifa Stadium has been completely refurbished and expanded in line with FIFA specifications. Doha Port is being remodeled to accommodate cruise ships which will provide first class luxury lodging for fans. State-of-the-art mobile apps will assist the fans and visitors to enhance their experience of visiting Qatar and watching matches.
A compact event means that avid fans will be able to watch multiple matches per day, thus making this World Cup a unique tournament. Intelligent transport systems will ensure that teams and officials can reach stadiums without fear of getting caught in traffic congestion.
Qatar aims to amaze football fans! #seeyouin2022
Bashir Mirza
Bashir Mirza has worked in the oil, infrastructure and mega event industry for 33 years. His work has taken him to US, Europe and the Middle East while working for Bechtel, Shell, Qatargas and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
Bashir is a mechanical engineer and has an MBA from Warwick Business School. He has developed his career from engineering to strategic program management. From 2007 until 2014, he worked as the project manager for a gas recovery environmental project in Qatar. Bashir joined the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy in 2014 as Director Program Management Office. He is now the Director of Reporting and Risk in Program Services. He is the company’s subject matter expert on project management, risk management and strategic planning. He has led the development of online dashboards, web based integrated schedules and lifetime cost estimates for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. He has provided strategic direction on organization structure, legacy, safety and culture challenges.
Bashir and his team have developed customized project management methodologies for a sport event organization by melding classic project management principles with shorter term event management planning techniques.
He is passionate about the safety and well‐being of people, and has played a major role in promoting safety and workers welfare in the World Cup program.