KAUST's advanced research and laboratory facilities were designed to usher in a new, postpetroleum age of scientific achievement. Photo: © JB Picoulet

A fast-track project for a desert startup led to collaboration around the globe.

Abbie Gregg is the owner of AGI, an Arizona-based firm that provides engineering and consulting services for advanced technology industries. She and her staff traveled frequently to Saudi Arabia to provide on-site support for construction of KAUST's state-of-the-art research and laboratory facilities.

Josephine Minutillo: How did you get involved with KAUST?
Abbie Gregg: HOK invited us to join the team in 2008 to assist with the design of an advanced fabrication clean room. We subsequently designed or consulted on the design for a thin film lab, hazardous material storage and dispense rooms, a photovoltaic research lab, and a mechanical and electrical utility room.

JM: You traveled there much more than the architects did. Why?
AG: We were hired to supervise on a daily basis. We had people on the ground all the time to assist with the clean-room construction and tool installation, which has a fairly large scope in terms of mechanical, electrical, and even plumbing and architectural hookup. We also assisted Aramco in purchasing the equipment. It was a fairly unique project. I don't believe they have any other equipment like this in all of Saudi Arabia.

JM: What were the specific challenges of being a woman on this job?
AG:There were lots of things that had to be dealt with in terms of protocol and getting the visas, and in terms of understanding the behavior in advance so that we would know what to expect. Even more so in Jeddah, where we stayed and which is about an hour away from the site. We wore the abaya all the time. That was certainly challenging - being on a construction site in a cloak when it is 130 degrees. We were told that there were about 20,000 male workers. The only women that were there on a regular basis were from AGI. A female architect employed by the construction company, Oger, visited the site periodically.

JM: Was it difficult then for some of the men who are not used to working with women to collaborate with your team?
AG: It is a very respectful culture. Everyone wanted to do a good job. There was some trepidation because they weren't familiar with most of this high-tech construction and didn't necessarily know what the end result would look like. But since it was a fast-track project, you couldn't afford to wait around. Because HOK and the engineering firms were not on-site, much of the responsibility and decision-making went to Aramco and Oger. I would say that they were glad to have people around from our firm - men, women, whomever - who had the insight and the experience and could answer their questions.

JM: Would you do it again?
AG: Absolutely. It was an eye-opening, firsthand experience with the Arab world, and with super-large, green-site construction. It was also extremely multicultural. The contractor was a French company, several subcontractors were from Lebanon, and the subcontractor we supervised was from Germany. The construction workers were from Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. We worked closely with Professor Xixiang Zhang from China, the director of the Advanced NanoFabrication Center. Japanese providers brought in some of the critical tools. There were workers and people to interact with from all over the world, which makes communication an interesting challenge. It forces you to listen very carefully to what's being said.