AFE in the Global Community

What do Qatar, Indonesia, Venezuela, Nigeria and the Russian Federation have in common? They are but a few of the home countries of members of AFE’s LinkedIn Group. The world is becoming more connected and this interconnectedness is the key feature of modern globalization. The current European debt crisis, China being the largest lender to the United States, and so-called “third world” or “emerging” countries like Brazil loaning money to major economic powers, clearly demonstrate that what happens in one part of the world market today is likely to affect the economics, politics and society of the rest of the world tomorrow.

How does all of this impact AFE and the profession of building engineering and operations? The world’s five tallest buildings are in the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, China and Malaysia. And all buildings today are more complex and their controls more sophisticated than they were a generation ago. These buildings need engineers — highly skilled and trained engineers. AFE is in the business of creating and supporting just such capable facilities professionals. That is why our international membership grows steadily and more than 2,000 operations and maintenance professionals from more than two dozen countries have joined our LinkedIn Group. That is also why in 2011 we set a record with more new Certified Plant Engineers and Certified Plant Maintenance Managers than ever before — with a large percentage of the increase from countries outside the United States.

Change is inevitable, we’ve all heard. But it’s also essential. As British author C. S. Lewis describes it, “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird; it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” Last month we talked about the changing nature of membership, but that is only one small part of the changes AFE faces and embraces in this coming year. This globalization is one of the most important changes ahead for AFE as we deal with the realities of the new economy.

Every change or challenge like these also brings opportunity. AFE and its members have great opportunities before them in the coming years. Not only do we have the opportunity to increase our membership in order to develop facilities professionals in the global marketplace, we have the opportunity to train facilities engineers who themselves have the opportunity to travel around the world to support the new economy or to assume leadership positions in facilities engineering and management in their home countries. We have the opportunity to make AFE the most recognized name globally in the facilities profession.

As we look forward to 2012, AFE must set a global agenda for the year. We will expand the educational opportunities we off er our international members and colleagues, we will promote our membership aggressively in many new markets, and we will visit with our global colleagues to forge new alliances and partnerships. Working together, our members, board of directors and staff will surely lead AFE to the center of the global stage.