July/August 2021 | Vol. 26 No. 4

by Khaled Masri, Program Manager for the Building, Systems and Industrial Divisions at NEMA Min the electrotechnical industry.

My destiny was to be a mechanical engineer and to work in the electrotechnical industry.

As a teenager, I spent summers play-working with Caterpillar bulldozers at my father’s diesel engines service shop. While there, I developed a passion for vehicles and gained insights into combustion engines.

Shortly after I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Toledo, I went to work at the family electrical supply shop in the “electrical souk” of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There, I sold all kinds of electrical equipment—breakers, panels, receptacles, switches, light bulbs, wires, cables, and everything in between. I met NEMA early in my career through legacy products such as enclosures, pins and sleeves, and plugs and receptacles named after NEMA.

Our customers had amazing confidence in the quality and safety of NEMA products over the competition. This affinity to the NEMA brand became evident when my fortune led me to work at NEMA for the first time in 1998. I had a dozen years of experience in building codes and Standards development and implementation by that time.

Three years later, I began work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a U.S. Standards Representative based in Riyadh with responsibility in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Endorsed by my supervisor and several Member companies, I worked closely with trade groups in several industries on market access, conformity assessment, and Standards harmonization. When I came back to work at NEMA in 2015, I had 25 years of experience in 12 countries.

As a Program Manager in the Industrial and Building Systems Divisions at NEMA, I now help develop Standards for wire and cable, dry battery, arc welding, and insulating material. I have come full circle to realize that Standards are the main ingredient for customers’ confidence in any product. The excellent reputation NEMA has built over the years is a vital component of the success and dominance of American electrical equipment in the global markets. I am excited to be part of NEMA history as we embark on celebrating our 100th anniversary. ei