A man who can change things and wants to advance the Arab world these words have been used to define the newly appointed Essam Sharaf a former Transport minister who had been appointed to lead an interim government during the transition to civilian rule after the ouster of the corrupt Mubarak and his regime.

The new prime minister holds two engineering degrees he received from Purdue University, and according to one of Essam Sharaf's former professors his ex-student is the kind of honest, progressive leader the Middle Eastern nation needs today.

Sharaf was appointed by Egypt's military following the resignation of Ahmed Shafiq who was appointed before Mubarak stepped down.

Sharaf, an engineering university professor with a PhD from Purdue University, had served previously as a minister of transport under Mubarak for less than two years.  He resigned from the post after a deadly train accident and due to the high level of corruption he witnessed inside the ministry.

Sharaf came went to the West Lafayette school in 1978, earning master's and doctoral degrees. He did post-doctoral work in highway infrastructure management.

The engineering university professor had served previously as a minister of transport under Mubarak for less than two years before resigning from the post after a deadly train accident.

On February 4 after the protests in Tahrir Square started to spread throughout the country and before the deposed Mubarak stepped down Sharaf led other university professors chanting and calling for Mubarak to step down and the parliament dissolved. His stance towards the revolution has made him popular among many of the youth revolutionaries, opposition and the Muslim Brotherhood and his name was mentioned by the trends during the meetings with the Supreme Council.

Sharaf was born in Giza and earned a degree in engineering from Cairo University in 1975. He worked briefly as an assistant lecturer in the university before heading to the US, where he studied at Purdue University and earned his Master’s degree and a PhD in transport engineering.

 Sharaf returned to Egypt where he resumed work as an assistant professor of Highway and Traffic Engineering in his alma mater he also worked for 20 years as a consultant on traffic engineering for the UAE.

He also played a large role in the Engineering Syndicate, which has had a judicial sequestration imposed upon it since 1995. He led a committee, following protests and was appointed to investigate corruption however disgusted by the corruption there too he resigned.

Sharaf is renowned for his strong stance against normalization with Israel, insisting that the Israeli-Palestinian crisis needs to be resolved before there is either economic cooperation or scientific research between Egypt and Israel.

A quick summary into Sharaf’s history reveals that:

Dr. Sharaf was a professor in Road Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University and a visiting professor at the University of Purdue in the US from 1984 to 1985.

He worked in Cairo University, Faculty of Engineering as a professor from 1986 to 1991.

He worked as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, King Saud University in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 1996. He also worked as an Assistant Professor in Cairo University during the same period (1991-1996) and a Professor at Cairo University from 1996 until now.

Dr. Sharaf received many prizes including:

-The state’s prize in the engineering sciences from the Academy of Scientific Research (Egypt) 1987.

-The state’s incentive prize for individuals and bodies (the Award of Engineer Soliman Abdel Hay, for individuals and bodies, from the Academy of Scientific Research 1987.

-Certificate of Merit from Cairo University on the Day of Scientists in 1988.

-Certificate of First Class Distinction from former President Mubarak in 1995.

-Cairo University’s Incentive Award for Scientific Excellence in 1997.

-The state’s Incentive Award for Engineering Sciences 1997.

In 2006 he received the Distinguished Engineering Alumni award.

Dr. Sharaf is a member of scientific associations and bodies such as the institute of engineering transport and Transport Research in the US.
 
He is also a member of the Association for World Conference for Transport Research in Switzerland and France.

He has 105 scientific research papers published in the local and international newspapers in the fields of design, maintenance, management of paving roads, and other journals in analysing road accidents.