Elmaraghy Speaks to SEE..Canada Extends Train He Designed for 75 years

By: Ibrahim Eldeeb

CAIRO, Dec. 22 (SEE) - Having invited to participate at the fourth session of ‘Egypt Can’ series of conferences, Dr. Wagih Elmaraghy was expected to contribute with lessons derived from a 40-year successful experience in Canada in the field of industrial engineering.

Dr. Elmaraghy, who travelled to canada at the age of 28 as a PhD candidate, is now professor and head of department of Industrial Engineering as well as manager of Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) - at University of Windsor. He is also a member at many engineering associations, as well as authored around 300 published researches in the same field. He also wrote 4 books and had two patents, all in the field of products designing and manufacturing systems. One of his most famous works in Canada is the design he provided for the modern high-speed train which has newest technology and can work on old and decayed railways. He also designed the two-floor train, and occupied advisory positions at major car manufacturing companies such as FORD.

Speaking to ‘SEE”, Dr. Elmaraghy recalled memories with the first high-speed train in Canada, which he had designed in 1975. He said that he developed its capacity from 100 passenger and 60 seats per single car to 500 passengers and 162 seats per single car.

This development was a great incident that he still appears in the media because of it. Besides, Japan and China sent engineers missions to see how this train was designed.

On the two-floor train, Dr. Elmaraghy pointed out that it solved a big problem in Canada, where the population and immigrants increased, and both passengers’ trains and products’ trains, were using the same railways while it’s almost impossible to construct new railways. “The idea was then to expand vertically, and the problem was solved in only 18 months, and the idea developed from single floor high-speed train to two-floor train,” he explained.

"The train has been associated with the name of the Maraghi so far that even when my children are passing by they used to say: Baba train," he added.

He noted that for the efficiency of the train, the Canadian government decided to rely on them for another 75 years without the need to develop newer models.

Dr. Elmaraghy, who belongs to a famous Egyptian family, confirms that his family achieved the same fame in Canada, especially in the fields of medicine and engineering. He said that his family is a main reason for his own success. He noted that his father used to invest his money in the education of his children and diligence in work.