By Stephen Greenwell

This year's Cullen Gala, formerly known as the Engineering Alumni Awards Gala, will now be held during the Fall semester and serve as a fundraiser for the next generation of College of Engineering and Technology Division students.

The chair for the event is Zafar "Zaf" Tahir, who earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering (’84) from the University of Houston, as well as an MBA (’99). He is a member of the Executive Leadership Board, and a member of the City of Houston Planning Commission and the Airport Commission. He is also a member of the Bauer College Board.

Tahir has extensive experience in industry as an engineering and a business owner. Tahir's first engineering job out of college was as an automation and control systems engineer on the Houston Ship Channel in 1984, working on automation of machine tools and Gantry robots. Following this, he also worked for Automaker of Houston, Ciba-Geigy of Basel Switzerland, BL Technology and Phillips Petroleum.

Tahir earned his law degree in 2012 from Texas Southern University. His firm, ZAF LAW, is based in Houston.

“The inaugural Cullen Gala is an opportunity to highlight how far engineering and technology have come in the Houston region, known worldwide as not only the Energy Capital, but the Global Hub of Engineering & Construction, Petrochemicals, Medicine, and Medical Technologies, and one of the fastest growing Centers of Innovation, alternate fuels and new technologies. We invite industry, alumni and community leaders to come together in celebration with UH Cullen.”

The Cullen Gala takes place on October 10 at the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston. In addition to Tahir, Lisa Sikora (’90, MBA ’91) and David Sikora (’86) will serve as part of the honorary committee.

Information about table sponsorships is available on the gala’s website www.egr.uh.edu/cullen-gala or by emailing Cathy Brown, Director of Relations at cmbrow31 [at] central.uh.edu (cmbrow31[at]central[dot]uh[dot]edu).