Modelware founder and CEO, Dr. Maged Elaasar, will co-deliver a masterclass at the Global Project Management Forum (GPMF) 2026, taking place September 19 to 21, 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The masterclass, titled Concurrent Engineering Programs: How Great Teams Design Complex Systems Together, opens the forum on September 19.

Dr. Elaasar will be joined by Dr. Mustafa Hafizoglu, a Project Management Institute (PMI) veteran from Turkey, and Dr. Ahmad AlGhamdi, professor of systems engineering at the University of Jeddah. Together they bring the program management and systems engineering perspectives that concurrent engineering lives on.

The session begins with an overview of concurrent engineering: how great teams design complex systems together by working in parallel rather than in sequence, integrating early, and making trade-offs visible across disciplines.

Then the theory gets put to the test. In a live simulation, participants step into the role of suppliers to a large aircraft OEM, competing to develop paper airplane prototypes. Each team must procure materials, design, prototype, and test their proposed concept, then demonstrate it live. Teams have to respect the OEM's technical specifications and compete on performance, all within a fixed budget, while issuing press releases that keep investors betting on their stock.

Winners will be declared in each category, followed by a discussion of lessons learned: what the simulation reveals about communication, integration, and decision making in real concurrent engineering programs.

Attending GPMF 2026? Reach out to meet with us in Riyadh.