Family ties

Established in 1973, IMEC’s growth has reflected the evolution of the district cooling industry in the UAE. MEP Middle East speaks to father-and-son team Fahed and Aslan Al-Barazi about the company’s distinguished history and penchant for innovation.

Fahed attended the University of Florida’s School of Engineering, whereupon he immediately set about distinguishing himself at Moore Dry Kiln Company in the US in the field of heat transfer. This was about 1964. “The batteries of heating coils I recommended were half what the manufacturers were trying to sell them. The end result was a saving of about US$1 million.” In appreciation of his achievements, ‘preference status’ US citizenship was secured. Fahed joined the Borg-York division in 1966 to become its youngest Middle East GM, a record that stands to this day.

“The main reason for establishing IMEC was simply that I wanted to be independent. Being GM was fine, but what was next? The fact that I had become GM at such a young age was certainly a stepping stone in my reputation and credentials,” reflects Fahed. The products he started out with were non-competitive with Borg Warner/York as such, comprising allied equipment such as boilers and fans.

“This was the early 1970s, when Dubai was hardly anything at that time. Reciprocating chillers and air-cooled packaged equipment had just made their appearance on the market. The district cooling industry as we know it today was still in its infancy,” explains Fahed. Interestingly, the hub of innovation during this period was Kuwait, which opted for centrifugal water-based cooling for anything over 300 TR, which meant using cooling towers, and air-cooled condensers for up to 120 TR.

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Kuwait also introduced centrifugal chillers, which the mainly British-orientated consultants in the UAE at that time were quite leery of. “Air-cooled, packaged equipment was not really viable for large projects, as you ended up with ten chillers for a cooling load of 1 000 TR, for example,” says Fahed. He was quick to take note of the pioneering spirit of Kuwait.

“IMEC’s first major success, now we are talking 1978, was three years after I had left Borg Warner/York. Our first major breakthrough was supplying the cooling requirements for four major naval bases in Kuwait, for which we supplied huge AHUs from the UK, a move that made the industry sit up and take notice,” says Fahed. In addition to car-park areas 5 and 9, the project comprised 18 000 TR, which was a staggering size at the time.

Not content with his initial resounding success in Kuwait, Fahed then entered the Iraqi market with a new range of cooling towers, immediately landing a 1 500 TR project, the National Research Centre.

This success resulted in various renowned manufacturers approaching IMEC to represent their products exclusively in the region. “Thus we added AHUs and FCUs to our range, for example. Our strategy was that we added products to our main range as and when we needed them, or as a result of being approached directly.”

This meant that Fahed began to forge business relationships that have endured for decades. “Our client base is extensive,” he acknowledges. “Many are friends and acquaintances who have known us since the inception of the business, and beyond that to our student days. We have acquired a good set of loyal clientele, which has enabled the company to survive the vicissitudes of the current global economic turmoil.”