When the alumni associations of six engineering colleges of Kerala, active in Kuwait, decided to come together under one-fold called Kuwait Engineers Forum (KEF), there were a large number of Malayalee Engineers from various colleges outside Kerala who did not fit into any of the existing alumni in Kuwait. As it was impractical to have an alumni for each and every college outside Kerala, the seeds of thought were sown by these engineers to form their own association.
The first General body of the Association was held on 13th June 1997 at the residence of Mr. C. T. Thomas in Salmiya, where the name "Keralite Engineers’ Association" was decided upon, where Mr. Abraham Thomas Pozhuvelil was elected as the first President.
Keralite Engineers’ Association (KEA) thus officially started functioning in the year 1997, comprising of 132 Engineers from 55 colleges spread over 25 Universities.
Engineers from KEA continue to play a significant role in Kuwait’s economic development, due to their technical & professional competencies provided to the various public and private sector organizations, including but not limited to Oil & Gas, Banking & Financial services, Aviation, Information Technology, Retail and FMCG, etc.
Over the course of the past 25 years, KEA has grown in strength not only in numbers but also in its ability to make meaningful contributions within the KEF fraternity as well as the society at large through organizing various sporting, cultural & social events. Some of the highlights are as listed below:
KEA Sports Day: The Kuwait Association of Athletics Federation stadium in Kaifan has been witness to KEF inter-alumni track & field event on 7 occasions, involving over 700 male & female athletes with age groups ranging from kindergarten to veterans (50+).
Musical Nite: KEA has so far organized 4 musical nights celebrating key milestones, for KEF members and the general public, bringing eminent Malayalam film industry musicians to Kuwait, with over 1000 in attendance. Rajatotsav, the 5th such mega-event, celebrating KEA’s silver jubilee is expected to have another 1250 attendees.
KEA Friendship Cup: a 7-a-side football tournament (conducted 5 times) involving KEF constituent alumni
KEA Throwball tournament: a throwball tournament, conducted 5 times, for ladies within KEF constituent alumni
Humanitarian activities: KEA has played a significant role in fundraisers aimed at providing support to Kargil (1999), relief to victims of Tsunami (2005), Kerala floods (2018) and COVID relief funds (2020 & 2021).
In addition to the above, KEA has also organized medical, dental and blood donation campaigns as well as financial and technical seminars & workshops for the benefit of members. Children have always been at the forefront of KEA’s thoughts and events such as Personality Development seminars, various sports coaching camps and in-house toastmasters and quiz club have been functioning to groom our youngsters for a better future.