My fabulous story with Cardiff started in 1980. On the first day of my arrival at the Microbiology Department, Professor David Hughes asked Dr David Stafford to accompany me on a tour to give me a chance to meet the senior staff members of the department and to select a topic for my post graduate work. It took me only 20 minutes with Ted Hill to get convinced that Industrial Microbiology is the specialty which could help me find a good future career.

 

This decision was not easy to take since my MSc was in Medical Bacteriology and Mycology. Yes, I accepted Ted as a supervisor but my impression that he was hesitant in accepting me. Next day when Prof. Hughes told him that I have chosen to work with him, he asked Prof that he wanted to interview me once again. The interview was very tough and lasted for almost one hour. He asked me all types of questions and when I asked him 2 years later about the reason for that tough interview, he quickly answered "I did not want to end up writing the thesis for you".

 

The work with Ted from A to Z was absolute enjoyment but did not lack certain ups and downs. The way Ted introduced me to my PhDwork was really fascinating. He started by giving me exercises to find out my ability to perform basic experiments in microbiology such as counting Anerobic Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB). The work later progressed to include growth requirement, ability of SRBs to utilized oil emulsion sulphur additives as electron acceptors, spoilage of circulated and stagnant emulsions using laboratory model systems, corrosion caused by emulsions contaminated with SRB using gel stabilized model and electron microscopy (scanning and transmission) and we ended up investigating methods for the control of these bacteria employing physical and chemical methods.

 

During the first month or so of the start of my research, Ted wanted me to show him the setup of each experiment to make sure that procedures were correct and adequate. I never got upset from these requisites, but in the contrary I thought they helped a lot in building confidence between us. Although a month later he stopped asking me to see my experiments, I continued doing so till I completed my PhD My fondness with Ted had no limits, he provided me with ideas for research during the first 6 months then stopped doing this. The alternative "path way" was the brain storming "technique", at the end of each session I had to come up with ideas to answer his usual questions "what is the next step and what to do next?"

 

He was always very eager to know how work was progressing and, in many occasions, he stood with me to find solutions when our experiments miss behaved. Precisely speaking, in addition to being a supervisor, Ted was a true friend who cared a lot about me. I still remember the words he whispered in to my ear after the successful defense of my PhD "congratulations my favorite oversees student". By the way the first to congratulated me on that occasion was Prof Lloyd followed by Ted Hill and then Julian Wimpenny who happened to be on the corridor of the third floor when the viva was finished.

 

The atmosphere in the department was family like, students as well as staff members were all very helpful. I shared the laboratory with Richard Elsmore who once asked me to accompany him to the tea room in the first floor of the houses. I apologized because I was doing some work but to my surprise he stood by the door and started giving me a sermon indicating that doing work during tea breaks is against all religions. The problem that I listened to him and from that time on we used to go for the cup of tea or coffee together. The lunch meals we used to have in the club near the department "I can't remember the name" was something we looked forward to, on daily bases. Regular customers were Richard Elsmore, Rico Costas, Hamid Abdullahi, Phil Coombs, Yousef Tappony and I. Occasional guest was Bob Lovitt.

 

To cut a long story short, work and recreation went parallel. Departmental social events in addition to nights out with charming boys and girls who wanted to enjoy every minute of their time. It is enough to say that after four decades we still talk about that era with great nostalgia.

 

Soon after my return to Jordan I was offered a job in "then" the largest pharmaceutical company (APM) in the middle east as the manager of microbiology department. The job required a lot of reading in order to understand what pharmaceutical microbiology was all about. The time at that company was well spent which allowed me to learn a lot about the subject and personally managed to publish five papers in a span of 3 years, three of them were concerned with the microbial growth and preservation of certain pharmaceutical products. The big gain I made during that time was to get myself acquainted with what is known as Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). At present, no Drug or Cosmetic company can practice their work without implementing the rules and regulations of GMP but this was not the case at that time.

 

In August 1987, I decided to resign from the company and to start my own private Medical Laboratory. A decision that I never regretted. The new work was financially more rewarding and provided me with enough time to affiliate myself with Universities as a part time lecturer in microbiology. Being present in academic environment which was conducive for research, I managed to publish several papers but all were related to the Medical field specifically in the subject of Urinary Tract Infections and Brucellosis. The latter infection was prevalent in Jordan but not any more now.

 

The problem with me is that I do not like to see money in my pocket or my bank account. Therefore, in 1990 and 2007, I started a cosmetic factory and another for the manufacture of Hemodialysis Solution, respectively while keeping my connections with academia. My research interest at that point in time was changed to microbial contamination and preservation of cosmetics. We performed many investigations related to in-use preservative efficacy testing of shampoos in addition to Antimicrobial Efficacy Testing of skin and hair cosmetics. Due to my faithfulness to Mycology, I could not ignore this important field of microbiology and kept it in mind all along. We published several papers related to Dermatophytes, some in the medical and others in the ecological fields.

 

Two positions I feel proud to have attained during my career, the first one I was elected in 1998 as the Chairman of the Consultation Committee for the chemical and cosmetic sector in Amman Chamber of Industry. The second post was in 2006 when I was appointed as the Chairman of the Chemical and Cosmetic Committee in Jordan Institute for Standards and Metrology. The participation in these two committees allowed me to interact with most of the Jordanian industries practicing in these two fields. In reference to the second group we were able to draft Jordanian specifications to products categorized as chemicals and cosmetics. I personally played a pivotal role in the acceptance of Jordan as a full member of the ISO/Technical Committee 217 – Cosmetics.

 

In appreciation to our work, the ISO committee decided to hold its annual meeting in Amman. The meeting took place in 2008 with the participation of delegates from 32 ISO member countries.

 

Last year "2018" marked the end of my university services, but I am still following up my industrial and the medical laboratory work. Things are easier now as my daughter who is basically a Medical Laboratory Scientist with a masters degree in Medical Microbiology is taking responsibilities instead of me in the laboratory while my son who is a pharmacist is the production manager in the cosmetic factory. My older son is doing a PhD in Pharmacy in Germany while my younger son is in his final BS. year studying Industrial Engineering in Greece. So, it is about time for me to relax a little and to allow the younger generation to take over.

 

Before ending this contribution, I should comment on the scientific research carried out in Jordan. First, the country ranks 79th in the world as far as scientific publication is concerned with about 1500 publication per year. Second, most of the research work is carried out at Universities and only one third of it is carried out in the private sector. In this context it is worth noting that the time spent effectively by a faculty member on research, as opposed to teaching or other tasks is menial. It is rare for the actual research activity of a teaching staff in a government and most private universities to exceed 5–10% of their total academic duties, compared to 35–50% in European and American universities (UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT- towards 2030). Third, Gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) as a percentage of GDP remains low in the Arab world including Jordan where a percentage of 0.43 was reported in 2008. Fourth, research carried out in the private sector is usually for trouble shooting purposes and rarely for development while research conducted at universities is usually for promotion.

 

Because of the reasons given above, it is very difficult for a researcher to adopt a very specific field in his/ her realm of specialty. As the case is with me, interest in research varied from time to time depending on my work location and the availability of resources. It is true that microbiology is a multi-disciplinary subject and a microbiologist is often specialized in a single discipline. Good microbiologist must be inventive wherever she or he is placed. Fortunately, graduates of Cardiff from the micro dept have the potential to be distinguished wherever they are located.