Khalid Al Falasi

Oman's first female engineer who transformed Middle Eastern infrastructure

Sheikha Khalid bint Al Falasi (1930-2005) shattered gender barriers as Oman's first licensed engineer, designing critical infrastructure during the nation's modernization. Born in Muscat's Muttrah district, she secretly studied engineering manuals while working as a textile trader, eventually earning a diploma from Cairo University's engineering faculty in 1956. Her 1966 Muscat Sewerage Masterplan solved chronic waterborne disease issues using gravity-fed systems that required no electricity. As director of Public Works (1968-1972), she oversaw construction of Oman's first paved highway network, integrating traditional Bedouin knowledge of desert terrain with modern engineering. Her controversial 1970 design for the Barka Salt Flats Irrigation Project transformed arid land into agricultural zones, doubling Oman's food production. Al Falasi's 1973 Code of Construction Ethics became the first Middle Eastern manual mandating gender equality in construction trades. Despite facing death threats for her progressive views, she trained over 300 female engineers through her Al-Balqa' Technical Institute. Her memoir Steel and Sand (1989) remains a seminal text in Middle Eastern engineering history.