أهلاًHi, I'm

Magdy Abdelwahab

Industrial Control Manager · Johnson Controls Arabia

I build the control systems behind Saudi Arabia's cold chain, utilities, infrastructure and data centres.

17 years of PLC, SCADA and MCC work in food, refrigeration and process plants. At Johnson Controls Arabia I built the refrigeration controls team from nothing, then launched an Industrial Controls division for district cooling, water, roads and tunnels, giga-projects, industry and data centres.

See the businessView CV (PDF)
Portrait of Magdy Abdelwahab
Open to conversationsJeddah · Saudi Arabia
17+years in plant automation
SAR 220M+awarded refrigeration contracts I led controls for, 2024–25
120+projects and offers since 2019, 50+ of them in 2024–25
0→12engineers and technicians in the team I built
2businesses built: refrigeration controls and industrial controls
The business

Two businesses, built from zero

I did not inherit a department. I built a controls capability inside a refrigeration business, then turned it into a division of its own.

Refrigeration Controls

2019 – 2025

Electrical and controls for industrial ammonia, CO₂ and glycol plants: power tables, MCCs and drives, PLC and SCADA, FAT, SAT and commissioning.

50+projects, 2024–25
SAR 220M+project value
3regions: West, Central, East
  • Built the team to 10 engineers and 2 technicians in two years.
  • One engineering standard on TIA Portal, with reusable PLC and SCADA libraries.
  • Moved panel building to a Saudi panel builder to cut lead times.
Food processingPoultryDairyCold storesLogisticsPharma

Industrial Controls Division

2025 – today

A new division I launched to take the same engineering discipline beyond refrigeration: district cooling, water and utilities, roads and tunnels, giga-projects, industry and data centres.

60+opportunities since 2025
7sectors served
1Siemens standard across every project
  • Lead pre-sales: architectures, network topologies, technical and commercial offers.
  • BMS, EPMS, PLC control panels, SCADA, RTUs and chiller plant managers.
  • One Siemens standard: S7-1500, ET200SP, WinCC and SCALANCE.
Data centresDistrict coolingTunnels and roadsWater and utilitiesAirports and hospitalsGiga-projects and leisureIndustry
See all seven sectors →
Where my work runs

Across the Kingdom

Tap a light to see what runs there.

Project locations in Saudi ArabiaJeddahMakkahYanbuSudairRiyadhAl KharjHailAbhaDammam
Flagship projects

The big ones

Each card reads like an equipment nameplate: where, what, how big, and where it stands today.

SUDAIR · CENTRAL REGION

Central refrigeration plant for a major food producer

19 MCCsincl. MV drives
Plant
Ammonia low and high stage, CO₂ system, chilled water and air coolers
My scope
Power tables, 19 MCC panels including medium-voltage VFD and soft-starter packages, PLC and SCADA
Status
In execution
SUDAIR · CENTRAL REGION

Farm Frites frozen-fries plant

2 phases
Plant
Ammonia freezing and cold storage
My scope
MCC, PLC and SCADA for both phases
Status
Closing out
CENTRAL & SOUTH

Two food plants, Riyadh region and Abha

2 plants
Plant
Ammonia refrigeration, cold rooms and freezers
My scope
MCC, VFDs, PLC and SCADA
Status
In execution
JEDDAH

Ice cream and dairy plant

Full controls
Plant
Ammonia refrigeration and process cooling
My scope
Controls engineering, panels, commissioning
Status
Closing out
DAMMAM

Indoor snow park

Awarded
Plant
Large refrigeration system for a year-round snow park
My scope
Controls, through the Industrial Controls division
Status
In execution
JEDDAH · 2012–2019

Paper machines, 24/7 mill

5 projects
Plant
Two machine rebuilds, DCS and QCS upgrades, a rewinder
My scope
Honeywell C300 and Experion engineering and commissioning
Status
Delivered

My role on each project was the electrical and controls scope. Together these plants are part of SAR 220M+ in awarded contracts, 2024–25.

Industrial Controls division

One discipline, seven sectors

Since 2025 I have taken the controls we built for refrigeration into utilities, infrastructure, giga-projects, industry and data centres. Pick a sector to see what we control there.

Sector 1 of 7

District cooling and chiller plants

Chiller plant managers (CPM) for district cooling plants, entertainment destinations, malls, airports and factories, for new plants and upgrades. The plant logic I ran for years in refrigeration, applied to chilled water.

CPMPLCSCADAVFDsEnergy reporting
Two plants awarded, more in tender
60+ opportunities since 2025rounded, across all seven sectors
25+ in design and pricing15+ offers submitted3 awarded, including the snow park
Data centres

Controls for the Kingdom's digital infrastructure

Data centres are the fastest-growing sector in the Industrial Controls division. Power and cooling must never stop, and that is the kind of plant I have controlled for 17 years.

BMS
Building managementPLC-based BMS for data halls, mechanical plant and support spaces.
EPMS
Electrical power monitoringVisibility of every breaker, UPS and generator, with alarms and trends.
CPM
Cooling plant controlChillers, pumps and cooling towers sequenced for uptime and efficiency.
ELV
Control panels and ELVPanels, networks and integration from design to commissioning.
Power and cooling chains of a data centre with the controls layer Controls layer · BMS · EPMS · CPM one view of power, cooling and alarms Utility / Gen Switchgear UPS Data hallracks Chillers Pumps CRAH / CDU POWERCOOLING
Uptime Institute Accredited Tier Specialist (ATS)Tier design knowledge applied to how the controls are built.
Play with it

A control room, your way

The room is a design concept, not a real site. The screens on the wall are real SCADA from plants we delivered. Switch the plant, switch the lights.

Concept control room at night Concept control room in daylight
Real SCADA screen
Real SCADA screen
Concept room · real screens
Two-stage ammonia plant · 1 / 4
Engineering office

Before the plant runs, it is drawn

Topologies, power tables, cable schedules and calculations: the engineering behind every panel. Real project data with every client and project name removed. Pick a document, flip through, zoom in.

Concept engineering office in daylight Concept engineering office at night Concept office · real engineering
Factory network topology 1 / 10

PROFINET MRP ring linking the control room, four MCCs and remote I/O, down to drives and chillers.

On screen and on site

The real work

Plant rooms, skids and panels. Filter the wall, then open any picture and walk through them with the arrows.

Certificates

The paper behind the work

Click a certificate to open it.

P8EPLAN · 2026EPLAN Electric P8 2026Professional update training, taken with my team
B.ScMENOUFIA UNIVERSITY · 2007Industrial Electronics & Control EngineeringVery Good · graduation project Excellent
Career

17 years, three industries

Industrial Control Manager

Jul 2019 – today
Johnson Controls Arabia · Jeddah
  • Built the refrigeration controls team from zero to 10 engineers and 2 technicians.
  • Led the electrical and controls scope of 120+ projects and offers since 2019, including 50+ projects in 2024–25 with SAR 220M+ in awarded contract value.
  • Launched the Industrial Controls division in 2025: 60+ opportunities across district cooling, water, roads and tunnels, giga-projects, industry and data centres.
  • Built in-house digital tools that generate offers, drawings and PLC projects.
Show earlier roles (2007 – 2019)
2012 – 2019

Senior Automation Engineer · Middle East Paper Company, Jeddah

Annual maintenance plans for a 24/7 mill, root cause analysis on DCS faults, five capital projects on Honeywell C300 and Experion PKS.

2014 – 2018

Seasonal Project Manager (Hajj) · Advanced Tools Est.

Ran a seasonal team of up to 50 people; automatic weighing control for 48 stations with PLC/SCADA reports and CCTV.

2009 – 2012

Project Engineer · Industrial Systems Company, Egypt

Filling lines for Cadbury, Egypt Foods and Ocean Foods; refrigeration tunnel and SCADA projects; servo and stepper drives.

2007 – 2009

Lab Instructor · Menoufia University, then military service

Taught the third-year control lab, 15 hours a week; military service; first job at Al Amal Plastics.

  1. Tender & costingScope, power table, BOQ
  2. EngineeringP&ID, SLD, I/O, cables
  3. Panels & MCCDesign, drives, starters
  4. PLC & SCADAFrom a tested library
  5. FATEvery panel, before it ships
  6. Site & SATInstall, loop check, accept
  7. HandoverCommission, train, as-built
Siemens S7-1500 · TIA PortalWinCCRockwell Allen-BradleyHoneywell C300 · ExperionBMS · EPMS · CPMMCC · MV/LV VFDsEPLANNH₃ · CO₂ · glycolArabic · English

Let's talk

For projects, partnerships or a conversation about control systems for plants and data centres.

Emaileng.magdy.diec@gmail.com
Phone+966 56 986 4710
WhatsAppMessage on WhatsApp
Websitemagdy-abdelwahab.pages.dev
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/magdy-abdelwahab