Seven Letters to a Young Engineer: Lean Lessons for Career, Leadership, and Impact

Seven Letters to a Young Engineer is a rare and timeless guide for the next generation of builders, thinkers, and doers.

In this deeply insightful and personal book, Mohamed Hamed Ahmed Soliman - Lean expert, engineer, and author of The Problem-Solving Kata - distills decades of engineering wisdom into seven powerful letters. Each one delivers a hard-earned truth, a mindset shift, and a call to action for young professionals entering the world of systems, factories, and innovation.

Through vivid analogies and sharp lessons rooted in Lean thinking, Soliman challenges readers to go beyond tools and techniques. He urges them to listen to the machines, seek the truth at the Gemba, reject vanity metrics, and embrace failure as feedback. This is not just a manual for efficiency - it's a manifesto for humility, learning, and purposeful work.

Whether you're a student, a recent graduate, or an experienced engineer mentoring others, these letters will stay with you - reminding you that greatness in engineering doesn't come from what you know, but how you think.

This book will teach you:

• Why flow matters more than flash
• How KPIs can lie - and what to measure instead
• Why real improvement begins where the work happens
• How to make failure your most honest teacher

Clear. Concise. Impactful. Seven Letters to a Young Engineer is a gift to anyone who believes engineering is not just about solving problems - but about solving the right ones, the right way.

Dr. Mohammed Hamed Ahmed Soliman is an internationally recognized Lean expert, author, and university lecturer. He has published over 100 books and articles on Lean thinking, quality systems, and industrial excellence. He currently teaches Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the American University in Cairo, an Executive Advisor and a member of the Advisory Committee of the IEOM International Society, and consults for global organizations across manufacturing, public services, and education.

With nearly two decades of academic and professional experience, Dr. Soliman has trained professionals across the Middle East, including engagements with Princess Nourah University in Saudi Arabia and Vale Oman Pelletizing Company. He has designed and delivered over 60 leadership and technical development programs, helping organizations build a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Earlier in his career, he worked in various industrial sectors including crystal-glass manufacturing, fertilizers, and chemicals, while educating teams on the Toyota Production System. He has led numerous lean transformation projects, delivering measurable results and uncovering substantial cost savings by targeting waste across production and service environments.

His lectures and training materials have reached over 200,000 learners via SlideShare, and his research is ranked among the most downloaded papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) by Elsevier.

Dr. Soliman holds a BSc in Engineering, a master's in Quality Management, and postgraduate degrees in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. He also holds certifications in quality, cost, and operations management. He is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) and the Society for Engineering and Management Systems (SEMS).

His insights have been featured in SAGE Publications, Industrial Management, Lean Thinking, and other peer-reviewed platforms.