AKHBIR SINGH CHIMA, R.C.E., is popularly known as “Lakhi” Chima to his friends and admirers. He was hardly Seventeen years old, when he stepped out of his birthplace Chima Kalan, district Jullundur and sailed to US.A, in search of a new fortune in 1954. Mr, Chima’s dream of this dreamland was motivated by his grandfather who. Came to this great country in 1906.

For Mr. Chima it was a long way from village Chima to U.S.A. and long span of 1954 to 1988 that made him to be a proud “King” of his own empire. Many people can boast of making a big fortune in U.S.A. but Chima is one of the very few who has shared his hard earnings for the benefit of the community and has created a large circle of sincere and dedicated friends. Mr. Chima travelled from Yuba City to Chico State College, then to Chicago, and finally to Utah State University to obtain technical knowhow before stepping on the road for better life. Things in the beginning were not as bright or smooth for him as there was none to guide him. Mr. Chima has shown his deep gratitude and respect to those individuals who helped him to realize his dreams of life.

Lakhbir Singh Chima is a registered Professional Civil Engineer, not only in the State of California but also in the States of Illinois, Nevada, and Oregan. However, Mr. Chima can practice in any of the State of the Union with the exception of New York. Mr. Chima specializes in high rise structures and shopping centers for the foundation designs. He is specialized in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering for single story to multistory structures. For the last fifteen years, Chima is the sole owner of Valley Soils Engineering Corporation, acting as a Chief Engineer and President of the firm. He is responsible for the entire operational duties including the supervision of all materials; test related engineering matters including all related engineering matters including evaluation and directing foundation investigations and preparation of formal reports. There are numerous notable projects which were completed under the supervision of Mr. Chima and his Corporation.

Prior to starting his own firm in 1971, Mr. Chima held responsible positions with California Testing Lab, Davison of Approved Engineering Test Lab, Los Angeles, as a Chief Engineer. Mr. Chima also served in the State of California, division of highways, as Assistant Highway Engineer. Mr. Chima is the member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Mr. Chima has varied interests in life; He has been in Sikh politics from early sixties and has held various responsible assignments as President of the World Sikh Organization, U.S.A. He is one of the founder members of this organization and Sikh Council of North America. He has also served as the President of the Gurdwara Management Committee of Los Angeles. He is one of the founder members and now the director of the World Sikh News Corporation. There may be hardly any Sikh organization where the donation may not have gone from the wallet of Mr. Chima. Mr. Chima had ‘once ventured to produce a full length Hindi feature film “Chambal Ke Daku”, utilizing the services of Mohar Singh and Madho Singh: The real life dacoits, who acted as the main stars of the film. Mr. Chima, married to Mrs. Parminder Kaur, is the proud father of three sons, Ravinder, Rupinder and Rajinder who are following the footprints of their parents.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 19, 1988