Gaber El-Sharkawi was born into a well-known family of carpenters in Egypt, earning a wide range of international wood working experience by creating furniture for other residents in the city. Gaber graduated as a civil engineer from the Faculty of Engineering in Cairo, Egypt, in 1975, and has been working in the industry as well as a general construction contractor in Egypt for more than 25 years. In 1999, he came to the United States, and worked with contractors in order to gain American experience and learn more techniques.