D&I
My background is in chemical and materials engineering, and I have experience of working globally – including New Zealand, the UK, Middle East, Australia and US – first in the manufacturing and chemicals industries and now in oil and gas.
I started out as an engineer and made the choice to go into business management. As an engineer, there are many pathways for career development, either in a technical subject matter expert role, project management or in business management, all depending on your passion and strengths. I chose to go the business management route.
From the University of Auckland in New Zealand, I went into the fibreboard manufacturing industry, which led me to a related chemicals industry as a product developer for resins used to manufacture fibreboards.
My transition to the oil and gas industry came as a result of a move to the UK and opportunities in the growing offshore safety industry as a result of the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. I worked with a chemical engineering consulting company specialising in health and safety management and technical risk and safety consulting as a senior process safety consultant.
Global insight
This role was a stepping stone to my career transition not only to the oil and gas industry but also into technical supervisory roles that led to operational and regional management posts for several organisations.
I’m now in a leadership role at INTECSEA, which is a subsidiary of the Worley Parsons group with 750 staff across the world. We provide specialised consulting, engineering design and project management consultancy services in subsea production systems, marine pipelines and floating production systems to the offshore industry.
(Credit: iStock)
Engineering is still the foundation of what society needs. As a profession it’s still a very exciting place to be, whether it’s mechanical, chemical or civil. We need engineers to design and build things and come up with innovative solutions for the needs of society.
However, the biggest change is that it’s not seen as being as exciting as it used to be. It is difficult to attract students to study STEM subjects which subsequently negatively impacts the entry to engineering studies. There are many reasons for this and we as an industry need to do more to sell engineering as a rewarding and exciting profession.
The oil and gas industry is seen as a dirty industry and blamed a lot for societal and environmental issues. That is a lack of understanding about the efforts taken by the regulators, production and service companies to adopt best practice and technologies to minimise emissions and improve the environmental footprint.
Stay curious
The industry also needs to address inequality and lack of diversity in its workforce. I was in a class of 40 at university, and there were only five females. That pool is increasing, but we need more female role models who have come through that process to make significant progress. Diversity is not just a gender issue and needs to be inclusive of diversity of thought, experience and cultural differences.
I believe it to be a business leadership issue. You can have quotas or targets, but business leaders need to take ownership of the issue and commit to making the changes needed for the industry to reap the benefits of a diverse workforce.
The era of low oil prices is presenting significant challenges to the industry. From a service company perspective, we have to find the right balance between maintaining capability and expertise and providing career and learning opportunities in a challenging market.
The way we work is changing as well. To stay relevant, we are looking at different ways of operating a business in a sustainable way, with remote working, providing more flexibility, smart technology solutions and alternative commercial models.
I still think it’s an exciting profession to be in. If I had to give advice to young engineers, I would say, when you get your first job, be curious and have that thirst to learn. Ask questions, and perform to the best of your ability at all times. Sustain your intellectual curiosity and keep learning through your job.
Take opportunities when they come, because, if you don’t grab them, they might not come again. Be prepared to challenge respectfully and start networking at the earliest opportunity to build your professional networks.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily reflect the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers