What's your job about?
I provide project engineering support for the maintenance and industrial services business of Monadelphous. In particular, my current role is heavily involved with the offshore Energy Industry. I have been lucky enough to have worked on projects for the likes of Shell & Petrofac in my short time here so far. Currently, I am working on the decommissioning of an FPSO (Floating Production, Storage, Offloading) facility. Located in the Timor Sea, approximately a 2 hour helicopter ride from Darwin, It was once a prosperous facility but is now in need of major remediation before it can be taken onshore for decommissioning.
As a Project Engineer, my role is to provide onshore support for the teams offshore. My typical day usually starts with organising my schedule, checking up on overnight emails, and closing out tasks from the previous day. It will then likely involve communication with our offshore supervisors, checking in with their progress and any issues they may have come across. They would usually report their progress with the work we have got them doing and express their need for new equipment or support. From there, my day is quite varied. I have responsibility of keeping up client and subcontractor communications, procuring items and ensuring their timely delivery offshore, preparing work packs for the offshore teams, addressing and issuing any technical queries, and QA/QC support. I have also spent some time offshore myself during the first ever shutdown on the largest floating facility in the world, Shell Prelude. Whilst on nightshift, I was tasked with supporting the QA/QC and Completions team, in order to ensure a safe and timely shutdown completion.
What's your background?
I am proudly born and raised here in Perth. In the early years of school, I had no particular interest in engineering, but it wasn’t until around year 9/10 where I truly felt a passion for it. A few good teachers helped me structure the rest of my school years to ensure I was well prepared for studying Mech Eng and Management at university. During University, I probably spent more time enjoying myself then focusing on the work, although when it came down to it, I always made sure my work was my best. After some part time and holiday work, I enrolled for the Monadelphous vacation program for the summer of 2022, and have been working here ever since. During my vacation program, I spent a lot of time learning the ropes, and broadening my experience in different aspects of project engineering. I also got many opportunities to see and try new things, such as heading up to an LNG plant, running my own cradle-to-grave projects, and even getting my rope access certificate! It was a very streamlined transition from undergraduate to graduate, which made it really keep the connections, and experience, I gained in the vacation program. The graduate program has since solidified my role in the business, giving me more responsibilities and more opportunity for growth.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
For sure! There’s no reason why anybody can’t succeed in a job like my own. For a job in this industry, you need to be able to handle change, and be quick to come to solutions. As it is heavily regulated industry, you must also be able to understand and retain all the required standards, codes, and regulations in order to complete projects successfully. It is also important to be able to build and hold relationships with the people around you in the industry, as these are the connections which will help you in any of the work you do.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The perks of being in a team like mine is that I get to be involved in many different projects, for many different clients. As I’ve mentioned, I had the opportunity to spend four weeks offshore on the largest ever offshore facility, Prelude FLNG. To give you some context, this ship is longer than the Petronas Towers, and 2 times heavier than the largest cruise ship ever built… That’s how big this thing is. I’ve also had the opportunity to explore onshore LNG facilities such as Woodside’s Pluto LNG Plant. These opportunities are what makes my job so worth it.
What are the limitations of your job?
Whilst it may seem like there are endless positives and no limitations, this isn’t true for any job. When heading to a site, the 12-hour days and weekends away working make it tough to keep in touch with friends and family, especially when working on nights. Managing your work is tough, especially if you’re already falling behind, so you have to ensure you sleep well and keep yourself aligned with your schedule. I find that planning out each day allows you to keep focused on what is the priority.
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