Congratulations to all those who have recently registered with the Institution. We celebrate your achievements with a profile of our 1000th EngTech, Sean Cain.
Sean, a 25-year-old production operator with a mechanical engineering background, works for Shell on the Sean Papa gas-producing platform in the Southern North Sea.
He explained how he chose an engineering apprenticeship and what it means to him to have completed his training and gained professional registration: “My dad worked in the oil and gas industry and I was brought up in the Middle East, moving back to the UK for my secondary education. After my A-levels (including design technology, physics and business studies) I took up a place on an apprenticeship run by the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO).”
“I really enjoyed the course,” he continued. “I spent 18 months in Aberdeen, which is the oil and gas capital of Europe, followed by a stint off-shore. A number of major oil companies, such as Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell invest in the OPITO scheme and draw candidates from the pool of apprentices.”
Having gained his HNC in mechanical engineering and NVQ Level 2 in mechanical maintenance, he was then assigned to Shell. Still classed as an OPITO apprentice, and having worked for 24 months towards five Petroleum Open Learning (POL) City and Guild qualifications and the Level 3 NVQ in mechanical maintenance, Sean passed his assessment and was delighted to be recruited by Shell.
Sean’s current role centres on the mechanical maintenance of off-shore equipment. He said: “We use SAP to give a short-term plan of routine maintenance, but on top of the planned jobs there are upsets and unexpected issues that need immediate redress. The shift teams fit in with each others’ workloads, so if necessary I’ll address an unexpected breakdown and organise the solution; in other scenarios, I’ll redirect the job to colleagues.”
Sean mentions that, 100km off-shore, replacing a simple part can take several days, even weeks, as sourcing, transportation and even fitting all have time implications. One incident on Sean Papa sticks in his mind, however, when the platform experienced what is known as a “catastrophic failure”.
“Sean Papa pipes gas to the onshore plant and national grid. During a night-shift, turbine blades within the air compressor failed, and production dropped. The six-metre, twelve-tonne engine was removed, a new one sourced in San Francisco, sent out and fitted – which required any number of separately sourced parts from other countries, rigging equipment and operators – in five days. It was a terrific achievement, which goes to show what can happen when it’s all hands to the pump!”
Now that Sean has completed his mechanical maintenance apprenticeship, and is registered as an EngTech, he’s doing a further NVQ in hydrocarbon production and has applied for his CRO qualification, which will enable him to work as an overseer in the control room. He is also undertaking a HND in process engineering, which is opening up new doors of knowledge for him. He studies off-shore after his 12-hour shifts; and on-shore during his leave periods.
His hard work and talent have also distinguished him in other ways. In 2010 he was one of three finalist candidates for the UK Oil and Gas Awards, Young Technician of the Year (the winner was Kevin Dunn, of BP). The ceremony was held in Aberdeen and Sean felt honoured to have been put forward for the accolade by his operations supervisor, Claire Gould BSc Chem., B. ChE, who has worked with Shell for the past five years. The fact that he was considered so highly, says Claire, is: “Testament to Sean’s skills as an operations technician and also to his ability to gain the confidence and trust of his peers and supervisors.”
Claire continued: “Not only is he highly motivated and excited about working in the oil and gas industry, he possess the natural skills an engineer requires, such as logical thinking, an inquisitive mind and the ability to solve problems using first principles. The benefits of this apprenticeship are visible in his day-to-day work. He has a practical approach and is a skilled mechanic and now he is combining these skills with the engineering knowledge that will lead him on to the next stage in his career.”
The supervising team at Shell, as well as his father and brother, made Sean aware of, and encouraged him to register with, the Institution. Sean was registered as EngTech in January, and has already enjoyed benefits such as attending a lecture held by the Institution at Teesside University. He is keen to become an ambassador for membership of the Institution. He hopes to encourage apprentices to join as affiliates and work towards professional registration as they complete their studies.
He said: “In the area of Teesside, where I live, a lot of people are involved in engineering, and if I can spread the word about the work of the Institution and the benefits we can all share, I’m delighted to do it among the local engineering community.”
Claire Gould also considered Sean’s connection with the Institution as a significant and career-building step. She added: “Becoming a member of a professional institution allows Sean access to cutting-edge innovations, a wealth of information, personal development and a network that he can use as he continues on his engineering journey. Sean is surrounded by accomplished accredited engineers both in his professional and personal life and it is this network of professionals that Sean uses for advice and guidance. Here at Shell we encourage our technicians to join their respective professional institutes as we can see the benefits that this brings to them and to our business. Sean has been awarded independent verification of his skills, which is recognised world-wide.”
Sean intends to make use of training opportunities that the Institution offers to members: “I’m involved in a scientific project that is currently in the planning stages, to do with compression – it’s a bit of a change from the maintenance side. I’m also on the rig’s safety committee and for both of these I need to attend meetings and present information and feedback to my colleagues. My presentation skills are something that I want to develop and I’m looking forward to brushing these up on these on one of the Institution’s courses.”
Clearly motivated by learning and committed to engineering, Sean is keen to keep his options open as to whether it is process engineering or mechanical engineering that he chooses in the end. Over the next 10-15 years he hopes to become a chartered engineer and he has great loyalty to Shell.
He said: “I’d love to continue working with Shell, it’s a fantastic employer. The company is engaged in brilliant projects, such as Liquifying Natural Gas (LNG) in Australia, and has plenty of other options for work overseas if that’s where my ambitions and interests take me. I’d love to be involved in a supervisory or design technology role.”
His supervisor, Claire, concluded: “Sean is a technician who stands out from the crowd. Although still in the early days of his career, he is on the path to becoming an accomplished engineer.”
For information about support for apprentices or becoming professionally registered as an Engineering Technician, please visit our website