Oxford

ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING
DR CHIARA MODENESE
Tunnel Engineer – Atkins
Chiara studied Engineering
Science at St Anne’s
College, 2013.
WHAT: The tunneling sector is currently
thriving and is a field where specialist
knowledge from multiple disciplines is
required, particularly from geotechnical
and structural engineering. My PhD
was a great asset in enabling me to
be hired as a specialist, although it did
narrow my job search.
WHY: For me this is an inspiring place
for learning and put knowledge into
practice. I very much liked the research
environment but having trained as an
engineer for so many years I was eager
to apply my advance numerical skills
to solve more practical problems. I get
to deal with the complexities around
geotechnical problems, which require well
thought-through design solutions, and risk
management and hazard evaluation are
truly important activities.
GETTING IN: My research suggested Atkins
was a good company with a well-structured
Engineering Graduate Scheme. I had
attended a company presentation and
spoken with one of the Atkins’ directors,
which gave me a good feeling for what they
were looking for.
The skills learnt during my post-graduate
studies, from software programming to
being able to work under high pressure,
are more than valued in the construction
ALUMNI PROFILES
industry so make sure that you
highlight any relevant specialist
knowledge in your job application, as
this is often what makes the difference
in the recruitment process.
ADVICE: Be open and enthusiastic
to what a civil engineering career
has to offer. It is not an ‘office job’: it
means engaging with the public and
working in a team to deliver projects
that are bound to affect people’s life.
And make sure that you develop your
communication skills alongside your
technical qualifications because this
is a job where projects need to be
managed effectively and the ability
to collaborate with others to create a
solution is of utmost importance.
ALUMNI PROFILES
THOMAS GRIFFITHS
Maintenance and Integrity
Engineer – Shell
WHAT: I’m currently on the Shell
graduate scheme, and I’m responsible
for maintenance of one of the North
Sea assets. I spent my first year in
the office, getting to grips with how
operating and maintaining an asset
in the middle of the sea works: now I
work offshore, applying the knowledge
I gained.
Offshore is a completely different
world; it’s hard to imagine until you’re
actually there. Every day provides
a new challenge, which you’re
trusted to solve, from fault finding
on an industrial sized water plant,
which makes usable water for the
accommodation (fairly important to
get this fixed quickly if 150 people
want a shower!) to commissioning
and overseeing the instalment of
a 10 tonne centrifugal compressor.
Currently I am working towards
becoming a maintenance supervisor
on the platform, leading a team of over
10 technicians, to conquer the vast
amounts of work to maintain a 40 year
old platform.
WHY: Whether you focus on mechanical,
electrical or any other engineering
discipline, there is a huge range of roles
to explore from design to operation to
decommissioning. For example, there are
fascinating projects within our technology
group, including designing some real
megastructures: ‘Prelude’, a current project,
will be the first Floating Liquefied Natural
Gas producing vessel built and also the
biggest vessel ever floated. In the North
Sea, decommissioning platforms is a
growing field of expertise too, where Eiffel
tower sized structures need to be removed
(putting them in was hard enough).
ADVICE: Get as much experience as you
can first. I started an internship with a
different company, that was working in a
joint venture with Shell on Carbon Capture
(seemed to work out well!). Not only that,
but from gaining that experience working
in the office, I knew I wanted to get some
experience in the field, and see the real
challenges we face.
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