STEM Career Day

SMK (P) Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, STEM Career Day on 1^st August 2024

I was ecstatic when seniors from my secondary school alma mater reached out on an opportunity to share with the students, a subject I hold dear to my heart, which is a career in engineering. Sri Aman is the top-performing all-girls school in the state of Selangor. Over 30 students attended the talk. According to the Society of Women Engineers, as of 2023, women make up approximately 16.7% of professionals in the engineering field in Malaysia. Among the key engineering disciplines that make up the percentage mentioned are chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, civil engineering and computer engineering. Materials science and engineering generally falls under the larger mechanical fraternity.

The topic of my sharing was “Corrosion Engineer as a Career”. With my 25 years of working experience in the oil and gas industry, I began by sharing the pinnacle achievements of my career thus far which included being the first Malaysian invited to participate in the AMPP Standards Program Committee and most recently, the international recognition as the first Malaysian recipient of the AMPP Elaine Bowman Distinguished Service Award in 2024.

As the first corrosion engineer working in a sour crude processing facility in Malaysia, my early days at site were like an adventure, with many exciting things to learn! Graduating with a masters in materials science and engineering degree meant that I already had the foundation for materials properties and behaviour but needed to expand my knowledge into process subjects in order to understand corrosion engineering and damage mechanisms. To give a flavour of what materials science and engineering was about, my presentation briefly explained the fundamentals of materials, materials properties, materials processing, materials selection and advancement in materials.

I then proceeded to talk about the main roles of a corrosion engineer which cover corrosion threat assessment, corrosion control, corrosion mitigation, corrosion monitoring, failure analysis and technical support. The most recent topics of interest in the industry include the application of data analytics, 3D printing applications and the pursuit of sustainability via the use of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The presentation concluded with a message about the importance of transforming academic degrees into practical life skills and being adaptable. All in all, I too reciprocated the enthusiastic energy of the students and were more than happy to answer all the questions they had. Wishing them all the best in the next phase of their life after secondary school!