Giles Lunn: Foster Wheeler lead engineer
EMPLOYER Foster Wheeler Energy Limited
UNIVERSITY MEng mechanical engineering, Imperial College, London
During my first three years I gained a great overview of the industry through placements in a number of different areas of Foster Wheeler. I worked in project engineering, project systems, and global sales and marketing, and spent three months on site in construction engineering.
The whole experience showed me how all the departments within an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor work together to deliver complex projects successfully and safely for the upstream oil and gas, LNG (liquid natural gas) and gas-to-liquids, refining, chemicals and petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals industries.
Working on site and seeing the equipment I had designed become part of an operational facility was amazing. It put everything into context and I learned an incredible amount from overcoming the practical problems that arise on site.
After completing my placements, I joined the equipment engineering department, and worked on a range of refinery projects, responsible for the engineering and procurement of equipment such as pressure vessels and heat exchangers.
My current role
I'm now a lead engineer and am working on my second major project in this role: leading a team of 12 equipment engineers designing the static, rotating and package equipment for a Saudi Arabian project. I co-ordinate my team’s activities and, liaising with the project management team and client, make sure that we meet the client’s specifications and requirements.
As well as leading and supporting my team members, I’m still very much involved in technical design and problem solving.
My skills and training
I’ve been given fantastic opportunities to receive training and gain experience and, by being proactive and discussing my career plan with my managers, I have been able to influence the direction of my training and on-the-job experience. This helped me to achieve chartered status less than four years after graduating.
As a lead engineer, I have added scheduling, resourcing and budgeting to my skills toolkit, and have also built on my planning, communication and interpersonal skills.
I find that one of best ways to learn is to talk to people and there are many highly skilled and experienced people from all backgrounds working in this business – everyone is very willing to share their knowledge.
My career highlight
Every project I’ve worked on has been different from the next: from the people working in teams, to the locations and clients’ requirements. I thoroughly enjoy the variety and the team-focused way of working. I’ve worked in some demanding environments, but that adds to the challenge. I never lose the excitement of going out onto a project site wherever it may be, because that’s where everything comes together.
Top tip
Do something you know you will enjoy. If you work in an area that interests you, you will be more proactive in developing yourself and this will help you to progress. You get out of things what you put in, so always get involved in courses and other learning opportunities when they are available.