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Throughout her university experience and 12-week internship, the author demonstrated all five competencies required. For competence A of applying engineering knowledge, she undertook process design projects in university involving methane production from biogas and optimizing ethanol to ethylene production. For competence D of interpersonal skills, she had to effectively communicate with various departments during her internship. For competence E of professionalism, she complied with safety regulations in labs and ensured her projects considered sustainability aspects like CO2 emissions and social impacts.
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A short assignment highlighting the importance of competences of becoming an engineer.
Throughout her university experience and 12-week internship, the author demonstrated all five competencies required. For competence A of applying engineering knowledge, she undertook process design projects in university involving methane production from biogas and optimizing ethanol to ethylene production. For competence D of interpersonal skills, she had to effectively communicate with various departments during her internship. For competence E of professionalism, she complied with safety regulations in labs and ensured her projects considered sustainability aspects like CO2 emissions and social impacts.
Throughout her university experience and 12-week internship, the author demonstrated all five competencies required. For competence A of applying engineering knowledge, she undertook process design projects in university involving methane production from biogas and optimizing ethanol to ethylene production. For competence D of interpersonal skills, she had to effectively communicate with various departments during her internship. For competence E of professionalism, she complied with safety regulations in labs and ensured her projects considered sustainability aspects like CO2 emissions and social impacts.
Throughout my university experience I have had the opportunities to demonstrate all
five (A, B, C, D, E) competences through various projects, events, and programs. As a chemical engineering student, most of the projects that I undertook were process design and design projects, in addition to that, a business and sustainability project for second year, and numerous labs conducted in the university. Alongside the works done in university, I also partook in a 12-week internship program with Group Technical Solutions (GTS), Petronas; a technical consultant division of Petronas. Within GTS, I was placed under the downstream process design department which allowed me to learn more about the technicalities of chemical processes; the process that I was directly involved with was flaring but while conversing with other professionals in the department, I was able to gain some knowledge on water technology, boiler and pipeline designs, desulphurization, and liquefaction of natural gas. Aside from technical knowledge, I also had a taste of how professional management was conducted. This report will define the competences with regards to the UK-SPEC and Malaysia’s IEM criteria and how the competence standards are demonstrated through my experiences ever since my enrolment as a chemical engineering student in Heriot-Watt University. Competence A can be broadly defined as learning, understanding, and applying engineering knowledge into optimizing existing and emerging technology. This was thoroughly demonstrated through the projects conducted in university, for example in process design A, my group and I had to discover a method to produce biomethane from biogas via pressure swing adsorption. This project acted as a catalyst to our understanding of using biomass as a feedstock and the pressure swing adsorption unit. Production of methane was much more easily done through the separation of natural gas because it is quicker; producing biogas from anaerobic digestion of agricultural wastes takes much longer and from then, the methane can be separated from biogas by using zeolites in a pressure swing adsorption unit. The investigation into this technology allowed me to have a stronger grasp on environmentally sustainable process for methane production. Through this project, I learned about the importance of methane gas in the energy industry and is emerging in the transportation industry. Understanding the importance of a chemical whilst working with it was paramount to the project; learning about the physical and chemical properties to optimize the separation process was set as a priority so that the project can go smoothly. As a team, we had to research firstly about the generation of natural gas from agricultural wastes and which method produces the highest methane concentration but is simultaneously feasible, secondly, we had to research about the nature of their movements (for transportation through pipelines and storage), and its separation via the pressure swing adsorption. The engineering knowledge applied in this project was simple process engineering, heat transfer, and mass transfer. Production of methane through natural gas extraction has been a conventional technology for decades but through anaerobic digestion and pressure swing adsorption, agricultural wastes can be used as a feedstock and lower operational costs for the separation process as the pressure swing adsorption unit consumes less energy than a cryogenic distillation column to extract methane. This project didn’t just optimize the process in terms of energy consumption but also uses a more sustainable feedstock. Another aspect of engineering that was required for this project was the process of adsorption; a pressure swing adsorption unit conventionally uses two columns, one for adsorption and another for desorption- the efficiency of the unit highly depends on the pressure ratios and the adsorbents used. By studying different types of zeolites, its physical properties and adsorption capacities (through pressure isotherms), the most effective one had to be chosen to remove H2O, CO2 and N2 from the stream- this is to isolate methane and obtain purity higher than 99%. Alongside the process engineering required for this project, I also had to learn and apply design knowledge through chemical and mechanical engineering books to design a mass transfer and heat transfer equipment; for this project I designed a shell-and-tube heat exchanger and a compressor. The two equipment I designed helped optimize the methane separation process by ensuring that the biogas going into the pressure swing adsorption unit is at the most optimum conditions for separation (pressure and temperature). By applying mass and heat transfer engineering knowledge, the shell-and-tube heat exchanger and compressor were designed so that the N2, CO2 and H2O were adsorbed most efficiently by the adsorbents chosen. Another example of competence A can be found during the Process Design B project; the main objective of this project was to find an existing process and figure out methods of improving it, both in terms of process and economics. The process chosen was production of ethylene from dehydration of ethanol. The objectives of the project were to increase both quality and quantity of the product and increase profit by selling by-products. In this project, two units were modified to achieve the objectives: firstly, to decrease the number of reactors in the plant and increase the product yield by choosing a better catalyst for the reaction, this resulted in a lower capital cost but a slightly higher catalyst cost, secondly, to liquefy CO2 produced and sell as a by-product which will assist in increasing profit. Through research and implementing general engineering understandings and knowledge, the process of dehydration of ethanol into ethylene was optimized by lowering the capital cost and increasing annual income. Process Design B was the perfect example of competence A as it combines general and specialist engineering knowledge and it was applied to optimize an existing technology. Another competence standard I will be discussing is competence D “demonstrating effective interpersonal skills”. Communication is perhaps the most important skill to have in any professional field and I discovered this through my 12-week internship program at Petronas. Although I was placed in the downstream process design department, the project we handled highly relied on other departments such as process control, mechanical, and simulation. It was paramount to be able to have in-depth discussions with the other departments which required understanding of their jargons and technical terms. Fortunately, there were no language barriers as everybody spoke English sufficiently, although some of the staff preferred to converse fully in Malay. As a speaker of both languages, there were no issues switching from one to another from time to time. Before doing any technical work, my supervisor and I will discuss what is the most effective way to tackle the work; as an intern it was natural for my supervisors to have authority over me because they are more experienced. This involved lots of discussions and meetings with both my supervisors and members of other departments; an example was the comparison between manually calculated mass and energy balance with the simulation team; whether their numbers match. If there were ambiguities in some of the calculations made, simulations, or equipment specifications, I had to contact the respective personnel either through email or directly approach them at their offices. Through the 12-week internship period, I managed to present myself to the company in a confident manner through demonstrating effective interpersonal skills- mainly to compensate for my lack of engineering experience. In all engineering works, safety and integrity ware always regarded as the most important aspects; competence E requires the candidate to demonstrate professionalism in terms of commitment to professional standards, society, and the environment. Professionalism can be demonstrated in numerous ways, one of them is complying with safety regulations when conducting experiments in labs. Throughout my years in university, proper lab conducts were always stressed before initiation of experiments. I must always have proper personal protective equipment (PPE) such as a lab coat and goggles, safety shoes when dealing with heavy machineries, mask and a pair of gloves when handling chemicals. These safety procedures were adhered to every time I conduct an experiment in the lab. Through first and second year of university, majority of the labs dealt with chemicals, so gloves, mask, and goggles were required at all times. By wearing PPE, working with diligence and care, I demonstrated my personal commitment to the safety standards of the lab, and through this, my professionalism as an engineering student. Another aspect of competence E is demonstrating my obligation to society and environment; almost all the projects undertaken in university had an aspect of sustainability in them. When designing a processing plant in design classes, the main concerns were always waste disposals such as waste water, acids disposal into the soil, CO2 emission, and noise pollution. MEng Design Project A/B, we as a group decided to deliver our CO2 gas emitted to offshore platforms for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and in another project, the CO2 was liquefied and sold to companies that manufacture and sell fire retardant products. Under social sustainability, the projects also considered the employability of locals and improving their social needs by providing opportunities to work in the proposed processing plants and ensuring that the plants are placed a certain distance away from local towns- this was to avoid noise pollution. These considerations were all theoretical as they were done in projects; real- life examples include following the rules of conduct in four processing plants that I have visited: KLK Oleomas, Yakult, Top Glove, and Petron. Each visit required the students to wear hard-hats and surrender our cellphones. Rules of conduct also refer to professionalism whilst conducting oneself in a sensitive area; by not touching anything that may burn or harm you, not running, learning the fire exit routes, and to always follow a professional engineer. Through these experiences, competence E was clearly demonstrated; professionalism and integrity were conducted thoroughly by committing to technical, safety, and behavioral standards. Part 2: Summaries of Guest Speakers Three guest speakers will be chosen for the summaries: Firstly, Ir. Kenneth Yeoh is a chemical engineer who focused his career on bettering the environment. The reason I chose to write about Kenneth is because of his commitment for sustainable processes and clean disposal of wastes. These two factors are paramount for future generations as the wastes generated today will negatively impact the future, and if the issue is tackled earlier, we will leave behind a resourceful planet for the future generations to work on. Secondly, Rajeev Domble, an oil and gas expert with 27 years of experience in the field. He thoroughly explained the risks related to oil and gas projects, especially offshore projects, and its consequences; yet if those risks were not taken, we would not have progressed to where we are today. He taught me that calculated risks are necessary and if certain minor damages are inevitable, it is better to create mitigation plans than to abandon the project wholly. Finally, I will talk about Prakash Karunakaran who taught his audience not to just survive during our first jobs but to thrive by identifying missing skillsets that graduates have and ways to overcome them. Guest Speaker 1: Ir. Kenneth Yeoh (Chemical Engineering) Ir. Kenneth Yeoh is a Professional Engineer, graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in chemical engineering, and an active environmental advocate. He is highly experienced in managing and leading engineering projects of different magnitudes, many of which involve treatment and disposal of wastes. Some of the examples are wastewater/effluent treatment, air pollution handling, and water engineering. His expertise is not limited to the technicalities of engineering but also its management; Ir. Kenneth Yeoh has worked in planning, maintenance, and operations of engineering projects. Furthermore, through his 13 years of industrial experience, he is now able to give professional engineering consultancies for various companies. Kenneth’s work mostly reflects competences C, D, and E as he is able to use his interpersonal/communication and management skills in handling different projects. More so towards competence E due to the environmental nature of his work. He fully utilizes his knowledge and expertise to conserve the environment and in turn, the societies that dwell in it. He also complies with environmental regulations and standards whilst conducting his work to ensure that the wastes produced by process plants are disposed of properly. Kenneth also stressed on the importance of practical design and how it can be implemented into his field of work; for example, when choosing the materials for a disposal system or chimney, one must be considerate in terms of surroundings and cost. Waste water treating may be handling corrosive components and it is essential to choose the right materials and also install them properly, in addition to that, he mentioned that chimneys should be designed at a height that is considered safe for particulate dispersions. This application of engineering knowledge related heavily with competence B as Kenneth is able to apply practical engineering knowledge to solve engineering problems, yet simultaneously demonstrate competence E because he is not neglecting his obligations to the environment. Ir. Kenneth Yeoh has inspired many young aspiring engineers to pursue works that relies heavily with rules of conduct in preserving the environment, combining both competences B and E, and with newer technologies and engineering innovation, more processes can be optimized for wastewater treatment and air pollution control can be implemented, ultimately creating a more sustainable environment for future generations. Guest Speaker 2: Rajeev Domble (Oil and Gas) Rajeev possesses vast amounts of experience with regards to engineering, he took on projects from almost all sectors such as downstream, upstream, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, refinery, and even utilities. With 27 years of experience, Rajeev is an expert in the oil and gas industry, providing his consultancies to all sorts of projects ranging from solving engineering solutions to overcoming business obstacles. His past projects reflect most prominently on competence C as he is both the technical and managerial consultant for various projects; he assists companies on developing, leading, and directing new projects. Although Rajeev spoke of technicalities of the oil and gas industry, he stressed deeply on health, safety, and environment. This reflected on competence E as he is recognizing his obligations to the environment and being in the oil and gas industry, it was not an easy feat. In all oil and gas projects that he took, huge risks were the main concern; big risks are associated with huge amounts of money; this in turn creates a loop of risks balancing between the likelihood of failure and losing a massive amount of investments, and the project’s success and with it comes a huge reward (profitability). Rajeev recognizes these risks as a threat but not impossible to overcome. With proper application of engineering knowledge, practicality, and risk assessments, Rajeev demonstrated competence B beautifully as he executes one project after another; whenever a problem approaches he is able to assert leadership to his team (competence C) and solve the issue together. Rajeev shared his 27 years of experience in the oil and gas industry with us by an overview of the industry, exposing the large risks that exist in the industry, and how to use engineering expertise to overcome it. His anecdotes with regards to his experience perfectly embodies competence D as he is able to communicate with various companies’ personnel from all kinds of backgrounds, and ultimately, have the ability to reiterate his experiences to us students so we may be better informed of his profession. Guest Speaker 3: Prakash Karunakaran (Thrive vs. Survive) Prakash K.K. is the Custodian Engineer in Advanced Process Control department in Petronas and is currently situated in Group Technical Solutions (GTS). His consultancies specialize on maximizing economic profitability of complex processing facilities by combining both technical and non-technical aspects of his expertise; included are plant technologies, economics, instrumentation and control, modelling, and electrical and mechanical. With 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry acting as the foundation of his career (competence B), he emphasized that effective communication and interpersonal skills (competence D) are perhaps the most important aspects above all as it relates to the understanding of human behavior (people skills) and assisting in managerial level decision- making processes. Prakash heavily discussed about the issue with graduates working their first jobs; he listed fifteen gaps that graduates need to fill to thrive in their careers. Whilst interning in GTS in the summer of 2018, I have learned that Custodian Engineer is the highest technical position one can achieve and for many, this is the definition of success, but Prakash thinks otherwise; he believes that every individual has his or her own definition of success and this idea is crucial to an individual’s outlook on life. Serving as a technical consultant for the past seven years, Prakash has demonstrated competence B rigorously, applying his engineering knowledge to help local and international companies solve their engineering issues. As stressed before, Prakash has always been more passionate towards the development of people, helping more than 700 individuals with both engineering and non-engineering related training, as he believed that it is the root of innovation and progress that will drive businesses forward. With this, he inherits strong communication and interpersonal skills (competence D) and is actively pursuing towards the nurture of future development; he is personally committed in moving society forwards by sticking to his own professional standards (competence E).