SARAH ABDULLA
Sarah is 24 and a Project Engineer in Sharjah

I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and as a young girl, I was always fascinated with how things worked. I would go into my room and break apart even the most common items like a TV remote, trying to understand the tiniest components and how it all fitted into the bigger picture. My older brother is also an engineer and would encourage my curiosity. From a young age, I excelled more in maths and sciences than the arts, and I knew that engineering was where I was headed. My father is my role model and my biggest motivator and cheerleader.

I studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering here in Sharjah for a Bachelor’s degree before joining the Petrofac Academy in 2016 for two years. Meeting people from so many cultures and backgrounds was a highlight for me. I learnt a lot about the journeys of professionals and managers, who started off training just like me. That’s been very inspiring and motivating.

Currently, I lead the execution of purchase orders, managing multi-disciplinary packages, to ensure compliance on budget and planning delivery, in line with project requirements. What I love most about my role is that it’s a constant learning experience. No two days are alike, and I get to interact with people from various backgrounds and fields.

I have had my fair share of challenges when working with extremely tight deadlines and urgent requirements. There are so many external factors that can affect your progress and impede milestones. I love the department I’m in. You have the technical and you have the commercial, so my role helps me develop myself in every way possible. I deal with different vendors, different clients and touch base with everyone. Right now, I’m a junior project engineer, so my goal would be to develop myself, become more senior, and grow technically, working with the engineering team.

I also gave birth to my first child last year and I would say that successfully managing all my responsibilities both personal and professional has been no easy feat. But with determination, hard work and the support of a great team, I can have the best of both worlds.

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The next generation