PEOPLE
ASMAA AL DHANHANI, GRADUATE ENGINEER, MECHANICAL Asmaa has worked on the Seagreen project for ten months, six in planning and four with the fabrication team. Among Asmaa’s responsibilities are putting together the daily and weekly ‘tracker’ updates that keep clients informed of progress, and she has already made a big impression on her mentor Roy Nasr.
When I first arrived, it was a challenge to understand all the different terms and procedures… but I made a point of asking questions, writing things down and learning them. From my notes I started to make a series of presentations – just for myself – to see how much I had learned about a particular subject, whether it was quality of HVAC or piping. I even used the presentations as part of the induction for two new colleagues as I thought it would make it easier for them to grasp the important information quickly.
I’m somebody who always likes to have lots to do… Roy [Nasr] saw this straight away and was very good at finding things that I could be involved with and putting me in touch with others that would help me learn. I found that very useful and we continue to work well together and motivate each other to improve.
I joined the graduate programme in November 2019 as a mechanical engineer… This is my third rotation after training at the Petrofac Academy. Having worked at home for almost a year, being able to come on site and see everything and meet all these people was very exciting – especially as I love to learn new things. I now have a much better understanding of what is involved in the whole project.
The heat can be a challenge… It reaches 40 degrees but can feel much warmer with the humidity. I’ve lived in UAE my whole life, but I would never normally go outside during the day in the summer!
For three months I was the only female here… But now there are two more women on the team and we are expecting another two to join soon. I’ve never been treated any differently from any other colleague, everyone here sees me as an engineer first. I feel blessed to be part of my team, as they are very supportive. And am thankful to my family for their continued encouragement. I’m supposed to end my rotation in August but I’m enjoying it and learning so much I hope to extend for another two months. It would be great to be here to see the project completed. Knowing I’ve played a small part on it would be very rewarding.
“For three months I was the only female here. But I’ve never been treated any differently from any other colleague, everyone here sees me as an engineer first.”
WORDS JAMES WICKHAM
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2021
