NURUL KARLBERG

Nurul joined Petrofac in 2018 as a contractor and then the graduate programme in late 2019. A passionate advocate of engineering as a career for young women, her surprising engineering hero is 1920s Hollywood glamour star Hedy Lamarr.

How did you get into engineering?

I’ve always been interested in sciences and maths, so engineering was a logical route.

At school I took part in a two-day simulation project, where you have to imagine you have your own oil and gas company and you had to search for the right block, look for farm-out partners, manage your reputation as an operator. I was 16, and I liked how fast-paced it was.

Later I had a week’s internship at Talisman (Repsol), spoke to process engineers there and put together a PowerPoint presentation on the future of the oil and gas industry. I was hooked. When I left university I joined EnQuest as an intern supporting their offshore Thistle operations in the North Sea, then Petrofac as a process engineer.

Why the oil and gas industry?

I grew up in Aberdeen and oil and gas is what people did. Some people at university (I was at Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh) – though not those on my course - were very judgemental, a bit anti-oil. I was surprised at the hypocrisy and pointed out to them that the clothes they wore, the car they drive, the heat, light and energy in their houses likely involved hydrocarbons.

Was there a career plan B?

Brewing and distilling are big industries in Scotland, with quality projects for a chemical engineer. Utilities too – making sure water comes out of the tap and keeping the lights on are very satisfying things to do. Predictive analytics is exciting, showcasing data in a way that’s useful.

Do you have an engineering hero?

Hedy Lamarr! She was not just a big Hollywood star in the 1930s and 40s – she developed a technique for radio frequency hopping during the war that is still used to this day. It’s the basis for WiFi technology. She wasn’t accepted by the scientific community at the time, which makes her achievements all the more impressive. I like that she did the unexpected, and her determination. Katherine Johnson is another hero [Creola Katherine Johnson, American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics at NASA were critical to the success of crewed spaceflights]. If I’d achieved what they did I’d be smiling every day!

Why would you recommend engineering as a career?

I was creative as a child and engineering suits me because it’s such a creative job. It’s all about problem solving. Going into process engineering I was worried I’d not get chance to be creative but in fact I’ve been encouraged to speak my mind and get involved in creative problem solving right from the start.

And the job can only become more creative. Legislation around O&G (oil and gas) emissions is becoming stricter, which gives an engineer like me chance to be creative – you have to be. Every solution is unique, bespoke – there are no off-the-peg answers.

COVID has made us assess our quality of life, and what we want from a job. If you do what you love, the money will come regardless. My university course was 40% women. Representation does matter – people need to see women in engineering roles and think ‘if they can do it, so can I’.

How would you explain what you do to a 10 year old?

If someone has a problem, maybe it’s something they want to fix or make better, I work with other people to fix that problem using maths and science.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

At the moment I’m a jack of all trades and master of none. I want to move into new energy – Hydrogen, Waste-to-X, this is all exciting from an academic perspective – but first I want to master process engineering. Operations is a very dynamic environment, and I’d like to progress to Operations Manager in time – there are people in that role now at Petrofac I really respect.

Petrofac’s mentorship programme has been great. Every quarter I’m asked what experiences I’ve had or think I lack, and we work out together how those gaps will be filled with experience and training.

What is your career highlight to date?

It has to be the people I’ve worked with at Petrofac – they’ve been fantastic, easy to talk to and very personable. It’s always good to work with people you admire. Even though I’ve been the least experienced in the room, I’ve always been encouraged to speak and always listened to. I’ve become more confident as a result.

Don’t be scared to speak up and remember that there’s no such thing as a stupid question.

Read more from our female engineers here…