Life in Chemical Engineering

Zaki Yamani Zakaria studied Chemical Engineering and works in the same field. The prospect of choosing Chemical Engineering as his career first captivated him after seeing some chemical formula in his father’s chemistry book. Today, with many years of experience working with different companies and specializations, Zaki made an initiative to share his experience to the juniors and those aspiring to pursue career in Chemical Engineering, an effort that deserves an applaud. He figured someone needs to start the sharing to the community since he himself found information about the field was rarely found during his yesteryears.

Zaki created Chemical Engineering World blog and periodically updates it with new and fresh content which is related to the world of – you guess it, Chemical Engineering. Recently, an article about him and his job experience was featured in Chemuniqe vol. 10, an annual Chemical Engineering Magazine published by the Chemical and Process Engineering Department, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

After completing his degree in University of Bradford, United Kingdom in 1999, Zaki worked as a Research Assistant in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM, Johor, joining the ‘Chemical Reaction Engineering Group’ (CREG), an award winning research group with many local and international accolades under its belt. His deep interest in the chemical engineering field encouraged him to pursue a masters degree. In his masters, he conducted research, synthesized catalysts, run experiments, optimized reactions, published technical papers, presented posters and participated in related science-technology exhibitions. Upon completion of of his masters, he was offered a job as Chemical Technologist for a local oil and gas servicing company.

With his fast adaptation to the new environment and quick gaining of competency, his rise to bigger roles was inevitable. A year later, he was appointed as a Project cum Chemical Engineer. He was tasked to spearhead the internal pipeline chemical cleaning project for a local oil company – basically helping the company to reduce corrosion activities inside the downstream pipeline and prolong the life span of it. His responsibility also covers ensuring correct formulation as well as performing necessary test to ensure the chemicals were fit to perform its duty. To efficiently and effectively monitor the corrosion activities in the pipeline, Zaki and the team utilized latest corrosion monitoring techniques such as electronic resistant probe (ER) and field signature method (FSM). Besides, he was also in charge of the oil and gas specialty chemicals.

Traveling has been part and parcel of his job as a Chemical Engineer, a task that Zaki enjoyed throughout. He frequented a number of offshore platforms in East Malaysia to conduct deoiler and descaler tests for the oil reserved. When going offshore, he would normally work less hours compared to when he was not. Additionally, in offshore, he could enjoy the fantastic food (imagine dining in a 5-star hotel, everyday…) and entertainment comes in abundance with the presence of television, movies, snooker, ping pong, gymnasium and reflexology chair. To be able to go offshore, one has to undergo Helicopter Under Water Escape (HUET) training and get himself an offshore passport.

But good things came to an end when the company decided to move its operation to Kuala Lumpur, leaving Zaki torn in between staying with a good job or sticking at his current place where his wife was establishing a good career in academic field with UTM. Eventually he decided to part with the company and settled down in Johor and moved to a new company, a refining plant in the oil and fats industry. The job is rather different from his previous work. He is no longer enjoying the degree of flexibility he was having before. He works longer hours as well. Today, at times, he reached home when it is already dark. Nevertheless he took it as a challenge and regards it as a merely temporary setback before getting acquainted and familiar himself with the new role and organization. To him, life is a series of lessons one needs to learn from new things rather than dwelling on the past.

At the new job, the first task for him was to learn and master things which are related to valves. He needs to understand various types of valves, brands, origin, sizes, spare parts, principle/operation and others. Zaki considers himself lucky to have been working in a place where he can learn a lot about the operation of a process plant. He is also learning about other supporting units such as heat exchangers, cooling towers, boilers and many more. Apart from the technical aspect of job, he is also learning to handle different matters including, manpower management, a new challenge that sometimes tests his leadership skills to the limit.

In many ways, Zaki is glad to have had his share of experience in multitude of specialization – research (academic), oil and gas, and oil and fats, with each area having its own uniqueness and advantages.

Zaki’s advice to future Chemical Engineers:

1. Never stop learning

It’s a great feeling to learn and discover new things. Learning while studying differs from learning while working. That’s why practical/industrial experience is important. Keep on appreciating any formal or informal knowledge you gained.

2. Be a member of Chemical Engineering association

Set a target to become a professional engineer. Establish and build your career.

3. Get good academic results

Aim for the best. Don’t do last minute study for examinations. With great academic result, chances of you getting employed are huge. Established organizations enter the universities and colleges in search for high education achievers. Also, a good academic background gives you more choices.

4. Establish your interpersonal skills communication skill

Don’t take this lightly. Good academic results are useless if you cannot complement them with equally well communication and interpersonal skills. Your performance during the interview will tell you a lot about how you will perform during the interview. As such, groom yourself with all the necessary skills that will allow you to do a good job with your employer.

Zaki’s sharing and contribution hopefully will shed some light, gives inspiration and open up minds for those who plan to pick a career in Chemical Engineering.

And oh, yes, he blogs too. Visit Zaki Yamani’s Blog

Other posts you may want to read:

1. MMU’s Doctor of Engineering Program
2. KDU Penang Career Fair 2007, 26 May
3. 5 Popular Engineering Career and Jobs
4. Stay in a Job For a Long Time
5. Malaysia Space University in the Making?
6. Business English
7. Sarawak Oil Palms Undergraduate Scholarship 2008
8. Career Prospect for Aeronautical Engineering in Malaysia

Author's bio: Zul is the founder and principal contributor for the SKOR Career blog. He is the author of two books, The Malaysian Job Seeker's Dilemma and Buat Duit Tanpa Kerja Makan Gaji (How to Make Money Without a Job), available in major book stores nationwide. You can reach him at zulkiflimusa[at]gmail.com.