Engineering perspectives

On International Women in Engineering Day, completion engineer Diana talks about her role at BP

After a well is drilled, completion engineers take over operations and are accountable for well safety, productivity and longevity. Join us and you’ll have the opportunity to work on record-breaking wells using cutting-edge technology. From sand control designs and well performance, to flow assurance and completion integrity, completion engineers solve challenging technical problems and build valuable skills.

Graduate trainee Diana has designed an interface between a reservoir and the surface. In addition to this, she is involved in programme preparation and planning the execution of the operation itself. “There’s lots of training and field exposure,” she says. “You can learn a lot – and it isn’t just about working."

Diana is grateful for the support provided by her line manager who she describes as “the first and best expert I have worked with.”

“He’s more like a professor than a boss,” she explains. “He knows what I learn by doing – so he assigns me challenging work.” Part of that is exposing her to hands on tasks in the field allowing her to gain invaluable experience at the early stage of her career. “What I do on paper is so different in reality,” she says. “My design might be only ten centimetres – but in the field, the real thing can be ten feet… or even triple that!”

Diana conducted her training in Scotland, meeting fellow graduates both in her own and different engineering disciplines – and she was happy to discover that there was great deal of knowledge sharing allowing her to gain different perspectives on operational work. As she puts it: "BP has good people, and good teamwork makes them outstanding."

The graduate programme is working well for Diana. “It really transforms fresh graduates into professionals,” she says.