Matt Wootton
Country: UK
A Levels: Chemistry, maths and physics
University: University of Bath, UK
As a child, I was interested in aviation and wanted to become a pilot. I think it was this early interest that sparked my curiosity into figuring out how things work.
I have had an interest in science and engineering for as long as I can remember. Given my interest in flying, it was aeronautical engineering that first caught my eye. When I started to look at things more closely I realised that aeronautical engineering would take me down a more mechanical engineering route which was less appealing. It was then that I discovered chemical engineering.
I studied chemistry, maths and physics at A-level. At the time of choosing, I was still unsure about what I wanted to study at university and those subjects are good ones if you want to keep various science and engineering options open.
I found out about chemical engineering during my research for university degrees and having looked at all of the engineering disciplines, it’s the one that sounded most appealing. A chemical engineering degree is specialised but also has enough breadth, in terms of the subjects it covers, to make lots of career paths accessible.
On a chemical engineering degree course you learn a lot of theory and you do some pretty detailed maths. But you also get a better understanding of business and how these chemical engineering principles are applied in the real world.
An internship can open doors
I didn’t know what I wanted to do upon graduation but my internship helped to solve that dilemma. After my third year at university, I spent a year in industry working at
BP
.
Working for a major company appealed to me and I enjoyed the internship. At the end of the year I was invited to attend BP’s assessment centre and was offered a starting role with the company upon graduation.
Having the job offer in the bag going in to my final year of studies helped me focus on my work. Lots of friends spend much of the final year looking for the right job and applying for posts. Having a secure job offer was invaluable.
The final year of my course included a team design project. One thing that I noticed was the difference between students who had undertaken year-long placements and those that hadn’t. In my experience, those of us with the year out in industry had come back with an improved understanding of the practicable application of chemical engineering. The year in industry is something I would strongly recommend.
On the job training
I joined
BP
in September 2005 as a graduate process engineer. The company’s graduate programme allowed me to experience various roles within the company in my first three years. Firstly, I worked for the Gas to Products Team assisting in the development of
BP
’s Gas to Liquids Technology Portfolio and supporting activities towards first commercialisation. My second year was then spent working offshore as the production support engineer on a North Sea oil rig. I then worked in a design contractor in my third year providing design input to oil rig modifications as well as generating project deliverables; including process calculations, equipment data sheets and safety review documents.
Following completion of my graduate programme I worked at a
BP
Chemicals plant in Hull on a project to replace an operational piece of kit. The role called upon a number of core chemical engineering skills and gave me good exposure to project execution as well as construction & operational safety. Upon project completion I moved to BP in London where I am currently looking at the conversion of abundant and low cost hydrocarbons into clean transportation fuels and products. My aim now is to become a Chartered Chemical Engineer.
If you’re thinking about a career in chemical engineering, do your research and use resources like those here at whynotchemeng.com. Chemical engineering is about using science to come up with solutions to real-life problems so if you like science, enjoy maths and want to be a problem-solver, think about chemical engineering.