This is part of a series of articles that appeared CETD championed issue of IEM's monthly publication - Jurutera, September 2013. The article is best viewed in its original published form, available from IEM in print or online.
An Interview with John Thurtell, PhD
John Thurtell, Engineering Global Support Office (EGSO) Manager of ExxonMobil Business Support Centre Malaysia Sdn Bhd, said demand growth in the chemical industry is anticipated to strengthen over time, linked to the growth of the broader economy.
“Most chemical demand growth is in
Asia, driven by manufacturing of consumer products for both worldwide export
and to serve the growing Asian middle class. These consumers are expected to
purchase more packaged goods, appliances, cars, tyres and clothing, many of
which are manufactured from chemical products,” he said. “Asia Pacific has
accounted for more than two-thirds of global demand growth since 2000, and this
trend is expected to continue,” said the Canadian who has just arrived in Malaysia
approximately half a year back.
In the next decade, global chemical
demand is expected to grow by 50%, driven by improving prosperity in developing
countries. Large scale investments are ongoing in the region, particularly in
Singapore and China where world-class facilities are being built in the
refining and chemical businesses. Thurtell feels this augurs well for the chemical
engineering profession as the industry boom will require more engineers with
strong professional capabilities in every aspect of the business.
Will the development of the oil
& gas sectors in Malaysia & Asia Pacific region affect the chemical
engineering profession? In Malaysia, ExxonMobil has been operating for over a
century. In fact this year marks the company’s 120 years in Malaysia, which is
a significant milestone. Thurtell said: “We are a major oil producer and
natural gas supplier in Peninsular Malaysia. We produce about a fifth of the
nation’s crude oil and condensate and supply about half of its natural gas
needs which is mainly used for power generation. Beyond upstream operations, our
Business Support Centre, which is the second largest within ExxonMobil, also
hosts ExxonMobil’s IT infrastructure and provides IT support across the globe
24/7.”
As an engineering-based company,
ExxonMobil hires a lot of engineers to meet the operating needs of its
business. “We also employ engineers in our EGSO in Kuala Lumpur. By virtue of
the EGSO functionally reporting to ExxonMobil Research and Engineering (EMRE),
our engineers are given the opportunity to provide technical, engineering and
application support for ExxonMobil’s manufacturing plants around the world,” he
explained, adding that about 95% of its total workforce is Malaysian which
“reflects the tremendous local talent we have in our organisation”.
PROFESSIONAL BODIES
Sadly, many chemical engineers are not registered
with the Board of Engineers Malaysia. We asked Thurtell what ExxonMobil is
doing to help develop young graduate engineers into professional engineers. He
said: “We recognise that engineers play many different roles, depending on
their specific job scope. ExxonMobil values the role of certification to ensure
compliance with regulatory and process requirements. At ExxonMobil, membership
in professional boards is not a prerequisite to employment or an on-the-job
requirement as much of our focus is on safe and reliable project management and
implementation, as well as operations of our existing facilities. Nevertheless,
we are fully supportive of employees who wish to pursue qualifications to
improve or maintain their skills and have over the years provided education
assistance and reimbursement of the full cost of studies upon successful
completion. We also provide internal training programme to strengthen the
technical skills of our engineers.”
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Chemical engineers can help to promote sustainable development
in the country. Thurtell said ExxonMobil’s commitment to operating in an
environmentally responsible manner is anchored in its Environment Policy, which
fosters appropriate operating practices and training, and requires its
facilities to be designed, operated and managed with the goal of preventing
environmental incidents.
He added: “Our ‘Protect Tomorrow.
Today.’ Initiative guides our management processes to continuously improve environmental
performance. Our business operations continue to drive enhancements in
environmental performance by incorporating Environmental Business Planning into
the annual business planning cycle. In Malaysia, one example where
environmental considerations are incorporated into the design basis of our facilities
is the use of a hybrid power-generation system on our unmanned satellite
platforms. Solar panels produce about half the electricity required, and
thermoelectric generators provide the other half. This combination ensures high
reliability and low operating costs. Within the global ExxonMobil group, we
also focus on various renewable energy initiatives, apart from doing energy
optimisation such as co-generation, etc.”
Thurtell shared with us more about
ExxonMobil’s new Engineering Global Support Office in Malaysia and the industry
as a whole.
