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January 15, 2015 McDermott International, Inc. Volume 2 | Issue 1

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GGDP in Focus

» Can you share a few highlights from your three year experience with the GGDP?

I joined McDermott in June, 2011 as a Graduate Engineer and completed the 3-year Global Graduate Development Program last June, 2014. The GGDP provided me a platform to experience all the major functions of our business including fabrication, engineering, marine and project management.Some of the highlights during this period were, when I got the opportunity to work offshore as a Field Engineer on-board the Derrick Barge 27. This gave me the opportunity to be part of offshore structural installation at Aramco Safaniya Crude Oil Upgrades & Karan Gas Projects. This unique offshore experience helped strengthen my practical knowledge in all the activities associated with Jackets Installation which include: Lifting activities, Hydrographic Surveys, Piling, Hammering, Levelling, Grouting, Shim Installation, Welding, Riser J-Tube & Boat-landing Installation, Bridge Installation, Conventional Anchor Handling Procedure, Marking of Existing Pipelines & Cables, and managing the severe weather conditions.

As with most of our offshore operations, there is no such thing as a typical day! Everyday seems to bring different challenges and different tasks in between current offshore project support, and vessel improvements support to the marine and installation side of the operations. A typical day offshore can last half a day or longer shifts, which involves engineers moving between the decks discussing with the main construction crew about operations, task plans and practical approach to possible installation issues, record keeping and reporting to management onshore.

As a trainee field engineer, it was challenging to work as a point of contact on offshore vessels and report accurately to the Offshore and Onshore Construction Manager of all the activities that would enable a safe and efficient performance of the operations. It was a challenge to deal with a constant flurry of emails, conference calls with the office, and supervision for mobilization of all equipment, consumables, installation aids which was managed by both offshore operations and onshore supporting teams.

Suhail Aburahma is a graduate of McDermott’s Global Graduate Development Program (GGDP) and currently works at McDermott Epsom office in United Kingdom as Subsea Project Engineer. He is involved with the development of offshore installation, construction procedures and management of changes during planning and future execution of the offshore construction program in adherence to McDermott’s procedures, policies and guidelines.

In this edition of EPIC Life Online, Suhail shares some of his experiences and insights throughout his time in the GGDP as well as his current role.

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Another major highlight from this period was when I was elected as a treasurer as part of the Graduate Representative Committee (GRC) during the year 2012-2013. As a treasurer, I was assigned to draw up the budget of the committee and responsible for receipt and disbursement of all funds of the committee. The GRC Member is assigned to be a channel for GGDP trainees to express their opinions on matters that influence and concern them, such as training, development and activities during the GGDP program.

Recently I have completed the Integrated Management System Auditor Training Course; from Lloyd’s Register. This authorized me to conduct internal audits for different functions at McDermott North Sea & Africa Region, based in Epsom office. In addition, I have attended Professional Project Management Program from Cambridge Institute, which is a Certified PMI course provider for PMP certification.

I am also a Professional Member of the IMarEST, IEEE, Society of Engineers in UAE, and Professional Chartered Engineers in UAE; and actively involved with their seminars, workshops, conferences, and annual general meetings.

» How did your rotation in Perth play a role in your desire to explore opportunities within the subsea business?

As part of my GGDP training, I had the opportunity to work in Perth, McDermott Australia for a period of seven months on the Ichthys project. It is one of the largest subsea infrastructure projects by scale and value at this time and I am thankful for the experience in a project of this scale with McDermott. As a Package Engineer, reporting to the Package Manager, my primary role was to provide technical and package management support for the delivery of the Diverless-Connector package. I was able to experience the technical and package management support for the delivery of the connectors right from the design stage with the vendor, to manufacturing. The vendor had further sub-contracted the manufacturing of the product in several countries in Europe; therefore a considerable interface is involved in ensuring the delivery of the product in budget and schedule. Since the connectors are used in all termination of flow lines, spools and subsea structures, I got to develop knowledge and experience while interfacing with the entire subsea architecture of the project.

One of the real challenges during this assignment was to understand the whole scope of Connector Tie-in System within a short period of time in order to meet the package immediate requirements. I had to go through the basis of designs, scope of work and technical descriptions for all the supplied components and equipments in a short period of time.

This experience in subsea sector of our business led me to further pursue a career in subsea projects, given that most deep water regions in the world are of subsea infrastructure. Following this stint I got an opportunity to work on subsea bid supporting the Principal Estimator to develop the bid package for submission. In addition, I am currently pursuing a two years part time Masters education in Subsea Engineering from the University of Aberdeen, UK.

» Who has been the most (or one of the most) influential people who have shaped your career progression with McDermott?

My colleagues, mentors and managers have helped me during my career with McDermott and I have humble gratitude towards them.

Yawar Hassan, Project Control Engineer at Perth Office: I sincerely appreciate the time he spent mentoring my career goals and encouraging me for achieving them. His continuous advice was always very helpful and gave me a new perspective on opportunities. I am very grateful for the valuable guidance and support that he provided.

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Kanika Stephen, Talent Management Manager, and Amit Kumar, Production Engineering Manager: Both these managers have always supported my choices and assisted me professionally during the graduate program.

Luca Mazzetto, Estimating Manager: has enhanced my commercial understanding of the EPCI business, challenged me to optimize cost saving measures during bid proposal stage, and directed me to the overall Bid Win Strategy prior to any bid submission.

» If you could share one or two pieces of advice for future GGDP graduates, what would they be?

Graduates should take full advantage of being part of the Global Graduate Program (GGDP) which is designed to help the new graduates’ transition from University into the work place within McDermott and our industry. Unlike University education, the workplace experience is quite different and practical; it draws on the knowledge gained in University and applies it to a much larger scale. Therefore, the GGDP program provides graduates an opportunity to experience the different functions of our business and identify which areas they would excel or decide to expand their careers with. Since the program is also accredited by IMAREST UK, it also provides a platform to achieve a Chartered Engineer status upon competition of the program and relevant experience. The GGDP program also provides a structure for organized workshops and trainings that would not otherwise be easily available. The graduates have a unique opportunity to harness the knowledge via these workshops and utilize it in their work place.

Other achievements during Suhail’s tertiary and high school education period

I had achieved a score of 99.3% in General Certification of High School-Science Section, and been recognized as one of UAE Top Ten students.

I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from American University of Sharjah (UAE); graduating with an Honors designation, Magna Cum Laude. I also obtained a minor specialty in Applied and Computational Mathematics; and achieved the Dean’s List & Chancellor’s Distinguished List at all semesters attended at University.

My Design Project during the final year at University was ‘Web Based Partial Discharge Monitoring System’. It was awarded the Second Place in National Instruments technical paper contest in 2011 for the most innovative uses of virtual instrumentation in teaching and research. It was also awarded the Myron Zucker Undergraduate Student Design Contest Award (USA), and I was invited to give a short presentation during Myron Zucker Luncheon while attending IEEE IAS Annual Meeting in October 2011.