From Internship to Technical Support Engineer

Hello Bianca, thank you for taking your time for this talk! Could you please tell us who you are and what you do here in HMH?

Thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to somehow contribute to the organization that contributes so much to my development personally and professionally.

I’m 27 years old, and I’m an Automation Technician and Control System and Automation Engineer. I was born in Rio, but I have lived in a coastal city called Rio das Ostras, which is next to Macaé where HMH Brazil is located, for 16 years.

Today, I work as Technical Support Engineer in HMH Drilling Lifecycle Services here in Brazil.

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That sounds very interesting! What is the most exciting part about your job?

The possibility to always work with something new and the opportunity to continuously develop my skills with different scopes and equipment.

Because I work with rig equipment lifecycle technical support, there is always a new challenge to support customers on their demands, which goes from clarifying their questions on equipment functionality in different scenarios to the technical planning of Rig Stoppages where HMH’s service team goes offshore for equipment inspection, commissioning, maintenance, and upgrades installation.

It is also exciting to be hands-on and offshore whenever possible. By doing so, we can see a project from planning to execution, see the value HMH adds to customer operations, and acquire more experience that helps on the next projects.

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How long have you been here now, and how’s your journey in the company been so far?

I joined HMH in 2018 as an intern while completing my bachelor's in Control System and Automation Engineering. During my internship, I had the opportunity to work with different parts of HMH operations in Brazil, and that allowed me to build not only experience but also a better understanding of our processes and business.

Right after university, I mastered in Equipment Engineering and worked for almost one year with Change to FFF projects portfolio for Brazil rigs. This is why I always had a close contact with my colleagues in Norway and Germany. After that I started with Technical Support, which is what I do today, and this includes being a Software Change Engineer. Since we prepare and provide support to the offshore Service Missions in Brazil, we are also in close contact with Engineering and Projects team to make sure everything is delivered as expected so we have a nice and smooth installation. We are also in contact with our Service Engineers and customers.

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Seems like you have been doing various thing here already! Have you ever visited other locations in HMH?

Yes, I have visited Kristiansand in Norway twice recently actually. I then got to meet some of the colleagues that I work alongside and see them in person, which was enjoyable.

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In terms of what you do today, have you always known what you wanted to work with – or have you discovered this in later years?

As I said, I moved to a city next to Macaé that is known as the “Brazil Oil Capital”, so work in the Oil & Energy industry is quite common in this area of Brazil.

In high school, I took an Automation technician course, and I soon became passionate about Control System and Automation. After that, I followed the path with Engineering course.

Regarding HMH, I applied to the internship back in 2018 and ended up finding a great company where I could practice and experience what I actually studied.

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How did you get welcomed to the team when you joined?

I felt welcomed in a nice way, and quickly felt like a part of the team. I worked with planning and logistics to start with, and then I worked closely with service engineers where I had the chance to prepare technical presentations to the more experienced colleagues. This allowed me to build new skills during the process of preparing and during the discussions we had on the knowledge sharing sessions.

What is the best part of working in HMH?

I believe the work environment at HMH is different from other companies in this industry. It is a very positive and constructive environment where we have the chance to contribute, share thoughts, bring suggestions, and discuss openly about the various topics that we face in our day-to-day work.

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What do you look forward to in 2024?

During 2024, we will be installing and commissioning DEAL, Drillers Assist and CADS on the first rig in Brazil. This is a pilot project since it is the first time we have provided solutions directly to Petrobras. We are excited to show this important player within Oil & Gas the level of automation, quality, and performance we can deliver to their rigs and that can, of course, lead us to new business and innovative projects with them in the future.