Interview 2: Teppicha Vityanatpaisal - My road to delivering excellence for customers across the globe.

Last month, I shared with you my discussion with Neal , one of my team members working as a Bitumen Manufacturing Consultant for Europe.

It is my pleasure to introduce you today to another key member of my team, Teppicha Vityanatpaisal, Bitumen Manufacturing Consultant for East. Teppicha is based in Thailand and has a master's degree in chemical engineering from Widener University in the US.

Check our discussion below to learn more about her work, the importance of interconnected teams, as well as her experience of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) at Shell as a female chemical engineer. ?

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Teppicha, when did you start working for Shell?

I started working for Shell in 2011 when I joined as a Solution Development Executive in Bitumen at the Solutions Centre in Thailand. I since went on to be the Solutions Centre Manager until December 2022. Currently I am part of the Bitumen Manufacturing Technology Team (BMTT) as a Bitumen Manufacturing Consultant for the East (Asia, Middle East and China). ?

Across the various teams and roles you’ve worked in, is there a characteristic that makes Shell’s work culture particularly unique for you?

It’s a free space to work. When a project comes in, it comes with a clearly defined goal: something you can actually aim for. At Shell I am empowered to achieve that goal through whatever means I think appropriate, and thanks to our team spirit, our innovation-focused mindset and our digital tools there is little we can’t achieve. There is a strong sense of trust which is something I really value. I also have great colleagues, and the opportunity to network across the business. One of the things I really appreciate at Shell is its culture of interaction and collaboration – people share their best practices, bouncing ideas on innovation from region to region; you’re not limited to just one continent. When you need support, you can get it from Asia and Europe and that’s the benefit of working in a global business.

Working in the bitumen business means also balancing practical demands with improving product efficiencies. What is the most difficult project you’ve worked on and how did you overcome it?

One of the things I like about working in the Technology team is how we approach the challenging problems that we face regularly: by learning, innovating, adapting, and using the skills of the entire team to find the best solution. One of my proudest moments was when, together with my team, we simultaneously contributed to successfully manage an urgent technical challenge on a new product developed with a very tough technical specification, as well as the logistical challenge of an extremely tight delivery timeframe. It was a real race against time! I helped rally our operations-, sales-, and technical- teams to understand the difficulties we were facing and work as one to find a way forward. We worked together with the plant operations team to optimise the blending process, and we had the lab up and running in 24-hours in shifts to adjust the product formulation. It was the true dedication of my team that helped us deliver the best quality product to our customer. It felt amazing being part of this challenge! ??

Overall, the percentage of female graduates with STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering, and maths) is gradually growing but women are still underrepresented. Can you tell us a bit more about your experience as a woman in chemical engineering?

It’s great that more women are choosing STEM degrees and related jobs. Back when I was studying for my undergraduate and master's degrees, there was only a very small percentage of females on my course studying in engineering. But last year I had the opportunity to speak on the alumni sharing session at my undergraduate university in Thailand and I saw first-hand the increase in women on the course. My professor mentioned how there is now a 50/50 split, which is really encouraging. At Shell, my experience of DE&I has been great, and I’ve never felt in the minority. I know lots of women running engineering projects, departments, and even refineries. In fact, in my current team – the BMTT – there is strong woman-power – we represent the majority of the East-based team, and I am proud to be part of that!

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Teppicha, you’ve worked in road construction for over twelve years.? Regarding technology and innovation, how do you feel the industry has changed over the course of your career?

The industry has certainly evolved since I started.? I believe the driver for that change comes from a combination of improvements in innovation practices and evolving customer focus on not only performance, but also longevity and environmental impacts.? In my early days, our focus was on providing for each specific geographical region. Technology supported the local business team to develop and launch new products based on each region’s requirements - though the successful outcomes of these projects were of course shared and replicated throughout the global Bitumen Technology Team!? When the energy transition came into focus around 2016, the driver for our support shifted towards more environmental needs -? for example the preparation of low-sulphur base bitumen to support the new 2020 International Maritime Organisation requirements, improvement on product quality assurance systems, new technology formulations for blending at mobility sites, and new Residue Projects in our Bitumen Manufacturing Technology Team to utilise undervalued residues to improve a refinery’s circularity and lower Scope 1 and 2 emissions overall bitumen in the life-cycle of asphalt’s.? All of which is great to be part of!? The global teams – Manufacturing Technology, and Research and Development, combined with the three regional Technology teams now work much more closely to ensure we deliver the innovations to support the industry’s need.?

It’s exciting that you’ve been able to work on two continents. What is the most noticeable difference for you between the businesses in Asia and Europe?

I was really fortunate back in 2019, when I was manager of the Bangkok Technical Solutions Centre, to have the opportunity to temporarily switch roles with my colleague managing the Solutions Centre in Europe. We both worked hard with our new teams to ensure we kept our high standards of technical services, continued to be HSSE (Health, Safety, Security and the Environment) champions, and we shared best practices with each other. For example, in Asia there is a strong focus on coming up with simulations in the lab to provide solutions for customer’s application needs and challenges. In Europe, I found there was a strong focus on open-mindedness and creative thinking from the technical teams, which led to new product portfolio. This exchange experience allowed me to leverage my expertise in a new context, working with a different team on new technical solutions and serving new customers. As a truly international organisation, we were able to align globally, learn from each other, remove duplication whenever possible, reduce workload and speed-up the delivery of the ongoing projects. Afterwards, I felt the teams in Europe and Asia were working more closely than ever. This was a fantastic opportunity provided by the Shell Bitumen Projects & Technology leadership team and the business at that time, and I’m grateful to have been able to see the different ways of working across regions. The experience was really rewarding both personally and professionally as it helped me develop my own personal management style.

Beyond your life at Shell, we’re keen to learn more about the interests and hobbies that you enjoy. What keeps you busy outside of work?

I’m actually quite competitive and I love cycling and running. When I’m not working you can find me completing team-relay Iron Man competitions, duathlons, marathons, you name it! I’m also a keen photographer, using both digital and film with dark room processing– I essentially move from one lab at work to another at home when developing photos in the dark room!

Teppicha, do you feel like you have found your professional purpose?

Absolutely! I would refer here to the book “The Last Lecture” by Professor Randy Pausch, where he talks about “achieving your childhood dreams”. People can have multiple passions in life and achieve multiple goals, and I strongly resonated with that and translated it to my own life. I have always been passionate about science and knowledge, and gradually developed my interests naturally in engineering, technical knowledge, energy and renewable energy, business management, and problem solving. I have a clear purpose to leverage my technical skills to develop new products, to innovate and to uncover new business opportunities. I remember back in 2010 when I applied for my first role in Shell, I was asked to submit a technical essay, so I chose the topic of sustainable energy.? I am now in 2023 and I realise I have been working on my personal goal through the various projects I was part of. In addition to identifying my professional purpose, I am proud I was consistent and stuck to my goal! Successful delivery of? ?various projects created a back-to-back momentum that helped me to work on new projects focused on energy transition. This is an exciting challenge and that’s an awesome feeling to keep the ball rolling in the game!?