People of Impact - Prema Suresh

Prema Suresh PMP? – is an Electronics and Communication Engineer from the University of Madras. She is presently the COO of Technip, Mumbai Operations and has more than 25 years of experience in the industry.

So what does Prema do as a COO?

• She is leading a multi-disciplinary and multi-functional team of 800+ people
• She overlooks domestic and international projects in the energy sector

The big question -

How does one become a COO? There is no simple and straight answer to this.

But when we look into her career profile, these are some very insightful takeaways. These are the roles taken by her:

Design Engineer

Started her career in a core design role. Helps develop technical acumen.

Application Engineer with Proposal Support

Mix of technical expertise, commercial requirement, and most importantly – customer focus. When you represent a product or service to an end-user or client, it contributes to the development of in-depth knowledge of your product or service and your interpersonal skills.

Business Development

Contributed to roles involving business growth for the company. Prema was involved in BD activities for the Digital Services Business (Beyond?) and she contributed through understanding and analysing clients’ Digital Road maps and selecting suitable solutions/applications. She organized presentations and roadshows for TEN’s offerings on digital services which resulted in generating leads.

Develop Others

Develop yourself by developing others!

• She is a trainer and delivered “PULSE”, a unique Global HSE climate change/ awareness program of Technip.
• Conducted training on “Sizing of Control valves and flow elements” for Reliance–Plant Operations personnel as a part of Technip’s training team.
• Conducted guest lectures in engineering institutes as a part of Industry-Institute interactions. Has been Chief Guest for the Technical festival of engineering colleges and delivered keynote address.

Continuous Knowledge Enhancement

One thing which should never stop in anyone’s career – Skill and Knowledge enhancement. Prema has some prestigious courses/certifications under her cap:

• PMP certified in the Agile Project practices
• Post Graduate Certification in Senior Leadership from XLRI
• Certified functional safety engineer with experience in chairing SIL assessment studies
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• Enrolled in the Artificial Intelligence program for Business Leaders from Texas McCombs Business School

Contribute to the industry

• Speaker at various industry forum

o??LOVRAJ KUMAR MEMORIAL TRUST (Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers) on “Strategies of EPC Execution in Domestic Market”

o??Factory Automation Ready – Webinar Series – organized by Automation Expo on “How to harness the Digital Transformation in the Covid Era”

o??Speaker at Oil and Gas Digital transformation Summit India by Messe Frankfurt on “Decoding Digital Perspective- Perspective from Eco System” at Delhi

• Board of Governors on advising the organizers of “Automation Expo”, a growing Factory and Industrial Automation exhibition in India
• Technical Paper Presentations

o??” Improving Safety in Design” at Fertilizer Symposium, Delhi

o??“Emerging Technologies on “Marshalling design – Opportunities and challenges” at Emerson Exchange Brussels, Belgium

o??“Safety & Availability – Voting schemes comparison” at Petroleum and Natural Gas Domain (PNID)-2013, conference organized by ISA Delhi Chapter

Participate in CSR

Prema is passionate about CSRs and actively participates in the CSR program specifically in the STEM for girls support. She is also a mentor for women Engineers within the organization.

In an individual capacity, she has been a fundraiser for Oxfam, supporting the cause of Equality and Diversity by participating in a 100 km walk from Pune to Lonavala in Maharashtra.

Some notable Achievements

• Distinguished Women Achiever Award- 2022 conferred by ISA Maharashtra Section.
• Governing council member of Expertise Program of Technip and spearheaded the winning of the Asian Oil and Gas Award for the Technip Energies India on two categories in the inaugural edition, Energy EPC Company Year 2022 award for the ET Energy Awards program.

Few of her suggestions for a road-map to a successful career:

Explore new developments which will have crucial role for the future of work. As an example, Digital Transformation is one of the sustainability pillars of today's business activities and apart from improving the bottom lines, operational efficiencies, enhancing safety, it is vital in the climate / carbon conscious choices.

Go and ask for whatever it is that you feel you would be able to do. One should have the confidence to apply for top roles and they should be encouraged to do so. Don’t think you have to be a perfect fit for everything or tick every box on the requirement. If you have the right attitude and 60% of what the job ad asks for, go for it! The sky is the limit!

And never give up!!