A Day In the Life Of an Asset Integrity Engineer

How would you describe your job to someone who has no knowledge of what an Integrity Engineer is? 

I work as a Senior Asset Integrity (AI) Engineer. Asset Integrity is used to describe the practice of managing an asset (power plant, gas plant, pipeline, refinery, etc.) to ensure its ability to perform its function effectively and efficiently during its full life cycle. 

My role as a senior member is to manage AI projects as directed and in accordance with all relevant client procedures, to carry out assigned AI consultancy work (such as researching problems, engineering calculations, preparation of reports etc.), and to provide technical support to a team of young engineers on assets Fitness for Service (FFS) and Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) assessments.  

Apart from that, I am actively supporting marketing and business development campaigns along with commercial and sales teams, in meeting with clients and identifying scope of work while discussing clients’ integrity related problems and how Penspen can collaborate with them to help their needs. 

What is the best part of being an Integrity Engineer? 

The role of Integrity Engineer is always complex and demanding, while some people find it is tough, I feel that aspect is the best part of being an Integrity Engineer. The main obstacles to overcome are mining the data (especially for old assets), coordinating with other disciplines to get things done, and last but not the least, meeting aggressive deadlines. By facing and coping with such obstacles, one can explore their new utmost personal capabilities because every asset integrity project is unique in its nature. 

Do you get the opportunity to interact with clients?  

When I started working at Penspen in December 2022, Penspen was awarded a project to implement risk-based inspection (RBI) methodology for one of the largest refineries in the world. Since then, I have been handling activities and the client for this project. Genuinely, this client is very flexible and supportive knowing the fact that they trust the Penspen name and our Asset Integrity team competencies. They consider our working team as a part of their own team. This kind of team collaboration is what makes a project successful.