Being an Engineer in Barhain | ExpatWoman.com
 

Being an Engineer in Barhain

We interviewed a young and enthusiastic Divya Ravi on her impressions on being an engineer in Dubai.

Posted on

27 August 2013

Last updated on 19 June 2017
Being an Engineer in Barhain

Engineers are problem solvers. They use their expertise in science and maths to do their jobs. There are many fields in engineering that one can specialize in, these include; mechanical engineering, petrochemical engineering, biochemical engineering and aeronautical engineering. These are incidentally much sought after professions in the Gulf region especially with the big oil companies in this region that are responsible for the many jobs that are offered.


Engineering

Engineers are artists in their own right. They are innovative creators that are pushing the technological boundaries all the time. Engineers are also very in demand professionally and the demand for the market is said to be on the up and rising until 2018. However the job market is saturated with men, especially in the petrochemical and aeronautical fields, so much so that memes on the internet often make fun of the college students organizing “bring a girl to class” days.

We caught up with a young up and coming engineer who shares with us the challenges and rewards of being a female in this field.


Divya Ravi


Name: Divya Ravi

Profession: Instrumentation Engineer

Why did you choose a job in the area of engineering? I chose a job in the area of engineering because I love challenges and in the engineering work world, there is no shortage of challenging problems. Logical thinking and problem solving are skills that would be valuable throughout my life. Last but not the least, as an engineer I would be working in a professional environment.

How old were you when you realised this is what you wanted to do with your life? I was a 7 year old kid, when I found myself staring into the sky, counting the stars, wondering what was beyond it. My first ever ambition was to become an astronaut. For this, a bachelor’s degree in math, physics or engineering was required. Since then, I had aspirations of becoming an engineer. I was driven by enthusiasm while learning physics and chemistry back in school. As I grew up in UAE, which contains one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, I developed a keen interest in the petrochemical industry. Automation being the buzz word in process industry also happens to be the core job of instrumentation engineers. Instrumentation being a multi-disciplinary stream covering subjects from various branches such as chemical, mechanical, electrical, electronics and computers was very challenging for me. At the age of 16, my passion was then to pursue my education in Instrumentation Engineering.

Give us a brief insight of a typical day at work, what are the positive and negative aspects? Typically, my work hours are between 8:00am to 5:30pm with half an hour lunch break. The positive aspects of my job are as follows: The scope for learning is tremendous and I learn something new everyday. There is a lot of pressure at work which keeps me going and enables me to meet the deadlines. One negative aspect that I can think of is that sometimes there is a need for repetitive work and it could be slightly monotonous.

What does it take to become an engineer? Good academic performance, imagination, curiosity and the desire to solve problems.

What advice do you have for young girls aspiring to become engineers? Nothing is impossible. Follow your dreams, work smart and whatever you do, do it 100%.