Flexibility, creativity, and analyzation: Malampaya shares expertise and inspiration at POGSS 2019

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan – The adage says that students are the future of a country. Thus, it is only fitting to equip them with the right skills and knowledge to help the country journey towards development.

Malampaya engineers shared their substantive expertise and career learnings to over 300 petroleum engineering students of Palawan State University at the second Philippine Oil and Gas Student Summit (POGGS) held recently in Asturias Hotel, Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Shell Senior Discipline Engineer for Process Eugene Castillano highlighted the importance of goal setting, collaboration, and creativity when overcoming challenges in the operations. “We need to be volatile and be creative because problems now are complex. We need creative ideas to solve these complex problems.”

The students were treated to a fun and interesting session as Gerald Misajon, Shell Senior Discipline Engineer for Pipelines, gave a glimpse of what they do during subsea operations through video clips. Misajon also talked about how they overcame environmental challenges through advanced equipment and robots.

Arianne Buna, Shell Senior Discipline Engineer for Rotating emphasized the power of data in maximizing the operating potential of a project safely and efficiently. “Proactively looking at data and analyzing it are crucial to make informed decisions. By looking at data, we are able to anticipate problems and plan ahead even before that problem occurs.”

Meanwhile, Belinda Racela of Chevron conveyed an inspiring piece on pursuing passion as a career, of finding what you love to do to thrive and excel. Racela also shared the “ABC’s’” or the skillsets students must obtain as they enter the energy industry: Aptitude, Behavior, and Communication.

Capping off the sessions is Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc.’s (PSFI) Sebastian “Baste” Quinones who talked about the role of engineering students in nation building, helping and empowering underprivileged Filipinos. Moreover, Quinones also discussed the significance of successful project execution and ‘getting things done’.

Presented by Society of Petroleum Engineers-Palawan State University-Student Chapter (SPE-PSU-SC), POGSS aimed to produce a generation of innovators and leaders who are ready to face the challenging and complex problems of the oil and gas industry, driving them to push the boundaries of the industry through groundbreaking solutions.