Many engineers join the subsea industry directly from further education. Others begin in another field of the oil and gas business and transfer to subsea part-way through their careers. And there are those who begin work in a very different industry before making the switch. The following profiles show how others have entered the business and how their careers are developing.

Liam Macintyre - Senior Engineer
After joining global subsea engineering solutions firm MCS as a graduate in 2005, he quickly discovered that being part of a vibrant, rapidly-expanding company meant having a fast-moving, hands-on career with the potential to take him around the world. Winner of the Subsea UK Young Personality of the Year Award 2007, Liam spent three months in Australia as part of his personal development programme, transferring the skills and expertise honed in the North Sea industry to the company’s new office in Perth. He has also spent time in Malaysia overseeing a test scope for an offshore operator and hopes to visit MCS’ other offices in key oil and gas provinces around the world, working with senior colleagues across a range of different projects and meeting people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures.

Paul Bury - Head of ROV Operations and Training
My love of sport diving brought me to Scotland. Whilst here, I signed up for a familiarisation dive at The Underwater Centre. From there, I enrolled on a course and  completed my HSE part IV, Suface Supply and Wet Bell courses. It was on this course I saw my first ROV. Inevitably, this led to my taking an ROV course. From there, I went to work for Sonavision. Pretty soon I was teaching electronics to other ROV students whilst still working offshore. Over the years, I've moved from being an ROV pilot/ technician who did a bit of training to running ROV training at The Underwater Centre and doing a bit of offshore ROV supervising My current role means I have the best of all worlds: I teach at a world class facility; I'm involved with cutting edge industry developments via TUC's industry trials programme and I get to keep my hand in, offshore, too.

Graham Cook - Graduate Civil and Structural Engineer
Graham Cook, 25, is a graduate civil and structural engineer employed by Prospect, an international engineering solutions provider.  Graham had enjoyed a student placement in Prospect’s Aberdeen HQ, and after graduating from university in 1996 was delighted to receive an offer of permanent employment. It’s been 2 years since Graham entered the North Sea oil and gas industry subsea sector as a graduate engineer.  Today Graham’s life is filled with an array of exciting challenges and experiences.  No two days are the same, with exposure to a wide variety of engineering challenges, regular foreign travel, secondments to Prospect’s satellite offices and client facilities, networking events, technical report writing, and client interaction. Undoubtedly it’s a busy life, but importantly it’s a fulfilling one, with constant and structured professional development achieved through structured training and mentoring.   

Steven Henderson - Operations Manager
Steven Henderson began his career with RBG Ltd having worked as an inspection technician within the oil and gas industry. During his time offshore, Steven was keen to develop a better understanding of the business processes and procedures attached to his role. Upon joining the company as project manager Steven was given the opportunity to train formally for a management qualification whilst retaining a hands-on approach to his job. Responsible for a wide variety of projects related to integrity and inspection for the drilling and marine sectors, Steven’s role offers huge diversity and exposure to some of the most advanced subsea and marine technologies available. Completing the Managing Our Future programme at the RBG Academy moved Steven a step closer to achieving his career ambitions. He now has a much greater understanding of business.

Joe Cross - Controls Engineer
Joe Cross is a controls engineer working on the design and operation of subsea control systems in the North Sea, Malaysia and the Middle East. He transferred into the Subsea Industry in 1996 from the brewing company Scottish and Newcastle, where he supported the materials handling and controls systems within their UK brewing plants. Joe says that many of the principles of control system design are the same in brewing as in subsea, although the terminology is different. He believes that the subsea environment presents some very specific challenges such as corrosion and reliability, but he was able to get to grips with these areas quickly with the help of his new colleagues. Joe is now the team leader of the 15 strong controls group in J P Kenny's Aberdeen office.

Ana Requejo-Oliván
Ana began her career working in the railway industry in Germany before transferring to the UK subsea sector at the end of 2005. She has a first degree in electrical engineering, a Masters degree in computer science and some years experience in the design of integrated sensor technology for high speed train anti-skidding systems. Since joining the subsea industry Ana has been working on a feasibility study for the upgrade of offshore facilities in a Middle Eastern oil field, researching alternative power supplies and subsea power transmission options. She has found the transition to be an exciting challenge and has been able to capitalise on much of her previous experience, particularly her knowledge of safety and safety management.

Keith Imrie
Keith began his career in the manufacturing of industrial switchgear and automotive steering column locks. Then in the autumn of 2000 he joined subsea umbilicals supplier Duco in Tyneside. He worked there as a manufacturing engineer and was able to capitalise on his experience of manufacturing processes and get a feel for the demands and features of the subsea projects. He left Duco in January 2006 and joined subsea company Acergy where he is now working as a project engineer supporting offshore construction activities. He says that the work is interesting and there is certainly much to learn. He adds "The scope of some of the things we work on in terms of: scale, size, weight, sums of money is breath taking".

Andrew McIntyre
Andrew is an Aeronautical Engineering graduate who began his career working for in the Civil Engineering industry, gaining experience in advanced numerical analysis in both the nuclear and defence sectors. In 2004 he made the transition into the oil and gas sector, joining engineering company Prospect, who specialise in the analysis of oil and gas flows from the reservoir through to the processing facilities. Andrew deals with issues such as heat transfer, multi-phase flow, marine dynamics and erosion simulation. He says he thoroughly enjoys the speed at which the Subsea industry progresses, and the shear diversity of the projects. To be able to physically see and handle a component that one has conceptualised on a computer screen only weeks before is extremely satisfying he adds.

Chantal Manco
Chantel joined the London office of engineering and project management specialist J P Kenny in September 2004, direct from Imperial College London. She has a first class degree in Mechanical Engineering and is fluent in French and English. Since starting work she has helped engineer a number of important subsea projects including the state of the art pipe in pipe system for the Tweedsmuir field in the North Sea, and the Moho-Bilondo project in West Africa. Chantal is working towards becoming a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. She says she has learnt a lot in the last few years and is looking forward to getting practical exposure of J P Kenny's worldwide projects.