Petrospective 2022
Industrial Paradigm An interview with
Asiya Abbasi Drilling Fluids Engineer at Haliburton Q.1) A little bit about yourself?
This proved to be the right opening in the industry for me and all other internship opportunites were a result of the dedication and professionalism displayed during this first break. Being associated with 5 different organizations during the degree laid the the foundation for my professional growth. In addition, I was fortunate enough to intern in E&P as well as Service sect-ors, both of which have their flavors. In the E&P, the holistic picture is always important, and the learning is primarily based upon data application. On the other side, in a service company environment, you are much more focused on a single aspect and learn A to Z of a particular data and its development. To summarize my internship experience, I gained a wealth of knowledge not only related to the technical aspects, but more importantly, it helped me transition from a student to a professional by inculcating strong skills relevant to conducting yourself in a corporate setup and creating your own identity among the crowd.
I graduated from NED University, Petroleum Engineering Department in 2016. Following this I joined Halliburton as an unpaid intern for siz months after which based on my performance, I was offerd a long-term paid internship in the Baroid product service line. I moved through the ranks quickly and established my presence which resulted in a full-time job offer as a Drilling Fluids Engineer in early 2017. During the past four years with Halliburton, I have been involved in various tasks covering all aspects from job execution at the rig site to proposal/tender designing, financial planning/budgeting, and logistics management. A great part of this job requires client interaction and hence you always must be on your toes and very vigilant to ensure service quality is maintained. Although it is challenging, I try my best to maintain a healthy work-life balance thanks to my family support system. I usually like to carry on an active social life and stay updated with the latest trends.
Q.3) How would you feel to be known as the "First Halliburton Female Drilling Engineer in Pakistan"? The least I can say is that it feels great! I say this because to be recognized in such a manner has never been an easy journey by any means. It took courage, hard work, dedication, and a whole lot of resilience to face up to the unique challenge of proving competency to perform in the field in this male-dominated industry. It did not help me due to extra barriers in the form of societal norms, however, I calmly and with a determination to achieve my goals, kept breaking them to pave the way for women engineers to strive. An example of what I was facing can be judged from the fact that
Q.2) You have spent several months working with 5 different companies as an Intern throughout your Bachelor’s Degree. How have these internships helped you in your professsional career? I always had a passion for the Drilling Engineering branch of Petroleum Engineering and hence was constantly interested to learn more and develop skills in this domain. During my second year at university, I showed great performance in the Drilling Engineering-I course, which resulted in achieving prominence among my peers. Consequently, based on my interest and performance in the course, I was offered an internship position in the Drilling Department at PPL in the summer of 2013. 8