No ordinary job for an engineer

Weekender

By Patric Marco

What would a graduate mining engineer be doing at the PNG LNG plant site outside Port Moresby when she should be in a surface or underground mining facility?
This was the first thought that crossed my mind when I sat down with this modest and dynamic 24-year-old of mixed Indonesian, Central and Gulf parentage.
Christine Sahuburua comes from a family of three and is the eldest with two younger brothers.
“I was always intrigued in the science and technology space for a while so when I completed Grade 12 from Gordon Secondary School in Port Moresby in 2011, my initial interest was to apply for Geology at the University of Papua New Guinea,” says Christine.
“But then, I saw that my intake opportunities would have been limited by the stringent selection criteria (only the top 5 per cent are selected across PNG) at that time so instead, I chose to apply to the University of Technology in Lae, and made three engineering choices; mining, mechanical and minerals process engineering.”
She was eventually chosen to undertake mining engineering and was one of the eight females among 40 students selected for the course in 2012.
Whilst doing her third year in 2014, she was selected on a three-month undergraduate scholarship programme with the Ok Tedi Mining Limited and the same stint again in 2015 in her final year of studies.
“Coming from a mining background, my interest in the PNG LNG project was stirred when a fellow engineering student presented on ‘Hydrate Inhibition’ (use of devices or chemical substances designed to control the formation of hydrates – a crystalline ‘ice like’ compound formed by water and methane -during natural gas production) during her internship with ExxonMobil PNG Limited. I was like ‘wow’ that sounds interesting.”
In her current role as the surveillance engineer, Christine played a critical role in the recent first offloading of LNG cargo into the plant whereby she precisely calculated the flow rate of LNG from the ship to the shore tanks, which is reverse of the normal flow path.
“The calculations Christine did were spot on; when the shipment arrived the actual LNG flow rate was within 95 per cent of her prediction.
“I am very proud of Christine and what she has achieved,” said Christine’s LNG plant surveillance engineering lead Rupesh Parbhoo.
“The role she played together with the input from other members of her team both at the LNG and the Hides gas conditioning plants has resulted in the safe and timely import of LNG cargo,” said Jagir Baxi, the LNG plant operations manager, who is an avid supporter of national workforce development.
Christine’s advise to upcoming young women engineers and others thinking of undertaking STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers is to always think outside the box and to be open-minded and flexible.
“When I was offered the job as a surveillance engineer by ExxonMobil PNG in 2016, I didn’t know what it was so I literally had to do a some research and Googling on the job because it was a new area for me,” jokes Christine.
“Looking back now, I guess my dad was a role model in my career choice because he is a professional mechanical engineer but during his career, he has been working as a marine engineer and that flexibility and openness was added motivation as well.”

  •  The author is a media communications adviser at ExxonMobil PNG ltf