I started my career as a piping designer when I was hired by Fluor right out of the polytechnic a few weeks before graduation.
As a piping designer, I found designing Oil & Gas and chemical facilities to be a lot of fun. You get to imagine things in 3D, and that was when we had a drafting table, paper and pens – no luxuries like 3D CAD software! Getting to work on plastic plant models were a treat giving me a chance to see how my design turned out.
When designing, you had to envision how the different components come together; pipes, structures, buildings and instruments. Your job as a designer is to take into account that people will be working in this facility, and you have to make sure it’s a safe place to work. While your tasks ended at the conclusion of the project, facility personnel will be working there for a long time and have to live with your decisions.
You can design efficiently by imagining yourself walking through the faciluty and assessing whether items that need to be monitored, turned on/off are easily accessible for personnel with average height and build.
This was a challenge that got the brain cells working pretty hard – and having fun at the same time!
Zaia Abraham
