Appetizers

Starting with some basics.

 Fun Starters

Getting to know the human side.

 Main Course

A quick deep dive into the day-to-day job.

Tell us about yourself and your job.

I'm a mechanical engineer at an energy generation company. I ensure that P&ID drawings are accurate and clear by understanding the intention of the mechanical assemblies and their compliance with engineering specifications. Most devices' main purpose is to transfer flow in the most efficient and safe way, so I translate the 3D mechanical assembly to 2D hydromechanical language.

If you look up P&ID (stands for Piping & Instrumentation Diagram), you will have a better idea of what I mean by 2D hydromechanical language.

How did you end up in your field? What do you like about it?

I interned at Solar Turbines while I was still attending UCSD. It was the company culture that interested me, not the industry. I am a double minority, East Asian woman engineer. However, I didn't feel excluded or disrespected for my gender or race. Actually, I felt appreciated for the small contributions I made during my time as an intern, and this company culture inspired me to apply here as a full time. They also had an awesome rotation program, which allowed me to rotate into 4 different roles, 6 months for each. This was a great opportunity for me to learn about my interests, strengths, and weaknesses as an engineer.

What does a typical morning look like on the job?

I start with morning daily scrum. Then I check my email to see if there was any request for hydromechanical help. If there was, I would work on it and ask my mentor for any inputs. Then reply back to the request. If there was no request, then I would dive right into my long list of to-dos.

Cool, then what does a typical afternoon look like?

My afternoons are mostly a continuation of my morning work. I try to finish up the work that I started in the morning, so there isn't any hanging work for the next day.

What types of projects and meetings are you involved in?

My work is usually product and timeline-based. We have a sprint system where we define what our goals are for 1.5 weeks. However, the team works on projects depending on the need of the company.

Who do you collaborate with within meetings and projects?

I collaborate with my mentor and other mechanical engineers in my team the most to meet our team goals. However, I sometimes work with engineers outside of my team if I get pulled into project executions.

 Dessert

Now for some juicy insights in the tea room.

What's the most challenging thing about your job?

The most challenging part is to be on top of the requests and my to-do list. While I'm working on one request, I would get multiple more. And some times I need to pause on working on one request because I need something from another engineer to continue. If that happens, then I need to document the progress clearly so that the future me understand. I also need to manage my time wisely to finish my personal hydromechanical to-do list.

What are some characteristics that can help someone succeed in your role?

Being organized is a skill that I think is useful in any role. Because many roles do not give you the luxury to focus on only one task, so having a system where you organize your thoughts and tasks is essential to be successful in the industry. I personally am still trying to establish a system that makes sense.

Any advice on how to stand out and get hired for those just starting off?

This is an advice that my manager told me that I really liked. For interviews, demonstrate how you can help the team that you are applying for. It needs to be a mutual benefit where you can help the team, and the team can help you.

What's something that surprised you about your job?

I was surprised by the amount of thinking and discussion that goes on behind a design that I would have considered "simple" in the past.

Any last thoughts, advice, or recommendations for someone who wants to do what you do?

Apply for jobs that you are unqualified for. There's nothing for you to lose there.

 Drinks

Chat more over coffee or tea?