Ellie Wilson

Ellie is currently employed as an Instrumentation and Control Technician in Pembrokeshire. Having completed a four year apprenticeship, Ellie is now responsible for installing and maintaining all instrumentation and control systems on site. She works with field instrumentation which measures and reports on the process conditions of the site, including tank levels, line pressure, temperatures and flow to a central Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System. Her role is vital for minimising equipment downtime, therefore increasing productivity and safety on site. Key to Ellie’s role on site is the maintenance of the site “Safety Instrumented System” (SIS) and its life cycle, in the testing and inspection of instrumented protective function. Completing prescriptive test reports, returning written evidence to her Supervisor on the inspection and test results. She contributes to the preparation and demonstration of the instrumented protective function test procedures and compares and contrasts instrumented protective function test results. Ellie excelled in physics and maths at school, taking the subjects to A-level. She was, however, unaware of the career options available to her in engineering. It was only when she arranged some work experience at a local industrial site that she discovered an interest in instrumentation and control. As the only female technician, Ellie is only too aware that oil and gas careers are male-dominated. She believes that women should not be deterred by this and is keen to overturn preconceived ideas about the sector by sharing her experiences.