I became an engineer because I wanted to live around the world, and it seemed like the easiest way to do it, if you definitely didn’t wanted to be a doctor.
I graduated in Chemical Engineering in 1985, and joined an international oil and gas company since the petroleum industry was global and likely the most mobile. While I was environmentally conscious, I figured who better to work in the industry than someone who cared and would make sure things were done right.
Some thirty five years later, having lived in (not in order) Sale, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, London, Kuala Lumpur, with extended stays in Dortmund and Irvine, and numerous business trips to Houston and Paris amongst others it was time to say goodbye to oil and gas. I hadn’t lived in as many places as I would have liked, but other priorities – English husband, Mark, and a daughter – stopped most of the moving around. The industry has been kind to me – I finished up as a Vice President for a major Australian oil and gas company – but it’s time for the industry to shut up shop, and me to leave.
And now I wish I had done electrical engineering, because that would certainly have helped with the off grid system.
Building offshore oil platforms and onshore plants is very very different from building a house.
Off Grid Living - Building the Dream 