life as a field qc enginner...part 1

just to share my experience (although not as much as otai2 out there)..

field engineer...sound nice and maybe all of you thought wow..big bucks..work hard..n so on..

not like u think....engineer..is same like "runners"..n it ranked as a "kuli" of management team..
labors are "kuli" of the foremans..n foremans are the kuli of enginners..n so on..the list wont stop at all..even u are the project director..u still be a kuli..haha..

for all of u that wants to make money..dont ever be an engineer..better to be a businessman orsales man..or make ur own bisness..

but if u want to make ur hands dirty and being "kene maki"..then engineer is the right job for you.

i started as a jnr enginer..actually knows nothing abt o n g engineering..i know what is
valve..pumps..cad..cam..machining..but that u dont have to go get any degree also u can know..

i join my comp and as a jnr engr..comp has to educate us just to be as competent as other..so i wentfor a training for 2 weeks in korea..in doosan mecatech..

it was a new world for me...new big machines..big cutters..welding..n so on..

koreans..haha..out of work they are nice..during work..just cover ur ears...they will maki u..they will even tap ur helmet with anything..i was "di pukul" on my helmet by 8 pound
hammer..haha..why?..bcoz i missed read the pressure gauge..i read it in bar..but the specs said in kgf..haha..what the f...bar n kgf..is nearly the same..

we engrs can think like that..but at site n actual thing..the workers dont know how to calculatefrom bar to mpa..or bar to atm..they just follow what u said..

so from miss reading the gauge...to thightning bolts..and so on...im not into all these works..but i like seeing ppl welding..smelling the fumes (bad for ur health)..and the sparks..haha..nice...

after my 2 weeks training..got back to office..told my bos i want to know welding..then he said no!...before knowing welding..know the material first..then how to inspect..then ill send youfor welding course...

damn..long way to go..so they sent me to mill maker...nippon steel...just to see the iron fab maker..the furnace n so on...for 1 month i was there..

then went to school again..for inspection technology...n at last..welding engineering..

welding is soo deep that even u study for several years also u wont get to know welding..haha..horor eh..

so my life as a qc / welding engineer started...

first 3 years been sent to a project in YOC..yokohama operation centre..that is project executionteam for projects that will be constructed in 1-1/2 years time.

project execution...main thing is to design, select vendors/fabricators, procure, inspect and shipthe materials/vessels/equipments to job site. also called as EPCC contractor..engineering, procurement, construction and commision contractor.

so during this E & P time, all paper works, all discussion had to be finalised with the client and vendor. any descrepancies, any discussion, any waivers had to be confirmed during this stage.
if any of these haven't been finalized and come to job site..it's very difficult to turn around andsay to client that "hey, i dont agree". they will just say, u didn't say anything that time and it means that u accepted it. very2 rare cases to turn things up side down when coming to job site.unless the impacts are to schedule, costs and to the client it self.

so i was in the E&P team for 3 years..running around the 36 storey building for dwg confirmation,spec confirmation and so on.

only this time i know NACE, ASME, ANSI, JIS, AWWA, API and so on...all theese specs i didn't know before. only ASME i knew before in a conference with JSME in Okinawa.

the life in E & P as an engineer was not as good as it sounds. u have to work with all vendors around the world.

YES! u have to wait for the US ppl to wake up, and u have to wait untill they sleep. there was 12 hours difference bettween asia and us..so imagine until what time u have to stay and communicate with them.

so sometimes come back home late is usual, but i tend not to stay back and try to go (escape i can say)between 7 to 8...

during that period, the experience was not very good but the knowledge of reading specs, understandingit and "klentong" your client was an asset.

ill continue later on in story no. 2...so keep up!...