Kylie Lim
Project Manager - Beca
You graduated with a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering at Â鶹Éçmadou, what initially sparked your interest in Chemical Engineering?
While growing up I had never heard of engineering, let alone chemical engineering.
My immigrant parents and their siblings had not finished high school, nor did they have any engineers in the family or their immediate network. My half sister and I were the first members of our family to finish Year 12 and complete a university degree. Due to this, I was very lucky to study Chemical Engineering.
In primary school, I noticed that I had a knack for Mathematics, Science and 'General Ability' (pattern recognition). This led to me enrolling into physics, chemistry and mathematics for Year 11 and Year 12. In my all-girls high school, there was not a large push for STEM subjects in our Higher School Certificate (HSC) or even STEM degrees in university.
However, in Year 12, after completing my final HSC exams, my chemistry teacher Mr. Chiu told me that I was good at mathematics, physics and chemistry, and should consider studying Chemical Engineering at university. Before this suggestion, I was interested in forensic chemistry due to TV shows such as CSI and NCIS.
When I looked into it, I liked how Chemical Engineering was so broad and touched on so many aspects of daily life (water, food, resources, etc). Chemical Engineering seemed to be a necessity for the current and future wellbeing of our world. I was interested in helping make the world a more sustainable place, and I thought this is how I could contribute, one project at a time.
Can you share any specific projects or research during your time at Â鶹Éçmadou that were particularly meaningful in shaping your career path?
The Final Year Design project was one that allowed me to learn how to utilise everyone's different strengths. My Design Project Team was a combination of industrial chemists (chemical product engineers) and chemical engineers, with some having double degrees in economics or science.
Due to this diversity, it was important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each person. This was to allow them to grow and shine in their strengths and complete specific tasks/sections of the design project (and for us to get good marks overall). Planning and delegation of the design project was also something that I realised I enjoyed. These are important foundations of a project manager role and important for creating a positive team environment; skills which I’ve since harnessed throughout my life and engineering career at Beca.
This not something that directly shaped my career path, but did shape my thinking:
Another project that helped shape my career path was the Ethics Fishing Game in CEIC4000. This assessment was testing groups of students on ethics. The basis was that you wanted to have the most money, without damaging the fish population.
This assessment demonstrated that people’s behaviours and morals are not always for the greater good. It showed that some people will not be true to their word and try to take advantage of people’s losses (even if the population of fish disappeared). It also demonstrated that at times, over the long term, those people also lose out.
Can you tell us about your current role and what career opportunities you believe exist for graduates?
I’m currently a Project Manager at Beca, working predominantly on projects in the Food & Life Sciences industry, and are now finishing a $400m greenfield beverage manufacturing project which is targeting carbon neutrality. I still lean on my process engineering background almost daily in my project management role. Whether this is through facilitating Sustainability in Design workshops, or thinking with Safety in Design in mind, I always make sure I cross-check against my technical knowledge foundation.
Completing a degree in chemical engineering allows you to go in so many directions, with several options and opportunities to explore. Do you want to stay in Chemical Engineering or utilitise the broad skills that you have acquired from Chemical Engineering to work in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, Actuary, etc.
Within Chemical Engineering: Do you want to work in consulting, in (process equipment) sales or work with an end-user (for example: FMCG manufacturer, municipal/council, government corporation etc)?
Once you have that decided, you can figure out what industry you would like to work in: that is, Minerals & Metals, Food & Life Sciences, Oil & Gas, Sustainably, Energy Transition, etc?
What did you learn about yourself during your time studying at Â鶹Éçmadou, including the impact Â鶹Éçmadou’s social culture may have had on your professional career?
Â鶹Éçmadou allowed me to understand the importance of networking and how to network. In the first Semester, first year for ENGG1000, there was a First Year Chemical Engineering Camp: Through this camp you not only learnt how to genuinely network, but also how to build long-term friendships.
I think the ability to genuinely want to learn more about someone, while delivering high quality work was how after my first role at ANSTO Minerals, I secured my graduate Process/Project Engineer role at ME Engineering, and eventually my current role at Beca.
Â鶹Éçmadou also allowed me to understand that you can be yourself and still do well in the world.
The Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Society (CEUS) allowed me to understand the concept of governance and how to grow my soft skills.
I was often advocating for the students and through an experience with the Dean of Engineering, I learnt the importance of communicating effectively and influencing. Being CEUS president also played a major part in why I am pushing for diversity in engineering and more uptake in Chemical Engineering.
Do you have any overall advice for current students or recent graduates?
Chemical Engineering is a degree that can be utilised in many different fields. Don't be scared, take the opportunities to grow and learn. Even if you feel like you aren’t ready (for example: due to imposter syndrome), as long as you are supported (within your business and personal life), you should always try!