Female engineers proud to pipe up in major gas project roles

Male engineers may still largely outnumber their female counterparts, however Oonagh McCann and Hayley Boyle, senior engineers with SGN Natural Gas are changing that perception.  They hold top project management positions with the expert team overseeing construction of the major new natural gas network in the Western region.

The multimillion pound investment is one of the biggest infrastructure projects to be carried out in the West, bringing natural gas to thousands of homes and businesses in Strabane, Omagh, Dungannon, Derrylin, Enniskillen, Cookstown, Coalisland and Magherafelt.

Oonagh and Hayley, Senior Project Officers, took up the engineering roles with SGN Natural Gas, as they wanted to work and reside in the West of the province.

Based at the project site office in Ballygawley, the experienced female engineers don’t feel their gender hindered them when seeking jobs which fit their specialist skills set. Engineering solutions are all in a day’s work for the two women at the helm of the 110km route, who have 30 years’ combined experience working in the gas industry here.

Oonagh joined a graduate engineering scheme and worked her way through the ranks before taking up her current post with SGN Natural Gas in November 2015. She recalled: “I was one of only four females in a class of around 40 at University, but it was a great bunch of people all studying engineering and gender was never really an issue.”

Their busy role is largely taken up with day-to-day construction activity in the various towns where specialist contractors are extending the natural gas pipeline into the West. The workload includes day-to-day contract management including progress and programming, technical acceptances and approvals and quality, health and safety, environmental monitoring and reporting.

From a stakeholder perspective, there is regular engagement with elected representatives, presentations at council meetings and with various government departments. There is also ongoing liaison with the general public and landowners as well as dealing with customer enquiries including large commercial users.

 
Oonagh added: “While the number of women engaged in engineering roles has increased over the years, people are often genuinely surprised at the actual jobs they do. However, more progressive attitudes are increasingly paving the way for future female generations to weigh up the lay of the land and all-important employment opportunities". 

The Co Down woman added: “I am just happy that I went down the engineering route as I find it so interesting. I would strongly encourage more young women to take up STEM subjects at school and engineering qualifications at university as it opens up many different opportunities. 

“It is a great opportunity for me to work on a project of this size, bringing natural gas to areas in the West for the first time. I am delighted to explain to as many people as possible how safe and reliable natural gas is as a fuel source for homes and businesses.” 

Taking up her role as Assistant Project Manager with SGN Natural Gas in November 2015, enabled Co Tyrone woman Hayley Boyle to return to her roots after nearly 20 years away. 

It’s not the only big project she has managed as she got married last summer and returned to work after the arrival of baby daughter Erin who is now almost 18 months old. 

Hayley came to engineering through a more circuitous route having originally also considered biomedical science before opting for a degree in Information Management at Queen’s University, Belfast. 

She had worked for another large gas company since 1999, initially as a Records Assistant before making the transition to project management. “I ended up in the engineering department through the experience route”, explained Hayley. 

Hayley initially worked on the Maydown to Strabane section of the pipeline and,together with both her male and female colleagues on the project team,is now focused on the main build area. There are currently three legs of pipework being laid simultaneously -Fivemiletown to Enniskillen and Derrylin; Augher to Omagh; Dungannon to Cookstown and further on to Magherafelt. 

She also strongly encourages young women to consider a career in engineering and gain the confidence to redress the gender imbalance within the profession through hard graft and determination to succeed. 

SGN Natural Gas is scheduled to deliver gas mains, meters and services to around 40,000 customers in the eighttowns over the next 40 years.  Over 1,300 homes and businesses in Strabane currently have access to natural gas with the other towns set to follow suit.