Marathon Petroleum

For my first internship, I worked as a Reliability Engineering Intern for Marathon Petroleum at their refinery in Anacortes, Washington. Despite the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Summer 2020, I was able to work on-site full-time.

As a reliability engineer, I was responsible for the execution of maintenance and improvement projects within the refinery zones I worked in. This largely involved the design of new piping systems complaint to ASME and company standards within processing units and product transportation networks. I worked in the field, visiting problematic equipment and consulting with operators, inspectors, and process engineers to identify and design the best possible solution. With the challenging economic conditions present in 2020, limiting expenses was a key goal -- I helped achieve that via proposing packages that reduced field welds, high-cost valves, and other capital and ongoing costs. Since my work extended across several processing units, I became familiar with operations across the majority of the refinery. Working with plant operators and process engineers exposed me to the intricacies of the machinery and equipment we worked with, where small changes in temperature specifications or flow rate had drastic effects on output, costs, and emissions.

In addition to designing piping, I also worked on a handful of projects involving larger equipment. In collaboration with the rotating equipment engineering group, I oversaw the installation of pulsation dampeners to alleviate erratic pump discharge. I additionally upgraded sour water sampling stations in two units, enhancing safety by limiting the risk of H2S exposure to operators.

I am really thankful to have worked with an amazing team in an amazing location for my first internship. Please contact me if you wish to discuss my work experience in more depth!