| Name | Ian Cook |
| Degree Title | MEng (Hons) Chemical Engineering with Management |
| Year of Graduation | 2012 |
What path has your career taken since graduation?
Since graduating, I have been fortunate to work in various roles, supporting projects across the world with leading energy and engineering companies in the UK, USA, and Norway.
What is your current role and what does your work involve?
Head of New Ventures. Leading a team of managers and analysts to develop new CCS, hydrogen, hydrogen derivative, and long duration energy storage opportunities for SSE Thermal.
What experiences do you feel helped you get to your current position?
ISecuring the internship with Diageo whilst I was at University was critical for me securing a graduate position with NOV as it developed me personally and professionally as well as helping my CV stand out. I was fortunate in NOV that I got to shape my career early on, and in New Orleans, I worked with an experienced group of staff who supported my development. Demonstrating results in a tough economic environment helped me secure the position in Norway. Moving out of the oil and gas industry was not easy and relied on me taking time out to retrain. The MBA further strengthened my CV and helped prepare me for pure commercial roles. My transferable skills (proposals) were picked up by a recruiter who hired me to work with SSE. My first manager at SSE supported my application to an internal shadow board, my application stood out due to my international experience. Being on the shadow board allowed me to build a network across the organisation and ultimately led to me securing the role I am currently in to date.
How have you used skills an/or knowledge developed during your degree in your career?
The skills developed during my career which I have used during my career include:
- Problem solving
- Data analysis
- Report writing
- Presentations
- Time management
- Planning
- Teamwork
- Resilience
In terms of knowledge, I have used some degree courses more than others. Plant Engineering, Unit Operations, Process Safety, and the design courses provided me with a base knowledge of process plant design which I built upon in the early part of my career.
Learning the principles of Project Management, including how to construct a schedule, has helped me throughout my career.
Membrane Science and Technology provided a starting point for my role in Norway, which involved managing membrane-based technologies for treating seawater for water injection in the oil industry.
Modern Economic Issues in Industry, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, and Techniques of Management laid the foundation which I built upon during my MBA.
What advice would you give to students who are interested in your area of work?
It is important to be ambitious and recognise that the world is competitive. Getting relevant experience early helps.
Networking can help secure opportunities. Students should strategically reach out to professionals. I would recommend utilising all the resources at your disposal, including the careers service. In my third year, I visited Matt Vickers, who explained the importance of securing work experience before graduating and provided me with information to build my CV. This proved to be a real sliding doors moment for my career.
This profile was published in Mach 2022, updated March 2024
