Stephanie Meyer is a Lead Piping Engineer at KH Engineering in Antwerp. Her roots are in Denmark and South Africa, and in August 2022 she moved to Belgium together with her family. About two months later, she started her adventure at KH Engineering.
‘I studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pretoria. I then joined a South African engineering firm as a Junior Engineer, where I got promoted to Associate. When I initially moved to Belgium, I continued working for that firm. However, working remotely for a firm in South Africa, in a job which requires project site visits, was not a long-term solution. I started looking for a new job locally and came into contact with KH Engineering, where I have started as a Lead Piping Engineer.’
‘As a Lead Piping Engineer, I participate in the coordination of the piping plans, design and documentation and ensure that the integration of the piping team and activities with the various departments runs smoothly. If one department changes something, it impacts all of the others. I am involved in ensuring the piping activities are aligned and nothing is overlooked.’
‘Unlike in my previous job, I now prepare conceptual drawings. This is great, because I have always wanted to develop a level of skill in this regard. I received in-house training from one of my colleagues in Schiedam during my first weeks at KH Engineering. Even now, I can still contact that colleague if I have questions. It is clear that there is a lot of knowledge within KH Engineering and that they want to make this easily accessible for their employees.’
‘My ambition is to eventually grow into a project manager role – an ambition I discussed during my application. That is how I ended up at Piping. KH Engineering saw this as the ideal place to start, because here I can become familiar with the full project cycle. I feel that KH Engineering highly values its employees’ goals and collaborates with them how to achieve them. They really have a long-term vision.’
‘My direct colleagues are welcoming, knowledgeable and helpful. My Dutch is not very good (yet), but everyone does their best to communicate in English. I initially was concerned about the language barrier, however it turned out I had nothing to worry about.’
‘Working remotely is no problem at all within KH Engineering. We are currently required to come into the office at least once a week, I come in more often as I enjoy the office environment. In the beginning, I went into the office full-time which ensured that I had the opportunity to meet with my colleagues ‘face to face’, which also made it easier to talk to and reach out to my colleagues online. In addition, several events are organised regularly within the office, such as monthly lunches in the canteen. I am also a part of Young KH; a group with young professionals that allows you to participate in events such as a site visit or various other activities. KH Engineering genuinely promotes team integration and communication.’
‘At the moment, I am still working on my first project. We are currently in the detailed engineering phase, with procurement and construction to follow later this year. I am looking forward to seeing my work evolve and I am very curious to find out what other projects await me – and to discover a bit more of Belgium. I just need to get used to the weather.’ (laughs)