Julia Humpidge, Technical Director - Forensic Technical Services
Julia discusses her career journey and how she transitioned from consulting with HKA to becoming part of the HKA team. She shares her proudest moments, both in her career and throughout her life.
How did your career as a Chemical Engineer lead you to become an Expert Witness?
My first job after graduation was with an engineering contracting company MW Kellogg Ltd, where I joined the graduate scheme, turning my academic knowledge into practical designs for refineries and oil and gas projects. After two years, I joined a process licensor with the aim of getting more hands-on experience rather than design office. Over the next two years I travelled to oil refineries across Europe, America and Taiwan, starting up and troubleshooting units. After two years on the road, I settled at a refinery in Switzerland where I held various positions including Head of Training and Head of Engineering. I loved seeing the results of my work come to life on the refinery. After 10 years home was calling, and I moved back to London to re-join MW Kellogg Ltd. I spent the next 10 years in various engineering, engineering management and project management roles; involved in and running projects through all phases from very early stage studies through FEEDs and EPCm. I was then given the opportunity to be part of a team establishing a London office for a Norwegian engineering contracting company. After eight years of corporate roles, building the London team to over 500 strong and being responsible for delivery of projects from the office, it was time for a new challenge. I wanted the opportunity to use my 30+ years of diverse experience in a new and exciting challenge and that’s where HKA and being an Expert Witness came in.
What inspired you to become a Chemical Engineer?
Honestly? I was always technically minded at school and my father was a civil engineer, so engineering was an easy choice. My specific choice of Chemical Engineering came about as a family friend who appeared to have the most job satisfaction and a good quality of life, was a Chemical Engineer working in oil refineries – so that’s what I did!
You were a Consulting Expert with HKA before joining as a full time colleague. Can you tell us about your experience consulting with HKA?
I found the people welcoming and happy to help the newbie.The work was both interesting and challenging, just what I was looking for.
Tell us about the most rewarding project you worked on.
Soon after joining the team at the oil refinery in Switzerland, we had a project to develop the refinery with five new processing units. I was able to follow the project from the design phase, where I was the client engineer in the EPC contractor’s offices in Milan, through construction on site to commissioning and then part of the start-up team. It meant very long hours, sometimes in a high stress environment, but the ultimate sense of achievement when all 5 units were operating smoothly was incredible.
What lifetime achievement are you most proud of?
Other than my children, which goes without saying, I’m most proud of where I’ve been able to help others develop and grow within their own careers. The positions I have held over more recent years have allowed me to be a role model to some younger, less experienced colleagues and to enjoy the privilege of mentoring them along their paths. It gives me great pleasure when I see colleagues flourish in whatever they decide to do.