ExxonMobil has been awarded Gold Corporate Partner status for its sites in Fawley, Hampshire, and Fife, Scotland, by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). The company was presented with the award at its refining and chemicals site in Fawley on 21 November 2017, recognising its significant contribution to encouraging UK schoolchildren into engineering careers through engagement activities, and providing support to its employees through professional development.
ExxonMobil employs 3000 people in the UK, and is one of the largest employers of chemical engineers. It has made a key contribution to the engineering skills gap, through encouraging school children into chemical engineering, supporting young engineers studying the discipline at university, and providing ongoing professional development to all of its chemical engineers.
Chemical engineers at the sites are professionally developed through the company’s training scheme, which has been accredited by IChemE for more than 25 years. The scheme provides technical and manufacturing management training to its staff, aimed at helping them become industry leaders. All participants are encouraged to pursue Chartered Chemical Engineer status.
ExxonMobil has established strong links with 12 chemical engineering departments at UK universities to recruit graduates.
The IChemE Gold Corporate Partner status also reflects the company’s strong commitment to the next generation of chemical engineers. Each year ExxonMobil participates in a number of science, maths, engineering and technology (STEM) engagement activities with young people from secondary school age right through to university.
Through a ‘Links Schools Programme’, it provides £3000 funding to 23 schools to offer STEM support, and facilitates school tours of the ExxonMobil sites on an annual basis.
This year it successfully piloted a Year 6 Girls STEM event for female students aged 10 – 11 at the Fawley site, aimed at encouraging girls into engineering.
It also runs a Women in ExxonMobil day each year, inviting 80 female engineering university students to meet female engineers at the company and to gain an understanding of what careers are available.