Ten years in service: our colleague's story

We recently visited Michiel Clarisse, a senior project engineer who is celebrating 10 years of service with BENK PROJECTS OCE this month. Michiel was 24 years old when he joined BENK and he has since had the opportunity to perform many different functions and projects.

Michiel comes from a village in Zeeland where he completed his secondary education in electrical engineering. Then he continued his studies in Delft where he followed and completed his higher education in electrical engineering.
He started as a project engineer I&C in 2013, and has since advanced to senior project engineer/project leader/lead engineer.

As a project engineer you are part of a multidisciplinary project team. With this project team you take care of the concept-, basic- and detail design, you supervise the execution and finally the commissioning of an industrial installation in the industrial sector.

Michiel is currently the project lead responsible for the measurement and control engineering of the hydrogen plant project on the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam (H2M). For this project, he supervises the process from concept to a concrete and detailed design.

The hydrogen project enables the transition to a green economy by producing green hydrogen at one of the most promising and strategic locations of the Port of Rotterdam.

Other projects he is working on include two retrofit projects. This project involves making modifications to an existing steam boiler.

Developments

During his career Michiel has experienced various developments in his field, such as specializing in explosion safety, but also developments in the organization including takeovers and reorganizations and the closure of several coal- and gas-fired power plants. 'The positive news is that the projects ahead of us, at least that is my expectation, will mostly be related to energy transition. This keeps the work challenging, which also feels a bit like helping to write history.

The good news is that the projects ahead of us will, at least I expect, mostly be related to energy transition. This keeps the work challenging, which also feels a bit like helping to write history.

 

Future

Over the next five years, Michiel hopes to further develop himself as a senior project engineer or technical project manager for projects that contribute positively to energy transition.

Opinion

The advice Michiel wants to give to young people who want to start in this industry is to maintain patience. 'Within this field you have to make flying hours. Be involved in many projects and learn as much as possible from them. So be patient and don't give up too quickly,' said Michiel Clarisse.

BENK PROJECTS

BENK PROJECTS is described by Michiel as a social, thoughtful and committed organization with a personal approach and short lines of communication.

It was interesting to speak with this senior project engineer and hear about his professional journey and the challenges he has overcome in his field.