Lori Guidry is the Designer/Drafting Lead and Systems Engineer for Oceaneering’s Offshore Projects Group (OPG) in Houston. The most rewarding aspect of her time at Oceaneering has been growing her skill set with each new position earned.
Lori came to Oceaneering with nearly 18 years of design experience. For the last seven she continued to expand her learnings and her skills within many Oceaneering Groups as design engineer, design supervisor, systems engineer, reliability engineer, and now a designer/drafting lead – a newly formed role with an emphasis on continuing systems engineering and helping in the development of design and drafting standards.
Lori has spent time with many segments within Oceaneering including the Intervention team. “I used my design skills along with systems engineering and reliability engineering. During my time on this team, I was able to work with the intervention skid tool and well stimulation tool, which gave me the opportunity to spend more time in the shop, getting valuable hydraulics knowledge and collaborating with the technicians.”
“We have a great set of guys and gals working out there whose experience and knowledge has helped me on more than one occasion.”
Lori did not always know she would be an engineer, however. As a young single mother, Lori sat down with a family member to chart her potential future career, listing things she liked and disliked.
“At the top of the list of things I liked was math and drawing,” she said. Lori looked through a community college catalog and saw an associate degree for design and drafting. “I could get [this degree] and still have time to be a mother,” she added.
Once Lori received her Associate of Applied Science in Design and Drafting and as a plus went ahead and achieved an A.A.S. in Manufacturing, she went to work as a mechanical designer. She later earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Houston.
Lori said it has been challenging at times being in a male dominated field, but she believes the dynamics are changing.
“I have had to deal with some rather unpleasant people over the course of my career with respects to me being a woman in a man’s field, but I have to say it is getting better.” she said. “My assertiveness and strong will, along with my ability to be just one of the guys (or gals) has overcome most of those challenges. Respecting others no matter their job or title goes a long way.”
Lori said she was fortunate to not have many of those issues while at Oceaneering. At Oceaneering, she said, her managers noticed her talents and offered her opportunities to increase her skillset and her professional certifications, including the Associate Systems Engineering Profession Certificate and the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Her advice to the next generation of women is to be open to engineering as a career.
“Engineering is fun no matter which discipline you choose and where you start is never where you finish,” she said. “There are so many paths you can take. Just be open to them. Try them out and you may find you like something you never knew existed. During my time in school, I never even heard of Systems or Reliability Engineering.”
Lori added that she was lucky to get career advice from her family, but she believes it is important not to rely on only one source of information. “Get advice from others about their experiences. Research job availability in the region you want to live. Make sure what you want to do and where you want to do it is attainable.”
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