From lecture theatre to real-world energy: Rea's Matahio experience

“I arrived at Matahio thinking I had a relatively good grasp of the energy industry. I leave thinking I’ve only just scratched the surface, and I can’t wait to keep learning.”

For Rea Janeen, an incoming final-year Master’s student in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, an internship with Matahio has been an opportunity to put theory to the test, contribute to real projects, and discover just how much there is still to learn.

Drawn to an industry where traditional and renewable energy coexist and new technologies are constantly emerging, Rea was looking for an experience that would take her beyond the lecture theatre.

“I chose Matahio because I wanted to be somewhere that wasn't just talking about change but actually living it - a genuinely progressive, forward-thinking company willing to challenge the old way of doing things.”

And she wanted to get her hands dirty.

Real projects. Real responsibility. Real learning.

From working on the Nam Phong gas plant in Thailand and contributing to the Galoc decommissioning project in the Philippines, to exploring potential future assets and bids and developing an internal AI-powered management dashboard, Rea’s internship gave her exposure to a remarkably broad cross-section of the business.

“What I've loved most about this internship is the sheer range of projects I've been able to work on across Matahio's different assets, learning from so many brilliant people along the way.”

At Nam Phong, she worked on determining the maximum turndown of the current contactor while still meeting sales-gas specifications, ahead of plans to commission a booster compressor unit.

At Galoc, she contributed to real project deliverables, including a SIMOPS/COMOPS matrix and the decommissioning schedule.

Then, in her final weeks, her experience took another turn - into AI.

Rea developed an AI-powered management dashboard that brings together key updates across operations, business development, ongoing projects, financials and ESG into a single high-level view for Matahio’s leadership team.

It meant applying a very different set of skills to another real business challenge: How technology can help connect information from across the organisation and make it more useful, all the while giving her a well-rounded perspective of the business

For Rea, what mattered most was that these weren’t simply internship exercises.

“Knowing that both this tool and my engineering deliverables will actively be used by the team going forward, rather than just being an exercise for my own learning, has been incredibly rewarding.”

When theory meets reality

One of the highlights of Rea’s internship was spending a week on-site at Nam Phong in Khon Kaen,Thailand.

Seeing the scale of the plant, observing the operations team and experiencing how quickly decisions need to be made when challenges arise gave her a new appreciation of what it takes to keep a process facility running.

“It gave me a completely different appreciation for how much coordination and quick thinking goes on behind the scenes of a plant that, from the outside, just looks like it's quietly running.”

It also gave her the chance to see the process engineering she had learned at university applied in a real-world setting, and, as she puts it, to see “the theory hold up (or not!) against reality.”

The people behind the engineering

If there’s one Matahio value that stood out for Rea, it was collaboration.

“I've genuinely seen all of these values in action during my time here, but if I had to pick one, it would be collaboration.”

Working alongside Jose Campins, Lead Process Engineer and Haravinth Thiruthonder, Lead Development Engineer, she discovered a culture where knowledge is shared freely, questions are encouraged and learning happens across teams and levels of seniority.

“What's stayed with me most is how consistently they encourage me to ask questions, even the basic ones, which has made me so much more confident about admitting what I don't know and learning from it rather than trying to hide it.”

It was a lesson that extended beyond engineering.

“Great engineering is as much about people and communication as it is about numbers.”

Progressive Energy in practice

For Rea, Matahio’s commitment to Progressive Energy became much more tangible once she was inside the business.

“It's shown up most clearly in how Matahio approaches projects - always looking for smarter, more sustainable ways of doing things rather than defaulting to ‘how it's always been done.’”

Across all of Rea’s projects, that willingness to think differently became part of her internship experience.

“Seeing that mindset applied to real decisions, not just used as a buzzword in a mission statement, has changed how I think about what a modern energy company can look like.”

The steepest learning curves make the best experiences

Asked about the hardest part of her internship, Rea had a rather unexpected answer: being thrown in at the deep end.

The most fun part? That very same challenge.

And the biggest surprise?

“How quickly I was trusted with real responsibility rather than just shadowing or observing. It pushed me to learn fast, but it also made the whole experience feel far more meaningful.”

As she heads back to Imperial for her final year, Rea leaves with a clearer sense of where she wants to build her career, a deeper understanding of the operational and human dimensions of the energy industry - and an appreciation of just how much more there is to discover.

Her advice to the next generation of aspiring engineers?

“Say yes to every opportunity you're given, even the daunting ones - the steepest learning curves usually turn into the best experiences.”

And perhaps just as importantly: Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions or admit what you don't know; everyone would rather take the time to explain something properly than have you guess and get it wrong.

At Matahio, we believe Progressive Energy is as much about nurturing people and new ideas as it is about advancing projects. Creating opportunities for young talent to question, contribute and grow is part of building the energy industry of tomorrow.

Thank you, Rea, for bringing your curiosity, enthusiasm and fresh perspectives to our team. We look forward to seeing where your journey takes you next.