Peter Nieuwesteeg

"Spider in the engineering web”

With two decades of engineering experience, Peter Nieuwersteeg is hardly a new kid on the block. His background is in detailed engineering and placing orders on behalf of clients. Peter also engineered new chemical installations for the likes of Shell, Total en Dow, but was never involved in the actual construction in any detail until moving to Heerema.

He joined Heerema motivated by the desire to experience how a design from paper translates to the construction department; how an engineering plan is broken into pieces and fed to various teams working on separate parts of the construction; and how eventually everything fits together into the final engineering feat.

As a Project Engineer at HFG Zwijndrecht, Peter has to shift through deliverables, specifications and drawings to determine whether the scope is in line with the contract and what needs to be done first, to start construction in the right order and to get things ready on time. His main task is to oversee the technical interfaces between all disciplines of the project, including the design process, from beginning to end.

Since Peter joined HFG in 2009 he has so far worked on just a single project, but a very challenging and technical one: the BP subsea Block 31 project in Angola. He enjoys being much more involved construction-wise than in his previous job. Refining Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) en Mechanical Completion procedures, incorporating the lessons learned from previous tests (more than 350 of them), he describes as a ‘really steep learning curve’.

"Working for Heerema, you do have to find your own way here. It is a dynamic company and there are lots of opportunities if you are willing to take the initiative. You have to identify them and go after these opportunities yourself. The company will support you, but you need to be determined and demonstrate your commitment and actively provide input with respect to the project.”