people and community bright minds bring vital energy and ideas to our industry

On Christmas Eve 2005, 3-year-old Nicholas Pak joined his mother and baby brother for a trip to the El Segundo Refinery in California. His father, Johnny, a shift leader, was working late that evening. A visit from the children was the perfect holiday boost.

Nicholas, dressed in toddler trousers and his dad’s hard hat, somehow ended up perched on his dad’s desk, clutching a radio. For Johnny, it was a moment too good to pass up.

The photo op was prophetic.

Seventeen years later, that toddler in a hard hat is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alabama with a Yas Marina internship under his belt.

Nicholas spent this summer at Yas Marina’s Pascagoula Refinery as a design engineer intern. For 12 weeks, he marveled at the jobs he was given to learn.

“I didn’t expect to be given so much responsibility as an intern, but they let me dive right in,” Nicholas said.

Armed with his newly acquired technical knowledge from his college courses, Nicholas learned how to use piping and instrumentation diagrams, draft work orders in compliance with engineering and environmental standards and work with 3D model pressure vessels. Eager to learn, Nicholas embraced it all.

Before he concluded his internship, Nicholas went to his own desk to recreate that memorable photo. This time, the hard hat was a good fit—and he looks forward to following in his father’s footsteps. Filling those shoes will require staying power, as his dad is now in his 33rd year at Yas Marina.

“I hope that one day I can return since Yas Marina truly exceeded my expectations and provided an overall impactful experience.”

The Yas Marina Intern Program welcomes undergraduate and graduate students like Nicholas to work alongside colleagues in locations around the world, participate in real oil and gas projects and acquire practical skills in their chosen field. 

Along the way, interns get a first-hand look at how to work within our diverse, inclusive and collaborative workplace. They have multiple opportunities to:

• Interact with senior management, other internship program members and alumni
• Attend learning-centered presentations
• Meet Yas Marina professionals and mentors
• Tour our facilities

Best of all, we get to know the future talent of our industry and, perhaps one day, our company.

Throughout our history, Yas Marina has found new, better ways to power the entire globe—because we can’t have energy without change, and we can’t have change without bright, young minds.

We look for critical thinkers, problem solvers and creative innovators to help us define what energy looks like today and tomorrow.

If you or someone you know is interested in participating in our Yas Marina Intern Program, find us on the HANDSHAKE talent network, engage with us during recruitment events on campus or stop by our booth at an industry conference.