Inspiring the next generation of lubricant professionals
Paul Hetherington | TLT President's Report April 2021
Future tribologists will need not only technical skills but the ability to communicate and innovate as well.
Countless individuals inspired me in the early stages of my career, including tribologist and STLE Life Member Dr. Roger Melley, who encouraged my own STLE involvement.
I often find myself digging deep into my memory archive to apply what I’ve learned, but this year I’ve been reflecting on my career more frequently. Turning 60 will do that to a person I’m told! But also, as I approach the end of my term as STLE President, I have been thinking about the generation coming up behind me, how the job might be different for them and what skills they’ll need to do it effectively. I must say from the interactions I’ve had as president and with the younger colleagues in my workplace, the future lubrication and tribology business sector is in good hands.
But while there is a talented and dedicated generation coming through the ranks, it’s on all of us to inspire more people to embark on a career in the lubrication industry. One of the things that I feel most lucky about is how I was inspired by others along my journey, and I recognize my responsibility to pass on that same inspiration.
Countless individuals inspired me in the early stages of my career, from my dad through his hard work, dedication and strong ethics, to tribologist and STLE Life Member Dr. Roger Melley, who encouraged my own STLE involvement. The fact is that everybody needs inspiration, and it’s our job to inspire the next generation.
Inspiring investment in skills
So, what is it we are looking for in the next generation of tribologists? The role requires more than a passing grasp of various sciences. We’re looking for people who think like mechanics, who dream about machine design—the sort of person who itches to take an engine apart and put it back together vastly improved, just for fun. But on top of that, the modern job needs the aptitude to assess chemical imbalances, spot the minor varying factors and come up with a swift solution. In our field, we definitely need chemists, but we also need balance and the perspective of others like physicists.
But the lubrication specialist also is a communicator and must be a really good one. They need to be able to take that acute understanding of what is happening, both mechanically and chemically, with the components and lubrication in a heavy-duty fleet and to be able to relay the problem and solution clearly and precisely to the operations manager. They need to show leadership, credibility and confidence while doing so. The industry is looking for people who can build relationships and trust, listen and advise. We know how complex tribology and lubrication engineering can be; one of the big components of the job is to make it understood to the customers and end-users.
This also applies as fully to lab technicians as it does to research and development product specialists. Regardless of whether you are undertaking a doctorate in triboelectric nanogenerators (way beyond my world) or advising more traditional power generating operators in the field, in the end, you’re going to need to be able to take that inherent inquisitive nature that you have with an ability to relay the complexity of your work to someone else.
I’ve spent quite a bit of my career teaching lubrication seminars, and one thing I always tried to focus on is the need to look at all of the data or information. As a scientist, you don’t just look at one contributing factor to solve a problem and, as a lubrication specialist, we don’t just read the oil analysis data in isolation. We are trained to read the situation as a whole. When a customer is sharing how often they carried out used oil analysis or highlighting the number of bearing failures that occurred last month, getting to the bottom of what that machine has actually gone through is what enables the ultimate corrective action to be made. We need our questions to be heard, and we need to listen carefully to the response. That’s why communication skills are just as important as the technical ones.
Inspiring an investment of time
My colleague’s son is a lab analyst at a well-known refinery, a post he’s held for a year or so now. He’s doing well, but he also knows that the last year is just one of many, as he charts his course to become an experienced tribologist or lubrication engineer.
There is no doubt that we are asking a lot of young professionals who are considering following in our footsteps, as the knowledge curve can take decades. In fact, heck, I’m more than 40 years into my career, and I’m still learning daily, so what has kept me going? It’s because the rewards are so rich.
A career in lubrication and tribology is exciting, fulfilling and rewarding today, but it’s also changing. We are all having to respond to increasing environmental demands from industry—almost weekly if not monthly, I am involved in conversations about the impact of a fluid recommendation on a machine’s immediate environment. That conversation rarely happened earlier in my career.
As a lubrication professional, you are a trusted advisor that can quite literally dent or boost a companies’ bottom line with your recommendation. Be bold! Learn more, do more and inspire the next generation more. These are words that my colleague STLE member Benjamin Latorre inspired me to write, and I’m very pleased he did.
So, in summary, let’s not be afraid to be vocal advocates of a career in our industry and to all play our part in inspiring the next generation of lubrication and tribology specialists. I’m excited to see what they’ll achieve.
Paul Hetherington is senior technical services advisor for Petro-Canada Lubricants in Peachland, British Columbia, Canada. You can reach him at paul.hetherington@hollyfrontier.com.