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JOSEP M. PARERA SOCIAS, member number 5107 since 1973.
“I have the feeling that, in my time, human relationships were closer and the appreciation for the company was much greater”
It's clear that the control systems have changed a lot, but the relationships between people have also changed a lot. I have the feeling that they were much closer before and the respect for the company was very great.
What is it about the mechanics that makes it so special?
My parents had a car workshop and my brother was also a mechanic, and this led to mechanics being special to me. Since I was little I was very interested in assembling and disassembling parts, as well as technical drawing. So I ended up studying industrial technical engineering, specializing in mechanics, in Vilanova i la Geltrú, and I remember that period as very profitable and fun at the same time.
Did military service interfere with your studies?
I joined the university militia while I was studying, what was called the Superior Pre-Military Training. Then when I finished my studies, I had to ask for a destination and, depending on the promotion number, they sent you further or closer. As a curiosity, I took the number 9 from Spain. Then they assigned me to Lleida, for four months.
In 1972 he began his professional career at the company Industrial Calor Frío SA, dedicated to the installation of propane gas. What was this first contact with the world of work like?
Right after finishing my studies I found this first job, which didn't last for two years. There I worked as a sales technician, that is, we looked for clients wherever there was a building, a farm or blocks of flats to carry out an installation. We did the technical work of the installation: the pipe system, the calculation of diameters and consumption, the tanks that had to be installed...
How important was propane gas to businesses and society?
It meant a way to have centralized gas in homes. Instead of oil and wood boilers, gas was used, which was cleaner and more efficient. Then, around the seventies, it was installed by the wealthier people who had villas, as we also did in large quantities on farms, since it was a great advance for heaters and fattening chickens, for example. It was the cleanest, cheapest and most practical resource.
Shortly after, in 1974, he was hired by ENTASA, at the petrochemical complex in Tarragona, a company that later became REPSOL PETROLEO SA. How do you remember that time?
Yes, in 1974, the refinery in Tarragona was first mentioned, and a year later, I joined the production team. I spent thirty-two years at the company, which went by different names. My job was in the Production area and more specifically in the High Pressure Units, where I became Head of High Pressure Units. In 2006, I was given early retirement. But a few months later, in 2007, I was hired back at REPSOL; to collaborate on the C-10 project in Cartagena, which was practically the construction of a new refinery with deep conversion units. It was a very positive experience, since it was a new project that started from scratch. At that time I became a kind of freelancer who received all the information by post and worked from home, although at specific times, such as meetings or reviews, I traveled both to Madrid, the headquarters, and to Cartagena. They considered me an expert and they were interested in my contribution.
Could we say that Cartagena was your greatest challenge in the workplace?
This was clearly one of them, but I faced others. I am lucky that I was very well regarded, within the Repsol group, as an expert in delicate and high-pressure issues. I was involved in many projects at Repsol Tarragona for nineteen years, and each time the European specifications were much more restrictive, it was necessary to make modifications to existing units, make new ones, extensions... this meant that, until the year 2000, we did a new project every two years. And each project was a challenge, since you started from the base of basic engineering and then you had to teach all the operators.
How has the relationship between company and personal changed today?
It is clear that the control systems have changed a lot, but so have the relationships between people. I have the feeling that before they were much closer and the appreciation for the company was very great. Nowadays it is harder to find people who enjoy their work and get involved like we did years ago.
Teaching also took place in your life, what do you remember especially from that period?
Between 2005 and 2010 I was able to teach classes at the "Instituto Superior de la Energía (ISE)", located in Móstoles. I had the opportunity to teach, train staff and above all get them involved so that they felt it was theirs. All of this came after starting up the Hidrocracker, Repsol's star project in Tarragona at the time, when the plant was already stabilized and I was free from it. Then, in Puertollano, there was an accident at the plant and I was sent there to help rebuild it. It was there that I met the director of one of the modules and he proposed that I teach classes. I enjoyed it a lot because I was doing it with senior engineers, with a great curriculum, from all over the world. It was a great satisfaction to be able to share knowledge with young and committed people.
What is the future of these companies, like Repsol?
The future has never been too clear, although currently there is a focus on biodiesel and different electricity alternatives. I imagine that fossil fuels will gradually disappear, and what companies should do is think about the future and reinvent themselves to produce new powerful products on the market.
This year you have received an important distinction. What do you take away from these 50 years of membership?
I'm happy with the job well done. Although when you're so involved in work, balancing family life becomes complicated and hard, as it doesn't understand schedules.
He retired permanently in October 2011. What do you do in your free time?
Mainly, I'm a grandfather and I also have a plot of land where I prune trees and spend some quality time. I also go for walks and bike rides to keep myself busy and physically fit.
What does it mean to future generations of engineers?
That they take their work seriously and that they value it as a part of them and not just as a synonym for a paycheck at the end of the month.