�鶹��ý

Having lived in Texas all his life, when Marcial graduated from the University of Houston in 1998 his first job was with a logistics giant as an entry-level software engineer. After a few years, he took up positions in other companies in the area, before going off to become a consultant. It wasn’t until about 16 years ago that he first associated with the energy industry and eventually moved to Shell. “I initially worked with Shell as a contractor for about two years, some 15 years ago,” Marcial says. “I loved it, and clearly, I was good at my job because they offered me a full-time position. So, of course, I said yes.”

“At the time, Shell was mostly known for its engineering projects, and software development was largely left to contractors like me. The liaison I worked under at the time observed that my skill set would fit perfectly with a position the company needed to fill. I was interviewed by a couple of project managers. One or two meetings later, I was in. All of that has drastically changed during my tenure here. Shell is now prioritizing software development and the division has the same status as engineering.”

In his current role as a technical lead, a happy Marcial has his hands in the weeds all the time. “I delegate IT work to other team members, propose designs, review code, and I still get to do some coding myself on Azure. And yet in some ways, nothing has changed. I love both the company and the people here.”

What has changed, however, is the kind of projects Marcial has been put to task on over the years. “My first few projects were explicitly about energy, oil and natural gas. Now, I’m working with data scientists in the agricultural and forestry division predicting the price of Sulphur, for example,” he says. “Sulphur is a by-product of oil production and can also be mined. Shell is a big player when it comes to selling and buying it. Our data scientists have developed a neural network model to predict prices up to six months later. My task is to convert that algorithm into a web portal that can be used across teams within the company.”

Marcial’s role certainly does keep him both occupied and intrigued, as he tells it. “My job is all about solving problems, and it’s never the same one. Being in IT for over 20 years, the industry is always changing. You’re trying to come up with a solution for business opportunities, and there are an infinite number of problems to solve in a global company like Shell. Of course, I think my greatest career achievement so far has been just sticking around at a single company for 15 years. I was constantly jumping ship when I first joined the workforce, and then I was quite the outsider during my stint as a contractor. It was Shell that first made me feel at home, made me consider that it was finally the right time to settle down.”

For Marcial one of the biggest motivations to be at Shell, aside from the work culture, is the drive to do some good in the world. “You feel like you’re adding value, and of course, everyone wants to feel like they’re contributing,” he says. “You don’t want to be working on something that never sees the light of day. So when a project comes to fruition, there’s a sense of pride to be a part of something that contributes to a greener planet.”

The way Marcial talks about it, there is so much technology that Shell is considering and investing in to accelerate its transition to becoming a net-zero emissions business. “This latest project of mine with neural networks is only the tip of the iceberg. “ I love exploring technology I’ve not dealt with before, and new technology is constantly being brought into Shell’s IT ecosystem, already experimenting with Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence as well as a lot more of the Internet of Things. I personally also think about blockchain technology and how it can deliver solutions for us. In the future, it might be a platform on which we may build solutions.”