Today we’d like to introduce you to Sanya Mathura.
Sanya, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2017, I was working on my thesis for my Masters in Engineering Asset Management, its title was, “An investigation into the root causes of lubricant degradation in critical equipment in an Ammonia complex”. At the time, I was still in the corporate world and I found that the quality of work that I was producing wasn’t at the standard that I should be. I am a stickler for quality and I figured that I wasn’t giving my thesis enough time. So I decided to quit my job and give my thesis all of my attention. Very drastic move (of which I was constantly given questionable looks when I stated my reason for leaving) but it was the move that would start this journey that I’m on today.
After I left the corporate world, the direction of my thinking started changing. I started to remove all those barriers that I felt that I had before and began reaching out to SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) globally about my thesis. To my surprise, they responded and were extremely helpful as this expertise was not available locally in Trinidad. It was then that I had the lightbulb moment that I could bring this level of expertise to Trinidad where we need it the most because of our Energy, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing and Petrochemical Sectors!
From there, it just started to form organically and I realized that this is what I want to do. I want to bring value to Trinidad by educating our nationals on the areas of Reliability Engineering to increase our levels of efficiency and production and become a force to be reckoned with within these sectors. I started to work on the business model and continued to make global connections who were interested in bringing their expertise to Trinidad & Tobago. That’s how the business started!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s never a smooth road if it were then we would be headed quickly in directions that didn’t meet with our passions or purpose. My background is Engineering, I have my BSc in Electrical & Computer Engineering and My MSc in Engineering Asset Management. Most of the work that I did before starting SRSL was concentrated in predominantly male industries. It was during these times that I was able to mature enough to handle the stigma that is usually attached to a female engineer.
Thus, when I started my company and began introducing SRSL to other companies, I would be asked questions such as, “Tell us who is the owner of this company? This was a brilliant idea, what’s the guy’s name, he deserves a lot of credit!” or the infamous one, “You’re the owner, I thought you just sent out the emails?!” While it has been challenging to dissipate the levels of stigma attached to powerful female executives within the industry, it has been eye-opening for a lot of other female engineers who now believe that they can succeed in these areas of expertise as well.
I believe in being a pillar for all of the women in STEM sectors and breaking the barriers that would have held us back previously so that we can shape the future for the next generation to surpass the limits that we were not able to overcome.
Please tell us about Strategic Reliability Solutions Ltd.
Strategic Reliability Solutions Ltd (SRSL) was founded to provide reliability solutions to the industry. We specialize in various areas of reliability and engineering and have affiliates who help us bring their expertise to our customers. Locally, SRSL handles Site Assessments, Lubrication Audits, Trainings, Consultancy on Lubrication related issues and areas for improving efficiency in Industrial complexes. Our affiliates help us in the areas of Root Cause Analysis (Reliability Center Inc), Asset Management (Greeman Asset Management Solutions Inc), RCM-R (Conscious Reliability LLC), Lubrication Training (Specialist Lubrication Support Services), Condition Monitoring (KVR Energy Limited), Lab Testing (SGS), PMP® training (PMProLearn) and Integrated Logistics Engineering (Marino Consulting Services Ltd).
What really sets us apart is our ability to go above and beyond to solve a reliability related issue that a customer is facing and remain as an independent consultant throughout the process. We’ve found a lot of reliability suppliers only concentrate in one area of expertise and while this is great for their business, customers’ need someone that they can trust and know will find a solution to the issue that they are facing without going through several suppliers and then have the message all mixed up by the end of the day. With SRSL, we usually come in, assess the situation, decide on whether it can be handled locally or if we need to get foreign expertise and then streamline the process so that the customer (who is already frustrated that the issue is occurring in the first place) can have some peace of mind knowing that the issue is being handled and will be resolved soon.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I wouldn’t change a thing! What some of us fail to realize is that the failures, disappointments and challenges all form part of who we are and how we impact the world. These are the things that change us into better people (if we allow them to) and help us to understand situations from all aspects so that we can in turn offer assistance to those who may be going through a similar situation.
Some of the lessons that I have learnt are:
1. Always be true to yourself and never let your integrity be compromised.
2. Keep your head down and let your work speak for you – Concentrate all of your efforts into delivering quality to your customers and suppliers, this is where the real reward lies, in the value that you’ve brought to them and their organizations.
3. Never rush into decisions, every decision has associated consequences be it trivial or not.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://strategicreliabilitysolutions.com
- Email: strategic.reliability.solns@gmail.com
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanya-mathura-362438129/
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