In the latest instalment of our ‘Meet the Team’ series, Nge Aik Moh, our Technical Operations Manager based in Singapore, discusses his journey while working at STR.
Having joined in 2019 to help us expand in the Asia Pacific region, Aik Moh shares his perspective on what makes STR the go-to subsea technology partner in the offshore energy and marine science markets as a global provider of technology, equipment solutions and data Services.
Read on to uncover what Aik Moh enjoys most about STR, the best piece of advice he’s ever received in his career, and more…
How would you summarise your career background and what led you to STR?
“I started my career at a British-owned company, Sonardyne International, and worked there for 12 years as an offshore support engineer, then a workshop manager, and finally an offshore manager. My role initially involved worldwide installation, commissioning and 24-hour support, before advancing to project management with a continual focus on quality and service – this was the foundation of my technical knowledge and practical experience.
“I was then fortunate enough to experience working with other survey companies and engineering startups to help set up workshops, before spending four years at Neptune Marine Services where I was responsible for establishing its survey workshop in Singapore as part of its international expansion strategy into Asia Pacific. These experiences of creating fully operational departments led me to my current position as a Technical Operations Manager for STR in Singapore.”
How has your role evolved since joining STR, and what does a typical day look like?
“I joined STR as part of its international expansion strategy into Asia Pacific. At first, my role involved securing facilities, meeting clients and helping build a fully operational capability. Since I started with STR we have increased our team, our equipment fleet, our facilities and our client network; which I am extremely proud to have contributed to.
“Day to day, my main responsibility is managing the technical and operations team in Singapore ensuring our operations run smoothly and we maintain the highest standards. STR is a customer focused business with emphasis on teamwork, innovation, quality, responsiveness and service and we regard ourselves as technical experts in subsea sensor technologies. Our aim is to be viewed, by our customers, as offering them an optimised equipment solution supported by the best technical support team.
“I closely work with our other service hubs in Australia, UK and Houston, to ensure efficient movement of STR assets and assist with the continued growth of the business. Working as part of a global team ensures STR can provide its local and international customers with a common standard of service and quality.”
Why are you so passionate about your role and where do you see STR in the future?
“I’ve had the benefit of being at the very beginning of our start-up stage in Singapore which required me to wear multiple hats. We have continued to invest and strengthen our team and have very recently moved into new custom-designed facilities that are 4x larger than our previous, and provide us with more capacity to support our growing customer network.
“Regarding the future, we aim to maintain our competitive position within the global subsea sensor market. There are many neighbouring countries to Singapore that have very ambitious offshore energy project with a high focus on Offshore Wind. STR has the largest and newest fleet of geophysical sensor technologies and our focus on equipment and service quality, we will be very well positioned to support the growing needs of our customers.
“Technology and innovation is at the core of STR and we continue to invest in research and development as we continually look at ways to offer our customers a competitive edge by delivering technologies that are of the highest quality, offer the lowest non-productive time in the field with a high focus on the emerging, disruptive, operating trends and new customer requirements – an example, is our new range of fully electric, autonomous winch systems provide our customers with the ability to deploy large sensor packages from USVs.”
Why do you think people choose STR?
“I think it is a combination of many things. Across the whole business, irrespective of department, we have a very high focus on getting the very small things right and ensuring our customers receive an optimal service to a common standard of quality.
“We have significantly invested in our team, facilities, equipment fleet and in-house product suite. We have the newest fleet in the market and we have a team of technical experts with strong domain knowledge of subsea sensor technology and deployment systems – we want to be regarded as a trusted extended arm of our customers' project team.”
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?
“I always remember a previous colleague saying to be nice to people on your way up because you will meet them again on your way down. It’s very humble advice and it’s the reason why I work hard to maintain a good network of contacts and build on positive client relationships within the industry. I think that’s another reason why customers choose STR, we really value the relationships we have with our customer network.”
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