49er Industry Chats: Navigating Your Career in a Large Corporation

Engineering Manager - Angola LNG, Chevron Corporation (retired)

Melanie Smothers spent 31 years as an employee of the Chevron Corporation. She began her career in the nearby city of El Segundo, as a Designs Engineer at the Chevron Refinery. Melanie served in Engineering, Planning, and Operations roles and her work locations included Southern California, Hawaii, Mississippi, and the country of Angola. The last few years of her career were spent working in Angola, where the focus was to train the citizens to safely and successfully manage the operations of a facility that converted byproduct methane gas into clean liquid natural gas (LNG). This product is used to generate power in Angola, and the excess is sold to world customers. Melanie earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from CSULB.