Take off your helmet

Ulrike Prenner belongs to a rare breed: she is a drilling engineer. More specifically, she is the only independent female drilling supervisor in all of Europe. She is currently keeping the KIT-DeepStor drilling site up and running alongside her colleagues. What drives this 49-year-old Austrian, and why did she choose this job? We find out—as is fitting—in the “drilling supervisors’” container at the drilling site on Campus North.

Always on Call

When the phone rang in the middle of the night, it was usually her or her sister who answered the calls for their father. He was an emergency physician, on call around the clock, getting little sleep. So Ulrike Prenner learned early on to take responsibility and react immediately. She took figure skating lessons starting at age six—perfect training for poise and discipline. “On the side,” she played basketball and made it all the way to the Austrian Bundesliga. On top of that, she played volleyball and swam—with swim practice at 5 a.m. focusing on “right, left, and don’t sink.”  

Ohio, of all places!

After graduating from high school, she spent an exchange year in the U.S., in Ohio. Not exactly the center of the world. But her host family, with their classic American entrepreneurial spirit, opened up a whole new world to Ulrike, who was just 19 at the time. They were all self-employed, very successful, and always working.  When she talks about her time in Ohio, she can’t help but gush: “It was the best experience ever.” Even today, she stays in close contact with them and travels regularly to visit her friends—they’re like a second family to her.

What holds the world together on the inside?

Then came her engineering studies at the Montanuniversität Leoben, where she was one of only three women in a class of 45 students. During her studies, Ulrike Prenner spent half a year in an international study program at the epicenter of the oil industry—in Texas, at Texas A&M University. What motivates her most is her interest in the natural sciences, in the big and small connections, and in geology. And in hydrocarbons, water, and salt—how they emerge from the earth. But above all, how to find them. “Every well has its own unique character. Just like the DeepStor well now, at a depth of more than 1,000 meters—of course, you have an idea of what it looks like underground, but you never know for sure. Every day, you have to be ready to react to surprises and find solutions. And that’s the challenge I wanted to take on.” 

The Fascination of the Drilling Rig

Once a drilling rig, always a drilling rig—“it’s like an addiction.” When she started her career, she began in an office.  While filling in for someone on vacation, she was sent up to the drilling rig—“You’re doing this now.” And she did it—brilliantly, of course. She’s changed employers several times and even worked for government agencies, but she found that work too dull. Her addiction to the drilling rig is stronger. For almost five years now, Prenner has been self-employed with her company, “Well Engineering & Supervision Prenner GmbH.” She covers a broad spectrum: drilling technology, project management, and supervision. That’s how she came to work with DeepStor—she’s well-known in the industry, where everyone knows everyone. People know how flawlessly she does her job and value her experience and confidence. She keeps an eye on everything: the complex operations of the drilling rig in real time on the computer, workplace safety, and the quick resolution of technical problems. She’s also got teamwork under control. The workers at the drilling site are usually a motley crew, “borrowed” from service providers. Forming a cohesive team out of this mix is also a challenge.

More young talent!

Is she always the only woman? Sure, she has to be tough, brush off crude remarks with a smile, and stand her ground—but she’s been doing that since she was a kid. “Most of the time, I don’t feel any difference at all between myself and my colleagues—the drilling rig doesn’t care whether you’re a man or a woman.” There’s one thing she really wants to get off her chest before her night shift begins: “We generally have too few drilling engineers in Europe. But I’d especially like to encourage women to pursue this career. It’s incredibly exciting, and the pay is good, too. And it doesn’t have to be the oil industry anymore—so much is being done for the Energy transition these days, like at DeepStor, for example.”

Then, Glückauf: Hopefully, this breed will never die out!