Shell T&T Ltd - A Trip to Nasa and Back

Tevin Achong speaks about a career shaped by STEM

Tevin Achong, a 24 year old with the calm and reserve of someone twice his age, was born in Princes Town – a tiny township in southern Trinidad. Coming from a close-knit family, where his mother taught him the value of hard work, Tevin is now a data engineer at Shell Trinidad and Tobago. Some may see it as serendipitous and others may see it as the rewards of persistence; but his journey to engineering started at the very young age of 10 or 11 when he attended a STEM vacation camp at the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), sponsored by the same company he now works at - Shell.

Tevin Achong, Data Engineer at Shell Trinidad and Tobago

Tevin’s entry into the programme was awarded to him (along with other high performing SEA students in the community), through a STEM scholarship bursary programme offered by Shell. Tevin had outperformed students at both the national and regional level making him eligible for assistance with tuition and school supplies, and a beneficiary of invitations to workshops at NIHERST and The University of the West Indies (UWI).

From his CSEC studies at St. Stephen’s College to studying Applied Engineering at the University of Trinidad & Tobago (UTT), Shell continued its support to Tevin through the scholarship programme. “That was a tremendous help for me,” he recalls. “Those funds paid for accommodation near the university and for food. Without that kind of support, students like me would not have been able to stay the course”. But Tevin didn’t stop there. His studies continued with a diploma in Software Engineering at UTT and immediately after, he went on to complete the BSc. in Computer Science with The University of the West Indies.

Off to NASA

Tevin’s pursuit for excellence continued throughout his life, not only in his academic career. In 2014, an article about the NASA Agency’s internship programme caught his attention. The NASA International Internship Project (NASA I2), “seeks to better prepare all students to work in a global environment and on multicultural international missions.” Tevin explained, “I thought then, this is really cool, it would be so exciting to go to NASA”. He held the dream close and quietly resolved to make it happen.

In 2019, when NASA opened the annual internship programme, Tevin was among the first to jump at the opportunity. “I was 22 at the time and still a student at UWI.” Acceptance however did not cover costs. Each participant was responsible for their funding. As Tevin shared, “My journey to NASA would not have been possible without the help of friends and well-wishers. The total fee for the NASA I2 Project was around TTD $80,000. Shell contributed $25,000 toward my fees and I used social media to help bridge the difference and my Facebook post went viral. The second approach was through a friend of mine, who is a journalist at Loop TT. She started a GoFundMe page which received a great deal of support. There were also persons who couldn’t lend funds but gave support in other ways, meeting up and helping in any way they could. I’ll always be grateful for the kindness I received at that time.”

The internship was a STEM programme focused on developing skills of students in areas of research and enabling collaborations in science. Tevin attended the summer programme which was held at the NASA center in California for four months. There were many participants from around the world with some studying Computer Science like Tevin among others studying Biology, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics & Engineering. Tevin was one of six students from Trinidad and Tobago.

Fighting self-doubt

When asked what it took to get into the programme, Tevin responds with a characteristic “easy.” He explained, “It’s a simple process. NIHERST provided all the information for applications on their website. A key criterion was, you had to be an undergraduate or hold a graduate degree in STEM subjects.” But, once accepted, self-doubt took over – a deep, immobilizing sense of not being enough consumed him and he knew he had to draw deep, or he would miss an opportunity. “My family and community were a huge support throughout the process. I actually considered not going at all, but my family quickly talked me out of those thoughts, especially my mum who held my hand throughout the process.” He calls her his rock and credits her sacrifice for his steady progress. Some of his friends thought he was daydreaming. There was some initial skepticism since it didn’t seem likely that someone from his community could be selected to a NASA programme. “But once people started seeing published articles and news appearances, the reality hit.” He smiles as he remembers. What followed was simply “an overwhelming amount of support.”

Weeks into the programme, the uncertainty struck again, hitting him hard with self doubt. “I started to experience Imposter Syndrome, being surrounded by students from MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and wondering if this small-island UWI student would be able to deliver at the end of the 4 months. On a personal level, I realized that I had to spend a lot of time working on myself and enhancing my skills – so I did.”

Receiving Check from Shell for NASA Internship.

Standing at NASA AMES Research Center.

Tevin at the NASA AMES Wind Tunnel

Far away from home, he was fortunate to have a great mentor who was a pillar of strength in those moments. Tevin describes his mentor Brian Coltin who has a PHD in robotics, as being a real source of encouragement during that time. “He’s an incredibly intelligent and personable guy and a great mentor. He coached me through the technical aspects of the programme and guided me through the people side of things - like how to navigate a research type environment.” He also adds, “I dug deep to selfmotivate, often reaching out whenever I needed help and pulling myself out from slumps. That was my big personal win - working through the self-doubt and proving to myself that I deserved to be there and that I was as good as anyone else.” “Fun fact” says Tevin. “After I finished my degree, when I applied for my first job, Brian wrote my recommendation.” The two continue to stay in touch.

A STEM Career

Post NASA, Tevin returned to Trinidad and to UWI to continue his degree in Computer Science, and graduated in 2020. For him, it was like the stars had lined up. Shortly after leaving university, he saw a vacancy for a Data Scientist at Shell. “I applied, was called and interviewed for the role. The days that followed were a bit of a roller coaster. After I completed the final stage of the interview process, I received a call a couple of weeks later, informing me that I was unsuccessful in obtaining the Data Scientist position.” There was a momentary disappointment when he was told that he didn’t get the role. The good news? He was offered another position instead – that of Data Engineer. “I was elated,” Tevin recalls. “My hard work was finally paying off. Here I am today working at a great energy company and fulfilling a dream.”

Tevin works in the Digital Pod at Shell - a team of six – a Data engineer, a Data Scientist, a Data Analyst, a Software Engineer, a Product Integration Manager, and the Digital Lead. As the Data Engineer Tevin works at source. He is responsible for supplying data, and ensuring it is in a usable structure for the Data Scientists and Analysts. Tevin believes that it is the NASA experience that has helped him to find his niche. “Computer Science is a broad field and at NASA I was able to narrow it down and work on a specific sub field, Machine Learning. Being in the space of working with data and getting real world experience has been a huge benefit to my work.” At NASA, Tevin’s team project used satellite imagery to detect whether certain regions of the earth were flooded or not. “I was fascinated by the ability of learning through real-world application,” he explains. “It was a welcome departure from the intense theory-based classes at university.”

“I love my job,” says Tevin. “The only thing missing is the real-life team experience. I started my career in the pandemic and have been working remotely. That is soon going to change as we go back to the office in phases. I can’t wait to meet my team face to face.”

When asked what’s next for him, Tevin shares that for now he is just looking forward to workspaces being opened and having the live teamwork experience. “I’m also keen to bring some balance. You want home to be a place for relaxation but for the past few months when I get home, the first thing I think of is work. There are a lot of benefits to working from home, like the commute - but having done this for so long, I think a blend will be ideal.” So, was it serendipity or genuine hard work? We go with the latter.