A trailblazer for women in engineering and technology

When Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur – a female industrial technology entrepreneur – stood up to accept the Maintcon 2024 Women in Excellence award, she hoped it would inspire more women to consider a sector where women are unlocking new potential and leading change.

To mark International Women’s Day, Oil Review Middle East asked the co-founder and CEO of CorrosionRADAR to share her remarkable 20-year journey in engineering and industrial technology.

Oil Review Middle East: Why are industry awards important to you?

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur: Being awarded the Maintcon 2024 Women in Excellence award was certainly a milestone in my career. Sponsored by Aramco and with over 2,000 delegates at the annual event, nominations showcased many incredible women around the world achieving amazing things in the asset maintenance and management industry – a sector where females are now increasing in numbers.

Moments like these remind us that everything’s possible. Entrepreneurs are crucial to drive innovation forward. And women (even a mum of two, like me) can achieve this too.

Oil Review Middle East: What did your education and early career look like?

Dr Chiraz Ennaceur: After completing my school education in Tunisia, I went on to achieve a civil engineering degree at Ecole National d'Ingénieurs de Gabès (ENIG). I was one of two girls in a class of 20 students. My degree cemented my love of engineering, so I completed a PhD in mechanical engineering at the University of Technology of Compiègne (France). This is when I developed new technology to detect crack propagation in pressure vessels. Again, there weren’t many women in this environment back then.

I started my career in the Netherlands as a Postdoc at WZI – University of Amsterdam and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM). One achievement was developing new technology for structural health monitoring and Non-Destructive testing (NDT).

When I then became programme manager at The Welding Institute in Cambridge (UK) for the Structural Integrity Research Foundation (SIRF), I was leading a £150mn strategic research partnership, looking to innovate across many industry sectors. It was an exciting time to be at the forefront of such technological ideas. At this time, I knew I wanted to set up and run my own company. The question wasn’t if, but when.

Oil Review Middle East: How did you become a co-founder of CorrosionRADAR?

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur: The opportunity to run my own company came in 2017, along with Dr Prafull Sharma and Dr Mehrdad Silatani, who co-founded CorrosionRADAR with me. The venture was a spinout from Cranfield University designed to take groundbreaking research into the commercial world.

Digitalisation is the future wherever you look – smart cities, health, education, and industry. It’s about having connectivity to an object and using the data to make informed decisions that have more impact. This was our fundamental mission.

At CorrosionRADAR, we’re working to digitalise corrosion under insulation (CUI) monitoring in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry. Our focus is on helping optimise asset life and improving maintenance processes while saving money and enhancing safety.

Oil Review Middle East: What enables success as a tech entrepreneur?

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur: Entrepreneurship takes grit. You must live and breathe your venture 24/7 and expect many ups and downs as you move forward. Essentially, you’re solving a problem people are prepared to pay for. In fact, every problem presents an opportunity. But you must be able to commercialise your idea and scale your business.

Start by creating your minimum viable product (MVP). It won’t be perfect from day one, but this is the first step. Then, find early adopters who believe in you, clients who are prepared to join you on your journey. If you’re to grow, collaboration is essential at this early stage. Surround yourself with a good team – people who know more than you. Network extensively and find strong partnerships too. Share your research with other stakeholders and avoid working in silos. In this way you can start to scale.

Finding investment is also important. You must learn how to sell your vision to potential investors and grab their attention. They need to see how their investment could fuel your expansion and develop your ideas to serve the majority profitably. We achieved our first round of funding in 2021, with a second round in July 2024. To date, we’ve raised a total of US$14mn. Our investors include Aramco Ventures, Dow, Mercia Ventures, Kanoo Ventures, and Finindus. It was great to see these industry leaders share our vision and receive their insights.

This welcome financial support is helping us scale at speed and accelerate the deployment of CUI monitoring systems worldwide. It’s also enabling the continued development of new digital products to improve safety and operations across the sector.

Oil Review Middle East: How did you apply your approach to CorrosionRADAR?

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur: Of course, I had to practice what I preached. People had to believe in our solution and see how Industry 4.0 could transform predictive asset monitoring and maintenance. We were bringing a digital solution to a longstanding and significant challenge for oil and gas pipeline owners: corrosion under insulation (CUI). Winning several awards is a testament to our important and innovative work.

I also wanted the industry to see how CorrosionRADAR aligned with a Net Zero vision. By helping asset managers find CUI problems early, the risk to the environment falls and maintenance becomes less significant.

Oil Review Middle East: Why is it such an exciting time for industrial technology entrepreneurs, especially female ones?

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur: As innovation accelerates – thanks to technological advances like wireless connectivity, sensor technology, and machine learning – doors are opening for more women to get involved in industrial sectors like asset integrity.

In fact, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to solve real problems using technology – whether they’re male or female.

I continue to champion technology entrepreneurs whenever possible. In 2021, I met Rishi Sunak (Former UK Prime Minister) as part of a select group of CEOs to discuss how the UK government could support innovative companies to scale. I was also involved in several Cambridge Judge Business School programmes, including the EnterpriseWISE programme.

To change the world, we need more entrepreneurs, and women can now make an impact in sectors they may not have previously considered. I believe we’re on a collective mission to ensure digitalisation transforms every commercial sector around the globe. New technologies (and an appetite to change how we do things) are fuelling an exciting revolution you could be part of.