In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Torrance Refining Company LLC (TORC) salutes the women (past and present) who have contributed to the improvement, development and growth of our business and those who continue to make positive impacts. In this issue, in light of the Torrance Refinery’s recent honor from the University of Tennessee for its successful efforts to improve asset reliability, we introduce readers to our Mechanical Reliability Engineering Manager, Taylor Kang Obico.

Taylor Kang Obico, Mechanical Reliability Engineering Manager, leads the Reliability team at Torrance Refinery. Taylor earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic University Pomona and the University of Southern California, respectively.

Taylor began working at the Refinery in July 2016 and has progressed through various positions with greater responsibility until she began working in her current role in 2020. Taylor has more than 15 years of refining experience in the oil and gas industry, a field traditionally dominated by men. Women are still underrepresented in the engineering field, comprising only 13% of engineers, according to the Society of Women Engineers (SWE); however, at Torrance Refinery many of our engineers are women.

As President of the Women’s Interest Network/Society of the Women Engineers Employee Support Group at the Refinery, Taylor is committed to stewarding the refinery’s efforts to educate and encourage female students to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). She is an active volunteer in the TORC’s Workforce Involvement Program (WIP) that promotes volunteerism and community engagement

During a recent WIP activity, serving as a volunteer judge for Fern Elementary’s Science Fair, Taylor shared, “As a female engineer, I am proud to be part of a company that fosters teamwork, where we value the role and contribution of each individual. Seeing the under-representation of women, and as a mother to a young son and daughter, I am motivated to support our company’s external efforts, particularly with STEM-related activities. It’s important for young people to see themselves represented in various roles and careers, to feel empowered to pursue their passion to make positive contributions in the world.”

Taylor lives in Torrance with her husband Ray, who is also an engineer, and their two children. To get to know Taylor a little bit more, we asked her the following questions: