From Jet Fuel to Crude: Melina Papadakis on Early Impact in Refining

When the Canadian Fuels Association named Melina Papadakis one of its 2026 Rising Star Award recipients, it recognized a young engineer already making her mark at Imperial Oil’s Sarnia refinery.

Just four years into her career, Melina has contributed to record production milestones, supported process improvements, and taken on growing responsibility across refinery operations, all while building a reputation for technical skill, collaboration, and a strong commitment to safety.

For Melina, engineering began with a simple curiosity about how things work.

“I really liked understanding how systems actually work, not just memorizing things,” she says. “That’s what naturally led me toward engineering.”

Today, as Sarnia’s crude scheduler, she helps ensure the refinery has the right crude at the right time to keep operations running smoothly. While the role gives her a broad view of refinery activity, her journey began in process engineering, where she quickly made an impact.

“The combination of technical problem solving and day-to-day impact on operations is what’s kept me engaged.”

One of her earliest accomplishments came while supporting hydroprocessing operations. When an upcoming maintenance outage threatened hydrogen availability, Melina helped find a way to keep jet fuel production running while still meeting strict quality standards.

Working closely with operations, product quality specialists, and technical experts, she helped design a structured approach to safely test small changes that gradually expanded operating limits. The work was closely monitored at every step and contributed to record jet fuel production, helping ensure reliable supply to Canada’s largest airport.

The experience reinforced a lesson she has carried throughout her career: success in refining depends on teamwork.

That lesson became especially clear when an unexpected furnace issue occurred just days after she moved into a new technical role.

“One of the key takeaways was the importance of clear communication and strong teamwork,” she says. “Small changes can escalate quickly, so you have to stay ahead of how conditions might evolve.”

In her current role, Melina has expanded her perspective beyond individual units to the refinery as a whole. In 2025, she was part of the team that helped the Sarnia refinery achieve a record annual crude throughput, an achievement driven by coordination across operations, engineering, maintenance, and supply.

Beyond her technical work, Melina helps onboard co-op students entering the refinery and is involved in Imperial’s Women’s Interest Network, supporting connection and development across the organization.

Receiving CFA’s Rising Star Award is meaningful recognition, but Melina is quick to put it in context.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with strong teams and mentors who have supported my development,” she says. “This recognition is a good reminder to step back and appreciate the progress so far.”

Still early in her career, Melina is focused less on defining a fixed path and more on continuing to build her understanding of the business from every angle, technical, operational, and commercial. That curiosity, paired with hands-on experience across different parts of the refinery, continues to shape her approach.

“I’m excited to keep learning and building a broader view of the business,” she says. “There’s always something new to understand.”

For Melina, that’s what keeps the work interesting, there’s always another part of the system to learn, and another way to make it work a little better.