A recent initiative by Subsea UK has been set up to promote science and engineering subjects among school pupils by asking teachers to become the students in an effort to solve the shortage of engineers facing the oil and gas industry.
Tthe initiative, which was piloted by Aberdeen-based Subsea UK member companies Prospect and Nautronix, will now be rolled out across all members and aims to help improve teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the subsea industry and the range of employment and training opportunities it offers young people.
A handful of science and technology teachers from across Aberdeen City and Shire have taken part in the scheme which saw them spend two days with subsea oil and gas firms as a way of gaining first hand experience of the skills, knowledge and behaviours required in various working environments in the energy sector.
The scheme builds on the Excellence in Education through Business Links programme, organised and managed by Careers Scotland, by utilising Subsea UK’s extensive network of member companies.
By taking part, teachers are able to translate the experience and information gained from the placement back to the classroom for use with pupils when making curricular and career choices.
Turriff Academy physics teacher Jamie McHugh carried out an industrial placement with Prospect at the end of September.
He said: “I was able to interact freely and question staff from all levels about their daily tasks and how they are using applied physics on a daily basis - everything from making additions to existing structures and simulating stresses in a joint to extremely complicated gas and fluid flow simulations.
“To be able to take back to the classroom an extremely positive message about an up and coming engineering company and how they work on a day to day basis was very rewarding. Taking physics out of the textbook and classroom and into real-life is part of my job and my experience at Prospect has allowed me to bring physics to the pupils and make it more interesting and relevant.”
Teachers are now being offered the chance to participate in further placement opportunities in the subsea sector to discover how science and technology subjects can be promoted as a strong foundation for entry into employment in this dynamic sector.
Ivar Iversen, technical director at engineering solutions provider Prospect, said: “Transferring Prospect’s passion for engineering to teachers who can communicate this enthusiasm in the classroom is a great step towards raising awareness of the exciting careers in the oil and gas industry. Also, it must be motivating for a teacher to see the curriculum skills, particularly in maths, physics and chemistry, being put directly to use solving the problems facing our industry.”
Mark Patterson, managing director of Nautronix said: “The subsea industry has a bright future ahead. Encouraging teachers to experience the skills required, the challenges we face and the opportunities that will be available to their students can only be beneficial to us all for developing our workforce of the future.”