UG to introduce subsea operations and engineering programmes

Jun 26, 2021 News

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Kaieteur News – According to a press release, the University of Guyana (UG), on Thursday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Caribbean Oceanography Aquaculture and Subsea Technology (COAST) Foundation to collaborate on the establishment of a Subsea Centre of Excellence training facility.

The COAST Foundation, which was founded in 2017 by a group of marine and subsea professionals, was created to engage in education through subsea exploration and technology development. Its regional programme is centered on scientific exploration of the seafloor and its goal is to conduct expeditions from aboard an exploration vessel to be acquired by the Foundation in the future.
COAST’s mission is to implement programmes in Ocean Exploration, Education and technology development through collaboration with regional and international stakeholders, and to steward the responsible management of the Caribbean’s marine resources for future generations.
The new programme would now allow the University to deliver world-class programmes designed to prepare students for careers in Subsea Operations and Engineering. The MOU was signed by Vice-Chancellor Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin, Dean of the Faculty of Technology and Verlyn Klass, coordinator of Industrial Engineering, all on behalf of UG while Keith Lewis and Aaron Hardowar signed on behalf of COAST Foundation, during a ceremony in the presence of a few other faculty members and staff of UG.
Mohamed-Martin expressed sincere gratitude to COAST Foundation for choosing UG and for understanding how important the national university is to fulfilling the present and future needs of the industry noting that the Subsea Centre will be the first of its kind at a university in the Caribbean.

She also mentioned her excitement about the innovative aspects of what the programme proposes and that UG is not only interested in producing people but are also interested in advancing ideas and working on solutions because that’s really where the intellectual power and manifest value of the University really lies.
Keith Lewis, who is leading the project, highlighted the significant benefits of having the Centre of Excellence training facility at UG. He said that COAST Foundation believes that there is a future for local students to become engineers in the subsea field and support the deepwater development in Guyana.
He stated that all of the oil sector development, past and future, in Guyana will largely be via Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV), which means that local technicians and subsea engineers need to be trained in order to support the process. The Subsea Centre of Excellence will be home to the first Remotely Operated Vehicle simulator in the region.
This in turn will be the foundation of training and competency development programmes aimed at supporting educational programmes from the Trade School, through Associate, Bachelors and Masters Levels.

Through this partnership, the University of Guyana will collaborate with international universities in the United States, Canada and Scotland to deliver world-class programmes designed to prepare students for careers in Subsea Operations and Engineering.
In addition to an ROV simulator, the Subsea Centre of Excellence will have an ROV test tank, an electrical workshop and a hydraulic-mechanical workshop. A key component of the programme will be a collaboration with the local and international subsea industry corporations to ensure stakeholder buy-in and a sustainable holistic approach to the Transfer of Technology to Guyana.
Verlyn Klass also expressed her gratitude to the COAST Foundation for bringing the technology to UG and her enthusiasm at the prospect of how it will benefit the students. She explained that the project started with one of UG’s civil engineering students who graduated and is employed with COAST. She recalled that the student reached out to the University with the hope that UG students would also be exposed to such technology.
Elena Trim, Head of Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, expressed interest in discussing the certification of students involved in the programme. The signing of the MOU is another strong reflection of UG’s strategic efforts to achieve the goals set out in the 2040 Blueprint and to support the build out of a technically competent workforce to support the booming Oil and Gas industry in Guyana.
According to UG, this important MOU enhances and underscores the University’s continued drive to ensure that Guyanese can take full advantage of the local content requirements as well as those spin off opportunities that are emerging rapidly in the local market. It is also a welcome addition to the recent suite of courses offered by the Institute of Energy Diplomacy, and those in the Faculties such as the Degree and Master’s in Petroleum Engineering, Master’s in Renewable Energy from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology as well as the Master’s in Environmental Management for the Oil and Gas Industry (Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Master’s in Management of Supply Chains and Procurement (SEBI) all being offered from September 2021.

 

 

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