Six Subsea Engineering MSc students were given the chance to attend a leading technical conference in Madrid thanks to generous industry sponsorship.
CNR International(CNRI) and Quest Offshore enabled the students to travel to, and stay in the Spanish capital for the Marine, Construction & Engineering (MCE) Deepwater Development conference.
The event, organised by Quest Offshore, is recognised as the leading conference addressing technical issues related to engineering, development, and production of oil and gas in deep and ultra-deepwater arenas around the world.
This conference has been running for 11 years, and addresses the myriad of technical issues and challenges confronting the deepwater subsea industry, while offering excellent networking opportunities.
Quest offshore agreed to waive the delegate fee normally required to access the top level conference sessions, meaning the students were able attend the technical conference, exhibition and networking events to talk and gain insight from delegates and exhibitors.
CNRI which is the international division of Calgary based Canadian Natural Resources Limited, one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas producers in the world, covered travel and accommodation costs for the group, who were accompanied by senior teaching fellow Ila Glennie.
CNRI’s Underwater Superintendent Gavin Mann said: “CNRI already support the Subsea Engineering MSc course with technical lectures and were proud to help students further expand their learning with this fantastic opportunity.”
One of the students, Zi Jian Chong, added: "The conference provided me a broader perspective and better understanding of various aspects of the Oil and Gas Industry.
“The social events provided excellent networking opportunities and discussions on sustainable solutions to meet the growing global energy demands with internationally known professionals from the industry.
“Overall, I gained invaluable learnings from the event which will certainly benefit my ongoing university studies and previous working experience as a pipeline design engineer.”
Ila Glennie added: “The students have gained an excellent industry overview, as well as some very valuable technical insights. The timing of the conference was good as it was during the Easter vacation, and prior to MSc project topic selection. We thank both CNRI and Quest Offshore for their generosity in enabling these students to attend this event.”
The students will follow up the conference with a presentation to CNRI staff at their Aberdeen office, covering some of the issues identified that affect CNRI and the industry in general.