Learning online gave David Wilson the flexibility to fit in moving house, starting a new job and expanding his family - all while studying for a post-graduate degree.
David will graduate with an MSc in Decomissioning from the University of Aberdeen and has already applied the skills gained from the course to a new business venture.
He credits the flexibility of online study options for his success, enabling him to work to a study schedule that fitted around his career, parenting and other hobbies.
David said: “Online study appealed to me on the basis that I could work at my own pace varying the number of modules each semester based on what my workload outwith university might be at those times.
“Working in the industry I was aware of others who had successfully completed the MSc in decommissioning and the long history that the University has in delivering further education and academic research specific to the energy sector.”
David decided to spread his MSc over four years to fit around family life, work, and to allow time for his hobbies of football and golf.
“During the MSc we moved house, I started a new job, and we had our second child,” he added.
“The online nature and ability to study in my own time meant that I could fit lectures in after bathtime and bedtime routines during the week and keep time at the weekend for family and hobbies as much as possible. It also meant that if the kids had a bad night or I was tired I could watch lectures at my own pace and cover any additional reading required to really absorb the information. The lectures were released in regular weekly intervals so you could plan your time around these and any tutorials well in advance.”
On a professional level the MSc offered David an opportunity to expand the operational knowledge he had to encompass an understanding of the commercial, technical, environmental, and regulatory aspects of the full decommissioning process.
While studying he joined the North Sea Transition Authority, spending more than two years working predominantly on decommissioning related work from a regulatory perspective. Following the completion of his MSc he became Operations Director for a new offshore division of a company specialising in diamond wire cutting and ultra-high pressure abrasive water jetting for cutting and decommissioning infrastructure
“The MSc has definitely contributed to giving me the confidence to set up the new decommissioning focussed business venture that I embarked on with partners this May,” he added.
“The ability to undertake a challenge like the MSc with a young family and achieve the degree at the end of it is something inspired me to take on the next bigger challenge.”