A group of six engineering students from Forth Valley College were treated to a fascinating site visit which took in industry techniques, space expertise and the thrills of a rollercoaster ride!
Connor Kenny (19) from Alloa, Caitlin Hodge (22) from Alva, Kristopher Cooke (19) from Falkirk (all Mechanical), Nathan Morrison (19) from Larbert, Marc Brown(18) from Grangemouth and Paramvir Deerhe (22) from Denny (all Electrical) – students on the HNC Engineering Systems ECITB Scholars course – benefited from the fascinating trip to Oceaneering in Rosyth on Friday 17 June.
Oceaneering produce Subsea umbilicals for feeding and transporting infrastructure supplies to oil rigs and offshore turbines. The respected firm are also working on building and designing ‘dark roller-coasters’ such as the ‘Spiderman Ride’ and also work with NASA to help them better understand and perform certain tasks in space, due to the similarities of working in the harsh environment of deep water.
The scholars also had a chance to speak to General Manager Audrey Orhon who explained about the qualities the company looks for in young engineers.
The group toured around the very interesting facilities on the banks of the River Forth and the scholars were shown the assembly workshop and carousels, cabling workshop, outdoor carousel and spooling yard, where they were give some real life examples of the maintenance activities they would expect to see while working in the industry. They were also taken to see the Electro/Mechanical workshop where again they could relate to the current facilities they are working with at the college.
Des McCabe, Curriculum Manager in FVC’s Department of Engineering, said: “The visit to Oceaneering was a brilliant experience for the scholars. Audrey, Robert, Chris and Scott were great with us all and made time in their day to make us feel more than welcome. It was a very interesting and informative visit for us all. The sense of scale that the scholars were able to gain from this visit was invaluable - seeing much bigger versions of the equipment they work with every day in the College, such as large industrial motors and armoured cables.”
Lorna Richardson, Account Manager for the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), said: “It was a privilege to facilitate the visit to Oceaneering with the ECITB Scholars from Forth Valley College. Seeing the fruition of the scholarship programme and the benefits it brings to employers is immensely rewarding.”
