Subsea 7 Apprentices Celebrate Success
10 September 2009
Subsea 7 Inc, one of the world's leading subsea engineering and construction companies, has announced that seven of its Drawing Office apprentices have successfully completed their HNC in Mechanical Engineering at Banff and Buchan College; whilst one of its Workshop Apprentices, Ryan Tod, has been named ‘runner-up' at a National Apprentice Competition - and been invited to apply for a place at Space School in the USA!
Ryan (17), based at Subsea 7's Greenwell workshop in Tullos, Aberdeen, was named runner-up at the Scottish Engineering 1st year Apprentice Competition 2009 - one of only two nominees invited from Banff and Buchan College to take part in the competition.
Following Ryan's success at the competition he was invited to apply for a place at the Skills Development Scotland Space School in Houston, Texas, for which he is excitedly awaiting to hear if he has secured a place.
Ryan commented:
“I really hope to secure a place at the Skills Development Scotland Space School and learn more about the technologies involved in that industry. Many people say that what Subsea 7 does under the water is as impressive as what is done in space, so this would be my chance to see if that's true – and hopefully come back and teach my colleagues a thing or two!”
The other successful apprentices, who are based in the company's office in Westhill, Aberdeenshire: Nick Redmond, Barry Hyde, Kira Cadiz, Sean Stewart, David Procter, Jamie Presly and Ross Tindall are now working on obtaining their SVQ Level 3 in Engineering Technical Support, following the successful completion of their HNCs.
Steph McNeill, Subsea 7's Vice President for the UK Region, commented on the success of the apprentices: “I am delighted at the efforts of our Apprentices and also for the support of their Managers and Colleagues who have helped them along the way. Their success is testament to the time and effort that goes into training and developing people within Subsea 7 and I look forward to watching their careers grow over the coming years.”
Commenting on Ryan's invitation to Space School, Steph McNeill added: “I would love the chance to go to Space School myself and I hope that Ryan gets accepted, enjoys it, and shares his experience with the rest of us when he gets back. We're all very jealous!”
Subsea 7 offers Modern Apprenticeships in a variety of disciplines including mechanical and electrical engineering. The Apprenticeship scheme takes approximately 4 years to complete and incorporates formal qualifications (up to HND level) combined with work place assessment which is competency based.
One of the most successful learning initiatives that Subsea 7 has introduced for its apprentices has been ‘Lunch and Learn' sessions with its graduate engineers and apprentices – the apprentices get the opportunity to ask the graduate engineers for technical help and guidance related to their coursework and studies, while the graduates can use the sessions to help improve their ‘soft skills' and mentoring capability via the coaching they give to the apprentices.
The company also holds regular exam clinics/one-to-one coaching for graduates and apprentices approaching exams.
