The Aberdeen Branch SUT+ group has kicked-off the year with three fantastic events.

On 22 January the SUT+ Pub Quiz was held at local bar, Korova, with 11 teams taking part. The evening provided a great opportunity to network and kick-off the New Year. “Mary Berry’s Master Bakers” Subsea 7 were the winning team and the “Scrambled Egg Heads” (ADIL) were awarded the wooden spoon! The group hopes to make this an annual event.

On 3 February, the group worked with Hydro Group plc. to arrange a tour at their site in Bridge of Don. There was a presentation on Hydro Group’s products and service areas, which include engineering, product design, manufacturing, project management and product testing, and this was followed by a tour of the workshop and manufacturing facilities.

On 24 February, the group was delighted to have the opportunity to visit the National Hyperbaric Centre. Attendees were given a presentation on commercial diving, hyperbaric medicine and hyperbaric testing of subsea equipment. This was followed by a tour of the NHC facility where the group were given the chance to see the hyperbaric test facility and put the presentations into context.

 

The organising committee has also welcomed four new committee members, Lorna Gunn and Aleksandra Zefirova, both from Technip, Nick Swan from BP and Victoria Brumpton from ADIL, who will help to contribute to the group’s activities and events going forward. They join Kieran Reddington, Samantha Murray, Surrinder Retour and Ryan Hosick all from Wood Group Kenny, and Stuart Inglis from Subsea 7.

For further information on events and to sign up to the mailing list, please visit http://www.sutaberdeen.org/sutplus/

Pictured: ClampOn President Trond Olsen and SUT Chair Christopher Curran who are both SUT Fellows.

SUT Houston held its monthly networking event at Carmelo’s on 5 February 2015. The event was sponsored by ClampOn Inc. with a great turnout of 120 industry professionals. The branch appreciates ClampOn’s continual support and we look forward to the next event!

 

 

Congratulations to Dr Graham Shimmield who has been awarded the SUT President’s award 2014.

Graham Shimmield graduated from the University of Durham in Geology in 1981, and received a Ph.D. in Marine Geochemistry from the University of Edinburgh in 1985. He was appointed as Edinburgh’s Lecturer in Chemical Oceanography in 1984, and promoted to Reader in 1995. In 1996, he moved the Scotland’s west coast to become Director of the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) and the NERC-funded Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory near Oban, a post he held for 12 years.

In 2000, Graham was awarded the title of Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1998), and the Society of Biology (1999), and has published over 65 scientific peer-reviewed articles.

Whilst at Dunstaffnage Graham served on the international scientific steering committee of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study, and several major UK and European science programmes. He establishing the institution’s reputation in Arctic oceanography through their Northern Seas Programme and was a member of the UK International Polar Year Committee. He also helped establish the University of the Highlands and Islands, and chaired their research programme, and was Chairman of the European Census of Marine Life project from 2004-8.

In March 2008 Graham crossed the Atlantic to join the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine, USA, where he holds the positions of Senior Research Scientist, Executive Director and President. Since arriving in Maine, Graham has served on the boards of the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board, Maine Space Grant and Maine Sea Grant, and advisory boards for Maine Maritime Academy and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. In November 2011, Graham was named by MaineBiz as one of ten “Nexters” helping to shape the future of Maine’s economy. In February 2013 he was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Consortium for Ocean Leadership.

Graham has served for many years on scientific committees, including the Natural Environment Research Council Science Strategy Board, and he has served as President of the European Federation of Marine Science and Technology Societies of which SUT was a founding institute. He has had significant involvement in marine biotechnology as the Managing Director of the European Centre for Marine Biotechnology, and Chairman of the Board of GlycoMar Ltd, a small biotech start-up.

Close to SUT interests Graham serves as Chair of the INSITE Independent Scientific Advisory Board. INSITE stands for the “INfluence of man-made Structures In the Ecosystem” and is an industry-sponsored project with the overall aim of providing the independent scientific evidence-base needed to better understand the infl uence of man-made structures on the ecosystem of the North Sea.
Graham has indeed been a good friend of SUT over the years, helping to bridge the space between science, industry and academia.