Heriot-Watt Alumni from a variety of disciplines came together in February for dinner in Aberdeen with leading figures for the university and industry discussing the developments in oil, gas and renewable research and teaching at Heriot-Watt.
Experts in oil, gas and renewable research
Chaired by Professor Steve Chapman, the evening consisted of a panel discussion with Heriot-Watt's Professor Murray Roberts, Director, Centre for Marine Biodiversity & Biotechnology and Professor John Underhill, Shell Chair of Exploration Geoscience.
We were also delighted to welcome two graduates with valuable insight to the industries.
Allan MacAskill, a maths graduate, is a Director of Scottish Renewables, and provided us with thoughts on the future direction of renewable energy in Scotland. Joining him was Alison Goligher, a Petroleum engineering graduate and Honorary graduate, whose current role at Shell follows years of experience at Schlumberger, and could give thoughts on the exploration side.
It was an excellent opportunity to announce several exciting new Geoscientific initiatives that have been or are being launched at Heriot-Watt.
Professor John Underhill said of the event "It was an excellent opportunity to announce several exciting new Geoscientific initiatives that have been or are being launched at Heriot-Watt. These include the collaboration with the British Geological Survey (BGS) to set up The Sir Charles Lyell Centre for Earth and Marine Science and Technology, the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), the Shell Centre for Exploration Geoscience and the pan-UK Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Oil & Gas funded by NERC.
"It was tremendous to be able to promote these developments by talking to our HWU Alumni, who clearly support and want to help us achieve our aim to build a Geoscience capability to rank alongside and compliment the University's world-renowned Institute of Petroleum Engineering."
A networking opportunity for graduates
The dinner was another example of the networking opportunities afforded to all our graduates by the Development & Alumni Office.