Third Japanese summer school cohort arrive in Aberdeen
Tuesday 14 August 2018
The master's students, from nine different universities in Japan, will spend four weeks in the North-east of Scotland as part of the Nippon Foundation Ocean Innovation Consortium Summer School 2018, studying modules led by RGU staff on marine engineering, oil and gas, and offshore renewables.
The group will spend a day at the Equinor 'Hywind' Offshore Wind Farm in Peterhead, go through an intensive three days BOSIET training and experience RGU’s state of the art drilling simulator and virtual reality technology suite.
As part of the programme, the group will enjoy a packed cultural itinerary which will see them visit the Fettercairn Distillery, Dunottar Castle and a trip to the Braemar Highland Gathering.
The Nippon Foundation, a social innovation grant organisation, is leading the effort to enhance capacity building in offshore engineering in Japan and both the students and RGU faced a competitive selection to be involved in the initiative when the scheme began in 2016.
The subsea industry in Japan is rapidly developing and the country is increasingly looking to Aberdeen as a centre for subsea excellence.
Melissa Donald, summer school project manager at RGU, said: “We are thrilled, for the third year running, to be working with the Nippon Foundation to host students from respected universities across Japan.
“As a university which specialises in energy-related teaching and research, we feel we have a lot to offer the students during their visit and very much hope they enjoy their time with us in Aberdeen.
“We have a packed itinerary for their four weeks which includes a mix of classroom learning, hands on experience and, of course, a sample of Scottish culture for them to enjoy.”
Head of the Office of Offshore Development at the Nippon Foundation, Masanori Yoshida, said: “All students who has been selected from many applicants have very high motivation to learn offshore energy. I hope that they can enjoy four weeks in the programme of the summer school, which is well organised to learn not only offshore energy but also Scottish culture and life thanks to the leadership by RGU staff.”