University of Strathclyde offers energy firm £1m Masters training scheme

The Glasgow-based University of Strathclyde is offering engineers at Doosan Babcock, the global energy company, an ambitious £1million Masters training scheme. It will be one of a series of new programmes for its Graduate School of Engineering, set to launch in October. Employees and new graduate recruits will be able to complete a MSc degree, postgraduate diploma, certificate or stand-alone individual modules in the acutely specialised field of Power Plant Engineering.

The Dean of the University’s Faculty of Engineering, Professor Colin Grant, said: “The new course is designed to meet the needs of employers in this fast-growing and changing field, as well as enabling graduate engineers to rapidly progress to the next level of their careers.”

The industry itself is seeing massive development and expansion as the government attempts to meet its target commitment to cut carbon dioxide by 60 per cent by 2050, and revamp its ageing power plants.

Professor Grant added: “While some industries are facing a challenging business outlook, the power engineering sector is bucking the trend and offers very attractive career paths for graduate professionals.”

Doosan Babcock takes on more than 50 graduate engineers a year to work in power plants across the world. The new course, to be studied part-time to allow recruits to gain simultaneous on-the-job experience, will allow staff to complete their development and training more quickly.

Iain Miller, Doosan Babcock’s chief executive, said: “With renewed demand for clean power generation equipment, the future for people entering our industry has never been brighter and we can see this trend continuing over the next 20-25 years. Participation in this MSc Course will accelerate the learning of graduates within the Power sector and lead to enhanced career opportunities.”

The course was also developed in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, the Industrial and Power Association, and other industrial contributors include Jacobs Engineering Group, Sinclair Knight Merz and Scottish Power.

Charles Shields, chief executive of IPA, said: “This programme reinforces Scotland as a centre of excellence in this technology, and the IPA congratulates the University of Strathclyde for its far-sightedness in creating the opportunity for the advancement of knowledge in an industry of significant importance to Scotland.”