North Sea Challenges and the British Norwegian Chamber of Commerce

With the over 350 members in Norway and Sweden, the volunteer network here recently held its first ever Norway-based event in collaboration with the British-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce.

With the over 350 Institution members in Norway and Sweden in mind, the volunteer network here recently held its first ever Norway-based event in Oslo, in conjunction with the British-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce.

The half-day Engineering Excellence seminar, held at the residence of the British Ambassador on 31 May, included exciting new examples of British and Norwegian excellence, focusing on the technical challenges facing companies in the North Sea.

“We felt there was a need to encourage the establishment of a local IMechE group to promote excellence in engineering and share technical challenges, encourage membership activities, and to promote professional engineering as a career,” says Institution Representative for Norway, David Llewelyn CEng FIMechE.

As an opportunity to promote British engineering in Norway, the event had the personal support of the British ambassador to Norway, Jane Owen, who introduced the Institution’s volunteers here to the British Norwegian Chamber of Commerce.

David continues: “the BNCC were very supportive in helping organise the event and secure our main sponsor Rolls Royce Marine. This was the perfect setting for the day and allowed the attendees to have their first visit to the elegant surroundings of the embassy and garden and the historic building acquired by the British Government in the 1920s.”

The event was well attended by a diverse group of members and guests of differing backgrounds and experience.

Discussion on the day included subsea intervention technologies, deepwater pipeline design, the “Green Battery” to facilitate power storage in Norwegian hydroelectric dams, fuel efficiency improvement in ships, and control room interface improvements.

Feedback from the event was highly positive, as evident in the strong engagement in the Q&A sessions that followed.

Following the success of this event, David comments “We intend to use the Institution to share engineering experience and challenges, promote the professional registration through the Institution, and support the ongoing development of international engineers in Norway, while developing a network of engineers who share mutual interests.

“The success of this event has shown us that there is a level of interest and engagement in Norway and Sweden to sustain further events. One theme we may pick up is to relate the experience of a team from Trondheim who entered the Formula Student event.”