Metocean Awareness Course
The Metocean Awareness Course run by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) and the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) is proving invaluable to those working in the offshore oil and gas and marine renewables industries around the globe – more UK and USA dates have now been added to the calendar. The course being held in Kuala Lumpur in May is already fully booked.
The next dates in the cycle are Tuesday 31 May to Thursday 2 June in Aberdeen; Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 September in London, and Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 October in Houston, Texas. Further information is available at www.imarest.org/events, from [email protected] and from +44 (0)20 7382 2600.
“The Metocean Awareness Course is aimed at those who need to have a greater understanding of metocean conditions worldwide and how they might impact the effectiveness of their work. It has proved invaluable for project managers and engineers involved in operations or design in both the offshore oil and gas and renewables industries; and has attracted new entrants to the industry and those with many years of experience under their belt. Nearly 60 ‘graduates’ from six countries have found the mixture of short presentations by expert speakers in the field, interactive workshop sessions, including a group case study exercise, an ideal way of gaining a good grounding in, and knowledge of, metocean in a relatively short time; and they have greatly enjoyed the networking opportunities.
“There are five key parts to the course:- oil and gas industry requirements for metocean criteria and statistics – the application; metocean data sources, data quality control, archiving and climate variability; metocean parameters and processes and metocean conditions around the world; weather forecasting; and operational statistics and design criteria. We have published ‘achievements’ for each part so prospective course delegates know exactly what they will gain from their three days with us.”
In addition to Dr Graham, other experts involved with the UK courses are Dr Mark Calverley, Dr Colin Grant, Ian Leggett, Trevor Pitt, Professor Ralph Rayner and Robin Stephens, all of whom have long and distinguished careers in the metocean sector.
Looking back at the first Houston course
The first Metocean Awareness Course in Houston was held in March this year, with the expert team comprising Dr Chris Graham (Course Director), Don Conlee, Dr Shejun Fan, Dr Colin Grant, Dr John Heideman, Tom Johnson, Dr Bruce A Magnell, Professor Ralph Rayner and Chris Yetsko. Both Dr Paul Jukes, President, IMarEST Americas Division, and Jan van Smirren, Secretary of SUT’s Houston Branch, are now looking forward to the next one being held there in mid-October
“I am very pleased with the outcome of the Metocean Awareness Course, the combined IMarEST-SUT venture has ensured the course is of the highest standards and delivered as efficiently as possible,” says Jan van Smirren. “Looking toward to the future, IMarEST and the SUT Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics (OSIG) Committee hope to continue this relationship to bring this course to the Houston oil and gas community on a routine basis, with lectures delivered by the most highly respected industry oceanographers and meteorologists.
“As the oil and gas activities reach into deeper and deeper water and more marginal environments, the need for an awareness of the meteorological and oceanographic conditions becomes much more important, this course allows engineers and managers to gain an understanding of the criticality of such data.”
“The course was well attended and a great success in Houston,” adds Dr Jukes. “I am pleased that the IMarEST and SUT are offering such a high quality course internationally. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is serious about increasing their knowledge and awareness in this subject area.”
Every delegate on the Houston course said they had achieved a much better knowledge and understanding of metocean after the three days, adding comments such as “I cannot provide ways to improve the course; the range of technical experts and academics allowed a range of topics to be explained in a number of complementary ways”.
Registration for all three Aberdeen, London and Houston courses is now open, with preferential rates for IMarEST and SUT members.
