The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) has given Aquamarine Power’s graduate training scheme the seal of approval, re-accrediting the wave company’s professional development programme which leads towards Chartered Engineers (CEng) or Incorporated Engineers (IEng) registration.
In what is now the fourth year of the scheme, the Institution’s assessors noted that Aquamarine Power’s engineers are being given varied and technically stimulating projects which are “…challenging from start to delivery, and their nature means they gain exposure to other disciplines such as civil, electrical, hydraulics and control and instrumentation in a variety of settings.”
The scheme has been running since 2009, and was first accredited at the end of 2010. The programme is now accredited until 2017.
Commenting on the scheme, Aquamarine Power Chief Engineer Donald Naylor said:
“Our graduates get an incredible range of learning opportunities, from wave tank research, through design and manufacturing, to being on a dive boat in Orkney, supervising work on Oyster 800; and we now have three engineers who have taken part in the programme go on to achieve full chartered status.
“Oyster covers a wide range of technology areas, including geotechnical, structural, mechanical engineering, marine operations, naval architecture, hydraulics systems, control and instrumentation and electrical power systems.
“We aim to have a 1:1 ratio of mentors (who are chartered engineers) to graduate engineers, and put a strong emphasis on training, with up to ten days per year dedicated to professional development.
“We are a small, tight-knit team where we all work hard with the goal of changing the way electricity is made,” Naylor concludes.