A TOTAL of 22 students were honoured at Aberdeen Art Gallery last night after securing places on scholarship programmes funded by oil and gas company Talisman Energy and one of its key contractors.
Families, friends and leading figures from the north-east oil and gas sector gathered to celebrate the group becoming Talisman and Wood Group scholars at the Robert Gordon and Aberdeen universities.
It is the third year for Talisman’s £800,000 decade-long programme and the first for Wood Group as part of efforts to secure the next generation of skilled individuals for the energy sector.
Talisman UK senior vice-president Nick Walker said: “Since launching the Talisman scholarship programme in 2006 we have received a great deal of positive feedback from the industry, universities and the young people we are supporting.
“Course applications are rising at Aberdeen University and the Robert Gordon University (RGU), and this is good news for our respective organisations.
“People are a key component of any company and scholarships are a fantastic way of investing in the future of energy in this key area.”
Mr Walker said the programme also helped to ensure Aberdeen kept its place at the top table of the global oil and gas industry.
Three past scholars – Daniel Leeman, Kenneth Robertson and Andrew Hyde – joined Talisman this year as graduate recruits.
Aberdeen University students receiving Talisman scholarships this time include Laura Bruce, Jonathan Cassie, Andrew Ellis, Leilla Farkhondeh, Mark Imlach, Zbigniew Labencki, Christina Laing, Rory MacDonald, Ryan McIntosh, Euan Murdoch, Hayleigh Pearson, Jennifer Stewart, Neil Taylor and Nana Totoe.
Talisman’s new RGU scholars are Ian Adamson, Ciaran Marshall, David Smith and Stephen Kelman.
Wood Group’s new scholarship programme is supporting RGU students Callum Abbey, Jamie MacDonald, Stuart Message, and George Wimpenny.
Wood Group chief executive Allister Langlands said: “Our investment represents a key element of our recruitment strategy; to build strong links with engineering students early in their studies, offer work placements to allow them to engage in practical engineering challenges and to put theory into practice while learning in a mentored environment.
Wood Group is also offering scholarships in Dubai via Heriot Watt University and to the Kazakhstan-British Technical University in Almaty.