Market leader redoubles commitment to links with academia through KTP
Kenny Wiggins (left) and Sol Judah (right)
A leading provider of industrial inspection, maintenance and repair services has redoubled its efforts to forge links between business and academia by embarking on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).
The KTP is a dynamic collaboration between business, graduates and academics across all industry sectors and throughout the UK. Since 1975, the programme has helped around 12,000 organisations of all sizes innovate for growth with TRAC Energy Ltd one of the latest organisations to successfully sign up.
At the heart of the KTP and with long-standing links with University of Strathclyde`s Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering (NAOME) is TRAC Energy’s Sol Judah. After a decade as a Marine Engineer at Sea, Sol graduated from Strathclyde’s NAOME and well understands the value of industry/academia collaboration experience transfer and innovation. He has led collaborative projects with his old university in various guises, including joint R&D projects and studies, joint technical papers and supporting student projects as external advisor and mentor. As a member of the Council of Institute of Marine Engineering Science & Technology (IMarEST), Sol also regularly engages with university and marine college students, encourages CPD, arranges industry visits and carries out professional review interviews and assessments for IMarEST.
As TRAC’s Board Advisor for Technical Strategy & Development, the AKT will see Sol lead and work closely with the TRAC team, NAOME’s Professor Iraklis Lazakis and use his wide industry network to engage with Renewables Project Developers and some of their supply chain.
The move also continues a long-standing trend of creating, forging and consolidating links with education. In January this year, TRAC’s Board Advisor and Fit4Offshore Renewables programme manager Kenny Wiggins took up the role of Visiting Professor and advisory board member within the DMEM department (Design Manufacturing and Engineering Management) at the University of Strathclyde.
The announcement represented something of a full-circle moment for Kenny who completed his engineering degree and MBA at the University. It also continues a drive towards professional education which includes countless hours in mentoring roles bringing real-life industry to the classroom and helping to nurture the next generation.
Commenting on the news, Kenny Wiggins said: “Thriving in business is all about connections. Businesses need to be connected to people within their organisation but also to those in the external eco-system so that like-minded people can be brought together to put a company at the forefront of the industry.
“The goal is to become an employer of choice and an industry partner of choice by building and strengthening links with like-minded organisations and individuals within that industrial and academic eco-system. Businesses can reap a multitude of rewards from these relationships, not least in areas such as R&D, and can give back by spending time mentoring professionals during the different stages of their careers.”
“For TRAC Renewables, the important point is to maximise the potential of cross fertilisation and walk the talk in driving change when it comes to both learning and educating, and especially when it comes to research.”
Sol explained: “If we are to create a growth industry, maintain a competitive edge and deliver sustainably for the UK, proactive industry/academia and industry B2B collaboration are vital. Led by STEM, the early careers pathways need to include an integrated industry-to-academia sharing of ideas, alignment and clarity towards common goals for a sustainable future.”
To find out more, visit www.trac-renewables.com
About TRAC Energy Renewables
Founded in Aberdeen in 1999, TRAC Renewables is part of TRAC Energy which employs circa 200 staff with annual revenues approaching £20 million. It is part of the TRAC International Group which provides first-class engineering products and services to the global energy, telecoms and infrastructure sectors with a total workforce of around 400 employees. A dedicated renewables team delivers seamless “through life” asset assurance solutions, acting as a specialist partner for the renewable sector both in the UK and leveraging the Group’s extensive international footprint.
