An established programme designed to meet the challenges of putting oil and gas theory into practice is giving graduates the opportunity to learn the well engineering industry inside and out.
The unique approach by Applied Drilling Technology International Limited (ADTI) has won recognition in the energy sector, with the company selected as a finalist last month at the 2014 Oil and Gas UK awards in the investment in people category.
The Aberdeen-based firm, a provider of well engineering and construction services to clients worldwide, has put its Graduate Development Programme (GDP) at the heart of the business during its international expansion. More than a quarter of the company’s 90 employees have come through the scheme and ADTI has welcomed a fresh intake of eight engineers to the programme in 2014.
The five-year GDP takes graduates through three key career phases to become senior drilling engineers, with chartered engineer status. It runs in parallel with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) Monitored Professional Development Scheme and is accredited by IMechE and the Energy Institute.
The respected programme is underpinned by practical offshore experience for all trainees, reinforced by extensive technical training. A clear career path with ADTI is the other vital facet and that has been demonstrated by the experiences of business development director Gordon Donald and commercial director John Anderson.
Both completed the GDP and now form part of the senior management team which has underlined its commitment to developing the next generation of engineers with the latest recruits.
Gordon Donald said: “Experience and expertise is central to ADTI and the reputation we have for delivering solutions consistently. What the Graduate Development Programme is designed to do is share that vast knowledge with those who are starting their journey with the company and to give talented individuals an environment that both encourages and challenges them.
“It is a long and rigorous process which is well proven. Once graduates have been selected, they benefit from the offshore element of the programme – working as roughnecks on North Sea installations to provide the foundation for what follows and to see the theory of their engineering degrees in practice in a working environment. The value of that time spent offshore cannot be overestimated.”
ADTI provides turnkey and project-managed drilling and completion services to a growing client base in key oil and gas regions worldwide. Experienced engineers are encouraged to share insights into varied and complex projects to aid the GDP.
Gordon Donald added: “Mentoring is a very important strand of the programme and I know from my own early days with the company how much of an influence the most experienced team members have. The majority of our project managers as well as a number of engineering supervisors and senior drilling engineers have completed the programme, with tremendous opportunities for the best young engineers to progress with ADTI.”