Professional Practice Programmes


Dr. Valerio de Rossi, MSc, D.Prof. AFNI, MCMI, Master Mariner Captain and Offshore Installation Manager


Drawing on his many years of experience in the off shore oil and gas industry, Valerio completed a Middlesex University work based learning masters degree in Marine Operations and Safety Management. Having found the experience extremely rewarding, Valerio “wanted to push his education to the highest level.” The achievement of a masters in work based learning made a professional doctorate through Middlesex the obvious choice.


Valerio’s chosen research topic, an investigation into the impact of cross cultural interactions on offshore health and safety management, is of critical importance, not just to his employer, Vantage Drilling, but to the whole industry.


Valerio enjoyed the challenge of planning and presenting his research proposal to the Programmes Approval Panel. “It forced me to think deeply about the implications of my approach to the research and to be rigorous about my choice of data collection techniques,”he said.


The highlight for Valerio was seeing the fruits of his research and knowing that it makes a very real contribution to his industry. “I have used my research findings as a basis for a book which has been published in order to help dissemination of good practice throughout the industry.”


Currently based on a drilling platform off the east coast of India, Valerio is certain that undertaking the doctorate has “improved my reflective learning skills and therefore my ability to tackle a wide range of challenges.”


Valerio sees his next career progression step as securing a shore based senior management position with Vantage Drilling. He sees his doctorate as an important differentiator because it not only evidences his commitment to the industry but also a breadth of transferable analytical skills.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20