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DID YOU KNOW?


When it comes to developing your engineering career, Scotland presents many opportunities. The country has a strong heritage in the sector, with a reputation built on pioneering skills in shipbuilding and heavy industry.


energies, food and drink – particularly whisky – chemicals, business services, electronics and tourism. The oil, gas and renewable energy


sectors make a significant contribution to Scotland’s economy. There are more than 2,000 companies working in the energy sector employing 150,000 highly skilled professionals and operating in more than 100 markets worldwide. This gives Scotland’s highly developed energy industry truly global expertise. Years of oil and gas production have


created a strong supply chain, a skilled workforce, a renowned academic sector and a well developed energy infrastructure. And many of these skills are transferable to Scotland’s growing renewable energy industry, which includes onshore and offshore wind turbines, wave and tidal energy devices, as well as bioenergy, fuel cells and solar energy expertise. Scotland’s universities excel in energy industry research and development and embrace a culture of collaboration with industry organisations and companies. Pioneering work has taken place in


Scotland’s universities and research institutes in areas including the development of MRI and CAT scanners,


“Scotland’s universities excel in energy industry research and development”


the discovery of the p53 cancer suppressor gene, world-recognised research in diabetes and cancer, ReNeuron’s groundbreaking stem cell trial for stroke patients, not forgetting the cloning of Dolly the sheep and the creation of the world’s first bionic hand. Scotland maintains this rich heritage with high levels of expertise, a culture of innovation, and continuing research and technology excellence which together have resulted in a thriving, growing industry on the brink of new discoveries. World-class research is carried


out across several specific fields of engineering, including subsea technologies and renewable energy – where Scotland has the resources and ambition to become a world-leading centre for sustainable energy generation for decades to come.


Glasgow-based Weir Group, for example, has been in business since 1871, and is now a world-wide operation with diverse engineering interests.


Many engineering opportunities in Scotland now lie in sectors such as oil and gas, and renewable energy.


The North Sea has been the focus of Scotland’s oil and gas industry since the late 1960s but reserves are still expanding. This has created a highly developed supply chain employing around 150,000 people and the new technology and expertise being developed – particularly in subsea engineering, down-hole technology and education and training – serves markets across the world.


As a result, there is huge demand for engineers, as well as people with oil and gas industry experience. That will continue as investment in the North Sea reaches its highest for 30 years and is predicted to rise even further.


Similar levels of growth are predicted in Scotland’s renewable energy industry. Already employing over 1,000 people, it’s been estimated by the Scottish Government that the sector will be employing 40,000 people by 2020.


This rise has its roots in Scotland establishing itself as one of the best places in the world to develop renewable energy technology. Among other developments, the world’s biggest wave power farm will be built off the coast of Orkney.


This type of activity has led international engineering giants such as Mitsubishi Power Systems, Samsung Heavy Industries and Gamesa to establish research and development bases in the country to develop renewable technologies.


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