AFBE-UK Report 2016

// JANUARY 2017 //

2016 ANNUAL REPORT & NEWSLETTER

WELCOME To our 2016 newsletter...

This newsletter is a celebration of AFBE-UK’s achievements in a rather challenging year within the engineering industry for many.

AFBE-UK Scotland celebrated its 5th year anniversary! This newsletter celebrates the remarkable impact that AFBE-UK Scotland has made and many of the articles herein are written by the AFBE-UK Scotland team. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Dr Ollie Folayan and his formidable AFBE-UK Scotland team.

From reaching school age young people, creating meaningful and impactful programmes to proactively ensuring engineering graduates get jobs with the engineering industry, AFBE-UK Scotland’s reach and influence within the engineering industry is without doubt convincing the industry that change can happen if we work together.

In 2016, the Royal academy of Engineering’s (RAEng) report on Employment outcomes of engineering graduates: key factors and diversity characteristics lists key statistics which highlight a major challenge in recruitment of ethnic minority engineering graduates.

Although these findings are not new, the reports corroborate previous research by CaSE, 2014; Engineering UK, 2015; as well as recent AFBE-UK papers published in the book Engineering and Enterprise and the International Symposium for Engineering Education which map out the career paths of BME engineers from school age to management based on the real life experiences of engineers of BME origin.

AFBE-UK’s cradle to the grave approach has seen many graduates from diverse backgrounds secure employment and as a recent survey showed, been highly successful in helping graduates transition successfully into industry. We hope that the engineering industry will view the RAEng’s report not as an unfortunate statistic but as an invitation to engage more with ongoing programmes geared at bridging the industry skills gap such as those offered by AFBE-UK.

As an organisation run by real engineers working in the engineering industry our passion to spread the engineering message and attract more diverse talent is based on understanding the importance of providing platforms for access, exchange of information and communication between the community and the engineering industry. We aim to continue to provide organisations seeking to make a real difference with practical and measurable tools to draw from a broader and more diverse talent pool.

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WELCOME This newsletter introduces our new initiative aptly named “My Engineering story”. My Engineering Story is an experience piece created to regularly chart the realistic experiences of engineers and engineering students from diverse backgrounds within our industry. We hope this initiative will provide our readers with realistic views of individuals working or trying to gain employment within the engineering industry. The article within this newsletter explores the experience of a young female civil engineering student at Queen’s University in Belfast.

Finally, this year’s AFBE Member of the Year award goes to Yinka Bankole of AFBE-UK London. Congratulations on your Award.

In 2017 we hope the current drive towards increasing the diversity within our industry continues to grow. It is our hope that the articles in this newsletter will encourage you to support our mission and become a member of the AFBE-UK community.

Dr Nike Folayan

PhD MIET CEng Chair, AFBE-UK London.

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CELEBRATING 5 YEARS OF AFBE-UK SCOTLAND

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IN THIS NEWSLETTER

5 years, 5 days.................................................................................................................................. 5

A bird's eye view................................................................................................................................ 9

AFBE-UK success stories................................................................................................................... 12

Transition – the journey so far by Dr Phillip Enegela......................................................................... 14

Lego, paperclips and a massive cake by Jide Okwujiako and Olayide Akinsanmi........................... 17

The case for MEH by Reneth McKenzie- Schoetz............................................................................. 21

Real Project, Real Strides by Kasi Usani........................................................................................... 24

My engineering story by Ann Idowu.................................................................................................. 26

AFBE-UK 2016 Member of the year.................................................................................................. 33

What other people have to say about AFBE-UK............................................................................... 37

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5 YEARS, 5 DAYS On the 9th of November 2016 about 140 oil and gas professionals, students and representatives from both public and private sectors gathered at Aberdeen’s 5-star Marcliffe Hotel to mark AFBE-UK Scotland‘s 5th Anniversary. The Scotland project began on the 4th of November 2011 and the impact of the team has been impressive, most epitomised by the increasing media interest, including a publication from US based energy magazine Rigzone, our increased followership and a prestigious award won earlier this year.

Bravo Team Scotland!

At the Gala dinner the AFBE-UK Scotland member of the year 2016 award went to Jide Okwujiako, who spearheaded the successful NextGen programme. Chi Felly Njoku, a diligent AFBE-UK student member who recently earned an MSc with distinction in Subsea Engineering, and came top of her class at the University of Aberdeen, was named Transition Student of the Year and the Diversity Champion award was received by Azzam Younes, Acting Chair of Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Aberdeen Members Group.

In recognition of their efforts to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists, Quaighs were presented to Shell’s African Network who hosted the Transition programme in October 2016 and to Aberdeen City Council, Chevron Upstream Europe and Total Exploration and Production UK (TEP-UK), who had worked with AFBE-UK Scotland throughout 2016. AFBE-UK Scotland was later invited to the head office on Crawpeel Road in Aberdeen Altens to present the same award to TEP-UK’s Head of Diversity, Lorraine Smith.

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5 YEARS, 5 DAYS This event which many found motivational was the culmination of a year in which the Aberdeen-based team had successfully run about 22 programmes; it was also AFBE-UK’s third Gala dinner. These Gala events are more than just a big soirée; they present a fantastic opportunity to learn about the big issues that affect our careers from industry’s best.

Back in 2012 when we held our first Gala Scotland’s Energy Future and the green economy was foremost on our minds, fast forward to 2016 however, and it has been all about survival. AFBE-UK Scotland therefore turned to Scottish entrepreneur, Jim McColl OBE, for wisdom and insight to face the challenges ahead.

In his very calm and understated manner, McColl who got into engineering through a technical apprenticeship scheme shared his amazing and inspiring story of success; a story which he said really only leaned towards business because of a house he wanted to buy.

Jim’s core message to the diverse Aberdeen audience was to aim high, do the necessary ground work and just go for it! Mr McColl praised the work AFBE-UK Scotland has done to get young people into industry. In his words, “AFBE-UK Scotland is doing an amazing job”.

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5 YEARS, 5 DAYS More than people think...

To any who asks, “What is AFBE-UK really about?” the answer is quite simple - to get more young people into engineering. Reports by Engineering UK in 2015 suggested that engineering employers in the UK could generate an additional

£27 billion per year from

2022. Given the summation in the same report that the single biggest obstacle to achieving this objective lies with education, it is easy to see why AFBE-UK’s work is absolutely vital. Ever since AFBE-UK was set up in Scotland, it had always been our aim to add our voice to many others calling for increased involvement in STEM amongst young people of all backgrounds; it however took some time to for the AFBE-UK Scotland vision to take root in the STEM scene here.

As recently as 2014, STEM was no more than a bullet point on an AFBE-UK Scotland PowerPoint slide, since 2015 however; we have reached over 200 young people under the age of 18 in schools in Aberdeen and I could not be more excited about how many young people may take up a career in engineering due partly to our influence. It’s easy to think in a city like Aberdeen with its industry presence, that most young people already know about engineering but I remember a colleague’s teenage son saying to me after one of our exhibitions that ‘there’s more to engineering than people think’.

Ideas about what a career in engineering entails and who can or cannot be an engineer therefore still need to be challenged even among young people whose parents are engineers. In 2016, the NextGen programme helped capture the imagination and interest of over 200 girls and boys in engineering and science. The schools and the city council have since been effusive with appreciation.

One of the schools we visited, Gilcomstoun School, was awarded the Quality Mark Gold Award and has written to thank AFBE-UK Scotland for our support in promoting science to their learners.

Beyond gender...

A recent review by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the findings of which were reiterated by the Guardian’s Science Correspondent Hannah Devlin in December 2016 highlighted the stark imbalance in the outcome of young people from black and minority ethnic origin in engineering compared to their counterparts. The report also pointed out that gender diversity vital as it is has often dominated the diversity agenda and that not enough has been invested in encouraging more young people from BME backgrounds to take up engineering.

Reports like this reaffirm the importance of what we do and it has been encouraging this year perhaps more than any other to our work being acknowledged by industry’s most respected bodies. Earlier this year for example, the Royal Academy of Engineering highlighted the AFBE-UK’s role in the UK STEM Education Landscape report which lists AFBE-UK as one of six key organisations that address diversity. AFBE-UK has worked for over nine years nationwide with real results and is well-placed to play a leading role in the campaign to creating a more ethnically diverse engineering workforce.

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5 YEARS, 5 DAYS Industry ready...

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) 2015 Skills and Demand in Industry review reported that 53% of employers in the engineering sector believe that the quality of graduates employed fell short of the standard expected. In a paper presented at International Symposium on Engineering Education (ISEE 2016) AFBE-UK introduced the Transition programme which began before it became a common idea, explaining its key aspects; employability Seminars, real projects seminars and courses and shadow learning based on actual projects.

We also showed the audience of academics the findings of an online survey carried out this year based on the work carried out here in Aberdeen. The survey showed that at least 50% of respondents had managed to secure an engineering job within six months of graduating, that this percentage rose to 70% twelve months after graduating and that over 78% of students now in work who had been through the programme believe the lesson learned have proved vital in their careers. It was also a real pleasure to see this programme which was ‘made in Scotland’ take off so successfully in London. Congratulations are indeed in order for Dr Nike Folayan and the team in London for two successfully-run Transition programmes.

2017...

The team took a short break after the Gala and then began to plan the 2017 programme. We are thankful to the Aberdeen City Council and companies like TOTAL E& P UK who have worked with AFBE-UK Scotland to select three primary and two secondary schools for the NextGen campaign in 2017.

If you or your company would like to get involved please send an email to ollie.folayan@afbe.org.uk. We are keen to welcome you.

Our first Transition Employability workshop of 2017 will run in partnership with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) on the 18TH of February 2017 at the A21 Taylor Building, University of Aberdeen.

Real Projects Coordinator Kasi Usani will kick off the 2017 Series on the 26th of January 2017 at the University of Aberdeen with a talk on Fire and Explosions. Seminars on Offshore Wind, Financial Investments, Contracts, Project Management, Subsea Controls, Drilling and much more will run in 2017.

In March, AFBE-UK Scotland will host Professor Paul de Leeuw, Director of Robert Gordon University’s Oil and Gas Institute. De Leeuw will speak on ‘Brexit and the Oil Economy’ on the March 30th 2017. This has been timed to coincide with the anticipated triggering of Article 50 and we are very much looking forward to it.

Thank you for your help in 2016. Bring on 2017! #BePartOfSomethingGreat

Dr Ollie Folayan CEng MIChemE 8

A BIRD'S EYE VIEW This year was a challenging yet exciting one for AFBE-UK and following an appraisal of our 9-year long existence, we set out to build an even more resilient and impactful approach to the organization’s future.

February saw the launch of the Department of Transport’s “Transport and Infrastructure Skills Strategy” which included a Case Study on AFBE-UK’s Making Engineering Hot programme. The Strategy sets out UK’s Transport Industry’s ambition to effect a real change in the transport sector and addresses the role of employers, government, professional organisations and educational institutions.

AFBE-UK was invited to the launch of the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce, also attended by Transport Minister, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon and held at the Institution for Civil Engineers. Also in attendance were representatives from Crossrail, HS2, Tideway, Network Rail, City Airport amongst others and the event of the day included debates on how to effectively promote the transport industry to underrepresented groups in society.

Following on from that meeting, AFBE-UK received further invitations to present its activities at the Transport and Infrastructure Education Partnership Meeting.

Our first ever Transition event in London took place at London South Bank University with nearly 50 students attending and volunteers from IBM, WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff, Arup, Tideway and Young Rail Professionals.

The event culminated in an expert panel and networking evening featuring Engineer and TV presenter Yewande Akinola, Dr Ollie Folayan of AFBE-UK Scotland as well as Myrtle Dawes, a director at Centrica. The successes achieved prompted another Transition event held in October to celebrate Black History month.

Click here tor Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce

Click here for details on the Transition programme

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A BIRD'S EYE VIEW We launched our brand new website in June, with features including online member-registration and payment capabilities as well as a member’s dashboard page for users to view/update profiles, post CVs, pay subscriptions and book events. The new site now also hosts a job board for corporate members wishing to advertise vacancies.

AFBE-UK was invited to join a round table on the review into black and minority ethnic talent progression in the UK, at the Houses of Parliament. The review was chaired by Baroness McGregor-Smith who was appointed by the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Sajid Javid, to lead the review looking at the issues faced by businesses in developing black and minority ethnic (BME) talent, from when they start work through to executive level.

We have recently been invited by Transport for London(TfL) to join their diversity steering group on promoting inclusion within TfL. This is in addition to the many speaking engagements across the UK that we have been a key part of.

On the 13th of July 2016, a group of AFBE-UK female engineers were invited to join over 100 women engineers from across the UK at a reception held by the Houses of Parliament to raise awareness of the importance of women in engineering.

Click here to read about AFBE-UK at the Houses of Parliament

From top to bottom: photos show Houses of Parliament reception, Transition event London and cover of DfT Strategy Report

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A BIRD'S EYE VIEW In September, the Making Engineering Hot team participated at the inspiring Croydon Construkt networking evening attended by the Mayor of Croydon and the President of the ICE. Croydon Construkt is an Engineering Initiative by SAY that inspires and offers job opportunities to our future engineers and construction workers and this year’s event was based on the Ruskin Square development.

October’s Transition Event was “Standing Room only” on a Saturday to support engineering students towards employment. The event saw students from universities across England benefit from a series of employability workshops, CV review, mock interviews, and an engineering challenge on Energy conservation on a University campus. The event concluded with an expert panel featuring young professionals including Birmingham based Dr Ozak Esu of Cundall, Dipo Okusaga of Townsend and Turner, a representative from BCS, Myrtle Dawes Director at Centrica, Prof David Mba Dean of School of Engineering LSBU as well as AFBE-UK Chair Dr Nike Folayan.

On a personal note, I had the pleasure of speaking at the University of Kent in Canterbury on Diversity in November and at the London South Bank University Ada Lovelace celebrations. I also attended the Strategic Planning Board to support the development of Engineering at the University of the West of England and was encouraged by their efforts to attract diverse groups and increased focus on excellence. I continue in my role as a member of Board of Trustees for the Engineering Development Trust. These activities continue to make AFBE-UK relevant in this space.

So what do we have planned for 2017? Our notable activities include; The Making Engineering Hot campaign, Transition events and our 10th Anniversary celebrations. Overall AFBE-UK continues to gain industry recognition with an ever increasing membership base.

We are at a very exciting point of our almost 10 year history. Our programmes are increasingly in demand by various institutions and we are beginning to take our place as the leading authority when it comes to ethnic diversity and inclusion within STEM. We are also actively delivering engaging programmes which are providing job opportunities and more recently we have seen some of our secondary school programme participants from 2008 gain their first graduate jobs in engineering! Our holistic approach to engagement has allowed us to extend our programmes through the whole education life cycle from primary schools, secondary education, colleges, universities as well as mentoring young professionals.

All of this has only been achieved by the support of our ardent members to whom we are continually grateful. We continue to need your support through volunteering, donations and contacts. If you are able to volunteer to support us we welcome enquiries to info@afbe.org.uk where you can also sign up to receive updates on our social activities.

Going forward, we shall seek to continue to promote the AFBE-UK brand as a nurturing brand that focuses on targeted enrichment programmes and promotes inclusivity and diverse talent within the engineering space. I’m excitedly looking forward to working with you all in the next chapter!

Click here to visit the SAY website

Click here to read the article on AFBE-UK at the University of Kent

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SUCCESS STORIES Soaring even higher: IChemE Award AFBE-UK Scotland notched up even more successful recognition this year, including being conferred with the prestigious Chairman’s Award during the annual awards dinner of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Aberdeen Members Group.

The event was held on Thursday 17th March 2016 at the Norwood Hall Hotel and the Chairman’s Award is made to any individual or organisation that has made a notable contribution to the chemical engineering industry or profession. This year’s award was presented to the AFBE-UK Scotland Chair, Dr Ollie Folayan, by Aspentech.

AFBE-UK recognized by Royal Academy of Engineering as an organization contributing to the Engineering and STEM education landscape

In 2016, the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering undertook a research in conjunction with the Lloyd’s Register Foundation to better illustrate the landscape of STEM and engineering education, including the issues needing to be addressed and the organizations currently contributing within that sphere of activity.

This was mainly intended to spotlight how much impact can be achieved in promoting key subjects leading to engineering and we’re glad to report that AFBE-UK made the cut as one of the diverse organisations working with stakeholders to address the impending skills shortage in the field.

Consider this another feather in AFBE-UK’s growing cap!

Photo on the left culled from the May 2016 report UK STEM Education Landscape published by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

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SUCCESS STORIES Department of Transport Skills Strategy Report In 2016, the Department of Transport published a government paper entitled “Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy: building sustainable skills (Moving Britain Ahead)” which raised specific concerns about the engineering skills shortage in Britain and identified a range of reasons why engineering wasn’t being pursued by young people as a career choice.

Among other things, the paper highlights how important it is to engage with school children at an early age, including contact with professionals to inspire them into considering STEM subjects. One of the organisations lauded for working in the background to provide this insight to young people was the AFBE-UK and don’t just take our word, you can read all about it in the article The Case for MEH!

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TRANSITION The journey so far...

It’s all about employability. Especially for new entrants to a tough job market, dipping their toe in the pool for the first time and facing the challenge of how to get noticed by recruiters. Young graduates often face that initial hurdle with a limited awareness of what skills have to be demonstrated to secure their first career role and AFBE-UK has worked to bridge this gap over the last 4 years through the agency of “Transition”.

“Transition” continues to represent AFBE-UK’s commitment to preparing students and young professionals for their career futures and it does so by providing regularly scheduled workshops for CV evaluations, mock interview and group assessment exercises. The programme has evolved remarkably from its humble beginnings as a workshop offering simple CV tips and short simulated interviews to become a fullfledged mirror image of the practical recruitment procedure (including a sign-up and CV submission process in advance) which job seekers undergo with some of the UK’s leading employers.

There is the added bonus of having keynote addresses now given at each event by senior professionals who have so far shared stories of their own career journeys and where each leg of that process has taken them. Stories which serve to reassure candidates and provide much needed motivation to continue the job hunt.

At the heart of Transitions is an overall lesson on employability, competence and career development and AFBE-UK remains increasingly aware of the need to keep tailoring that message to a diverse audience of graduates, given the international hub that Aberdeen has become over the years.

More importantly, everyone benefits from Transition – the interviewees obtaining the benefit of having their CVs reviewed and getting honest feedback on their performance at the mock interviews/assessments and the volunteer assessors who are keen to assist these young professionals get their first footing on the career ladder, with the benefit of lessons that the former have gained over time in their own careers.

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TRANSITION

The journey so far...

The best part of the story is that Transition has assisted over 350 students and young graduates in the last 4 years and on average, 50% of candidates who have had the Transition experience have secured jobs within 6 months of attending the workshops. And although it was initially conceived in Aberdeen, Transition events have now been recently debuted to students and professionals in London, with students and graduates from 9 universities in / around the Greater London area participating at its first outing in that city! We’re still writing the story of its growth and can only hope for many more students and young graduates to receive the benefit offered by Transition in kick-starting their careers.

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TRANSITION

Philip is the AFBE’s Transition Events Coordinator. He started his career at KPMG advising clients in the Energy sector on Tax Compliance / Regulatory matters and Business expansions / structuring. Philip subsequently took up a research role at the Corrosion and Protection Centre, University of Manchester, collaborating with a team of researchers to advise National Grid UK regarding ageing assets. Philip has over 5 years work experience providing professional / advisory services to Energy clients. He holds a PhD in Corrosion and Materials from the University of Manchester.

Member's News

Congratulations to Dr Nike Folayan on her promotion to Associate Director at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, UK. This is an addition to being made Technical Discipline Lead.

Edwin Ekpiri was promoted to Reservoir Engineering Discipline Lead TAQA at Bratani Ltd. Many congratulations!

Jideako Okwujiako achieved full membership of the Safety and Reliability Society (MSaRS) and chartership with the Engineering Council.

Many congratulations to the families of Dr Philip Enegela, Jideako Okwujiako and Uche Nnamani on additions to their families.

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LEGO, PAPERCLIPS, MASSIVE CAKE

Inspiring tomorrow’s industry leaders...

Following months of groundwork preparation and planning, AFBEUK Scotland successfully launched its maiden NextGen workshop on the 26th of September 2015 and this flagship outing was a vibrant and inspired medium to give young people a positive perception of engineering.

NextGen is an offshoot of the already successful Make Engineering Hot (MEH) campaign, currently run by AFBE-UK in England and which has made engineering an attractive career choice to over 1200 budding minds. NextGen’s key ambition follows the same trend of promoting engineering to a targeted audience of youngsters, across communities in Scotland.

Overwhelming support poured in from companies and organizations during planning of the initial NextGen event, including the Aberdeen local church which provided a fantastic venue for the day’s activities. Corporate partners like TEP-UK, Chevron and TAQA generously supplied ingenious models and mock-ups, that fascinated attending young people (and not to mention some of us adults!) as they got a chance to understand different aspects of offshore oil and gas operations and also enjoy brief presentations given by invited speakers who shared their experiences from working in the industry.

They got the opportunity to get hands-on learning as well with different interactive exercises and group challenges – including a keenly contested on; the building and load-testing offshore structures using cardboard paper!

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LEGO, PAPERCLIPS, MASSIVE CAKE

Inspiring tomorrow’s industry leaders...

With the first outing now firmly under its belt, AFBE-UK Scotland went further with the NextGen series in 2016 by launching outreaches to primary schools located within Aberdeen, all supported by the Aberdeen City Council.

The first of this series kicked off on the 24th of March 2016 at Kaimhill Primary Aberdeen and began with an exhibition of models and games to help the young students learn simple engineering topics.

There were mock-ups of several engineering tools such as a Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) and even entire deep sea platforms which served to inform pupils as young as 7-8 years old of the complexities of the oil and gas industry. They then tackled a challenge of constructing helipads out of paper, clips & sellotape and building an offshore processing system from Lego pieces – nothing beats Lego when it comes to sparking enthusiasm in kids to build!

The two-hour session began with a talk on the “A day in the life of an Engineer” from Myrtle–Rose, a Senior Production Engineer at Shell, during which the pupils were given the opportunity to understand what her typical day entails and ask questions. And when they were asked to sum up the day in one word, it was fulfilling to hear ‘inspiring’& ‘amazing’ being repeatedly used to describe the day. Out of the mouth of babes...

The second and final events in the series held at Walker Road Primary School and Gilcoumston Primary school on the 8th of May and 3rd of June 2016, respectively. Both events started with an exciting exhibition where professionals engaged the pupils using several engineering prototypes ranging from car engines to entire offshore oil and gas platforms. Following the exhibition, the pupils watched a video that explained how engineering helps solve everyday problems, even ones they already encounter at their young age. The pupils then took part in a series of games and challenges designed to test and enhance would-be engineers’ problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills.

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LEGO, PAPERCLIPS, MASSIVE CAKE Inspiring tomorrow’s industry leaders...

They had the opportunity to listen to a talk from Edwin Ekpiri a Lead Reservoir Engineer at TAQA Bratani Limited who illustrated the extraction of oil from an oil well using a coke bottle & a straw. Roy Ponfa, a PhD researcher at the University of Aberdeen, depicted the earth’s geological formation using a very colourfully baked cake to illustrate how oil is formed and accumulates in the earth’s crust. It was amazing to see the children, some as young as 9 years old, express their understanding of reservoir engineering & geology.

The day continued with some model building tasks and it was refreshing to see pupils at that age already demonstrating admirable communication, leadership and innovative skills to deliver their assignments on time despite limited resources. The final activity of the fun-packed afternoon was an interactive session where the kids played a game of “Spot the Engineer”, facilitated by Olayide Akinsomi, Operations Lead Engineer at Shell UK.

Following the visit to Walker Road Primary School, Aberdeen City Council Education and Children’s Services convener Councillor Angela Taylor said: “Reaching out to our pupils to help them understand the exciting industry on their doorstep and to create aspirations at such a young age is a fantastic approach from AFBE-UK.

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LEGO, PAPERCLIPS, MASSIVE CAKE

Inspiring tomorrow’s industry leaders...

“This programme will not only inspire a new generation of industry leaders in Aberdeen but will also help break down barriers in the field of engineering and encourage more inclusivity in the sector.

“Crucially, the programme has captured the excitement and interest from many of the girls in our schools – in some cases even more so than the boys.”

Similar commendations came from staff at the primary schools, including April Strachan, science Leader at Gilcoumston School, who praised this unique method of engaging children’s interest in engineering, with hopes expressed for a repeat event. NextGen has now reached about 200 children and teenagers from a diverse mix of ethnic and social backgrounds and all done within a year of its inception.

With the help of a very committed team of enthusiastic AFBE-UK Scotland members and our continued partnership with community and corporate stakeholders, we can’t wait to see that number grow even more in 2017!

“I had a wonderful time and think it is great what you all (AFBE-UK) are doing for the kids”, said Shell production technologist Myrtle-Rose Padmore after speaking at Kaimhill Primary School.

“The most heart-warming thing I heard was when one girl said to

me “After listening to you speak, I want to do what you do when I grow up”.

Jide Okwujiako is a Chartered Safety

Olayide Akinsomi is an Operations

Engineer; Jide is also an active

Lead Engineer currently working at

member of the AFBE-UK Scotland.

Shell UK Ltd in Aberdeen. Olayide

Jide’s background is in Civil

who is a chartered Chemical

Engineering / Structures and he also

Engineer with 10 years’ experience in

holds a Master’s Degree in Safety

the Oil & Gas sector is also a

and Reliability Engineering from

STEMnet Ambassador. Olayide is an

Aberdeen University. Jide is a

active member of AFBE-UK Scotland.

STEMnet Ambassador

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THE CASE FOR MEH

The Making Engineering Hot Campaign (MEH) was established in 2008 in response to numerous articles from government and other leading bodies discussing the low educational aspirations and achievements of black men and the need for role models within BME communities. To address the balance, the first MEH workshops took place in Croydon, working with young people 12-18 yrs old. Year on year we have built relationships with schools and supplementary educational programmes as well as industry. We have extended our reach to other areas within London such as Southwark, Hackney and Lewisham amongst others, where the BME population is high and reaching out to over 1500 young people to date.

So what makes us different from the numerous organisations offering similar workshops to young people?

We are unique because we are an independent organisation of engineers who volunteer our time. We understand our sectors and have personal experience of the challenges to achieve.

We make it our business to understand our target audience. One size does not fit all. No workshop that we deliver is exactly the same. By working closely with teachers to understand the needs of their students we can deliver successful programmes. The more challenging the audience the more effort is put into delivering the workshop.

With this in mind we understand the importance of using role models in our workshops. We have learnt that young people feel confident to embark on a career path when they see others from a similar age and/or culture who have succeeded in achieving their goals. We have witnessed increased interest amongst young people when these role models are used.

Not only do we introduce engineering careers to young people, we also equip them with the tools required to find employment.

We offer CV writing and Interview skills and where possible work with organisations to offer work placements. So is there really any benefit to this and why spend so much time on this?

We have examples of the success of these workshops from young people who have gone on to become engineers. One such example was featured in an article written for the Department of Transport.

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THE CASE FOR MEH

Image extracted from the Department for Transport published strategy report

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THE CASE FOR MEH

We need you!

There are many ways in which you can participate...

Assisting in the set up and running of workshops.

Giving a 10 minute presentation about your career path into engineering or your current role.

Sponsor a workshop at a school in your local area.

By increasing our network of volunteers that you may know.

We are also always on the lookout for new activities that we can use in our workshops. If you have any new ideas we would be happy to hear from you.

How to contact us

Register online as a role model or organisation

Email us at: meh@afbe.org.uk

Reneth McKenzie-Schoetz (MPhil, MSc, BEng) is a Mechanical Design Engineer. She is the current schools programmes Manager for the AFBE Schools Outreach programmes. Reneth is also responsible for quality control and planning to ensure projects are delivered to time and are of high quality.

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REAL PROJECTS, REAL STRIDES

In 2014’s Newsletter, we introduced AFBE-UK’s Real Projects initiative as a series of monthly Lunch n’ Learn-type seminars, featuring presentations on engineering projects and developments within the Oil & Gas Industry, from very experienced industry experts in various engineering disciplines. Even at that nascent stage, it proved to be very popular and successful in achieving its aims & objectives, which are not only to share ‘real’ industry experiences with students and younger professionals, but also to create a forum for regular networking and a general ‘rubbing of minds’ among the AFBE-UK membership and the wider engineering community.

Two years on, and it’s a case of ‘above and beyond’. The audiences have become wider, and bigger, with attendances from key members of the IChemE on occasion, and from the headship of the Aberdeen chapter of the Energy Institute at other times. We’ve also had a broader range of topics, adding Wind energy (‘Offshore Safety Case Regime…’) and personal finance (‘How to build a

£100,00 Portfolio…’), etc to our usual staple of Oil industry engineering based topics. No doubt this diversification has been driven in part by the prolonged industry downturn which has seemingly thrown job security to the North Sea wind! The industry is facing challenging times, and we are doing our bit to respond, for the benefit of our membership and audiences. So far this year, we’ve held nine Real Projects events, with nine different speakers, one every last Thursday of the month - regular as clock work! We ‘ve also continued our focused Training events, with a day-long training course on Fundamentals of Safety Engineering, held at Shell’s Woodbank facility.

See what the press had to say about it here: http://subseaexplorer.net/safety-is-key-at-afbe-uk-scotland-training-course.

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REAL PROJECTS, REAL STRIDES

Certain individuals have been pivotal to the successes that we’ve achieved this term. Space constrains me from mentioning them all but, I’m looking at you Firstlady Felly-Njoku, Edward ‘Obie’ Onugha, and of course all of our speakers so far. Without you Real Projects might not be - Thank you!!

If you would like to speak at one of our events next year (…this year is booked out, obviously!) or would like to attend upcoming events, then please contact me: kasi_usani@yahoo.com or Ollie Folayan: ollie.folayan@afbe.org.uk Attendance is usually free, with food/refreshments provided.

Kasi Usani is a chartered Safety & Risk engineer with several years’ experience working on oil & gas projects in the UK, the Middle East and in South America.

He is currently a Safety Engineer with the Shell Projects & Technology group.

Previously, he worked for almost seven years at Wood Group PSN where he rose to become a Lead Technical Safety Engineer. He has been involved in different projects spanning the entire lifecycle of typical oil and gas facilities, both onshore and offshore.

Kasi holds a Master's degree in Safety Engineering & Risk Management from the University of Aberdeen, and is a TUV-certified Functional Safety Engineer (for Safety Instrumented Systems).

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MY ENGINEERING STORY

The university experience is what you make of it, especially when you're a BME student in Northern Ireland...

If you attend networking events habitually you should have your collection of conversation starters in the bag. In my case, the conversations have been rather typical until we get to the topic of universities. I get asked "what university do you go to?", to which I give the brief response ‘Queen’s University in Belfast’, knowing I’ll have to explain myself in a few seconds.

Many people often assume that I am referring to Queen’s University in London until they hear Belfast- which is understandable. My answer is sometimes met with sheer confusion and other times by fascination; I am a black female brought up in Southeast London who’s studying Civil Engineering at a university in Northern Ireland – where is the correlation?

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MY ENGINEERING STORY My final choice of university was not carefully thought through but it was actually a blessing in disguise. After all the rigorous UCAS application process for Biomedical sciences I decided I wasn’t going to spend the next three years doing a course I had no zeal for.

So, a few months before my final A2 exams, I declined all my university offers on a whim and applied for an engineering course through UCAS Extra. Fortunately, Queen’s University Belfast was kind enough to give me an unconditional offer and that is simply how I ended up in Ireland.

In my first semester of university, I learnt very quickly that I was a minority in every sense of the word. Students from mainland UK (GB students) were practically foreigners and I was 1 of 10 girls on my civil engineering course – out of 70 students. Additionally, I was black; one of two on my entire course, most of the other engineering disciplines also mirrored this ratio of black students. There were less than 10% of BME students (Equality & Diversity Unit, 2013) out of approximately 17000 students in 2011 (International Office, 2011), most of whom were international students. I did not set eyes on anyone who looked anything like me on campus in my first week, so to say that I felt displaced in those first few months would be an understatement. However, being in a completely different country really stretched me and was the basis of me grabbing every opportunity that came my way.

My apprehensions at the beginning of university were mostly blotted out by the overwhelming benevolence of many of the people I interacted with – whether Irish or otherwise. Additionally, my academic experience was not really tainted by any negative racially motivated discrimination; a healthy fraction of my lecturers were from other parts of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Asides from being mistaken for an international student by a lecturer, I’ve not experienced any glaringly obvious racism on my course.

However, the same cannot be said for my social experiences; I had some interesting encounters but two particular instances come to mind. The first I experienced with a close friend of mine in a cab, we had been talking to the cab driver through our journey- every single cab driver in Belfast is always up for a good chat- and he began talking about the severe mistreatment of the Irish in England in the past. But things went south when he started comparing the maltreatment to that of [insert the n-word]; at this point my friend and I just looked at one another in amazement. We understood his intention was to figuratively stand in solidarity with us; however he unknowingly offended us in the process. In spite of his good will I couldn’t help but see the looseness in his speech regarding black people. I wondered if he and many others used that derogatory term casually amongst themselves.

Secondly I had a very similar encounter to the first in my second year when I rented a student house with two other students; they were both black girls from London. Long story short, a repair man had gone to our housing agent to request the money for his work in our flat and referred to us as the ‘coloured girls at number 12’. I could not wrap my head around it; he could have referred to us as residents, students, even the three girls at number 12. I probably would not have even blinked if he had just said the black girls, but he said coloured, in 2016! These samples of micro aggression made it very evident that there was a lack of sensitivity in Northern Ireland. I faced other ‘little’ expressions of bigotry, but I often overlooked the situations and let it go rather than correct or at least reason with the people involved, which is something I regret. Political correctness aside, there should be no hesitation in being vocal – whilst maintaining respect and decorum - when you’re hurt by someone’s behaviour and/ or statements towards you.

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MY ENGINEERING STORY

Notwithstanding, I still wanted to be embedded in my university somehow and contribute to the student community I was living in. I became heavily involved in the African and Caribbean Society (I was even the president in 2nd year) and strived to bridge the gap between other cultural societies as well as the student union. I learnt about inclusion and managing people in addition to projects while working with the ACS; it was a rewarding challenge to introduce the Afro-Caribbean cultures to a predominantly Irish student body. The difficulty was mainly sourcing provisions for our cultural events (clothes and food) through the year because there weren’t many businesses in the area tailored to people of Afro-Caribbean descent.

Despite being in Belfast, my mind was fixated on England. I knew that once I got my degree I was returning to London so I could not be complacent with just a certificate, I would have to stand out. Through some very good friends of mine I registered with a number of network organisations. These organisations are affiliated with a vast system of eminent employers and they ushered the brightest graduates and undergraduates alike into a remarkable space to network. Some of the events organised were during term time, but I would make the effort to fly back to London to attend them because I wanted to be on a level playing field with my peers.

Thankfully, my endeavours were rewarded as I managed to bag an industrial year placement through one of the networking events.

A vital lesson I learnt about myself in networking events for instance the AFBE Transition event was that I subconsciously walked into opportunities with my race and gender as burdens. I don’t discredit the marginalising a lot of BME students and young professionals feel at times in various industries, however that mind-set is limiting. During the AFBE event, I was fortunate enough to have met a number of seasoned BME engineers who saw their difference to their contemporaries as an asset. Having to work 3 times as hard as your peers will only ever be a benefit to you across the board; you get more exposure, more experience and more insight.

Asides from networking, I also became a Sentinus STEM ambassador (a non-profit educational charity based in Northern Ireland), mainly due to the lopsided gender proportions previously mentioned- in my course. Myself and my designated primary school class took part in the ICE (institution of civil engineers) sponsored project ‘Build a Bridge’; I believe I debunked the misconceptions of the civil engineering industry one workshop at a time. I met some incredible children in the process and many of the girls realised building, calculating, coming up with solutions to problems was not just a ‘boy thing’.

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MY ENGINEERING STORY Lastly, one of the highlights of my time at Queens was the chance to volunteer in Morocco. Last year, I really wanted to do something unusual and I found the answer at a re-fresher’s fair in January. I remember standing in front of the stall for about a minute thinking and pitching, the mind-blowing possible outcomes of this project, to myself and then abruptly signed up to be a volunteer for Childreach International. This meant I had to raise

£1500 for the Big Build project that was taking place in the Atlas Mountains in

Morocco that year. I had never fundraised before, but I took on the challenge and put myself all the way out there. I went from being a selective speaker to approaching everyone at midnight pub/club collections and St Patrick’s day street collections.

With the help of family and friends, my fundraising antics along with the Kenneth Watson Travel Award from the ICE, I was able to raise funds for the project in Morocco. My team and I, got to travel to Morocco to help complete the construction of a primary school in a rural Berber village, and it was genuinely an invaluable experience.

That opportunity alone gave me a lot of guidance in what I wanted to study for my masters. I am considering specialising in sustainable and international development in the engineering industry. The AFBE Transition event affirmed this aspiration for me personally, because the central focus in the workshops was sustainable development. I want to be an individual who brings timeless innovative solutions to Africa using resources we already yield. I do believe that Queen’s was an opportune pick in retrospect and my hope is to make the most of my remaining year there and possibly even explore Northern Ireland more.

Ann Idowu was born in Nigeria, West Africa and was raised in Southeast London for most of her life. She studies BEng Civil Engineering at Queen's University Belfast and is undertaking an industrial placement year. A Passion for international development and sustainability has steered her extra-curriculum activities towards volunteering abroad and holding a position of responsibility in her universities Afro-Caribbean Society. In her free time, she enjoys making art pieces and cooking with friends. She aims to continue studying and obtain a Masters in Civil Engineering and pursue a career in the industry alongside volunteering in emerging global communities.

If you would like to share your experience, please send us an email at info@afbe.org.uk.

(1) Equality & Diversity Unit. 2013. University of Glasgow - Student Equality Monitoring Report 2013. [Online] p.16 -18 Available at: http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_300116_en.pdf (2) International Office. 2011. An Introduction to Queen’s University Belfast 2011 – 2012. [Online] p.1 Available at: http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/International/International-students/Applying/Agents-and-partnerinformation/Filestore/Filetoupload,649340,en.PDF

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GETTING INVOLVED

We are often asked by individuals seeking to find out about AFBE “What’s in it for me?” Here are some answers on why you should get involved as well as some frequently asked questions on AFBE:

Careers news/Information Portal: We provide our members with any information we have about opportunities and vacancies

within our industry.

CV Review and Job Opportunities: Once registered you can login to your profile and upload your CV. Employers are able to

advertise and search relevant CVs. As a paid member you can also request a CV review.

Recognition: As a member you will gain recognition among your peers, leading and influential industry leaders and others.

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GETTING INVOLVED

Mentoring: You have the opportunity to be assigned to an industry mentor or to be a mentor to others.

Networking: There are a lot of networking opportunities because we have several seminars and networking events where we

bring people from within our industry together.

Influencing Change: AFBE-UK continues to gain recognition within the engineering industry, and we are starting to have a voice

in influencing change in international development and issues relating to BME communities in the UK.

Through our Making Engineering Hot Campaign and Next Gen you can help inspire the next generation of engineers. This will give you greater influence within your community as you provide career options to young people.

Sharing your Experience: You can share your experiences in an informal environment, give and receive advice from other

members. We have many members with varied levels of experience from different areas and fields.

Connections: There are many opportunities to meet high profile engineers and industry leaders through our bi-annual advisory

board meeting and annual seminars.

Why do we need a group that represents BME interests in Engineering?

Over the last few years, research has consistently shown that the popularity of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM) have declined. Ethnic minority communities form around 6.7% of the total population of working age and it has been estimated to double within the next 50 years. Ethnic minorities in the UK represent a younger, growing marketplace 80% are under 25 years old. It has therefore become even more important to increase participation by ethnic minorities in science, engineering and technology.

Is AFBE-UK exclusively for people of ethnic origin?

No. AFBE is not exclusive to people from a particular ethnic origin, however our activities focus on people that have and share an interest and the experience of people of BME origin in our communities. Our mission is to display the vast array of engineering and technical talent available in the BME community in the UK. Our Vision is to function as a representative body on issues and developments that affect the careers of BME Engineers and BME Communities in the UK and abroad.

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GETTING INVOLVED

Do I have to work as an engineer to be part of the AFBE-UK?

Not Necessarily. Our members come from a wide spectrum of scientific and technology related backgrounds. Other members studied for degrees in engineering and moved into other fields while others work within the engineering industry but are not necessarily engineers by training. The important thing is that they have a strong STEM (i.e. Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) background and passion for the engineering industry.

How is AFBE-UK different from other professional engineering institutions?

We have links with organisation such as Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), The Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE). Institution of Chemical Engineers, (IChemE), Engineering UK, The institution of Civil Engineering (ICE), the Energy Institute and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) amongst others. We encourage our members to work towards chartership through involvement with these recognised bodies. We therefore exist to complement these organisations.

How does AFBE-UK fund its activities?

The events are fully self-sponsored by the generous donation from our members. We have had support from organisation such as the Big Lottery and others. However most of our members donate time and money to support this cause.

How can I support AFBE-UK?

You can support us through membership, programme sponsorship and donations. We also welcome contributions through provision of venues for our events. Get in touch with us at info@afbe.uk to find out more. Annual Subscription fees are professionals and

ÂŁ30 for full time

ÂŁ10 for students. Organisational membership of AFBE-UK is also open to all engineering organisations including

SMEs.

Wherever you are and what ever stage you are in your career. AFBE-UK can help you and you can help AFBE-UK.

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2016 MEMBER OF THE YEAR

And the AFBE-UK 2016 Member of the Year Award Goes to…

YINKA BANKOLE

(MSc, DIC, CEng, MIChemE)

On the awardee by Dr Nike Folayan:

Yinka Bankole’s contribution to AFBE-UK has been outstanding since he joined the executive board in 2013. Yinka worked actively to develop AFBE-UK’s business plan. This included identifying Key performance indicators to ensure the objectives of AFBE was met.

The Transition programme launched in London as an extension to the ongoing successes in Aberdeen saw Yinka take a lead role in ensuring the programme, format and outcomes of the events met the set targets.

Yinka has also spearheaded the AFBE mentoring programme to ensure that budding young professionals feel included and valued within the engineering industry. Yinka is a dynamic individual and progressive in his approach to tackling the challenges our organisation faces with objectivity. Yinka uses his experience of the industry not only to engage with young people but to ensure that they have the tools for success in the engineering industry.

On behalf of AFBE-UK I would like to take this opportunity to thank Yinka for his contribution to AFBE-UK and to congratulate him on his ‘Member of the Year’ award.

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2016 MEMBER OF THE YEAR

Yinka Bankole is a chartered engineer from the IChemE, with over 16 years’ experience as a Process Engineer in the oil and gas industry, after graduating from Imperial College London. He has held roles covering the full project development life cycle from Conceptual projects to Operations Support and troubleshooting. Most recently, he has provided flow assurance engineering services to Fluor Ltd / Kuwaiti Oil Company on a large scale greenfield gas development project.

Yinka was inspired to become an engineer by the respect for the profession. He believed that engineering was the best profession available to a physical science student and he was aware of the financial prospects available to engineers. He got involved with AFBE-UK in 2012 when working as a STEM ambassador during a "Making Engineering Hot" event. He was very impressed with aims / goals of AFBE-UK and has been a member ever since joining the Executive board in 2013. What Yinka enjoys most about AFBE-UK is meeting like-minded inspired engineers.

From his career Yinka’s Advice to budding / young engineering professionals is this;

“I have learnt to network under any circumstances / any situation, for which one needs to be focused or else you'll be cast aside. I have also learnt to work harder than colleagues to be respected. It is just the way life is”

Yinka would like to see AFBE-UK become commercially successful with an ability to give exceptional members jobs immediately or in a position to forward names of talented engineers to appropriate consultancies / firms.

He would also like to see more efficient disciplinary networking within AFBE-UK and for AFBE-UK to be recognised by over 80% of BAME engineers

He is passionate about AFBE-UK as he feels although diversity has significantly increased since he started his career, there is still a long way to go especially at mid to senior management level.

Congratulations Yinka!

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MEMBER PROFILE FirstLady Felly-Njoku - My AFBE-UK Experience By this time last year, I had just moved here to begin my M.Sc. at the Aberdeen University. It was my first time in the North-East of Scotland and I hardly knew a single soul in the city apart from one lovely family of three. I was struggling to adjust to the lower temperatures, had not made any friends and was still getting lost on my way home. All of this changed when I was invited for a meeting of the Nigerian Students’ Society (University of Aberdeen Chapter), where we were introduced to the AFBE-UK Transition programme and encouraged to sign up for it. The prospect of taking part in a mock interview and getting my CV assessed was too good to pass up so I signed up immediately and attended the Transition Event.

On the day of the event, I was given a lot of career-based advice that I still find useful to date. In the weeks that followed, I started receiving emails about other AFBE-UK events and I decided they were worth giving a try. This was how I got introduced to the AFBE-UK family. Yes, family because that is what AFBE-UK has been to me. In the past year, I have had the privilege of being a part of a team that works and plays as a single unit; I have had the opportunity to meet and network with various professionals living in Aberdeen; I have listened to them give insights into their work lives through very interesting presentations; and I have laughed as they swapped stories and experiences from their days in the university, drawing similarities from them. I have also asked questions about my studies and possible career options and the answers I have received from the team have aided in charting my career path.

A year ago, the idea of addressing a group of people or starting up conversations with strangers would have made me slightly uneasy (to put it mildly). I realized that the uneasiness I usually feel had reduced drastically the day I got home after spending an afternoon talking to new students about AFBE-UK at a Freshers’ Fayre. The experience I gathered from networking with people after every monthly Real Projects meeting really came in handy.

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MEMBER PROFILE

Joining the AFBE-UK team has been an all-round plus for me and it has helped me to grow, giving me the chance to learn and mould myself into the lady I have always wished to be. The fond memories of my AFBE-UK experience will definitely be etched in my memory. I guess this is why I am always ready to “spread the gospel of AFBE”.

AFBE-UK is pleased to report that not long following this interview, we received the good news that First Lady graduated as a clear leader in her course, having achieved the M.Sc. in Subsea Engineering with a Distinction. We have only the very best wishes for her future as we don’t doubt that she’ll soon be mentoring others in her field in no short time!

AFBE-UK Scotland Chief Editor: Emma Opara is a lawyer who works for Fugro Survey Limited/Fugro Subsea Services Limited in Aberdeen as Deputy Contracts Manager. Emma joined AFBE-UK Scotland in 2014 and has not looked back since.

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WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT AFBE-UK

Dr John Ritchie, chair of the Aberdeen Members Group of the IChemE, speaking at the most recent Transition event and

praising the work that AFBE-UK Scotland does for the young people in Aberdeen:

“We run a number of diversity programmes within IChemE, recognising the strong benefits that diversity brings to both the workforce and the wider profession.

“Positive initiatives to rid the sector of inequalities such as those run by AFBE-UK Scotland here in Aberdeen are crucial to promoting inclusivity in the industry, as well as highlighting the key skills needed to make a successful career in engineering.”

Thomas Abraham after attending Transition as a student and taking part in mock interview sessions and CV reviews which helped

him secure sponsorship from TOTAL and ENGIE to attend the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris in June 2015. At that conference, Thomas took part in the youth team challenge in which he was the youngest participant and his team produced a winning performance against 1200 other opponents:

“I certainly know that the insight given to me by AFBE-UK and the interview sessions I attended helped me gain this sponsorship. The transferrable skills I learned at the workshop definitely helped me and my team to win at the prestigious conference.”

Fiona Saunders, Education Support Officer – Science & Individual Projects at Aberdeen City Council speaking of how she came across AFBE-UK Scotland on why she was attracted to AFBE-UK:

“Having seen a story in local press for an open NextGen event, I contacted AFBE-UK Scotland to find out more. I was invited to the public event to see their programme.

“I was impressed at the variety of activities that had been organised, all about engaging young people in engineering – especially young people in minority groups who may not, traditionally, think of engineering as a career.

“We agreed to trial the NextGen activities in three Aberdeen Primary schools, who are now looking forward to receiving a NextGen visit.”

The growth and awareness of AFBE-UK Scotland in the past five years is clear to see. The group has had a positive impact on the community of Aberdeen and continues to seek new partnerships to encourage growth within its organisation – to attract more students and young people to get involved and benefit from the expertise and experience at its disposal.

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WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT AFBE-UK

Elaine Maslin, Europe Editor of Offshore Engineer magazine, having closely followed the work of AFBE-UK Scotland and also

attending an event run by the organisation: “AFBE-UK has brought a voice and built a new and needed network for but not exclusively Aberdeen’s African, black and ethnic minority engineers within the oil and gas industry, while encouraging and supporting the next generation through a range of initiatives, including the recent Transition workshop.”

Regarding the 2014 Gala Dinner, Bob Keiller, then CEO, Wood Group PSN, now Chairman of Scottish Enterprise said: “It was a pleasure to speak at the Gala; AFBE-UK is an admirable organisation that empowers engineers to achieve. This provides great benefit to the oil and gas and other industries.”

Aberdeen City Council Education and Children’s Services convener Councillor Angela Taylor said: “Reaching out to our

pupils to help them understand the exciting industry on their doorstep and to create aspirations at such a young age is a fantastic approach from AFBE-UK.

“This programme will not only inspire a new generation of industry leaders in Aberdeen but will also help break down barriers in the field of engineering and encourage more inclusivity in the sector.

“Crucially, the programme has captured the excitement and interest from many of the girls in our schools – in some cases even more so than the boys.”

Vice Chancellor of LSBU Prof David Phoenix speaking on the Transition event at LSBU “Universities have a moral and social

obligation to support graduates into employment and to help them reach their potential so they can make a full contribution to society based on ability not background or ethnicity. Events such as these help form peer to peer support networks and provide role models who can be so important in helping people achieve their ambitions and I am pleased to support AFBE in whatever way I can."

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EVENTS HIGHLIGHT GALLERY 2016 Celebrating AFBE-UK Scotland 5th anniversary in 2016

Top –Bottom /(L-R) Photos 1-5- Guests networking, Dinner and Entertainment at AFBEUK 5th Anniversary Gala celebrations;

Photo 6: Jide Okwujiako, Edwin Ekpiri, Ollie Folayan, Kasi Usani and Joy Egborge of AFBE-UK Scotland cut anniversary cake;

Photo 7; Dennis Pinto and Kasi Usani of AFBE-UK

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Scotland.

L-R: Interview sessions at Transition Events in London and Aberdeen

L-R: Edwin Ekpiri, [AFBE-UK Scotland General

Dean of School of Engineering Professor David

Secretary]; Danny Kearns [Senior Project

Mba , London South Bank University with

Manager Px Ltd]; Dr John Ritchie [Chairman

participants at the October Transition Event.

IChemE Aberdeen]& Dr Ollie Folayan at

40

Transition event in Aberdeen.

Edwin Ekpiri and Ollie Folayan presenting a paper on Industry Integrated Learning the 6th International Symposium of Engineering Education (ISEE) held at the Diamond, University of Sheffield 14-15 July 2016.

41 Pupils busy themselves with engineering exercises including a pigging model from TOTAL and the 3minute challenge by Chevron. Kids at Kaimhill, Walker Road and Gilcoumston Primary Schools also made an Offshore Platform with LEGO blocks and a helipad with paper and clips.

Buy Engineering and Enterprise 2016: Inspiring Innovation

Originally published: February 24, 2016 Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG ISBN: 9783319278247 Includes AFBE-UK’s paper Transition: Influence of Role Models on the Progression from Student Life to the World of Work 42

Pages 75-82

AFBE-UK (Association for Bme Engineers) is a registered not-for-profit organisation that aims to challenge and inspire people of black and minority ethnic (BME) origin to make enhanced contributions in their respective fields, and also to add value to the community, using engineering as a platform. AFBE-UK was founded in 2007 in London as a network of engineers who enjoy what they do and seek to engage the industry and make a positive contribution to the community. These goals are achieved through our conferences and our mentoring programmes. AFBE also aims to contribute to discussions on sustainable development in emerging economies. We currently have two chapters: One in London, and the Scottish arm currently based in Aberdeen. To find out more about AFBE-UK and the work we do visit our websites; www.afbe.org.uk and www.afbescotland.org.