OREANDA-NEWS.   Further building on its long-standing partnerships with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), GE Oil & Gas (NYSE: GE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Petroleum Institute University & Research Center (PI) to provide specialized training programs, summer internship opportunities and educational tools for PI students as part of its commitment to promote human capital development and promote knowledge sharing.

Rami Qasem, President & CEO of GE Oil & Gas for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, signed the MoU with Dr. Ismail Tag, Acting President & Provost of PI.

Rami Qasem said: “We are thankful to Petroleum Institute for the opportunity to partner in the educational program to further strengthen the skills of PI’s Emirati students. It reflects our commitment to support ADNOC in meeting their human resource development goals. The agreement underlines our commitment to build a pool of talented professionals who can take up diverse professional roles in the oil and gas sector. The various training programs, workshops and training sessions will be structured to promote a culture of innovation among the young talented Nationals, while providing them hands-on insights on how the industry operates in real settings.”

Dr. Ebrahim Al Hajri, Director of External Relations & Collaborations (ERC) and Assistant Professor for Mechanical - Engineering Department at PI said: “The agreement with GE Oil & Gas highlights our focus on promoting industry linkages to build the skills of our students. The experience of learning from the professionals will enable them to gain a stronger understanding of the industry. GE has been a strong partner of the Petroleum Institute, providing valuable educational tools that simulate the real work environment. The new MoU will be a great asset for our student community, especially as they prepare for careers with ADNOC.”

As part of the three-year agreement, GE will support at least one senior graduation project per academic year and two training sessions per semester on subjects related to turbo-machinery, rotating equipment vibration analysis and inspection technologies. GE will also host at least one field visit per academic semester and provide about three to four summer internship opportunities initially with the goal of expanding it to 10 internships in the next three years.

GE and PI will conduct joint seminars, short courses and workshops for PI students and/or external stakeholders with at least two seminars planned per semester. The first seminars will focus on GE’s newest turbo machinery technology and the Industrial Internet, GE’s path-breaking initiative that brings together people, analytics and technology to deliver incremental results.

The MoU builds on GE’s long-term partnership with ADNOC, of providing the company with advanced technologies, as well as training ADNOC professionals through the GE Oil & Gas University held earlier. GE has also contributed a vibration lab and life-size gas turbine model to PI earlier, and will now provide a life-size plant representation or educational laboratory equipment that will enable students to obtain hands-on knowledge on various aspects of the industry’s operations.

In addition to GE Oil & Gas, GE’s Ecomagination Center in Abu Dhabi will also support the training program. All the different engineering departments at PI will also collaborate on the project including Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in addition to the Internship Department. PI is the engineering training center of ADNOC, with over 200 students graduating from the Institute every year. As of Spring 2014, over 1,560 students have graduated from PI, spanning both undergraduate and graduate levels. Nearly 95 per cent of them join ADNOC as engineers across different companies.

GE Oil & Gas has a strong industry footprint across the Middle East region, and partners with leading oil and gas companies, petrochemical industries and power and water industry stakeholders. The UAE is a key market for GE Oil & Gas, with its turbomachinery technologies being at the core of complex industry-milestone projects. GE’s advanced technologies enable our customers to enhance the efficiency, reliability and productivity of their operations.