OREANDA-NEWS. January 13, 2016. Nine students have graduated from a masters degree course developed by energy company SSE and the University of Strathclyde.

The students, all of whom are full-time SSE employees, have completed a three year MSc in Engineering Project Management.

The course material was developed to reflect SSE’s business requirements through a collaboration between the company and the University of Strathclyde’s Faculty of Engineering.

It is the first time the university, which is the third largest in Scotland by number of students with nearly 20,000, has offered an MSc in Engineering Project Management and it has proved so successful that from 2016, four years after its first intake of students, the qualification will be opened up to applicants from other businesses and the general population.

SSE owns and operates the electricity distribution network in the north of Scotland and south of England, as well as the transmission network in the north of Scotland. These regulated businesses, together with SSE’s wholesale assets which include power stations and wind farms, are investing heavily and oversee a large number of projects at any one time, driving a need for highly skilled project managers.

The modules studied include principles of project management, commercial management, financial management and risk management. 

Colin Nicol, SSE’s Managing Director Networks, said: “This is a wonderful achievement, not only for the students but also for SSE as it highlights our commitment to developing our people. SSE’s investment has not only benefited the students - the business has also benefited through the learning brought back and applied, and that is likely to continue.” 

“Our collaboration with the University of Strathclyde has enabled SSE to strengthen its industry and academic partnerships, and it is also very pleasing there has been sufficient demand that it will be made available beyond the SSE workforce going forward.”

The development of the course was funded by SSE and the University of Strathclyde’s Technology & Innovation Centre.

David Nash, Vice Dean Knowledge Exchange, Faculty of Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, said: “This programme is representative of the wide range of industrial co-operation that we undertake within the Faculty of Engineering and across the university as a whole. It is an exciting venture because of our wide ranging relationship with SSE in leading research projects and as part of their corporate CPD activity.”