Rt Hon Alex Salmond Welcomes Pöyry’s Scholarship Scheme

Tuesday, Apr 21, 2009

A drive to attract Scotland’s rising stars to the oil and gas industry has been welcomed by Rt Hon Alex Salmond.

The Banff and Buchan MP and First Minister has backed the launch of the Pöyry Scholarship Scheme which will provide support totalling more than £140,000 to engineering and business students across Scotland.

Pöyry, a leading engineering and consultancy firm which employs more than 60 people in Aberdeen is offering scholarships to students at the University of Aberdeen, Robert Gordon University (RGU), University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University. It is also offering support to Banff and Buchan College in Mr Salmond’s constituency.

Mr Salmond said: “This is very welcome news. Energy is a sector where Scotland leads the world, so to see this scale of investment in the next generation of engineering and business graduates is tremendously encouraging.

“Oilfield goods and services are worth around £4bn each year to the economy, representing one of our largest export sectors. With decades of opportunity left in our own waters through oil, gas and renewables, a career in the energy sector can be the passport to a rewarding career, whether in Scotland or further afield.

"I'm delighted to see a company like Pöyry entering into direct partnership with our further and higher education institutions. It's through developing links of this kind that we will continue to produce the high calibre students who will become tomorrow's industry leaders."

The university scholarships will be awarded between 2009 and 2013. The Pöyry Engineering scholarship will be open to third year students and will be awarded to: University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and University of Strathclyde. Students will receive £2,000 each year until they graduate.

The Fiona Fuller Business Scholarship will be presented to students at RGU who will be awarded £1,000 in their third year and £2,000 in their fourth and final year. Full time, second year students at Banff and Buchan College in Fraserburgh will also be eligible to apply for £500 of support under the business scholarship.

The Business scholarship has been named after former Pöyry employee Fiona Fuller who passed away suddenly last year. She had joined IGL Engineering, now Pöyry, as administration manager 1993 after graduating from RGU and went on to be promoted to the board of directors in 2003. 

Steve Fogg, Poyry’s President Oil and Gas Europe said: “We are fully committed to promoting the fantastic opportunities the oil and gas sector to young people throughout the whole of the country. There is a wealth of talent throughout the country’s higher education institutions and we are very keen to foster that.”

Pöyry’s Aberdeen office in The Exchange, Market Street is part of a 500 strong global team of consultants who specialise in providing multi-discipline engineering services to the oil and gas sector. The company’s clients include major multi-national operators, national oil companies and smaller independent operators.

The universities and college will now work with Michail Tzouvelekis, stakeholder relationship manager at Pöyry, who was instrumental in developing the scholarship scheme, to decide which students will receive support. Their selection will not only be based on academic achievement but also on students’ drive and commitment. The successful students will be invited to attend a dinner in November where they will be formally presented with the scholarship. 

Ends                                                                                                                 21 April 2009

Picture Caption

Scholar9– L-R: Steve Fogg, president oil and gas Europe, Pöyry; Julie Strachan, course leader undergraduate management programme, RGU; Albert Rodger, vice-principal and head of College of Physical Sciences, Aberdeen University.

Issued on behalf of Pöyry by Weber Shandwick Worldwide.  For further information please contact Alison Cran on 01224 806 600 or at acran@webershandwick.com.

Note to Editors

1.         The Pöyry  Engineering Scholarship

University of Aberdeen

MEng Chemical Engineering

MEng Mechanical and Electrical Engineering with Energy Studies

MEng Mechanical Engineering with Control

University of Edinburgh

MEng Chemical Engineering

MEng Chemical Engineering with Environmental Engineering

Heriot Watt University

MEng Chemical Engineering

MEng Chemical Engineering with Energy Engineering

MEng Chemical Engineering with Oil & Gas Technology

University of Strathclyde

MEng Chemical Engineering

2.         The Fiona Fuller Business Scholarship

Robert Gordon University

BA(Hons) Management

BA(Hons) Management with Economics

BA(Hons) Management with Finance

BA(Hons) Management with Human Resource Management

BA(Hons) Management with Marketing

BA(Hons) International Business

Banff and Buchan College

HND Business

About Pöyry

Pöyry is a client and technology oriented consulting and engineering firm, with headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The Group comprises five business groups: Energy, Forest Industry, Transportation, Water & Environment and Construction Services. It is a world leader in the energy sector and Europe's leading provider of energy-related management consulting services. Pöyry is active in hydropower, renewable energy, power and heat and oil and gas. It is listed on the Helsinki stock exchange.

For further details visit: www.poyry.com

Source: Weber Shandwick