courtesy STX Europe

UK-based contractor Wood Group will pay $500,000 to set up an arctic engineering program at the 17,000-strong Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, the company has said.

Sponsoring a Chair of Arctic Engineering will cost $100,000 a year and build on other cooperation between the Group’s JP Kenny and IMV businesses. JP Kenny is a lead contractor at the Shtokman project in the Russian Arctic, and IMV is a local Canadian company.

“Our goal is to develop leading edge technology so we can source new engineering solutions for our clients operating in these emerging, strategic regions,” a statement said.

Memorial is a regular researcher of ice-specific issues, including seabed gouging by bergs and flows plus frozen mist build-up on ships.

Some 90 billion barrels are still said to lay in the Arctic, an area that could become a source of irritation among the nations of the north.

Studies in ice mechanics, arctip pipeline design and “arctic structures” are in store for students. Memorial already boast an Ocean Engineering Research Centre.

The $5-billion-a-year Wood has struck similar deals in Australia, Dubai, Kazakhstan and Scotland.

Tags: Wood Group