MSc Aquaculture students visit Scottish companies
19 January 2012
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Students participating in the MSc Advanced Engineering topic welcomed the opportunity to learn more about the manufacturer, installation and maintenance of cages, nets and moorings through visits to Fusion Marine (cage manufacturer), W & J Knox (nets) and FPM Henderson Ltd. (moorings) this month. John Bostock, one of the tutors on the Advanced Production Systems module said "These visits provide a really useful opportunity for students to see at first hand the equipment that is being used in the industry, hear about current trends from those directly involved, and be exposed to practical questions and solutions that are critical for successful aquaculture, but are rarely topics of academic study. They also help to foster links both between the University and industry and provide the students with commercial contacts for their future careers".
In addition to these visits, the topic included presentations from Bob Bawden of Pisces Engineering and Charlie Price of Aquaponics UK who shared insights from their experience of developing and operating innovative recirculation systems in the UK and other parts of the world.
A special guest lecture was also given by Dr Odd-Ivar Lekang from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and author of the Blackwell book "Aquaculture Engineering". As with all the MSc programme, this topic is available as a stand-alone continuing professional development course, so this year it also benefitted from the participation of a manager working with Patagonian toothfish.
We look forward to the current students successfully completing their studies this year and welcoming the new intake to Stirling in September 2012.