Engineer on the Seabed
- No, I will not dive into the sea, Marita Fosse laughs. I will probably sit in an office and make sure everything is done according to plan down there. This summer Marita graduates as Engineer in Underwater Technology.
Bergen University College was the first in Norway to offer a degree in underwater technology on the bachelor level. The first class will graduate this year. In addition Bergen University College cooperates with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) on a Master’s program, which the first students will complete next year.
- The program was established due to strong endorsement from industry in the Bergen area, not least from NCE Subsea, explains Dean Ole-Gunnar Søgnen at the University College of Bergen.
He says both the industry and the university college put great emphasis on practical training in the industry as part of the degree. Practical training is not usually an integral part of a degree in engineering.
A unique program
Marita Fosse has had several periods of training. The first period was mandatory workshop training at FMC Technologies, at the end of year one. The training she is doing now is optional.
- I have had the benefit of hands-on training during my studies. There is a difference in seeing things in the real rather than just reading about it, she says.
Fosse is currently deployed in Framo Engineering, where she will write her thesis.
- I am going to help develop a tank for pressure testing. The tank is going to test if the equipment we place on the seabed tolerates the pressure of 3,500 meters.
In the future, Marita Fosse may sit in an office and design components to be placed on the seabed. Or organise the job of replacing damaged parts in the depths. But before she gets to that, she wants to do a master’s degree.
- I like learning new things, and I would like to do some further studies. I am considering doing my master’s degree in Aberdeen or in Trondheim and Bergen.
If she chooses the two-year master’s program that Bergen University College offers in cooperation with NTNU, she will do the first year in Trondheim and the second year in Bergen.
Written in April 2009, by Nina Samnøy Bergen University College
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