Director's Blog
Monday 18th May 2009
The NAFC Marine Centre will be unveiling its new and exciting exhibition stand at this year's Science and Technology Fair starting today (18 to 22 May) at Clickimin Leisure Complex, complete with the ever popular 'touchy feely' tank of sea creatures and other interactive and hands on displays to help bring its work in marine sciences, engineering and nautical studies to life.
Comprising four inspiring sections covering the different departments at the Centre, there is much for visiting children and adults to explore.
The popular 'Seas Around Us' project will take up one quadrant with a tank of sea creatures found in the waters around Shetland. This activity has already proved an exciting attraction in the past, giving children an opportunity to get up close to local marine life.
A second quadrant of the stand will celebrate Darwin 200, the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin. In the nineteenth century, he researched barnacles for many years and this work became the foundation for his theories of natural selection and evolution. The marine science and technology department will have barnacles to view on a big screen and visitors will be able to find out more about this fascinating creature.
Shetland Seafood Quality Control will occupy a third quadrant and will be demonstrating the vital service they provide for the islands' seafood industries including looking at microbiology, bacteria and seabed sampling.
Finally, Shetland School of Nautical Studies is bringing a ship simulator to the stand and will encourage visitors to try their hand at navigating a virtual boat around Shetland. There will also be a number of engineering activities to participate in.
This is an excellent opportunity for us to connect with the young people of Shetland and demonstrate both the hugely important work we carry out at the Centre as well as future career opportunities available. Our new exhibition stand is a great way for us to showcase our work through fun and educational activities, interactive touch screen quizzes and even just talking with members of staff about what they do.
We're very much looking forward to being part of such an important event that gives exhibitors a unique opportunity to stimulate interest in science and technology from an early age
Thursday 14th May 2009
An exciting new project to prepare Shetland for the advent of marine renewable energy is being launched this week by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Shetland Islands Council.
Shetland Islands Council have won European funding to employ a development worker to be based here at the NAFC Marine Centre, who will prepare the islands for the arrival of energy companies wanting to exploit one of the most powerful wave and tidal resources in Europe.
The 12 month project will cost '44,900, with half of the cash coming from the Cradle to Cradle Northern Periphery Project, which seeks to help remote northern communities develop a sustainable future.
Shetland is already working on many wind energy projects, not least the 550MW Viking Energy wind farm and an inter-connector to the national grid. However the potential for marine renewables to provide an even more valuable source of electricity has long been recognised.
The industry is in its infancy, but is attracting significant levels of investment as the Scottish government looks to meet its ambitious target of generating 50 per cent of the country's power from renewables by 2020.
With Orkney already winning business at its European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Shetland is hoping to be ready to make the most of the potential the islands hold for the industry.
The development officer will be looking for the best sites for harnessing marine energy, and examining all the related issues, such as existing biodiversity, environmental designation and potential conflicts with other activities, such as fishing, aquaculture and leisure pursuits.
They will be using the trail blazing Marine Spatial Plan developed here at the NAFC Marine Centre to find the best way of integrating marine energy developments into the islands' coastal waters.
The intention is to use this information to promote Shetland as an attractive location, while ensuring that any developments are managed in a sustainable fashion without alienating local interests.
Neil Grant, Shetland Islands Council's Head of Economic Development, has already stated that Shetland has been approached by several companies interested in working around the Shetland coastline and so we need to do everything we can to ensure this industry of the future is developed in the best way possible for these islands.
Obviously there is the potential to create a lot of jobs, boost the local economy and create career opportunities, but it must be managed properly and we believe this development post will ensure that happens.
Marine renewables could well be the first beneficiary of the valuable work done on creating Shetland's marine spatial plan, one of just four pilot projects of its kind around Scotland.
I am really excited about the NAFC Marine Centre running this project. It marks a new direction for the Centre, which could well prove to be a crucial element in the future economy of the Shetland Islands and their community.
Thursday 14th May 2009
Firstly I must apologise for the lack of activity on my blog over the last couple of weeks...I have had "The mumps"...which apparently is now a notifiable disease! So I have been in quarantine for the last two weeks even though I felt absolutely fine (my wife said it was like living with a caged Tiger)...hey-ho!
At our regular all staff meeting yesterday we introduced the "European Framework for Quality Management". Both the Core Values of The NAFC Marine Centre and our Strategic Plan recognise the importance of "Quality in all areas of our activity". In order to progress and enhance our quality we need to know where we think we are now, what are our strengths and what are our weaknesses...where do we need to focus our attention?
The first step on this journey will be a self-assessment exercise where all staff across the organisation will be able to feed back on where they think we are and what they think we need to work on in our strive for excellence. Once these results have been collated we will formulate an action plan which will be implemented over the next 12 months.
Our aspiration to be "excellent" is a sincere one but we are aware that it is going to take time and that it will likely be a continual process of enhancement. We are OK with that and believe that we are mature enough as an organisation to recognise that we have weaknesses and deal with them head on. Denial is counter-productive and leads to inefficient resource allocation and poor quality!
So are we truly excellent? In some areas I would actually say yes we are, but in many the answer is that we are good but not yet excellent, and in one or two we do have some real work to do...but we have taken the first step on the journey and as an institution we are "committed to excellence"...which is a good place to be!