Britain's King Charles III looks at diving apparatus during his visit to the Global Underwater Hub in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. Reuters
Britain's King Charles III looks at diving apparatus during his visit to the Global Underwater Hub in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. Reuters
Britain's King Charles III looks at diving apparatus during his visit to the Global Underwater Hub in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. Reuters
Britain's King Charles III looks at diving apparatus during his visit to the Global Underwater Hub in Westhill, Aberdeenshire. Reuters

King Charles meets aspiring engineers during visit to underwater industry hub


Gillian Duncan
  • English
  • Arabic

King Charles III was shown a scaled-down replica of a remote-operated underwater vehicle built by young engineers during a visit in Scotland on Friday.

The king met Mintlaw Academy pupils while touring the headquarters of the industry trade body Global Underwater Hub in Westhill, Aberdeenshire.

The aspiring engineers had entered their replica into a competition sponsored by the hub which aims to inspire young people to work in the underwater industry.

The school's deputy principal Ali Hynd said the link-up aimed to show pupils examples of where knowledge of Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects can be applied in the real world.

He said: “This project has given me the opportunity to bring industry into the classroom to make industry real, as well as getting some life-changing experiences for young people.

King Charles is shown an underwater remote operating vehicle during his visit to the Global Underwater Hub. Reuters
King Charles is shown an underwater remote operating vehicle during his visit to the Global Underwater Hub. Reuters

“Today without a doubt is one of those life-changing experiences, getting to meet His Majesty.”

Mr Hynd said some of the youngsters now have ambitions to become mechanical engineers and marine biologists off the back of their involvement in the project, while others are considering more specific roles.

“They've all got quite different ideas and that's the good thing about this project,” he said.

During his visit, the king also piloted an unmanned ship carrying a remote operating vehicle, which was inspecting a wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands.

King Charles meets staff and pupils from Mintlaw Academy during his visit. Reuters
King Charles meets staff and pupils from Mintlaw Academy during his visit. Reuters

Staff had brought all the equipment needed to operate the ship into the offices to demonstrate the technology to the king.

On the second floor of the building, the monarch talked at length with GUH board members and several underwater technology companies demonstrating the latest in deep diving equipment, 3D underwater visualisations and marine science.

The king also unveiled a plaque to commemorate his visit, and GUH chief executive Neil Gordon made a rallying speech to staff to keep up the good work.

THE BIO

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Australia: Finch (c), Agar, Behrendorff, Carey, Coulter-Nile, Lynn, McDermott, Maxwell, Short, Stanlake, Stoinis, Tye, Zampa

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The biog

From: Upper Egypt

Age: 78

Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila

Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace

Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace

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School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.

“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.  

“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”

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Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.

One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases. 

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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Updated: September 30, 2023, 4:31 AM`