Said Alomairi (27) studies International Power Generation & Distribution and comes from Bahla, the oldest city of Oman. He has travelled the world.
‘Now I am here to study for a year, but the last four years I have worked as a field technician for Schlumberger, a French Oilfield Service Company. I was used to staying in the desert for six weeks and to come home for ten days after that. We calculate the production rate of the oilfields and assess the quality and quantity. I have travelled all around the Arabic world for my work. I worked in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrein and the United Emirates. I also travelled to Europe several times, I was in France and Germany for training.’
When asked why Said came to Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen he answered ‘My company wants me to do a bachelor study abroad, because it is important for their certification to have highly educated employees. I have been in the United States for four months but it was way too expensive for me, so I had to go back. A Dutch friend of mine, a businessman who is working in Oman, recommended studying in the Netherlands and at Hanze (UAS). I looked at the website of Hanze (UAS) and discovered that this study focuses on environmental subjects and avoiding pollution. That is a very important issue in the oil-industry at the moment. And rightly so, people need to become aware of saving the environment when working onshore or offshore. Shell for instance is very strict in that. I hope to do my internship at Shell. Otherwise I will go to France, I suppose.’
These student portraits have previously been published in HanzeMag, the independent magazine of Hanze (UAS).