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SAMC
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• ANNUAL REPORT 2013
SAMCoT’s role as an SFI in promoting
innovation
Current activities in the Arctic Region are putting ever
stronger demands on the oil and gas industry in explo-
ration as well as other related industrial processes.
The High North is clearly an area of primary interest
for Norway as well as the international community.
SAMCoT’s Industry Partners (IPs) have agreed that
they expect the scope of the research necessary to
understand the Arctic puzzle to be broad. The research
conducted by SAMCoT scientists and engineers will
increase the insight and knowledge of the IPs in topics
such as phenomena related to coastal erosion, ice
actions on structures, the physics of ridging processes
and the field of ice management, among others.
Erik Schiager, manager for Area-Non Operated Ventures
for GDF SUEZ E&P is committed to his role at EIAC, much
like his other EIAC colleagues. This intense commit-
ment and interest make an SFI Centre like SAMCoT
an important promoter of industry-oriented research.
Key researchers in close cooperation with the industry
select topics that require urgent attention, which allows
the efficient allocation of the necessary staff.
“In many cases the industry wants to have more confi-
dence in the answers to specific Arctic questions, but
they don’t have always sufficient human resources to
look in great detail at these challenging questions,” says
Kuiper.
Fortunately, 22 PhD candidates, 3 postdocs and a group
of internationally renowned researchers and indus-
try representatives are working together on SAMCoT’s
research areas to find answers.
Ice vs. Floating Structures
Kongsberg Maritime’s Vice President of Business
Development Nils Albert Jenssen says his company
needs “an efficient numerical simulation model of ice
loads on floating vessels operating in managed ice
capability.” This, he says will allow the company to
assess ice loads on floating vessels as a function of ice
field conditions and vessel characteristics.
The SAMCoT Exploitation and Innovation Advisory
Committee (EIAC) plays an important role in SAMCoT’s
strategic planning. Guido Kuiper, Offshore Structures
Engineer at Shell and Chairman of EIAC in 2013, says
that the EIAC has three major roles:
(i) ensure that SAMCoT’s research topics have impact
and are implemented in the industry
(ii) support the transfer of knowledge and data from the
industry to PhD researchers
(iii) serve as the industry sounding board for PhD candi-
dates and motivate them by showing the practical
relevance of their work.
When the Research Council of Norway designed the programme that created the Centres
for Research-based Innovation (SFI), it was clear that industry would play a fundamental
role in shaping each centre’s research strategy. It is not by chance that innovation and
value creation are among the criteria for success provided by the Research Council – with
the expectation that fundamental research will be linked to future innovation.
SAMC
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eiAC
Members
• Annie Audibert-Hayet (TOTAL)
• Arne Gürtner (Statoil)
• Arnstein Watn (SINTEF)
• Basile Bonnemaire (Multiconsult)
• Bård E. Bjørnsen (SMSC)
• Erik Schiager (GDF Suez E&P)
• Guido Kuiper (Shell) - Chairperson
• Hilde Benedikte Østlund (Kvaerner)
• Nils Albert Jenssen (Kongsberg Maritime)
• Per Kristian Bruun (Aker Solutions)
• Rolf Lande (DNV)
• Sveinung Løset (NTNU)