Fawley lessons for Cambridge students

ExxonMobil is helping to broaden the horizons of tomorrow’s leaders, one class at a time.

An employee from Fawley Refinery has been teaching students at Cambridge University’s Manufacturing Engineering (ME) department for the past 15 years.

Chris Riches, reliability and maintenance specialist for the European region, has been conducting regular interactive sessions on maintenance since 1995.

Back then, as the Esso contact for the ME department at Cambridge, he recognised the need for a module on maintenance for process industries. Later, the programme was expanded to include a module on the wider aspects of the oil industry.

The sessions, which are a formal part of the course, make students aware of the scale of the industry and the finances involved, and the crucial role that maintenance and efficiency plays.

They also help students to more fully understand and appreciate ExxonMobil’s role in the global economy, and have resulted in graduates joining the company.