Dounreay collaborates with university on innovation workshop
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An innovation workshop is giving some of Dounreay’s future talent a chance to expand their knowledge.
It has been developed through a collaboration between Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), the University of the Highlands and Islands and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
The pilot workshop, which was run by the university in Thurso's Weigh Inn, mixed theory and practice together in two sessions. These culminated in teams solving a decommissioning problem and presenting their solutions to a panel of judges.
Emma Roberts, Helena Fazackerley, Alan J Farquhar and Sergio Sanz-Bustos were awarded a prize for the most enterprising and innovative solution.
DSRL managing director Mark Rouse gave an introductory speech and said: “It is so inspiring to see our future talent being challenged to think outside the box and responding so positively."
He described it as "a great session and a new start for an aspect of our business that will be so important for our site and the NDA group”.
Emma said: “The key learning that I took away from the workshop is that innovation can be straightforward and simple – it doesn’t always need to be complex. I am excited to be able to take my new experiences and knowledge from the workshop and include it in my work.”
Alan said: “I found it good that there were different types of thinkers and how we viewed things in different ways.”
Allane Hay, deputy head of academic partnerships at Moray College UHI, who led the development of the design-led innovation programme along with colleagues from Inverness College UHI and North Highland College UHI, said: “Working with Dounreay and the NDA on this innovative initiative was a great opportunity to help develop the creative talents of the next generation of leaders in DSRL.
"Design-led innovation is a practical tool to help guide these young innovators towards developing a solution-oriented mindset in their roles. It was great to see how they embraced the process and really enjoyed it.”
The winning solution will be developed into a manufactured product for implementation on site. It is also hoped more workshops will be run across the site.
