STEM Workshops in Aberdeen

Aberdeen became the oil and gas capital of Europe following the discovery of North Sea reserves in the late 1960s, transforming a granite fishing port into a global energy hub virtually overnight. The city's harbour, one of the oldest in Britain, had already sustained centuries of maritime trade and shipbuilding before the oil boom reshaped its identity. Generations of subsea engineering innovation have been pioneered in Aberdeen, with local firms developing the remotely operated vehicles and pipeline technologies that made deep-water extraction possible.

James Clerk Maxwell, born in Edinburgh and raised in Galloway, carried out foundational work that profoundly influenced Aberdeen's scientific culture; his equations underpin the electromagnetic technologies used throughout the energy sector. Sir Ian Wood, who died on 26 July 2026, was Aberdeen's most prominent energy entrepreneur: he built the Wood Group into a global engineering services company and invested heavily in the city's transition to renewable energy. Dame Anne Glover, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Aberdeen, served as Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland before becoming the first Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission in 2012. Dame Maria Ogilvie Gordon, born in Monymusk in Aberdeenshire, published more than thirty geological papers on the Dolomite mountains. The University of Aberdeen has produced generations of geoscientists and petroleum engineers who shaped the North Sea industry.

Aberdeen is at the heart of the UK's energy transition, with major operators such as BP, Shell and TotalEnergies shifting investment towards offshore wind, hydrogen production and carbon capture and storage. The Energy Transition Zone at the harbour is a dedicated innovation campus supporting companies developing low-carbon technologies. Subsea engineering expertise is being repurposed for the offshore renewables sector, while the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University drive research into the region's energy transition.

Careers in Aberdeen span petroleum engineering, renewable energy technology, subsea robotics and environmental science. TechFest, the city's annual STEM festival, introduces young people across North-East Scotland to careers in science and engineering. Robert Gordon University's engineering programmes are closely aligned with industry needs, offering sandwich placements with operators and service companies across the North Sea basin.