Houston Maritime Centre Focuses on Education, Workplace Development
Houston Maritime Centre is moving full steam ahead into the energy transition, with the non-profit focussing on education and workplace development.
HMC is billed as one of the world’s premier maritime museums and educational facilities, offering a range of tours, programmes and events. The centre enjoys strong relationships with the local community, as well as with Houston’s maritime industry and the University of Houston.
“Houston Maritime Centre and Museum and the University of Houston offer our city, the global energy capital of the world, opportunities to engage the community, educate from kindergarten to graduate levels, and facilitate industry by leveraging transferable skills to develop the workforce necessary for the successful energy transition,” said Marco Poisler, chief operating office at UTC Overseas and a member of HMC’s executive board of trustees.
HMC recently held an event co-hosted by UTC Overseas during which Ernest Moniz, a former energy secretary in the Obama administration, was presented with an HMC Maritime Education Award. Moniz founded the Energy Futures Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to driving innovation in energy technology, policy and business models.
“The goal is, let’s have this transition, which let’s face it, is massive to accomplish, without stranding workers, without stranding communities,” Moniz said. “And for that to work we have to put the people to work who have the skillset.”
As competition hots up for well-trained workers, clean energy companies setting up base in Houston, which employs almost a third of the jobs in the nation’s oil and gas industry, are able to tap in to a workforce with plenty of experience and know-how.
“These are the companies that are going to help lead the transition, by using the capabilities, the skillsets, the workforce that has the appropriate skills for energy transition,” Moniz said.
Watch the video here:
MAIN PHOTO:
L-R: Leslie Bowlin, Executive Director HMC; Sara Howell, Chair, Board of Trustees, HMC; Marco Poisler; Ernest Moniz; Margaret A. Kidd, MILT, CPE, Program Director, Supply Chain & Logistics Technology, University of Houston
