University Signs MoU for world class process safety center
Published Mar 25, 2013Texas A&M University at Qatar signed an agreement recently to bring an extension of Texas-based Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center to Doha. The extension will replicate all academic programs and activities of the center at the University's main campus in College Station, Texas. The MoU was signed during the annual Qatar Process Safety Symposium held 11-12 March 2013 at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC).
The center's mission is to promote safety as a second nature in industry around the world with goals to prevent future accidents. It is set to be an international leader in minimizing losses within the process industry through safer processes, management, equipment and procedures. The center (MKOPSC-Q) will provide good science based counsel, develop and disseminate best practices through consulting and short courses, provide benchmarking for process safety management systems and practices and conduct research. It will also provide industry with a forum to exchange ideas and advance technologies to keep competitive.
Dr. Kenneth Hall, associate dean for research and graduate studies at Texas A&M at Qatar, said, "The Qatar Process Safety Symposium has become a showcase for the commitment of the University to improving the quality of life in Qatar. This year, the symposium contained an event of special significance. The Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, the premier academic program addressing this crucial issue, located in College Station, Texas, elected to establish an extension of itself in Texas A&M University at Qatar. At the Qatar Process Safety Symposium, Dr. Sam Mannan, executive director of the center, and I signed an MoU to Dr. M. Katherine Banks, dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M, requesting her approval to establish the extension. We have proposed Dr. Luc Véchot to be the Managing Director of the extension. Texas A&M University at Qatar is proud to have gained the confidence of Dr. Mannan and the MKOPSC, and we pledge that MKOPSC-Qatar will strive to instill the goal of MKOPSC "making safety second nature."
Dr. Sam Mannan, executive director of the MKOPSC-Qatar, said, "The establishment of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center in Doha represents a major step forward in bringing all the successful programs and activities that have been developed at the main campus in College Station to Texas A&M at Qatar. These programs will lead to the integration of process safety into curriculum in the education, research and service programs of Texas A&M at Qatar. This will be of tremendous mutual benefit for the University and the industry in Qatar."
Dr. Luc Véchot, managing director of the MKOPSC-Qatar, said, “We are very pleased by the establishment of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center here in Doha. Such a structure, which brings together academia, industry and regulatory institutions, was needed in Qatar and we look forward to working with industry on process safety issues. Very importantly, together with our colleagues from the industry, the center will actively contribute to educate new generations of engineers for whom safety is second nature.”