Guests at the event. Right: Dr Ali Hamed al-Mulla delivering keynote address during the launch of Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center-Qatar yesterday.
Qatar Petroleum and Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMU-Q) formally launched Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Centre-Qatar (MKOPSC-Qatar) yesterday.
MKOPSC-Qatar will replicate all academic programmes and activities of a similar centre at the university’s main campus in College, Station, Texas.
Formed in 1995, it was established in memory of Mary Kay O’Connor, an operations superintendent who was killed in an explosion in 1989 at a petrochemical complex in Pasadena, Texas. The centre’s mission is to promote safety as a second nature in industry around the world with the objective of preventing future accidents. It is set to be an international leader in minimising losses within the process industry through safer processes, management, equipment and procedures.
In line with this, MKOPSC-Qatar will provide science-based guidance, develop and disseminate best practices through consulting and short courses, provide benchmarking for process safety management systems and practices, and conduct research that would change the paradigm of process safety. It will also provide industry with a forum to exchange ideas and to advance process safety technologies in order to keep the industry competitive.
In his keynote address during the launching event, Dr Ali Hamed al-Mulla, manager, corporate health, safety and environment, QP, said: “With the patronage of HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, we have an opportunity to influence the centre’s activities in a direct and continuous manner to promote safety as second nature in the industry in Qatar and to educate a new generation of engineers who are committed to safety. The inclusion of process safety in the academic curricula is a foundational element which will sow the seeds of process safety concepts in those aspiring to become future engineers, providing them with essential underlying principles to enable appreciation and application of process safety from the very beginning of their professional careers.”
Dr Mark H Weichold, dean and CEO, TAMU-Qatar, said: “The university is proud to bring to the region a centre known globally for its work in process safety practice and research. Process safety is essential to critical industries in Qatar, and the launch of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Centre will provide resources of best practices and expertise, enhancing process safety in Qatar and ensuring that its key industries operate safely.”
Dr Nazmul Karim, holder of the Michael O’Connor Chair II and head of the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, said: “The opening of MKOPSC at TAMU-Q is a significant milestone in providing training and education in process safety to the scientists and engineers working in Qatar and other parts of the Gulf. Teaching future generation of engineers to design plants, which are inherently safe, is a goal of any engineering curriculum, and this new centre will help achieve this goal at TAMU-Q. It will allow students to think of process safety as a second nature during design and operation of plants. TAMU-Q’s chemical engineering is strategically placed to carry out this very important mission of the university and the industry.”
Dr Sam Mannan, executive director of MKOPSC-Qatar, said: “The establishment of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Centre in Doha will provide a regional centre of excellence in process safety and help institutionalise a sustainable and strong safety culture impacting Qatar’s society and industry.”
Dr Luc Véchot, managing director, MKOPSC-Qatar, said: “This event shows the commitment of the country and its industry to achieve high process safety standards. The centre has started to educate a new generation of engineers with safety as second nature.”