'Education is crucial for our young people and Greenland’s future'

Constant high demand

At DTU Sisimiut Campus, DTU offers the two Bachelor of Engineering programmes Fisheries Technology and Arctic Civil Engineering. In addition, the two international MSc programmes Arctic Mineral Resources and Cold Climate Engineering are offered in collaboration with universities in Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

The study programmes offer the students a general engineering education specializing in Arctic conditions. And they can use it all over the world. The students learn, among other things, how to navigate in an Arctic climate—they experience the effects of permafrost, frost, and thaw challenges—and they see how to supply an isolated community with energy, water, and heat.

But no matter which Arctic education the students choose, they will be equipped to influence the development that Greenland is facing. Greenland lacks Arctic specialized engineers who can contribute to maintaining and further developing a sustainable and future-proof fishing industry, which accounts for over 90 per cent of the country’s exports. And the country needs engineers for building and construction projects.

This according to Niels Hoedeman, Chief Consultant at Arctic DTU, who—for the past 15 years—has played a key role in the collaboration with Greenland on the Arctic engineering programmes.

“There’s always a great need for Arctic specialized engineers in Greenland. The graduates who apply for a job in Greenland are guaranteed a job—and are often offered a job before they finish their studies. Among other things, we see that they are sought after in public authorities and administration, as well as in Greenland’s utility companies. In addition, the consulting engineering companies are major clients of Arctic engineers.”

Networks and tools

Elise Olsen also got a job quickly after graduation. She chose to become an engineer because she was good at math, physics, and technology. In the beginning, she wanted to specialize in plants and raw materials. But she switched to the civil engineering programme after guidance from the head of studies and got an internship in one of Greenland’s largest construction companies, Permagreen.

She currently works in the city’s technical and environmental department, which counts 14 employees. Her tasks as a plant manager include handling client proposals, design, tenders, construction management, and supervision. In addition to the ATV track, the projects also include new construction of municipal buildings, renovation of schools and other municipal buildings, site development of residential areas, and new sewers. Here, she must take into account challenges such as a landscape in constant motion. When the permafrost thaws, the meltwater runs off, and parts of the landscape can collapse.

“The education in Arctic Civil Engineering has meant a lot to me. Already during my studies, I established a network within Greenlandic construction. It’s very important in my daily work. I also gained knowledge about Greenlandic construction that you cannot read anywhere such as the fieldwork, where I learned to use different tools and surveying equipment. It has given me a much better insight into how our infrastructure is structured,” says Elise Olsen.

Feeling at home in Greenland

Ujarak Rosing Petersen also stayed in Greenland after he completed his engineering studies as the first graduate with a Bachelor of Engineering in Arctic technology. Partly because he thinks there are so many interesting engineering tasks to be solved in Greenland, and partly because this is where he feels at home.

Today, Ujarak Rosing Petersen is Managing Director of the consulting engineering company Inuplan in Nuuk which has 40 employees. The company primary solves tasks within construction, infrastructure, environment and renovation.

Inuplan is part of the client consultant group for the expansion of the largest hydropower plant in Greenland. In addition, they are responsible for client consultancy and supervision on two major airport projects in Nuuk and Ilulissat, which will allow for more direct international flight routes.

“The great thing about the Arctic study programme is the Greenlandic angle, so it’s almost tailor-made for us who come from Greenland and want to work with Greenlandic tasks. The fact that we learned how to build in Greenland gives us a relatively good ballast when we start working,” says Ujarak Rosing Petersen.

Reinforcing efforts

A decisive factor for so many graduates returning to Greenland after completing their studies is the collaboration model on which the Arctic study programme is based. This is the opinion of Senior Vice President Carsten Orth Gaarn-Larsen, who is responsible for DTU’s involvement in public-private partnerships with partners in Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.

He points out that the study programmes are run in an interaction between Greenland and Denmark. This helps to maintain the students’ attachment to their home country, family, and social networks. That model is now being reinforced:

“Our vision is to bring together the technical science programmes in Sisimiut with KTI and the Copenhagen School of Marine Engineering and Technology Management. This will help to strengthen the campus, create a good study environment, and give the researchers who come here a strong point of departure for their research. Therefore, we are reinforcing our efforts to educate young people in Greenland to become engineers by increasing communication of our activities and strengthening the good study environment. This is important—not only for Greenlandic society, but also for DTU.”