A Subsea Student’s Journey

In 2017, GCE Ocean Technology awarded Øystein Barth Utbjoe with the Best Student Award. This summer, he is going to San Diego to compete in the international AUV competition RoboSub and come fall he starts at Equinor.

When we spoke with Øystein Barth Utbjoe in 2017, he told us that he had learned about the Subsea Technology Bachelor Programme at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) through a brochure from an education fair.

– As I looked more into this the interest grew upon me. The thought of learning more about our world class subsea technology and all the amazing challenges we can solve in this respect appealed to me, said Øystein (25), who is from Stord in Hordaland.

Cybernetics at NTNU

– After graduation, I studied Industrial Cybernetics at NTNU where my subsea bachelor made it possible to tailor a package of elective subjects focusing on robotics and vessel control systems.

In addition to his studies, Øystein joined Vortex NTNU as a member of the software group where he worked with computer vision, which forms the basis for an automatic understanding of digital images.

Master Thesis With Eelume

Through Vortex NTNU Øystein joined a team, working with a development project for one of the partners; WaterLinked, who works with subsea communication and positioning.

Moreover, he was also fortunate enough to collaborate with cluster member Eelume on a project assignment and Master thesis.

Competing at RoboSub

During Fall 2018, Øystein became CEO for this years project in Vortex NTNU, where they now develop their first AUV. This summer they will travel to San Diego to compete in the international AUV competition RoboSub.

Come fall this year, Øystein has been recruited by Equinor into their graduate programme.

Competence Value Chain

– Øystein’s story is a prime example of how we want our competence value chain to work from a cluster perspective, says Gisle Nondal, R&D Manager in GCE Ocean Technology.

In 2007 our cluster was one of several contributors to establishing the subsea education at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL). The goal was to fill the competence pool for the subsea industry. Moreover we established the Best Student Award, which is an award first and foremost to award the student efforts, but also to expose the best talents to the industry.

– When Øystein now has been educated at cluster partners by cluster initiatives and is recruited by cluster partner Equinor we feel that this is a solid example of how a cluster should work to secure the best talents for the industry, Nondal concludes.

We wish Øystein the best of luck with all his future endeavours, and we are looking forward to following his career path.