ADNOC has announced the first cohort of Emirati women who will join ADNOC Technical Academy’s (ATA) Female Technician Diploma Program in September 2026. The programme will create a pathway for Emirati women to build careers in technical and operational roles in the energy sector. The 24-month Female Technician Diploma Program combines campus-based academic learning with on-the-job training at ADNOC operational sites.  

Each intake will accommodate up to 50 trainees, with the programme expected to graduate around 250 female technicians between 2028 and 2030. The programme offers diploma pathways in electrical maintenance, instrumentation and control maintenance, mechanical maintenance, and oil and gas processing operations.  

In the UK, infrastructure company Costain has taken on 50 apprentices across disciplines including civil engineering, electrical and mechanical engineering, quantity surveying, finance and project management. Its apprenticeships last between 12–60 months, depending on the level. Costain also recruits for graduates, internships and university placements across its sectors and has a Graduates and Apprentices (GRaAPS) network to support professional development.

On the other side of the Atlantic, ConocoPhilips is highlighting its Accelerate Rotation Program, a one-year, field-based initiative designed to accelerate the technical development of new engineers and geoscientists just out of college, such as engineer James Baisden, who has spent his first year rotating through assignments at Alpine and Kuparuk on the North Slope, gaining a deeper understanding of the equipment, operations and people that power the company’s Alaska business unit.

Accelerate participants rotate through a series of assignments in either the Alaska, Gulf Coast & Rockies (GCR) or Permian business unit. Along the way, they are supported through check-ins, one-on-ones and peer connections, with mentors providing consistent guidance.  

Amanda Inskeep, Early Career Technical Lead, said Accelerate challenges participants to think more critically – pushing them beyond questions of what and how, the company said. Beyond technical training, the programme helps participants build professional skills, sharpen workplace etiquette and gain the confidence to succeed.

Back in the UK, power station apprentices have helped to keep a local heritage attraction on track while developing the practical engineering skills that will support the next stage of their careers. The group from the Heysham power stations spent two weeks at Cinderbarrow Miniature Railway, near Carnforth, applying the skills acquired during their first year at college to a real-life project that will give back to the local community.

The project formed part of EDF's four-year apprenticeship programme, which sees the trainees spend their first two years at Bridgwater & Taunton College developing the technical knowledge and practical skills needed for a career in the nuclear industry. After college, apprentices then spend time at EDF's nuclear sites, putting their learning into practice in an operational workplace setting.

This year, instead of completing traditional hand and tool skills training at the college, the Heysham stations partnered with Cinderbarrow Miniature Railway, a volunteer-run registered charity. Working in teams, the apprentices constructed a new raised five-inch track circuit, updated electronic signalling systems, replaced point pneumatics and solenoids, routed and connected new signalling cables, refurbished sections of track, and helped to build a new EDF-branded five-inch gauge Class 25 locomotive to operate on the track.

Anthony Livingstone, Heysham 1 Training Instructor, who proposed the partnership, said: ‘We wanted to try something new, and it has gone really well. It’s allowed the apprentices to utilise their practical skills and enhance their learning, preparing them for their time on site in the summer, and in the future.’

The apprentices will now spend the next six weeks embedded within maintenance departments at the Heysham sites, working alongside experienced EDF colleagues to gain first-hand experience of station operations before returning to college for year two of their training.