A Drill Rig that Became a Classroom

Odebrecht Oil & Gas initiative takes university students onboard the ODN II. The students are robotics monitors and assist municipal public school students from Macaé in Rio de Janeiro

For those who are university students, the experience of seeing in practice what you learn in theory is often only a reality when you reach the job market, through an internship or formal job. Fifteen Engineering students from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) found a “shortcut” through an Odebrecht Oil & Gas initiative.

On March 24, the group left the UFRJ campus, located in the Macaé University City in Rio de Janeiro, to head to Guanabara Bay, where it visited the ODN II drill rig. This rig has the capacity to operate in water depths of up to 3,000 meters and to drill up to 10,000 meters. The vessel belongs to the Business and was contracted by Petrobras.

But it was not simply a visit by students. The 15 ODN II visitors have something in common: they are also educators and work as monitors for the program #inovareaprender (“#innovateandlearn”), part of the Odebrecht Oil & Gas Social Responsibility Program in the city of Macaé, home to the Business’ base of operations. The initiative assists municipal school students, disseminating knowledge in advanced technology areas, such as robotics. It also works on other fronts, like sports and social inclusion.

For Rodrigo Caride, a monitor who has been part of #inovareaprender since its creation in 2014, the visit made all the difference. “Coming here allowed us to get an up-close look at technological solutions and see them in practice autonomously,” said Caride, who got a first-hand look at the technology used in the ODN II state-of-the-art equipment.

About the Initiative

Since 2007, the Odebrecht Oil & Gas Social Responsibility Program has developed educational activities together with public school students from Macaé. Up to now, it has benefitted over 21,000 children and teenagers from 22 communities that suffer from social vulnerability.

The projects include Educational Axis, which is part of #inovareaprender, and where learning takes place through robotics. Training centers are set up at the schools and the teachers are qualified

“The initiative offers technological independence for the student’s learning process, forming a critical awareness about how he or she can seek out solutions using new technologies,” said Caride.

It was the first time that Caride and the rest of the group were aboard an oil rig. For Heitor Gioppo, Senior Officer at the Odebrecht Oil & Gas Drilling Unit, besides bringing society knowledge, this type of visit also builds a relationship between the company and future professionals in the market. “It is an honor for us to receive the students from the Robotics project onboard the ODN II, which is our home away from home,” said Gioppo. “Here, they can see how everything works in loco,” he said.destaca.