I was very pleased to read about the recent celebrations at the Jefri Bolkiah College of Engineering as it brought back the memories of my involvement with the first BTEC education programs there in the early 1980s. I was part of the original three man team recruited by Brunei Shell Petroleum to establish the first Business Technician Education Council (then TEC) Certificate in Engineering overseas. We were on secondment to the JBSE (as it was known then) and we set up the new certificate courses in first Plant Engineering and then Electrical Engineering. The courses were very successful and I still have the engraved pewter plates from my students.
I am writing this email from a College in Lima, Peru where my company has established the first City and Guilds National Vocational Qualification in Engineering and the first BTEC National Diploma in Engineering courses in South America. The courses have been very successful and well received by both students and the client company who require these trainees for the first LNG plant in South America. You can read more about this project by following the link Peru LNG Project.