College donation secures new energy centre

A million-dollar windfall is set to confirm Fife’s Carnegie College as one of Scotland’s leading centres in developing the skills needed to support Scotland’s fast growing renewable energy sector.

Scots-born Canadian mining entrepreneur Robert M Buchan is donating one million Canadian dollars to endow a new energy research and development centre on the College’s Rosyth engineering campus.

Announcing the endowment, College Principal, Professor Bill McIntosh explained, “The funds will be used to establish a centre of collaboration and excellence for the engineering and energy sector based within our Rosyth campus.”

Hearing the news, Energy Minister Mr Jim Mather MSP, stated, “This new centre is a further confirmation of Scotland’s excellent international reputation in renewables. We want to be a world leader in low carbon industries and Carnegie College - and Fife - are at the forefront of green energy skills development, bringing jobs and long term sustainable growth for Scotland.”

Mr Buchan, who was born in Aberdeen and raised in Rosyth before becoming one of the most influential figures in Canadian mining history, has named the new centre ‘The Whitlock Energy Collaboration Centre’ in honour of Colin and the late Rene Whitlock of Limekilns, south of Dunfermline.

Mr Whitlock was a leading business figure in Fife and at the forefront of the electronics revolution in the 1960s. He was Managing Director of Philips Dunfermline (1964 to 1981), during which time he was committed to vocational training opportunities for young people. He is a Past-President of the former Dunfermline & West Chamber of Commerce and was a board member of the then Lauder Technical College (now Carnegie College) for over fifteen years.

Explaining the motivation behind the donation, that is believed to be the largest single private individual donation received by a Scottish college since the time of Andrew Carnegie, Mr Buchan stated, “Colin Whitlock was my mentor and motivator and he along with his wife, Rene, had a major influence on my life. I was keen to put something back into the area and offered Colin a donation of one million dollars to a cause of his choosing.

Colin’s commitment to Lauder, now Carnegie College, has been long term. I am honoured and delighted that this Centre carries the Whitlock name and look forward to watching it grow in the coming years.”

Any businesses wanting to fi nd out more should contact the College Customer Services team on 0844 248 0115.

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Permalink: http://www.fifebusinessmatters.co.uk/articles/404534-college-donation-secures-new-energy-centre.html

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