The WINS Academy Ambassadors are sharing their experiences and promoting the CNSP and CRSP programmes in creative and personalised ways, both individually and within their organisations.
Richard Sseggane, Nuclear Security Regulatory Officer at the Atomic Energy Council Uganda, has helped to steer ten Ugandans working in positions ranging from law enforcement and defence to regulation to enrol in the WINS Academy programme.
“I have said before that being a Certified Nuclear Security Professional is elevating. Serving as a WINS Academy Ambassador is an opportunity to even elevate others… to initiate and inspire professional growth in others,” Richard said.
Mercy Muriithi held a workshop for new staff at the Kenya Nuclear Regulatory Authority. “The participants were excited about acquiring an internationally recognised professional certificate,” she said.
“The interest and enthusiasm I got from my audience gave me the motivation to reach out to more people with the goal of having competent professionals in this field and building capacities to prevent, detect and respond to criminal uses of radioactive materials,” Mercy added.
Osama El Natsheh, Head of the R&D Department in Industrial Gamma Irradiation at the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, translated the presentation into Arabic and shared it at a meeting of nuclear and radioactive security stakeholders. He noted that most participants were not familiar with WINS and were interested to learn about our services and electives.
“I found that by encouraging those in my department to sign up for the free WINS membership, they then became engaged and invested in learning more about WINS, which led them to inquire about the Academy and what it means to be a CNSP,” said Geoff McCabe of NB Power, adding that his company has decided to sponsor the enrolment of several security officers annually.
Ambassadors have found creative ways to work within corona virus restrictions. Eletrobrás Eletronuclear in Brazil has reduced in-person activities, so Lourena Correa and Gilberto Goncalves de Abreu translated the WINS Academy presentation into Portuguese and shared it with potential scholarship candidates and employees responsible for the power plant’s local emergency plan by WhatsApp and email. They also posted a printout in the security department to raise awareness among all employees.
Agustin Espejo, Radiation Safety Officer at Tecnofisica in Mexico, has also made a Spanish language version of the presentation and is reviewing it with potential candidates by phone.
Upcoming legal changes on radioactive source protection have caused doubt among many people working in the sector in Mexico, Agustin said. “Now with the training course, they feel more confident about how they would comply with the authority requirements. In other words, the WINS Academy helped them to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
We’ve also been excited to see news stories on our partners’ websites, such as MESIS promoting WINS scholarships for Jordanians.
Our Academy Ambassadors provide an invaluable service to WINS because they have first-hand experience with our programme, have a high regard for the training they have received, and are eager to share this knowledge with others. We look forward to their continued outreach efforts!
