Having obtained a degree in civil engineering he began his career in the dredging industry in the newly/formed survey division of Stevin Dredging. There he worked as Hydrographic Surveyor providing survey input for harbour design and project support. The following 10 years he spent working on international harbour construction in projects around the world. In 1982 he became Personnel Manager for the Oceonics PLC at Intersite Surveys in Haarlem, The Netherlands and later Group Personnel Manager. In 1988 he founded Dutch Onshore Offshore Recruitment BV (D.O.O.R.) an agency providing qualified Hydrographic-, Geophysical- and System/engineer personnel to the international oil and gas industries. In 2000 Skilltrade was set up in order to address the growing need for training of hydrographic personnel. Survey modules were developed for short/term courses, at that time primarily for the Dutch market, and has continued to develop new modules and additional course material resulting in a comprehensive programme in survey education. Johan Stam is currently engaged in cooperative efforts with both governmental agencies and representatives of industry in order to establish and promote survey education in Europe and abroad.

Maarten-Jan started work for Skilltrade early 2006. He is Skilltrade’s General Manager and is the Course Director for the Hydrographic Survey Course (officially recognised as a Hydrographic Survey Category “B” Course by the FIG-IHO-ICA in 2008) which is run in cooperation with the STC BV in Rotterdam, Holland. Over the past three years Skilltrade organised around the world various generic courses like: Introduction Hydrography, Geodesy, Multibeam and ROV. Maarten-Jan instigated the development of a course about Cultural Communications which runs 3 to 4 times a year. Together with the highly motivated team, Skilltrade managed to develop some company specific courses for companies like: AllSeas, Acergy, Gardline, Seaway Heavy Lifting and Saipem. The goal for the next couple of years is to further develop our Project Management Course, intensify the way we work together with Survey Software and Survey Equipment companies, extend our company specific courses and develop the company. Maarten-Jan previously worked for Gardline Surveys, Royal Boskalis Westminster, Seateam, DSND, Subsea7, Thales, Sonsub and Vanderlande Industries. He worked in the roles of Surveyor, Data Processor, Training development, Offshore project Manager, Chief Surveyor, Operational Manager and Project Manager. He holds a BSc in Hydrographic Surveying from the higher Nautical College in Amsterdam and a MBA from the Aberdeen Business School at the Robert Gordon University.