R&D/innovation

Electrical Waveform Technology Wins Startup Competition

Veros Systems took top honors at a competition involving energy startups.

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A technology that captures high-resolution electrical waveforms and uses industrial machine learning software to increase uptime, improve efficiency, and optimize maintenance won the Best in Show and People’s Choice awards at a competition showcasing innovative and emerging energy technology companies.

The competition was hosted by SPE and the Rice University Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship during the SPE 2017 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio earlier this month.

Veros Systems won the top honors in the Startup Village competition as well as $38,500 in prize money for the awards. More than 120 companies applied to showcase their technologies in the competition and 12 were selected to present at the SPE conference. The Best in Show award was judged by a panel of industry professionals with technology backgrounds as well as energy technology investors. The People’s Choice award was selected by conference attendees. The companies were evaluated on 8 criteria, including the industry’s need for the technology innovation, the market for the technology, quality of the technology, prototype or field test results, experience of the management team, market strategy, and financial projections.

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From left to right: David Reid, NOV, ATCE Committee Member; Darcy Spady, 2018 SPE President; Jim Dechman, Veros Systems–Best in Class and People’s Choice Winner; and Bryant Mueller, Halliburton, ATCE Committee Member.

Three other companies were singled out for excellence with Rising Star awards and received $15,000 each in prize money. They were:

  • Rheidiant, which applies the industrial internet of things and machine learning technologies in its integrity management system

  • 16S Technologies, which is developing solutions to microbial challenges

  • Factor Technology, which introduced continuous, autonomous geosteering to address horizontal well issues.   

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Left to Right: David Reid, NOV, ATCE Committee Member; Darcy Spady, 2018 SPE President;Murat Ocalan, Rheidiant–Rising Star Winner; Andrew Millar, 16S Technologies–Rising Star Winner;Jim Dechman, Veros Systems–Best in Class and People’s Choice; Hugh Winkler, Factor Technology–Rising Star Winner.

Other companies selected for participation at the conference were Vertice Oil Tools, QuantumPro, DataNova Analytics, Voxaya, Mims Well, Sinsal, 8Sigma Energy Services, and Kinetic Pressure Control. Presentations for the competition were no longer than 8 minutes apiece, with a 6-minute question-and-answer session from the judging panel.

After the presentations, table discussions took place in which participants had an opportunity to learn about several elements of being a successful new company and expert presentations discussed roadblocks to successful entrepreneurism.