Best YP Section Award—SPE Aberdeen Section
The Aberdeen Section young professionals (YPs) group proved its reputation again by winning Outstanding YP Section Award for the 2nd year in a row. An ambitious YP event calendar, some active coordination between committee members and volunteers, and enthusiastic participation combined to earn the award for the section. YP events ranged from social activities such as the summer barbeque to serious development discussions such as the “Technical vs. Managerial Career Workshop,” where senior industry professionals shared insight about their careers. Another interesting technical event was the workshop, “Making the Unconventional Energy Resources Conventional,” organized alongside the Devex 2010 production and development conference and exhibition, in association with Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain and Aberdeen Formation Evaluation Society YPs.
The section also had events for local student chapters. The fifth annual Quiz Night saw a bumper turnout. YP members also supported educational events for younger students such as “Maths in Pipeline” and the “Oil and Gas Radio Quiz,” as well as implementing the SPE Energy4me program. Approximately 35 section YPs participated in Education Day at the 2009 SPE Offshore Europe conference, helping to raise oil industry awareness among secondary school students.
The section was diligent in regularly updating its website for upcoming program and event reports (www.spe-uk.org). Many section members also support various other SPE international initiatives such as The Way Ahead, the Young Professional Coordinating Committee, and the Awards Committee. Thanks to the positive publicity from YP awards, section YP membership has increased by more than 15%.
Abhijeet Kulkarni, Shell
Honorable Mention—SPE Gulf Coast Section
Creating thorough leaders for the future “big crew change” is no easy task. To do so takes a strong balance of knowledge, networking, and community involvement. The 2009–10 Young Professional (YP) Board of the Gulf Coast Section set out to do just that over the past year. We outlined objectives to increase involvement of existing members, while building new bridges for future members to participate in the section. The selfless efforts of board members and YP volunteers have created an abundant list of powerful events to achieve this. Outside of the several professional lunches/dinners and numerous community service engagements, this list highlights our big three events: PetroBowl, the Emerging Engineers Conference, and Roughneck Camp—which had record levels of participation.
We are happy that our achievements have been recognized internationally, with the Gulf Coast Section YP group receiving the YP Honorable Mention Award. This high recognition goes out not only to the YP Board leadership, but to all section members with the strong desire to become thorough leaders. The challenge now is to continue on this path of leadership and leadership development. We are confident this will happen in the coming year, as we truly believe the 2010–11 YP Board members to be leaders who can fuel development of a new crew of leaders.
Richard Rinaldi, Chevron
Honorable Mention—SPE London Section
SPE London YPs are surfing the wave of change as their new coordinating committee takes on the challenge of preparing juniors and seniors for the “crew change” in the North Sea. Throughout the past year, the committee has delivered a dense program of events focused on promoting technical excellence and attracting new talent into the oil industry. The SPE London Section gratefully received an Honorable Mention Award for the work achieved in 2009.
The London YP committee has taken on the duty of welcoming students into the industry. In addition to organizing the annual Ambassador Evening Lecture, SPE London YPs organized a 1-day “Graduate Skills Event.” During the day, students in petroleum engineering from two major London-based universities practiced CV writing and interview skills and attended real-life assessment center exercises. This year, the team looks forward to organizing its second cross-discipline “Technical Blast,” after the great success of the first session on reservoir engineering vs. flow assurance. Technical Blast follows the innovative format of combining formal presentations and a panel discussion among senior industry professionals, YPs, and students. The annual geological field trip organized in September to the Peak District was a great success.
Being part of the coordinating committee is an invaluable experience that can benefit anyone willing to make a difference early in his or her career. Now chaired by Alejandro Primera of Schlumberger, the committee is ready to take on new challenges. The new committee sees itself as an enabler for networking in the industry, another way to manage the “big crew change.”
Arnaud Mille, Centrica