Undoubtedly this was the most ambitious venture yet for the SPE Western Australia (WA) Section in October 2024, flying 18 Timor-Leste scholarship winners plus one UNTL professor from Dili to Darwin to Melbourne to Perth for 6 days in Perth. A challenging but absolutely necessary obligation.
Of the scholarship winners, 14 were from 2024 and four from 2023. The latter had been unable to travel last year so we were determined to uphold our commitment.
The vast majority had never previously been outside the island of Timor and all 19 had never been to Australia. In fact, en route from the airport to the city, riding the train was a completely novel experience for almost all.
Day 1
The opening day featured a second train trip to Freemantle because João da Silva, OAM, Honorary Consul, had graciously invited the 19 Timorese and me to the Portuguese Citizen of the Year Gala Dinner. I was honored to be afforded time as a VIP speaker to explain the background of our support of petroleum engineering and geology students in Timor-Leste. It was stirring that you could hear a pin drop as the 250 WA Portuguese Club members listened so intently.
They also vociferously appreciated the Chapter VP, Kevin Alexandro Martins, who sang a Portuguese song, “Ressuscita-me” by Aline Barros. Moreover H.E. António Albuquerque Moniz, Ambassador of Portugal to Australia, visiting from Canberra for the occasion, gave touching praise of our Timor-Leste initiative. Muito obrigado!
Day 2
On Sunday, the students had a blast at Perth Zoo where there is always something rare, cute, or humorous to observe. They were particularly enamored with the native Australian koalas, kangaroos, and echidnas. We also spent a long time watching a fairly active giraffe family in the dappled light of late afternoon. Fortuitously we were able to explore the zoo in a whole new light—dazzled by amazing light installations and roving entertainment as the sun set. We followed the lights trail and captured many Insta-worthy moments at Perth Zoo's newest inaugural exhibition, Lights Alive, on display only during this 4-week period.
Dinner was a relaxed affair, a takeaway food picnic on the banks of the Swan River in South Perth, admiring the awesome views and reflections of an illuminated Perth central business district across the water.
Day 3
An inspirational day for the 18 scholarship winners and faculty advisor on account of a sublime program by three of our 2024 sponsors. Firstly, at INPEX Australia where Roger van Hoek delivered an overview of INPEX corporate and Australian operations focusing on the huge Ichthys development, supplemented with insights of various offshore installations via the scale models at the reception area.
Santos Ltd. provided a series of presentations led by Marcia Evans on their 70-year corporate history, followed by a technical reservoir overview, local content insights, and top tips from a recent graduate. We also had a bonus address from the Santos EVP for WA, NT, and Timor-Leste, who discussed his aspirations for progressing their already successful engineering hub in Dili.
The day concluded with a tour of Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Center at the University of Western Australia led by professor Eric May.
Day 4
Sponsor visits commenced at the Woodside Energy Robotics labs including a demo of NASA's humanoid robot "Valkyrie" on a mission half a world away from its home at Johnson Space Center, in addition to the “Spot” dog-like robots from Boston Dynamics, which have already been deployed in an operational capacity on Australian assets, introduced by Shawn Fernando. Our next stop was the beautiful Kings Park for a Pivotel demo of the Starlink satellite system by Nick Hart, as well as Iridium satellite phones when the Timorese students were able to call their parents in Dili with much exhilaration!
In the afternoon, the students attended SPE APOGCE at the Crown Hotel, where they were formally presented with scholarship certificates and laptops by their associated 2024 sponsor. The principal component of each scholarship award is actually this 1-week visit to Perth when we aspire to forge deeper connections for them all with Australian industry, but also includes a laptop and $300. Following lunch in the exhibition area, they then attended the Asia Pacific student presentation contest.
Day 5
Energy embodies everything we do. To compare energy sources effectively, we need to understand where it comes from, how it is used, the cost and environmental impact.
SPE’s Energy4me, primarily targeting those in the final years of high school,addresses all of these goals as well as emerging themes such as the transition to hydrogen.
Fortuitously the 19 Timorese visitors were able to attend a full day Energy4me session as part of APOGCE led by Lou Jean Rodrigues, SPE’s energy education manager from Dubai. Afterward they witnessed the latest reservoir simulation technology demonstrations by Tito Lozada, Rock Flow Dynamics.
We are very grateful to the Australian Government, Department of Industry, Science, and Resources (DISR) for graciously sponsoring the group to attend the SPE APOGCE dinner when all 18 students donned traditional Timorese costumes. More new horizons were highlighted as they had never previously experienced an event of this caliber, with five of the Timorese women performing a cultural dance. It was also touching to see our sponsors, as well as 2024 SPE President Terry Palisch so warmly engaging with the Timorese students all evening.
Day 6
On the sixth and final day in Perth, we hired a 22-seat bus, driver, and trailer for all the luggage. The program featured an extremely engaging visit to SLB's wireline plus drilling and measurement business units led by Keith Boyer and Louise Flux, concluding with a tour by Dr. Muhammad Rizwan Azhar of the various state-of-the-art labs at Edith Cowan University such as carbon capture and storage and renewables, also including the very cool Edith Cowan University racing team where they manufacture highly successful racing cars. Eileen Khoo, student chapter liaison, Adalberto Nunes, scholarships co-chair, and I held a farewell dinner at the Totally Thai restaurant in the eastern suburbs, where we celebrated the birthdays of Henny and Ponciano.
Finally, to the airport, where we reminisced on the trip highlights (of which there were many), exchanged some traditional gifts, took hundreds more photos for good measure, accompanied by much laughter and a few tears. Until the next time in Dili!
Reflections
A key learning with this venture is that the choice of hotel location is crucial because it is not easy moving 19 people around. Even something seemingly as straightforward as a short rail journey can prove challenging with a few of the inquisitive visitors easily distracted while you are purchasing 20 train tickets.
On another occasion, two 10-seater mini-bus taxis reserved 12 hours in advance cancelled at the last minute because the drivers apparently fell asleep … and such vehicles are not exactly abundant in Perth.
Questions were also raised about flying the students overnight eastwards from Darwin to Melbourne and then back westwards to Perth. In truth, aside from being less complicated and more economical than stopping overnight in Darwin, the students loved traversing the Australian continent coupled with the “complimentary” airline food and exploring mega airports such as Melbourne and Brisbane—hardly surprising when most had never previously been off their own island!
Finally, it was an endearing touch by the students to present all representatives of the sponsors involved, various SPE WA Section Officers, and Terry Palisch with a traditional Timorese Tai (or woven textile/scarf), each a spectrum of vivid colors.
Summary and Acknowledgements
Since the SPE Timor-Leste Chapter’s inception last year, SPE WA has continued to uphold our original commitments to (1) hold quarterly meetings in Dili with international speakers, (2) award annual scholarships, and (3) connect Timorese petroleum and geology students to industry via the SPE global network.
Applications for 2026 SPE WA Timor-Leste scholarships are now open here. The SPE Timor-Leste Section will be officially launched in Dili on 7 November 2024, whilst one day later, on 8 November, will be our Q4 2024 meeting, an inaugural careers fair.
None of these endeavors would be feasible without the generous support of our 2024 Timor-Leste sponsors to whom we are eternally grateful for helping provide these students with life-changing opportunities.
Principal Sponsors
Major Sponsors
