SPE President Giovanni Paccaloni’s column in the February 2005 Journal of Petroleum Technology described the central role of young professionals in the future development of the oil and gas industry. In his March column, he stressed the “urgent priority for public energy education.” This central role of
young industry professionals has been evident in the interaction between the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) of the Aberdeen Section and the SPE Student Chapter of Robert Gordon U. in Aberdeen.
To bridge the wide gap between the students and the industry, two members of the Aberdeen ELP voluntarily agreed to provide in-house seminars on April 28 and 29 at the university. The seminars featured Gillian King of Weatherford speaking on “Expandable Sand Screens” and Imona Adebo of Chevron Corp. speaking on “Production Management.” An industrial visit was also organized to Shell’s Goldeneye gas terminal at St. Fergus on May 3. The Student President of the Robert Gordon U. SPE Chapter, Olumakinde Ilesanmi, said the goal of the chapter had always been to foster relationships between its members and the industry. He commends his chapter’s executives and committees for promoting that vision since October 2004 when they were voted in. The student chapter has played host to other professionals such as Natalie Pestana (Aberdeen ELP Chairperson, Shell), Brian Smith (Chevron Corp.), and Sarah Brady (Kerr-McGee). Chapter members have benefited tremendously from the ELP interaction, and they look forward to a future when energy companies make it a compulsory responsibility to contribute toward the educational development of students in oil and gas industry-related courses. Although much has been achieved, Ilesanmi admits that there are still many more victories to be won. He thanks Pestana, Chairperson of the SPE Aberdeen ELP, for her relentless support since the ELP chapter was formed in October 2004, and the Energy Inst., which recently assisted in the transportation of the chapter members on the industrial visit to Shell’s gas terminal at St. Fergus.
Another recent exciting event for the chapter was a visit by Paccaloni in June. Robert Gordon U. was one of three Scottish universities he visited during the SPE President’s universities tour.