Encourage Young Leaders in Oil and Gas: Nominate Them for an SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award

Recognition outside our companies, schools, and institutions matters. Do you have a friend who is worthy of SPE recognition? Nominate them for an SPE award.

January 21, 2018

By Bruno Rivas,

Carter Clemens, Alex Hali

The Way Ahead

Augustina Ovuema receives a 2017 Young Member Outstanding Service Award from 2017 SPE President Janeen Judah at the SPE Annual Conference held in San Antonio last year.

Every year, the Society of Petroleum Engineers promotes the innovation, industry contribution, and outstanding achievements of its members. It does so through a variety of awards that recognize technical, social, academic and corporate support, and other accomplishments in the oil and gas industry.

Since 1936, when J. Edgar Pew won the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal, SPE has created several awards, each one of them with special requisites and a special focus to promote the diversity of technical sections within the industry.

SPE grants these awards regionally and internationally in each of the categories shown in the figure below. Each category has its own nomination process and deadline.

These awards don’t belong only to our seasoned and senior colleagues; SPE realizes the importance of young professionals’ contributions across our industry every day and has created a special award for this audience: The Young Member Outstanding Service Award (YMOSA), for both the international and regional categories.

Over time, SPE has increased the YMOSA recipient count by more than 200% (graph below) to recognize and encourage the increase in young professionals in the industry and their contribution over the years.

Increase in the number of YMOSA recipients during the past 10 years.

Recognition outside our companies, schools, and institutions matters. Do you have a friend who is worthy of SPE recognition? Nominate them for the SPE award in the regional or international category.

What Does It Take To Win?

Karen D. Hagedorn, the 2018 SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award Subcommittee chair, shared her thoughts on some of the factors that the SPE award committee takes into consideration when facing the difficult task of deciding who to recognize:

As you know, the YMOSA is intended to encourage interests broader than the profession. That is a critical point. We are looking for SERVICE, particularly leadership service, to the public and the community in addition to service to SPE, the petroleum profession, or the industry. So SPE volunteerism or professional contributions are very important, but what we would really like to see more of in the nominations is truly sustained, outstanding service to the broader community, of course consistent with local custom.

How Does the Recognition Help the Recipient?

Some of the most recent YMOSA recipients described the positive impact this achievement has had on their career.

“The award not only impacted my career but gave me a sense of belonging with other YPs all over the world, changing my career path drastically in a positive way,” said Pringle Egbe, a YMOSA recipient in 2017.

“In 2013, I proposed an SPE Science and Engineering Fair. The fair receives students from 50 secondary schools to demonstrate their science understanding with their peers. This program was really an eye opener in my section and it was then adopted as an annual event. SPE is a platform to shape your career and it gives you the privilege to network,” said Egbe recounting his volunteer and leadership experience through SPE.

Augustina Ovuema, another recipient of the award said, “This award brought me recognition and put me on the spotlight. I believe my service and volunteerism brought me this far. Crave for excellence and be good at it. Reach out to the young ones, mentor, and share experiences with them.”

We are living in a world of collaboration, partnership, and knowledge sharing. We, the TWA team, encourage you to nominate a colleague, friend, or teammate that you believe deserves to be applauded by nominating them for the YMOSA Award.

Below are a few resources to help you get started:

International Young Member Outstanding Service Award: Nomination Deadline: 15 February
The SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award recognizes contributions to and leadership in public and community matters, SPE, the petroleum engineering profession, or the petroleum industry. Eligibility Must be an SPE member younger than 36 years of age. Must not be on the current SPE Board of Directors or Young Member Outstanding Service Award Subcommittee or served in these committees during the past 2 years. Cannot be a resident in any US- or EU-sanctioned country Must be nominated by a colleague To Nominate Fill out the online nomination form Complete all the required information on the nomination form; incomplete nominations will not be accepted. Include a complete statement of the reasons for proposing the candidate, with a record of the candidate's professional and service achievements in detail. Collect and upload up to 3 letters of support from colleagues familiar with the candidate’s work. Submit by 15 February
Regional Young Member Outstanding Service Award: Nomination Deadline: 1 March
The Regional Young Member Outstanding Service Award recognizes contributions and leadership to the public, the community, SPE, and the petroleum engineering profession within the region. Eligibility Must be an SPE member younger than 36 years of age. Must be residing in region for at least the most recent 12 months prior to award. Note: The region is determined by the section the nominee belongs to. Must not have served as an officer or director of the SPE International Board of Directors within 24 months of award Must not be a recipient of the international SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award Must not be currently serving on the Regional Award Selection Committee Must not be a recipient of this same award in the region in the last 5 years Cannot be a resident in any US- or EU-sanctioned country Must be nominated by a colleague To Nominate Complete the online nomination form Please be prepared to answer the questions below. Statement of the significant reason why candidate should be selected for this award: One sentence (400-character limit) summarizing the accomplishments of the candidate that meet the award criteria. Describe specific examples of the candidate's work that support the award criteria: For example, industry experience, major accomplishments, publications, education, etc. These may be listed in bulleted list format. Note: Letters of recommendation are not accepted. Place all content in space provided in the online form. Submit by 1 March If you have any questions about the SPE Awards Program, contact awards@spe.org.

International Young Member Outstanding Service Award: Nomination Deadline: 15 February

The SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award recognizes contributions to and leadership in public and community matters, SPE, the petroleum engineering profession, or the petroleum industry.

Eligibility

Must be an SPE member younger than 36 years of age.
Must not be on the current SPE Board of Directors or Young Member Outstanding Service Award Subcommittee or served in these committees during the past 2 years.
Cannot be a resident in any US- or EU-sanctioned country
Must be nominated by a colleague

To Nominate

Fill out the online nomination form
Complete all the required information on the nomination form; incomplete nominations will not be accepted.
Include a complete statement of the reasons for proposing the candidate, with a record of the candidate's professional and service achievements in detail.
Collect and upload up to 3 letters of support from colleagues familiar with the candidate’s work.
Submit by 15 February

Regional Young Member Outstanding Service Award: Nomination Deadline: 1 March

The Regional Young Member Outstanding Service Award recognizes contributions and leadership to the public, the community, SPE, and the petroleum engineering profession within the region.

Eligibility

Must be an SPE member younger than 36 years of age.
Must be residing in region for at least the most recent 12 months prior to award. Note: The region is determined by the section the nominee belongs to.
Must not have served as an officer or director of the SPE International Board of Directors within 24 months of award
Must not be a recipient of the international SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award
Must not be currently serving on the Regional Award Selection Committee
Must not be a recipient of this same award in the region in the last 5 years
Cannot be a resident in any US- or EU-sanctioned country
Must be nominated by a colleague

To Nominate

Complete the online nomination form
Please be prepared to answer the questions below.
- Statement of the significant reason why candidate should be selected for this award: One sentence (400-character limit) summarizing the accomplishments of the candidate that meet the award criteria.
- Describe specific examples of the candidate's work that support the award criteria: For example, industry experience, major accomplishments, publications, education, etc. These may be listed in bulleted list format.
- Note: Letters of recommendation are not accepted.

Place all content in space provided in the online form.
Submit by 1 March

If you have any questions about the SPE Awards Program, contact awards@spe.org.

Encourage Young Leaders in Oil and Gas: Nominate Them for an SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award

Recognition outside our companies, schools, and institutions matters. Do you have a friend who is worthy of SPE recognition? Nominate them for an SPE award.

What Does It Take To Win?

How Does the Recognition Help the Recipient?

Resources

Topics