SEG Middle East successfully inspires more than |
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| Students and faculty from UAEU University, Al Ain, UAE on 20 March 2013. |
This energetic event was extremely well received and absorbed by the students, as faculty gave them an opportunity to advance their existing knowledge, discuss opportunities, expand their horizons, and share best practices. Universities from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, and Pakistan travelled to the UAE to participate in this event.
The first day of the event started with a live address by Elsa Velasco, SEG University and Programs Manager. Velasco shared her Roadmap to Success with 120 future geoscientists, describing how the SEG can play an important role in helping them to realize and achieve their goals. In addition, Velasco familiarized participants with the many benefits that come with being a member of SEG, such as travel grants, scholarships, networking, and job opportunities, among others. Participants had an opportunity to discuss how they can be effective student chapters and how they can continue to stay involved in the exciting student events planned by SEG globally.
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| William L. Abriel speaks about applications of reservoir geophysics. | Participants take part in group exercise and discussion. |
Followed by this enthusiastic live address was a full-day, highly interactive and practical course on Reservoir Geophysics: Applications, delivered by William L. Abriel, Geophysical Advisor at Chevron Petroleum Technology Company, and former SEG First Vice President. The objective of the course was to demonstrate how and why geophysics adds value in reservoir management by using examples from multiple geological environments. The course was designed to examine and illustrate the dependencies of geology and engineering data on geophysical applications during reservoir management and to expose participants to the variety of geophysical tools used in reservoir work. The participants, through group exercises and discussions, not only became familiar with the application, but also appreciated understanding the value of geophysics for users as well as the inherent risks and uncertainties.
Following this highly constructive day came a light-hearted and fun-filled evening. The UAEU took participants for a trip to the Al Ain Palace Museum. This was followed by a Gala Dinner at the Hilton Al Ain. The evening started with a keynote address by Abdulla Al Shateri, Manager, Geoscience Department, ADNOC. Al Shateri shared ADNOC's vision for the geoscience students of UAE and he discussed how continuous advancements in technology within the industry create exciting opportunities for the future geoscientists.
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| Attendees enjoy a performance by Dubai Drums. | Students and faculty members mingle during the evening events. |
The evening also included an animated WAGE 2012 presentation by UAEU that displayed how informative and educational a recent field trip of the UAEU students was. This was followed by a live performance by Dubai Drums. The performers offered all participants the experience of drumming. Students and professionals joined in this highly entertaining experience.
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| The 2013 Middle East Challenge Bowl winners from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia pose with event dignitaries. |
On the second day of the event, students from eight universities in the Middle East competed in the SEG Middle East Regional Challenge Bowl competition, an international contest designed to test students' breadth and depth of knowledge about the field of geosciences. After an exciting round of various stages within the competition, Muhammad Naeem and Muhammad Kamran Jafri, students of King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, won the competition and were awarded a trip to compete at the SEG International Challenge Bowl at SEG Houston 2013, sponsored by Dhahran Geoscience Society. Second place in this competition was earned by Petroleum Institute, UAE.
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| Best Poster award winners Abeer Abdullah Al-Seifi and Abir Abdullah Al-Sawafi. | Best Poster judges listen intently to participant explanations. |
Following this nail-biting enthusiastic competition was the highly impressive poster session, executed by the Sultan Qaboos University students. The Best Poster award was won by students Abeer Abdullah Al-Seifi and Abir Abdullah Al-Sawafi.
The final session of this two-day event was the finest and the most highly cherished by the participants. The session began with a brief presentation on the Overview of the Oil and Gas Industry, given by Said Mahrooqi of PDO. This was followed by a career panel session with the theme Exploitation and Opportunities in the Oil and Gas Industry. Panelists for this session included Abdulla al Shateri, ADNOC; Turki Al Ghamdi, Saudi Aramco; Ahmed Sabry, Schlumberger; Said Mahrooqi, PDO; and Dr. Reyadh Almehaideb, UAEU. The panel session included discussions on The expectation of oil industry from graduates (Outcome of Academia), How to create strong link between academia and oil industry, Potential fields of research in oil industry, and New technologies and the future of the oil industry in gulf region. The panelists not only shared their valuable points of view, but also gave an opportunity to the students to raise their queries to better understand what the future holds for them in their region and beyond.
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| Said Mahrooqi provides an Overview of the Oil & Gas Industry. | Members of the Career Panel entertain participant questions. |
Acknowledgements
SEG Middle East acknowledges and would like to thank the following for their support in making this course a success: Abdulla Al Shateri and Hiroshi Hagiwara, ADNOC; Dr. Khalid Bloushi and Hydar Baker, UAEU, Saudi Aramco Management; Daniel Van Hulle, CGGVeritas; Said Mahrooqi, PDO; Schlumberger Management, Mahmoud Hedefa, Saeed Ghamdi; and Mohammed Fagih, DGS.
About SEG Middle East
SEG is the premier global geosciences society in the Middle East. SEG Global Inc., Middle East is a diverse and dynamic regional office as measured by membership, constituents, and activities in the region. When appropriate, SEG partners with Middle Eastern constituents to deliver superior and innovative products and services that meet their business needs, while at the same time fulfilling the overall mission of SEG. Learn more about SEG Middle East
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For more information, contact:
SEG Media Relations
Whitney Emerick
Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications
918.497.5523
wemerick@seg.org
