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The Brazil Section’s Women in Energy Brazil (WIN Brazil) encourages the participation of women in STEM through grassroots initiatives in schools. Read the story from the Women in Energy Brazil, edited by Devindra Harshad Rai, to find out more about their successful program.

The Women in Energy Brazil (WIN Brazil), an initiative under the Diversity and Inclusion taskforce of the SPE Brazil Section aims to stimulate and educate students, especially women, about pursuing knowledge and careers in fields related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). It also aims to expand representation and promote leadership among women in these fields. To achieve its objectives, WIN Brazil developed the Energy4Me Program that connects schools through a productive partnership with the SPE Brazil Section.

The Energy4Me Program achieves its objectives through:

• Building a co-operative relationship with targeted schools in various regions of Brazil.
• Discussions with teachers and directors to formulate a strategy to bring more value from the Energy4Me sessions to each school depending on the target audience which encompasses elementary to high school students.
• The selection of Brazil Section members who represent skilled professionals and women in the energy industry to share their experiences about pursuing a STEM related education and their careers in the energy industry with students.
• Feedback from each session to continuously improve the delivery of the Energy4Me Program and ensure its objectives are being met.

From its inception in mid-2020, the Energy4Me Program has successfully organized 7 events covering 541 students and teachers in various schools and cities – a feat worth celebrating!

Best Practices

• Create an online form to collect contacts from schools in your area.
• Meet with interested schools to explain about the program.
  • By meeting you build a relationship of trust and integrate the school to the event. Address all the important topics for the event such as the date, time and the themes taking into account the target audience (elementary or high school students). This meeting helps to connect and exchange experience with the school, enriching even more then Energy4me sessions.
• Invite excellent women professionals to share their stories and experiences about "Diversity and the Oil Industry"
  • Invite more than one speaker
  • Invite professionals who have a personal or professional relationship with the region where the school is located
  • Presentations should be about the process of choosing the profession, the experiences lived during graduation and in the day-to-day work, in a very simple and dynamic way sharing photos, videos instigating the students' curiosity.
• Keep constant contact with the school, supporting them with online material to promote the event and reach more students.
• At the end of each event, send an appreciation e-mail to the school, and an online form to gather feedback from teachers and students.
  • This form is an effective tool to provide constant improvement and ensure that the program's goals are being achieved.

Lima Section overcomes connectivity gaps to conduct their Energy4me Program reaching students in 5 Peruvian cities.  Read their story by Rocío Salas, Lima Section’s Energy4me Program Director.

On July 9, 2021, the Energy4me Program in Perú reached a very important milestone by conducting for the first time, a virtual activity for students from schools in 5 important cities in northern Perú: Cajamarca, Chimbote, Trujillo, Huaraz and Pacasmayo. Due to COVID-19,  schools in Perú have not reopened; however, this was not a limitation for the Lima Section team that promotes the Energy4me Program in Perú. They identified the opportunity to bring together schools from the most important cities in the north of the country in a great virtual activity, overcoming the connectivity challenges that could pose connecting some remote regions.  They explained the details about Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). “Pampa Melchorita” is the first plant of Liquefied Natural Gas in South America, located in Perú. Peruvian gas is transported by pipelines to many Peruvian families and industries located in the north and south of Peru as part of an important national project called “Natural Gas Massification at National Level”. Technical details were explained to the students about this process in the virtual Energy4me activity. To do this, light digital content was developed  to get less internet consumption and avoid the risk of slow bandwidth caused by too many people being connected to the internet at the same time far away from Lima.  In that way, connectivity challenges were overcome.

The activity was a success due to the significant regional impact. We thank and congratulate the work done by the team for reaching this achievement: Rocío Salas, Energy4me® Program Director in Peru, Beatriz de la Vega, Rafael Segovia and Mario Huasasquiche, prominent Lima Section members, and to Shell Peru for its support.

 Energy4me virtual activity July 9, 2021

Territorial Impact of Energy4me Program in Perú - Cost, mountains and jungle

Before restrictions were imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Energy4me Program visited many schools carrying the sustainability message of our industry. One of the last visits was in 2019 to the Buenavista Community in the Peruvian jungle, a few kilometers from the border with Ecuador. The trip was a pleasant journey from Lima by plane to Iquitos, after that, we had to navigate through 2 rivers of the jungle and after 19 hrs. approx. reach the region close to the Block 67 operated by PERENCO, an upstream French company. During that visit, the students learned in a hands-on activity about robotics, so they could improve their interest in STEM areas. This visit was also an important milestone for the Energy4me team, as it surpassed the Peruvian geography and brought high-quality thematic content to students from the most remote regions.

Energy4me Program visited the “Comunidad de Buenavista” on Peruvian Jungle

The Italian Section, along with their sponsoring chapter, Politecnico di Milano Student Chapter, are using SPE’s Energy4me program to introduce high school students to petroleum engineering through a combination of lectures and hands-on experiments.  Read the story from Italian Section chair, Paolo Carnevale (edited by Elizabeth Barsotti, London Section)

Experiments engage a new generation of petroleum engineers

To the layperson, petroleum engineering is an enigma, often branded as good or evil, depending on what news media you consume. We are using SPE’s Energy4me program to demystify the petroleum industry for high school students. First, students are introduced to petroleum engineering by guest speakers, members of the Italian Section, who talk about their own experiences in the petroleum industry and hot topics, such as hydraulic fracturing. Then, we cultivate students’ creativity and curiosity by having them perform hands-on experiments that represent real petroleum engineering problems. For example, we have had students insert straws into carbonated drinks to simulate artificial lift.

We held our first Energy4me workshops in February of 2021 for two high schools in San Donato Milanese: Liceo Levi and Itis Matei. Both schools provided us with positive feedback about their experiences. We are excited to hold more workshops, ourselves, and to help other sections and student chapters host their own!

Following the same steps we did, you can host your own Energy4me workshop.

How Your Section Can Host an Energy4me Workshop

1. Enlist volunteers. They should be certified as an Energy4me Ambassador through SPE International: https://energy4me.org/get-involved/member-training-sessions/
2. Select a school. Contact schools through your personal network.
3. Plan experiments. SPE provides a list of potential activities at: https://energy4me.org/find-resources/
4. Invite guest speakers. Ask university professors and/or industry professionals to contribute to the workshop. SPE provides guidance for presentations here: https://energy4me.org/get-involved/presentations-and-guides/
5. Communicate with teachers. Provide teachers with the schedule for the workshop in advance. Make sure the teachers are prepared for the experimental section of the workshop; be clear about any materials that they need to furnish.
6. Choose an appropriate platform. If part of the workshop will be hosted online, make sure that your platform is accessible to all of the speakers and students.
7. Write about your success. Share the outcome of your workshop on social media and with SPE by sending a report to energyed@spe.org.

Find out how the Astana Section overcame challenges to host a successful online Energy4me event.  Read the story from Gaukhar Alzhanova, Astana Section’s Sustainability/YP Chairperson, who improvised using common household items she had in her kitchen.

What's the story?
During the COVID-19 pandemic it was impossible to gather schoolteachers in one place due to social distancing, so we held an online event via Zoom. With some help from SPEI, we organized and facilitated a free one-day online education workshop for science teachers from all over Kazakhstan. Educators received comprehensive, objective information about the scientific concepts of energy and its global significance. The workshop was in Russian with Kazakh subtitles, and all attendees received a certificate after completing the workshop. No other free event on this level has been organized for schoolteachers before.  There was a lot of skepticism at first, so we had to thoroughly explain what the event was about and how important it was. Stakeholder engagement was needed to make the event a success.  Videos were shot in my kitchen using my phone's camera since a professional couldn’t come to shoot the videos.  I had to use items I had on hand - improvising by changing some materials from the workshop to household materials.  For example, beans were used instead of large marbles and small sprinkles for cupcakes were used instead of fine sand. 

After the teachers' workshop, all workshop participants shared the videos with their students and asked them to repeat the experiments at home, tagging the Astana Section in the social media to receive a book as a gift afterwards.

What were the challenges?

Besides the COVID pandemic and needing to host an online event, we also faced customs services which were not open or quick enough to deliver to Astana due to pandemic limitations.  The Energy4me kit did not arrive from the SPE team in time so I made all the videos with what I had at home. 

What were the results? How did you measure success?

• We received positive feedback during the webinar that the video clips for science hands-on experiments were very easy to follow and that children could repeat the experiments without leaving their own kitchen.
• Students from Astana tagged the Astana Section Instagram account with the video experiments they repeated from our tutorials and answered the questions in the videos. They received the Oil and Gas book from Energy4me and couple of souvenirs such as paper notebooks and pens.
• We received positive feedback in emails and Instagram.
• We reached around 60 schoolteachers and their students from Atyrau, Aktau, Aktobe, Astana, Petropavlovsk, Taldykorgan, Karaganda, and Shymkent.

 How can a section host a similar Energy4me workshop?

• Allow enough time to prepare for the workshop. It took our section 4 months to prepare.
• Work with SPE Energy4Me staff to hold an online workshop for teachers
• Make videos using subtitles if needed
• Prepare the videos in advance and save for future use for those not able to participate
• Contact teachers by networking
• Prepare flyers advertising the workshop
• Prepare a registration form both in word format and Google forms online format.
• Send the link to the form and the flyers with the information to all sections in your area so they can spread the word to their local schools and students.
• Have a hard deadline to submit the registration form, allowing enough time to sort through the information about the schools, teachers, etc. to make sure they receive the link to the Zoom webinar.
• Allow enough time to shoot the videos and do voiceovers.
• After the workshop, send certificates to every participant

This article was written by Yogashri Pradhan, who interviewed Alison Isherwood, London Section

In late 2019, Alison Isherwood chaired a session on Sustainability and energy diversity at the London SPE Upstream Investment Conference. Given the internationally ratified Paris Agreement and UN Sustainability Goals, she decided to take further action. Isherwood then chaired a subcommittee meeting of the SPE London Section and discussed with her group how to educate the public on the importance of energy diversity and how members in the oil and gas industry and others too can be a part of the solution.

Emulating a similar model to Energy4Me and using the UK’s 2019 Climate Change Committee report and other available material outside of the oil and gas industry, Isherwood and her committee developed a “Future of Energy” presentation deck to educate secondary school students virtually on the United Nations Sustainability Goals and all energy sources. Since February 2020, the committee has reached out to several schools through virtual platforms disseminating knowledge.

During times of the pandemic, virtual learning is becoming mandatory. To keep the student engaged remotely, Isherwood mentioned that the presentations are interactive, where presenters would ask questions to get the students’ thoughts and students are encouraged to ask questions. The main emphasis is on the technical challenge of moving from a world predominantly run on fossil fuels to one predominantly run on renewables (but still with some oil and gas) and how it will take time and it needs bright young minds such as themselves to join the energy industry to help solve these challenges.. The sessions have online quizzes to assess the students’ reception.

These presentations are also ever evolving, as the section committee is consistently getting feedback from the contacted schools, various local SPE student chapters, and the London Mayor office. The committee plans to develop other versions of presentations that will be expanded to other education levels, such as primary school students and university students. Other content the committee aims to expand on for future presentations are carbon capture, energy storage, recognizing that there is no perfect solution, and how can university students prepare for employment opportunities with this knowledge.

The SPE London Section aims to create a net zero committee by partnering with different STEM institutions inside and outside of SPE. This Net Zero Committee will encompass Sustainability and the schools’ engagement programs. The specific aim of the Net Zero Committee has been defined as “informing the membership on how the industry is supporting activities to achieve net zero targets & positively promoting our industry's part in achieving Net Zero targets within our community, in particular through a secondary schools engagement program designed to encourage students to consider careers in the energy industry.” This committee also plans to expand into a mentoring program for the community, as the section is already sponsoring select secondary students in their established section programs.

The Future of Energy Talks Initiative strongly encourages petroleum engineers and those studying petroleum engineering to get involved, as this complements their education and career objectives. From the data gathered in their presentations and observing larger companies are pushing the energy transition, petroleum engineers are integral in developing solutions to reduce carbon footprint. Isherwood has been actively involved with STEM institutions to investigate how oil and gas technologies transfer to alternative energy industries and vice versa. Examples include how wind energy can be used on offshore oil and gas platforms or how petroleum engineering concepts could be used in the geothermal energy space.

Isherwood and the committee remind interested presenters for The Future of Energy Talks to research their audiences and understand that different sized oil and gas companies will contribute in various ways to sustain their businesses. For instance, major oil and gas companies could encompass alternative energy sources in their business models and create those employment opportunities, while smaller and independent oil and gas companies will continue to produce hydrocarbons, but could invest initiatives to reduce their carbon emissions in current operations (electrification on oil and gas operations, reduce methane emissions at facilities, gas capturing for flaring reduction). It is with this understanding that we can maximize the number of contributors to the solution of sustaining the environment while having businesses of all sizes thrive.

The Future of Energy Talks presentation pack and resources used could be found on the SPE London website:

This article was written by Mistura Badru who interviewed Odunayo Oladugba, Benin City Section Chair

The pandemic COVID-19 put a halt to so many activities around the world with Nigeria not left behind where Benin City, Edo State is located in the Southern region of the country. The section deemed fit to give back to the community under the SPE Cares Initiatives as one of their commitments to the community that houses them. The Section Chair; Odunayo Oladugba shares more insight about the event. 

What was the goal behind this initiative?

Benin City, Nigeria Section, in conjunction with the SPE Nigeria Council reached out to indigent communities and people who are directly or indirectly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Benin, Nigeria. The aim was to provide palliative support to the under privileged persons who are facing serious economic hardship resulting from COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world.

Can you share the major highlights and results of the initiative?

We achieved very amazing results, amongst which are:

Fund raiser: Within 3 weeks; April 9 - 30, 2020, we successfully organized a fundraiser to generate funds to carry out the above community charity initiative using our SPE Cares platform. We raised over USD 7,500 through voluntary cash donations by section members including a grant of about USD 2,500 from SPE Nigeria Council.

Beneficiaries and Palliative Distribution: Through this initiative, the section donated foodstuffs to feed over five hundred vulnerable persons in Benin City while also donating some medical consumables with Personal Protective Equipment to a Covid-19 isolation Centre in Benin City.

April 23, 2020, we donated food items to one hundred families of an average of 4 persons per family in Ugbihoko Community in Benin City. The beneficiaries were widows, single mothers and poor families. We also gave all beneficiaries soap and face masks. Same day, we donated medical consumables and PPE to Stella Obasanjo Women and Children Hospital.

May 1, 2020, we donated food items to over one hundred and twenty residents in four different homes. Overall, it was a very successful SPE Cares project. The best yet in the history of SPE Benin City Nigeria Section.

Impact: We left an indelible mark on the faces of many indigent people across the ancient city of Benin-City. Not only were many lives touched by the affection and gesture, it also afforded us and members of the SPE Community the opportunity to see how the little things we take for granted mattered a whole lot to others. While putting smiles on the faces of these people, we couldn't contain our joy. The smiles on the faces of the beneficiaries were priceless and they expressed profound gratitude to SPE. Besides, the donors to the SPE Cares initiative were extremely pleased when they saw the collective impact made by their individual freewill donation. Truly, SPE Cares!

Any insight on why this particular neighborhood was selected?

Ugbihoko Community was selected because it is one of the closest indigent communities to Benin City Centre where poor families reside. These families were directly or indirectly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The community also has a large open field which was used to safely distribute food items to the affected families in adherence to physical distancing guidelines.

Stella Obasanjo Hospital was selected because it was one of the government approved COVID-19 isolation centres in Benin City.

The Catholic Homes for old people was selected because it is a recognized charity home where old people are catered for.

Tender Hearts Orphanage Charity Home and Charilove Foundation Home were chosen because of the high number of orphans they cater for.

Salvation Army Disabled People’s Home was chosen because they cater for people who are physically challenged and they provide several vocational skills acquisition trainings for them.

What was/were the major challenge(s) encountered while planning and afterwards?

It was somewhat difficult to raise funds during a period of pandemic. Everyone was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in one way or the other. At the time of the fundraiser, many of our SPE members already had personal family and community pressures which they had just responded to or which coincidentally needed their attention. 

Besides, it was more demanding to manage a team of volunteers in a period of pandemic than in normal times. For instance, volunteers expressed several concerns relating to their personal finances, security and safety as per health and fear of stampede during distribution of foodstuff to poor families in the identified community.

The good news is that we surmounted all the challenges that popped up through deploying relevant leadership, project management, people management and situation management skills.

What safety measures were put in place for proper coordination?

Considering the limited time set for this project, we swung into action immediately by setting up the SPE Benin Cares team and I communicated the goal of the charity initiative clearly to the team. We set up an online platform of SPE professional members in Benin City to coordinate the fundraiser and to serve as a platform to periodically update the donors about the team’s progress during planning and execution of the charity project.

The team held several online planning meetings and did tedious physical work to arrive at identifying the beneficiaries of the SPE Benin COVID-19 emergency rescue charity donation, items donated, procurement of items and distribution of items. The section board members supported the team through countless, relentless and passionate reviews of their intervention plans. We carried out pre-donation survey visits to the community, planned and simulated different ‘What If’ scenarios and how to respond to them. We deployed best practices in crowd control and management. Besides, at one of the pre-donation survey visits, we identified a large private school open field and marked the field according to 2-metres physical distancing guideline which was adhered to during the food items distribution due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation around the world.

The first pre-donation visit we made was a courtesy visit to the community leaders who supported us throughout the exercise. They supported us to develop a register of 100 families who benefited from the donation. We issued tickets to the families through the community leaders and we mandated that each family was represented by one woman to collect the SPE Cares family food pack.

All of these strategies and precautionary measures described above made the charity intervention a very successful and historic project. It was the best charity campaign yet in the history of SPE Benin City. There were no security hassles or stampedes during distribution of food items to the vulnerable people.

Any special lessons learnt during execution? Personally, I had a very unique, holistic and enriching project management experience while coordinating the charity fundraiser and supervising the SPE Cares team that planned and executed the community intervention charity project. The charity project gave me the opportunity to deepen my knowledge in several ways which can be further applied in general leadership or followership endeavours such as leading a team of volunteers and executing a fundraiser for charity amongst other lessons learnt too many to mention.

As a section, we had the opportunity to see how a collective impact made by individual freewill donations can be far reaching in putting smiles on the faces of the beneficiaries of the palliative charity support.

Goodwill message to others around the world?

We made this SPE Cares initiative very historic in Benin City, Nigeria. We would like other SPE sections around the world to continue promoting SPE as best as possible so all the people around us will know that SPE truly cares. Generally, suffice it to say that no amount of giving is really too small. What matters most is the kind heart from which the gesture of giving radiates. Anyone who has this kind heart shouldn’t hesitate to use it because there is always someone out there waiting to be healed by our act of giving. We must continue to identify them and reach out to them.  SPE Cares arm in Benin City, Nigeria will continue to do just that.  Thank you!

For more details on Benin City, Nigeria Success Story, visit the link below.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_8SboEjPLG/?igshid=1lszie0wnznjz 

We asked the Colombian Section to tell us about their successful tree planting activity, which was part of their SPE Cares Initiative.

What was the activity?

As part of the Energy4Me program and as part of an approach to the institutions in which the trainings of this program are developed, we sought to offer a SPE Cares day, which included the restoration and improvement of classrooms, exterior and interior facades and the beautification of green areas with the planting of trees typical of the region.

How did you pick the activity?

Based on the immediate needs observed and analyzed by the staff of the SPE Colombian Section, the activities that can provide an immediate solution to the problem are evaluated and selected.

How did you find your contact person?

Initially, permission is requested with government agencies to approach schools in the area of activity of the oil companies. Afterwards, the visit to each school is carried out and the information about the activity is transmitted. Those schools that decide to carry out the activity are offered the benefits of the SPE Cares program.

How did you coordinate and source volunteers?

Volunteers are selected from the student chapters of the universities closest to the area where the activity will take place. According to the number of children in the chosen population, a certain number of volunteers are determined for the activity.

Was this easy/hard?

Having volunteers' time is always a complicated issue because we are aware that not everyone has the time to support the activities, however, we recognize their willingness to do it.

How did they sign up?

Calls are made through the student chapters of the universities, and also made through the social networks of the SPE Colombian Section.

Did you recognize or spotlight any volunteers that helped?

It is part of our work to always recognize the selfless work of the people who help and accompany us in the development of these activities.

In addition, we have a recognition called “volunteer of the month” where we recognize the best volunteer of the month.  At the end of the year we have a recognition ceremony called “machine de oro” where we give an award to our best volunteers.

How did you source getting donated supplies?

The resources used for the development of this activity came from the sponsorship obtained for the development of the Energy4Me program by the company.

How did you promote the activity?

The activity was promoted through the publication of informative pieces in the different media of the section such as social networks, website and corporate mail. In addition, the invitation was made through personal communications

How did you share with your members the impact it had on the community?

In the same way it was done to share the results obtained from the activity with our members. In addition it was communicated through our monthly informative bulletin and infographics with the data obtained from the program.  

Challenges/lessons learned?

Perform this type of activity more frequently.  You can reach many more people through the call for more volunteers and with companies that can make this type of program a reality.

This article was written by John Ciccarelli, who interviewed Nat Jiamjarasrungsi, Thailand Section YP Committee

One of the social events run every year by the Thailand Section young professionals(YPs) is an annual design contest. This year's contest was to design a reusable tote bag to be used by SPE members in Thailand. The reduction of disposable, single-use plastic bags in Thailand has been a major focus this year with public campaigns to reduce plastic bag usage by “saying no to plastic bags!” These reusable bags will be given out at technical events such as the SPE monthly talks.

The event was coordinated by Threedhases Jiamjarasrungsi (Nat), Thailand Section YP committee and membership management.  Nat recognised this event was great publicity for the oil and gas industry in Thailand as it is a relatively small industry by population compared to others such as electronics and automotive. Past social events run by the section have included a notebook design competition as well as an oil and gas photo competition. These events have been great social highlights for the section. Now, more than ever with the COVID-19 pandemic, events like these are crucial to keep members engaged and connected to others in the industry.

The event was advertised on the Thailand Section Facebook page, which has more than 2500 followers, as well as the section’s website.  The design had to feature the SPE logo and fit on the 11.5 inch width by 15 inch high bag.  Entries were judged by the Thailand Section YP committee.  The winner of the contest would receive a cash prize of USD 160 (5000 Thai Baht), sponsored by the Thailand Section, and have the satisfaction that their design would be printed on the tote bag and reused by Thailand SPE members for years to come!  The plan was to take the winning tote bag design to the SPE members in Thailand with an initial order of 100 bags.  Mr. Khun Rathut Larpudomlert of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited, was announced as the winner in July.

This initiative was great publicity for SPE in Thailand and a socially responsible move to encourage members to reduce plastic bag waste in line with public initiatives. At the same time it engaged the creativity of the YP members in Thailand. In the current times, this was a fantastic initiative to promote the oil and gas industry and encourage networking and social interaction amongst its members.

Because we had achieved very good results, organizing technical events such as “Brazil Offshore Congress 2017”, an unique event in country with specific focus to the Campos Basin and its mature subsea fields, a high interesting topic in country due the Petrobras disinvestment plan, which has been considered by the community as the third event most important of O&G in Brazil and the “Subsea Forum Rio”, event held in June 2018 specific for subsea community, in its fourth Edition, organized with the SPE Brazil Section and the Brazilian Petroleum Institute, and many others technical activities.

The section also supports intensively four students Chapters and they have been doing a great job. For instance, UENF student chapter received the “Outstanding Student Chapter” Award in 2017 and UFPEL student chapter was awarded “Team Total Grants 2017” due their student event project (PetroSul). In 2018,  UFES student chapter has received the same award by Total due a similar student event project (PetroUfes). In Total viewpoint, these events were considered the best Brazilian academic events for Petroleum Engineering students.

Engaging members through events, communications, member programs, and recognition 
Macae Section has a very traditional newsletter spreading news about SPE, recent events, relevant technical data and achievements of our members. The coverage is not restricted to the members, being also distribute to other professionals of the O&G local community. The newsletter is entirely produced by the members and the formatting is made by one of the student chapters, as a way to make them generated their own cash.

To stimulate members exposition and help student chapters events, we reimburse the travel costs of our members when they volunteer to make lectures in different cities. Also, as practice, every year, our members are indicated to SPE Awards (regional and international).

Recently we have been also started to use DL events to capture new members and show relevance of the SPE to the O&G professionals. Our strategy is to make the lectures inside the companies during the working time, making easier to the professionals to attend. During the event, we highlight benefits of becoming a member and share forms for those interested.

In terms of relationship with the community, Macae Section has a close interaction with similar entities (IADC, FIRJAN, REDEPETRO) sending its members to attend their meetings as SPE representatives. Our section has been also interacting with local media producing articles or volunteering for interviews helping to make O&G specific topics more understandable for the local community.

Finally, we have an annual social event, where members (students included) are invited to come for a dinner in a beachfront restaurant bringing their partners/spouses, which has already become very traditional to the members.

Innovative practices and programs
Our city, Macae, has been passing through a new phase after the economic crisis and is returning to capture its attractiveness with the mature fields and even some pre-salt fields development. Macae region as a whole has been recognizing SPE, as an entity to collect and disseminate petroleum engineering knowledge, and offering SPE volunteers’ engagement to several initiatives (public or private) in the sense of looking for Macae potentiality and new opportunities.  Our members shared their knowledge in several events (committees, workshops, training, round tables, meetings, public audiences, etc.) helping local community to understand better the potential of the region in terms of decommissioning related activities, new operators buying mature fields, use of existing infra-structure to new projects, etc.

Challenges faced 
The Section has been doing a very consistent work in the sense of attracting new members, being achieved more than 10% increase in the last year, biggest growth and number of members in our history. In order to give continuity to this initiative, we identified the importance of organizing more technical events, in partnership with others SPE Sections and SPE Inc. (SPE International), mainly to address local demands and share knowledge between members and non-members. Macae section strongly suggests reviewing the event organization policies in order to make possible SPE Inc. being actively participating in the event organization.

 
Tips for other sections
Macae section considers extremely positive the cooperation among other SPE sections and entities of the community to disseminate knowledge. We believe the success of SPE in a place like Macae is related to how intense has been our interaction to the technical and non-technical audience. Owing that, we would like to see more interaction with other sections to organize technical and non-technical events. This initiative is fully aligned with our nonprofit society mission of having sections generating funds to support their activities and also to support students and SPE professional members to participate of the meetings, technical events, paper contests, etc.

In this article Aberdeen Section shares how they inspire the next generation of engineers with a visit from NASA.

SPE Aberdeen Section has a significant program of activities aimed at encouraging young people to consider the oil and gas industry as a possible career – under the umbrella heading of “Inspiring the next generation”.  We staff stands at local school career fairs; we fund activity in the Aberdeen Science Centre; and we have a major programme building on the energy4me materials, which we have re-written for the Scottish National Curriculum, and we continually train teachers to use the materials.

A major new initiative is called “NASA in Aberdeen – Inspiring the Next Generation”” – a range of activities that culminate with a week-long visit to Aberdeen by a NASA astronaut and a NASA space scientist or engineer.

Our target audience is school-children in their final year of primary school and the first year of secondary school – aged 12-14. In the UK these schoolchildren are approaching their first subject decision point – so we aim to inspire them to follow a science and maths pathway that will enable them to study engineering and technology when they are older.

The programme begins some months before the NASA visit.  Schools receive a teacher-developed investigative assignment, and teams of children develop their responses.  Groups of schools meet the NASA team throughout the week they visit Aberdeen, and the NASA team judge the projects and award prizes.  In addition the NASA team talk about space matters based on their personal experience. In 2018 our theme was robotics – so the presentations were on Lunar and Mars Rovers.

In addition to the schools focus, which reached over 1100 schoolchildren, the NASA team delivered a public lecture to 450 people, and led a family day for over 400 attendees.

In 2018 Aberdeen Section secured sponsorship from Aberdeen-based companies BP, Equinor (formerly Statoil), Nexen, Taqa, Apollo Engineering and Oceaneering to cover the cost of the NASA team travel and accommodation, and school travel to the events.  In addition this pays for the Aberdeen Science Centre to manage the programme on our behalf, and to train teachers to develop teaching material based on the NASA visit.

To respond to sponsor wishes, we have a theme each year that links oil and gas and space – in 2018 our focus was on robotics – in 2019 it is on drilling and mining for minerals and microbes.

The NASA team are volunteers – so we seek to make their visit special.  SPE Aberdeen Board member Colin Black, who chairs the NASA in Aberdeen organising committee, takes the NASA team on a very Scottish “Outlander tour – to a whisky distillery, to standing stones, to a castle, and to some amazing countryside in the North East of Scotland..  We also invite them to the awards dinner of our Offshore Achievement Awards initiative.

We are currently preparing for our third year of this programme in March 2019 - and expect it to become a fixture in our programme for years to come – there is always a “Next Generation” to inspire.

Written by: 
Ian Phillips
Aberdeen Section Chair