Trans-Pecos Officers And E-mail

Billy Harris - Wagner & Brown - Permian Basin Section PEEC Chairman & NA SW Regional PEEC Coordinator
Celia Payne - Bass Enterprises - Trans-Pecos Section Chairperson

New resources are available to support your energy education efforts at http://www.spe.org/web/eweek/index.html.

-- See the new career-focused presentation that members can give during Engineers Week or for any classroom visit, “Petroleum Engineers Make a World of Difference.” Please view it in the slide show format to see the animations in the presentation.

-- View the “Quest” video online

-- See new information from Energy Education Coordinator Billy Harris on the Permian Basin Section’s “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” program for 23 February. Other section best practices are also available on the page.

It’s not too late to arrange for a classroom visit from members in your section or region for Engineers Week, 19-25 February. This is a global opportunity, and SPE is a sponsoring society. 2006 President Eve Sprunt will be making two presentations to girls at Dallas area schools for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, and will be introduced by two young women engineers from the Dallas SPE Section.

Texas A&M University Developing Educational Program for Elementary, Junior High, and High Schools.

PDF that has the history of oil in Colorado - they have an excellent discussion in the origin of oil….worth looking at for the students

Dr E’s Energy Lab
A good site for elementary school children interested in learning about energy.

Energy Information Administration’s Kids Corner
A resource for kids that provides general information about energy, including
renewable and non-renewable resources.

Energy Quest
An energy education website of the California Energy Commission, which includes
games, puzzles, explanations and ideas for science projects.

Geothermal Energy Office
A geothermal energy education website, which includes geothermal facts, a slide
show, and worldwide data and maps. Great for kids and adults interested in learning
about geothermal energy.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Photographic Information Exchange
A collection of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology photographs
maintained by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium
A good site for students interested in researching geothermal technology, specifically
heat pump systems and their use in heating and cooling households. Includes technical
information as well as case studies and diagrams.

An initiative to achieve greater success in attracting, retaining and encouraging the specialist workforce needed to drive Australia's massive oil and gas industry into the future, has been released.

Initiative towards young people in the UK:

Young People Take Energy Challenge in Aberdeen. RGU will play host to a major new initiative that will give young people an unrivalled insight into the workings, challenges and opportunities facing the energy industry.

Energy Challenge 2004, which runs from 20-23 July, will bring together 70 young people aged 14-15 from all over the UK to Aberdeen. The pupils will take part in a range of practical projects where they will explore traditional methods of oil and gas exploration and will also focus on three alternative sources of renewable energy: wave power, wind power and tidal energy. The delegates will be challenged to apply their new-found knowledge to work out a solution for providing power to a fictitious island off the west Coast of Scotland.

The initiative is being driven by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) in partnership with the Smallpeice Trust and RGU.

Marie Barford, Manager of Membership Development at IMarEST said, "This challenge is designed to show young people how exciting the world of science, engineering and technology can be, particularly in the marine and offshore industry and emphasizes the importance of addressing environmental issues. We hope this will enthuse and encourage more young people to consider a career in our profession."

A number of companies have already pledged their support to the Energy Challenge 2004. The sponsoring organizations to date are Lloyd's Register, Shell and Wormald Environmental Engineering while supporting companies include ABB Vetco Gray UK Ltd, Sonsub Ltd, Wavegen, iicorr, Subsea 7, Resource and SEMTA.

All organizations involved have agreed to provide young members of staff who are engineers, scientists or technologists to act as facilitators and team leaders to guide the delegates through their project work in addition to providing guest speakers for the four day event, merchandise and materials.

Professor Bill Stevely, Principal of RGU said, "Given the University's strong reputation in the energy sector we are delighted to be hosting this major national event. There is a very real need to attract youngsters into technical subjects and the energy sector is no

Exception with fears being expressed about a future skills gap. This type of hands-on experience has the potential to fire the enthusiasm of the next generation."

Companies and organizations wishing to support Energy Challenge 2004 or schools wanting to find out more about participating should contact Marie Barford at marie.barford@imarest.org or call 0207 382 2600.

Adobe Files/GuestEdOct2003.pdf Article that was in the October 2003 JPT. Please feel free to share this article with others.

Request from Prentice Creel, the SWNA Regional Director. If you or someone you know may be interested in serving in this role for the various SPE Sections in the North America - SW Region, please contact Billy Harris (432) 686-5935 or bharris@wbltd.com .

The vision of the PEEC is to have Students, the General Public, Industry Customers, Industry Employees, Governments and NGO's understand the accomplishments and challenges involved in producing oil and natural gas, as well as our industry's contribution to their quality of life. The Public Energy Education Committee [PEEC] met on Wednesday, 8 October in Denver at the ATC to initiate the start of this committee.

Project Objectives
1. To provide easy access to credible sources of informational material on the oil and gas industry and the role of Petroleum Engineers
2. To design and implement a process whereby SPE members and others working in the oil and gas industry are encouraged and supported to seek opportunities to deliver the informational materials.
3. To encourage young people to choose to work in the oil and gas industry.
4. To share best practices and lessons learned on the process of communicating with the public.
5. To adapt programs and materials for use in the diverse regions on the world where SPE has a presence.

Steve Holditch discussed the most important tasks in front of the PEEC committee in the coming months. To be successful, it will be important that an effective implementation network be put in place during the coming six months. This implementation network should consist of Regional, Sectional, and Student Chapter Public Energy Education Implementation coordinators. Steve emphasized that the Regional Coordinators need to find the Section and Student Chapter coordinators as soon as feasible.

A timetable planned for the Public Energy Education implementation as follows:
* December 1 2003 - have all 14 Regional Coordinators selected
* January 1 2004 - all 14 Regional Coordinators should have contacted all Section and Student Chapter Chairpersons to inform them of the Public Energy Education Effort and to have the Chairpersons start looking for volunteers to lead the effort in their section or chapter.
* February 1 2004 - all Sections and Student Chapters should have a Committee Chair for their local PEEC.

Celia Payne - Bass Enterprises - Trans-Pecos Section Chairperson
Billy Harris - Wagner & Brown - Permian Basin Section Chairman & SW NA Regional Coordinator

* March 1, 2004 - all Sections and Student Chapters should have a PEEC in place and should be planning activities for both the remainder of 2004
* May 1, 2004 - all Regional Coordinators should prepare a short report to be distributed at the PEEC meeting to be held at the Offshore Technology Conference in early May 2004.

While the Regional, Sectional and Student Chapter committees are being formed, the PEEC and the SPE staff will be working to improve the information available to all SPE members to use in their presentations to the Public. The SPE staff will continue to improve the SPE Website and various other planned content. Currently, there is an abundance of information already on the SPE Website, as well as numerous links to other Websites containing useful information. The challenge to the SPE staff will be to prioritize the information so our members can find what they need without having to sort through everything on the Website or other resources.

As the Regional Coordinator, Billy Harris will need to find volunteers for the Sections and Student Chapters as soon as feasible. Once in place, the various Section and Student Chapter coordinators should begin forming committees [as needed] to develop ideas and make plans to go visit schools and other groups in their communities to begin the task of educating the public.