Update - Petroleum Division

As we wrap up another fiscal year, I can say that the Petroleum Division is still “Turning to the right, making hole and pressure is building”. Several years ago the Petroleum Division along with two other ASME Divisions joined to form the International Petroleum Technology Institute (IPTI) of ASME. Working under the umbrella of the (IPTI) has been great since this has kept us “high and dry above the choppy waters” of organizational administrative matters. It has allowed us to focus on our primary mission of establishing an effective program of activities for the benefit of both our members and our industry.

ASME Petroleum Division (PD) has done a great job this year to maintain the reputation of high quality technical events known to be organized by the non-profit societies. These events provide a worthwhile industry-wide venue to support committees, authors, speakers, exhibits, and attendees. Employers within the petroleum industry are recognizing our value to the advancement of technical developments and I hope will continue increasing their support of ASME-PD activities. This year, we have been pursuing several activities to the benefit of our industry, including:
· support of high school science fairs by providing judges
· support of high school student motivation by competition with robotics and career presentations,
· collegiate networking and internships,
· award of scholarships,
· providing major technical conferences & forums,
· providing industry training classes and workshops
· organizing industry networking events for scholarship funding, and
· presentation of industry recognition awards.

In conjunction with the above activities, the ASME-PD events we have both held earlier this year and are planning for later this next year include:
· FORUM on Opportunities for FPSO’s in the Gulf of Mexico, held last March, 2008;
· Annual OTC Golf Tournament held each year on the Saturday prior to OTC in April/May;
· Annual Crawfish Boil held each year on the Sunday prior to OTC (Offshore Technology Conference);
· Annual BMEA Cocktail Reception for Best Mechanical Engineering Award held on Monday evening during each OTC week;
· 4th Annual Sporting Clays Tournament held each year and coming up on 10 October;
· 3rd International Offshore Pipeline Forum (IOPF) held each year and coming up on 29-31 October;
· ASME Petroleum Division Awards Dinner held every September;
· Annual International Gas-Lift Workshop held each year and 32nd Annual is coming up on 2-6 February 2009.

Regarding industry recognition awards, the following are presented each year at ceremonies coordinated by the ASME Petroleum Division:
· RHODES PETROLEUM INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP AWARD: Significant contribution to the petroleum industry.
· ROSS KASTOR EDUCATOR’S AWARD: Significant contribution to education (ASME members only).
· SILVER PATENT AWARD: Acquisition of at least 25 U.S. Patents and contribution to industry ASME-PD members only).
· ASME EXCEPTIONAL VOLUNTEER AWARD: Volunteer service to ASME – Petroleum Division.
· TITANIUM AWARD: Recognition of Industry Achievement as part of the annual ASME-PD Crawfish Boil.
· KEITH THAYER EXCEPTIONAL EARLY CAREER ENGINEER AWARD: Young engineer volunteer service for development of colleagues via ASME PD.

Also, in support of OTC every year, and in addition to the Golf Tournament and the Crawfish Boil, a private social function is also held during OTC week by ASME-PD to recognize petroleum industry technical leaders. These recognition awards presented by ASME-PD include:
· The GEOCA Mechanical Engineering Achievement Award (Oil Drop): Distinguished service in petroleum related mechanical engineering;
· The WOEFEL BEST MECHANICAL ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (BMEA): Company with best engineering achievement displayed at OTC. As many as four affiliated Awards of Merit are also presented.
· LUBINSKI BEST PAPER AWARD: For the best petroleum mechanical engineering paper presented at each OTC.

All of the above activities are meant to provide a positive contribution to our petroleum industry. It has been a true pleasure and an honor to be a part of this beehive of activity both over the past year as Chairman of ASME-PD and over the previous 6 years as a member of the Executive Committee.

The principal reasons behind our success has been:
· first, to the industry for so much support of our many functions and events;
· second, to our staff for working diligently and with dedication and persistence to produce truly incredible results;
· third, to my fellow committee members with whom it has been a great pleasure to serve beside on these functions and at meetings; and
· fourth, to my employer (first Unocal, then Chevron by acquisition) who has been so patient and supportive of my participation in the ASME-PD activities.

I truly hope that all employers in the petroleum industry will consider providing the non-profit technical societies with this type of generous flexibility so that they can best support our industry. I am convinced that within this venue we will be guaranteed to find technical development and sharing purely for the sake of technology, and with a coverage which spans across all the companies who intend to use it.

Charlie Burton

2007/2008 Chair of ASME - Petroleum Division

For more information about the Petroleum Division please visit our website at www.asme-ipti.org.

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