Young Professionals Committee
Interested in developing your knowledge, skills and network?
The SPE Aberdeen Young Professionals (under 35 yrs) host a range of FREE events throughout the year, supported by industry experts and professional development providers.
If you’d like to expand your career horizon, why not join us for one of our forthcoming events to find out more!
Check out our upcoming events here – our events are open to all, not just YPs
Missed an event or looking for the slides that were displayed? Click here
Get in touch via email – yp.chair@spe-uk.org
Simplified Series is our monthly technical series where invited guests give presentations with an aim to keep young professionals up to date with emerging technologies in various aspects of the oil and gas industry while promoting professional networking.
The Unplugged 360 Series exists to highlight and educate on the importance of non-technical skills. The workplace is constantly evolving and we will typically draw more heavily on soft skills to effectively navigate these changes. This quarterly series provides an opportunity for professionals to unplug from daily routines and to look beyond job descriptive competencies. It will provide an opportunity to take a 360 view on the various behavioural components we consciously and subconsciously exhibit in order to understand how interpersonal skills can play a key role in our professional lives. The series will address the skills and behaviours that are typically regarded as secondary or forgotten: leadership, emotional intelligence, management, effective communication and an appreciation for diversity, inclusion and equality.
Emerging Engineers Forum is an annual event which aims to give Young Professionals a platform to engage with senior members of the Oil and Gas industry to discuss a specific topic in an interactive fashion. The forum was held twice, once in 2016 focusing on career development and in 2017 on emerging technologies and innovation, with both events conducted in a form of a round table discussions. This one of the SPE YP flagships events with goal of focused development in line with the current industry trends.
TechTours. A new event series introduced in 2018, providing unique opportunities to visit and see behind the scenes of various local companies aiming to provide a practical insight into various sectors in the industry. To be held ad-hoc throughout the year.
Committee Chair – Joe Sherratt Biography & In the Spotlight
Committee Vice Chair – Yeisson C. Diaz Biography & In the Spotlight
Recent Events:
SPE Aberdeen Section Took Part In SPE Beyond the Borders
Mircea Calarasu, YP Committee Member represented Aberdeen at the SPE Beyond The Borders event in Vienna, June 2022. He enjoyed a weekend of technical and networking events with other YPs from all over Europe. The trip featured a tour of OMV’s technology centre and a visit to OPEC’s headquarters. Read more here
SPE International Student Series
A new initiative set up by SPE International called the Student Series took place for the European regions on the 25th of November. The aim of the event was to bring students from across Europe together to discuss how oil and gas can meet the energy need for today and in the future. Over 160 students from across Europe joined the zoom meeting to participate. Laura Precupan the SPE director for Europe helped to organise the event and gave the keynote speech.
The day was split into four parts. The first panel discussion of the day was hosted by Joschka Roth the YP chair of the SPE Germany section, the panel discussion focused on Energy Outlook and Sustainability. Roth was joined by Thomas Blasingame, SPE President 2021, Johana Dunlop, SPE Technical Director 2017-2020, Daria Karasalihovic-Sedlar, Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the University of Zagreb and John Butler, Consultant. The panel discussion focused on how petroleum engineers will help to meet the energy demands of the future; Blasingame highlighted the need for petroleum engineers to help shape the future of the industry.
The second part of the day was a networking opportunity for the participating students. Breakout rooms were set up with 5 to 8 student assigned to a room with a mentor who asked a specific question and helped build their professional network. SPE Aberdeen’s YP chair Joe Sherratt kindly volunteered to be one of the mentors.
The third session of the day was a career round table session hosted by Gabrijel Grubac, Program Chair for the SPE Romania section. The session was dedicated to career advice for 
now and tomorrow’s energy careers. The session included Shauna Noonan, SPE President 2020, Bernhard Schlager, Director of Domestic Assets OMV Petrom, Dragutin Domitorvic, CEO of Calida Aqua and Aberdeen YP committee member Ross Taylor. Each member gave a short presentation while Dragutin Domitorvic explained the similarities between subsurface hydrocarbon work and subsurface geothermal work. After the presentations the floor was opened up to the student to ask industry professionals any questions or concerns they may have. They key learnings for students from the session where to build on academic knowledge, resilience and finally the strengths of building a professional network.
The final part of the day involved 3 workshops focusing on resilience, entrepreneurship and innovation.
The Student Series was been organised by Young Professionals from across Europe with help from SPE International. Over 160 students attended this first Student Series event and it received positive feedback from all who attended.