Dear SPE Aberdeen members, colleagues and friends,

Student members are an integral part of our section, with almost 25% of our membership being made up of students studying oil and gas related courses at the universities of Aberdeen, RGU, Dundee, Heriot Watt and Strathclyde.

They are supported by the section through the Student Development Committee. Now that the new academic year is well underway the committee is busy visiting the student chapters, introducing them to the SPE and the benefits of being a student member.

Earlier this month we were delighted to launch our annual student bursary awards. This programme is now in its 25th year and over the years we have awarded over £450,000 to support students studying oil and gas related courses. These bursaries are awarded to student members in our 5 student chapters. This year we are proud to be able to provide £30,000 worth of scholarships.  The closing date for application is 10th December 2018 – and I would encourage any student members to apply and wish you all the best.

The student chapters operate as largely independent groups, usually registered as a “society” at their university. They organise a wide variety of professional and social activities for their individual members – for example students from the University of Aberdeen SPE Student Chapter recently visited the Maersk Gallant Offshore Rig. The chapters also collaborate with each other – earlier this month student officers from the SPE Student Chapter at the University of Aberdeen visited Portsmouth University (who are supported by the SPE London Section) to participate in their SPE week.  

For the second year in a row, a team from the Heriot Watt Student Chapter reached the finals of the SPE International Petrobowl industry quiz competition.  They reached the final 8 (out of 32) in this very competitive international competition, held at the SPE ATCE 2018 in Dallas – a fantastic achievement All five chapters are currently taking part in the Petrobowl 2019 qualifiers – good luck to all.

All our events are made as accessible as possible to our student members. There is a reduced rate for students to attend all our events and we also help with the financial cost of transportation for students from outside Aberdeen.

The individual chapters regularly have industry professionals join them and give presentations. They are always keen to hear from SPE members interested in visiting their university. If you would like to be involved – or indeed join the Student Development Committee – please contact committee chair Ritika Pawar at SD.chair@spe-uk.org. More details about the Student Development committee are on the section’s website.

I would like to thank you for supporting all our events during the year – the small surpluses that we make enable us to continue to support our student members.