Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition 2016, Dubai

The Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition is the largest conference in the oil and gas industry, it is held annually in varying locations. The main component is the exhibition, where vendors, service companies and operators have the opportunity to introduce and present current as well as new technology. The exhibition is supplemented by various panel sessions and paper presentations concerning the future of the industry and upcoming technologies. In addition, the organizers put on a variety of workshops and events for students and professionals.

Due to the support from the ITE Drilling Department and SPE we were able to send a few students to ATCE in Dubai this year. The official conference dates were from the 26th to the 28th of September, but additional events took place starting the 24th and ending the 29th. Our students arrived on the 24th so we would be able to attend the events scheduled on the 25th.

The day started with a leadership workshop for student chapter officers focusing on improving the leadership of the various chapters around the world. The workshop was followed by the registration for the conference and picking up the nametags for access to the exhibition. The next event was the Student Meet & Greet where students were asked to mingle and meet students from Universities around the world. The event was supplemented by several speakers, talking about the state of the industry, the state of SPE and speakers focused on improving our job search and profile. The event was very well organized and the opportunity to meet students from other countries greatly enhanced the experience. The event was followed by the SPE welcome reception, an event that provided the opportunity to mingle with professionals in a casual environment.

The next day was the first day of the actual exhibition which opened following the opening ceremony at 9:30 am. In addition to the exhibition an important student event took place, namely the Petrobowl competition; an international trivia contest between different universities.

Unfortunately, our chapter did not get past the qualifiers so we had to watch as the remaining teams fought for the victory, which in the end was obtained by the University of Rio de Janeiro. Besides the Petrobowl, SPE held other events oriented at students usually workshops either aimed at improving student chapters or helping with the job search.

The rest of the conference consisted of additional workshops and various presentations, some on the exhibition floor and others in the various plenary sessions. The presentations on the exhibition floor were concerned with new tools and current approaches while the different sessions focused on research done at various universities and institutions.

The conference ended on the 28th after three days filled with presentations, workshops and various events. After the official end of the conference a few larger workshops took place on the 29th. Overall the exhibition provided a great opportunity to meet professionals and students from all over the world. In addition, to the networking opportunities the conference provides a great chance to gauge the state of the industry and learn about new technologies. Our chapter really appreciated the opportunity to go and hopefully we will have the chance to go again.