(from left to right) Dan Hill, David Burnett, David Schechter, and Thomas Blasingame
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) recently notified those fortunate individuals and companies who have been awarded some of the highest honors in their organization for 2014.
“The SPE international awards that will be given at the Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Amsterdam have just been announced, and again we have several winners on our faculty. Please join me in congratulating Dave Burnett and David Schechter for their selection as SPE Distinguished Members, a distinction restricted to a small percentage of SPE members. In addition, join me in congratulating Tom Blasingame, this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Achievement for Petroleum Engineering Faculty Award. Tom’s selection gives the department consecutive winners, as Hisham Nasr-El-Din was the 2013 recipient. Congratulations to our international award winners!” said Dan Hill, head of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University.
SPE international awards recognize individuals and companies that make significant technical and professional contributions to the petroleum engineering profession and to the worldwide oil and gas industry. Award recipients are formally announced in July, posted on the SPE website, and published in the Journal of Petroleum Technology. The awards are presented during the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, specifically at the Annual Reception and Banquet held on October 27 in the Rai Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Dan Hill, department head, professor and holder of the Noble Endowed Chair, will receive the 2014 John Franklin Carll Award. This award recognizes distinguished contribution in the application of engineering principles to petroleum development and recovery.
David Burnett, director of GPRI, and David Schechter, associate professor and George K. Hickox, Jr. Development Professor, have been named SPE Distinguished Members. Established in 1983, the Distinguished Member award recognizes SPE members who achieve distinction deemed worthy of special recognition. This award acknowledges members who have attained eminence in the petroleum industry or the academic community, or who have made significant contributions to SPE. Distinguished Membership is restricted to not more than 1% of SPE membership, and is equivalent to Fellow status in other professional societies.
Thomas Blasingame, professor and holder of the Robert L. Whiting Endowed Professorship, will receive the Distinguished Achievement for Petroleum Engineering Faculty Award. This award recognizes superiority in classroom teaching, excellence in research, significant contributions to the petroleum engineering profession and/or special effectiveness in advising and guiding students.
“I am proud of all we do and all we have accomplished as individuals and collectively as faculty (and) staff, but most of all I am proud of our students and former students who provide world-class innovation, service, and leadership to the Petroleum Industry,” said Tom Blasingame
SPE is the largest individual member organization serving managers, engineers, scientists and other professionals worldwide in the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry, with more than 86,000 members worldwide.