On August 26th, American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Student Chapter University of Malaya organized a Career and Technical Talk with the theme “Frontier of Geologists”. This premier event was held in association with Kelab Geologi Universiti Malaya (KAGUM) at the Geology Lecture Hall. More than 60 students, including post-graduate students from the Department of Geology, University of Malaya and 7 students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia took part in this event, with talks given by representatives from Baker Hughes, PETRONAS, Schlumberger, Shell and Jabatan Mineral dan Geosains Malaysia.

Dr Wan Haziah, head department of UM Geology Dept. received a token of appreciation from Lee Seng Keong, Student Chapter President.

This event is the first of many activities planned for the current academic year by AAPG Student Chapter of UM. Registrations started as early as 8.00 a.m. and each participant was given souvenirs during the registration. In her keynote address, Professor Dr. Wan Hasiah Abdullah, the Head of Geology Department, congratulated to the AAPG Student Chapter’s members for successfully organizing the event, and officially opened the Career and Technical Talk at exactly 9.00 a.m. The morning session was started by Mr. Adriaan Bal, a representative from Baker Hughes, who gave two talks – Career with Baker Hughes and New Advance in Borehole Logging and Imaging. This was followed by presentation from Mr. Md. Yazid Mansor (PETRONAS Carigali) entitled Career with PETRONAS and Life on Platform. This was followed by a morning tea break during which students engaged the speakers in discussion.

Gareth Archard (Sclumberger) gave the first talk

The morning session resumed at 11.15 a.m with presentations by three representatives of Schlumberger. Gareth Archard (Sclumberger) gave the first talk int he entitled Career with Schlumberger, was given by Mr. Gareth Archard, who revealed the inside scoop of Schlumberger. Next, Mr. Denis Sweeney presented his interesting and knowledgeable talk on 3D, 4D and 4C Seismic. Mr. Pamir Bursin, ended the morning session presenting his slide shows on New Technology for Exploration and Production. The talk halted at 1.00 p.m. to give chance to all participants, speakers and lecturers to enjoy our special menu at lunch. Mr. Govan Gangatharan, from Sarawak Shell Berhad, who is also an alumnus of University of Malaya, started the final session at 2.00 p.m. with his talk called Thinking Outside of the Box: South Furious Central South Static Modelling. A stimulating presentation on Shell Gourami Business Challenge followed, presented by Ms. Vimi Venugopal. The presentation really stood out and many participants seem to be interested with the selected topic. The event concluded with a talk from Jabatan Mineral and Geosains Malaysia officer, Mrs. Ummi Daeimah Hussin, who gave a noteworthy presentation on Career with Mineral and Geoscience Department. The event ended with participants enjoying the afternoon tea served with traditional Malay kuih.

Gareth Archard (Sclumberger) gave the first talk

Overall, the event was a success and the AAPG Student Chapter University of Malaya would like to express our deepest gratitude to all members, non-members, participants and lecturers, especially Professor Denis Tan Ngoh Kiat, the AAPG Student Chapter’s advisor, who had willingly helped us to make this event happen, with a profound thanks to the Geological Society of Malaysia for sponsoring the food and beverages.

We would also like to acknowledge the people from PETRONAS Carigali, Schlumberger, Shell, Jabatan Mineral dan Geosains Malaysia and Baker Hughes, who had keenly cooperated with us to make this event a success. Also, an exceptional appreciation goes to all speakers who had gladly spent their time to give the students, especially from the Department of Geology, some valuable knowledge. We are looking forward in the coming months, to organize other events that would be beneficial and contribute to increasing the knowledge of the students. We encourage all students pursuing their degree in Geology to sign up as AAPG Student members.

Aidil Hannan bin Adnan
Secretary American Association of Petroleum Geologist
Student ChapterUniversity of Malaya

This report was published in Warta Geologi the newsletter of the Geological Society of Malaysia (Volume 32, No.4, July – August 2006).