How It Works
Universities compete in an AAPG Region or Section semi-final competition. The top team from each Region and Section competes at the Imperial Barrel Award competition at the AAPG Annual Meeting.
AAPG and corporate sponsors provide funds for the university teams’ transportation, housing, and convention registration for 5 students and 1 faculty advisor to participate in the final competition at the AAPG Annual Meeting.
Competition Logistics:
All judging panels are made up of three judges each.
Preliminary Competition (Friday):
Judging Panel #1 hears seven presentations (three Section Teams, three Region Teams, and one Wildcard Team) and chooses the top three teams from that group. Judging Panel #2 does the same for a group of teams of similar makeup. These top six teams advance to the Final.
Final Competition (Saturday):
Judging Panel #3 hears the top six team presentations and selects the first, second, and third place winning teams.
Student Reception and Awards Ceremony (Monday)
Awards are given to the winning teams:
- First: The Imperial Barrel Award (plus $20,000)
- Second: The Selley Cup (plus $10,000)
- Third: The Stoneley Medal (plus $5,000)
- Honorable Mentions: 11 remaining teams receive $1000 each
Each school is provided with:
- A copy of the college introduction write-up.
- Rules and regulations.
- A copy of the judging sheet.
- A copy of an actual student presentation
- A copy of the lecture PowerPoint by Dr. Howard Johnson, introducing the program.
- A DVD of the specific dataset for each school.