Members of AAPG Student Chapter at IIT Kharagpur
VISITING GEOSCIENTIST PROGRAM
Mr. Ray Leonard
31st January 2019, IIT Kharagpur
Article contributed by Asst Professor Ankur Roy
Banner at the Main Gate of the Institute
Mr. Ray Leonard’s VGP lecture “Climate Change, the Transitional Role of Fossil Fuels and Geopolitics” at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur was organized by its AAPG Student Chapter and the Petroleum Engineering Centre (ADRACEPE) on January 31, 2019. As this was a topic of much importance across several disciplines it was advertised at the Institute level as seen in one of the banners in the picture below. The town of Kharagpur is located about 140 km from the Calcutta Airport (CCU) from where Mr. Leonard was picked up on his arrival and was welcomed at the Institute’s Guest House where his day began with a faculty lunch specially organized in Mr. Leonard’s honour by the Petroleum Engineering Centre. Over lunch, Mr. Leonard got to meet several members of the faculty from Geology & Geophysics, Petroleum Engineering and Chemical Engineering. This was followed by a tour of the newly built Petroleum Engineering Centre and its facilities, in particular, the very nascent Quantitative Fractured Reservoir Research Initiative (QFRRI) and Drilling labs where grad students were able to briefly share their research with him.
Left to Right - Prof. Saibal Gupta, Prof. S.K. Bhattacharya, Mr. Ray Leonard, Prof. Ankur Roy, Prof. Anindya Sarkar
Thereafter, Mr. Leonard visited the Geology and Geophysics Department where he interacted with several faculty members. Post his session with the faculty and on a very short notice, Mr. Ray humbly accepted the request to talk to the students about a Case Study that dealt with exploration using 3D seismic derived attributes to identify reservoir characteristics in a deep-water fan complex and then drilling a well to test it. This event saw an audience of over 70 very enthusiastic students, research scholars and professors. In this session, he shared his experience at Hydperdynamics wherein he discussed the various aspects of hydrocarbon prospecting, the importance of integration of seismic and well data and emphasised on the significance of careful processing of seismic data. The talk was very thought provoking and factual as Mr. Leonard gave insights into the aforementioned aspects using real life examples. It helped students understand the complex and interesting nature of the oil and gas industry and the importance of rectifying previously made mistakes in interpreting and processing data.
Mr. Ray Leonard conducting the Case Study
The much-awaited lecture on Climate Change was conducted after the Case Study. This was attended by over 100 people which included students, research scholars, and professors from various departments like Petroleum, Geology & Geophysics, Mining, Chemical, CORAL (Ocean-River-Atmosphere-Land) and Law. Before the onset of the lecture, Ray was formally introduced to the audience by Prof. Anindya Sarkar, Head, Petroleum Centre and Prof. Saibal Gupta, Head Geology & Geophysics Department.
Overall, the lecture was very informative in terms of understanding the gravity of the situation, we as humans, are creating for our future selves. Both the Lecture and the Case Study were extremely well received by the audience and Mr. Leonard was only very happy to address several questions during the two sessions. At the end of the lecture, the AAPG Student Chapter at IIT Kharagpur presented the speaker with a memento as small token of their appreciation for his efforts.
Throughout the course of the day and, even between the two talks, Mr. Leonard was seen spending time with both graduate and undergraduate students, addressing several of their queries related to his lectures and careers in the oil and gas industry. After the conclusion of the event, Mr. Leonard had a quick supper at the Guest House before leaving for his hotel in Calcutta (Kolkata). Overall, this event has been one of the most successful ones where our guest, Mr. Ray Leonard was able to interact with a wide spectrum of members of the academia at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, INDIA.