A Lifetime of Achievement: Once You’re In, You’re In

October 7th, 2008 mhitchings

And the winners are ……

One of the biggest compliments one can receive is recognition from one’s peers - the accolades that come from those with whom you work. Those who typically receive them are humble, unassuming, and passionate about their work and the industry in which they are involved. They do what they do not for the recognition but for the love of the job, the company for which they work, the people with whom they work and the industry they serve.

This morning the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) during the Q&A Technology Forum in Orlando, Florida, recognized who it believes are the best of the best for 2008, and those in attendance agreed.

Lawrence Lew of Chevron, Glenn Liolios of DuPont Stratco and Elizabeth Mettee of Grace Davison were called out for years of service to the organization as well as the industry itself. These individuals each received a Peter G. Andrews Lifetime Service Award, which began in 2003 to “honor members who have made long-lasting contributions to the value and vitality of the NPRA Q&A Meeting. Recipients of this award have served as Q&A panelists, screening committee members and active participants in the dialogue that is fundamental to the meeting.” These recipients, throughout their career, have “demonstrated a willingness to pass on their knowledge and expertise to future generations in this forum, have made significant contributions to the meeting’s quality and have emphasized the importance of sharing knowledge in making continuous improvements.”

In discussing this event with a friend of mine afterward, he said, “I would feel odd about getting a lifetime achievement award. Doesn’t that basically mean that people believe that you are of absolutely no value once you get that award?”

Lew alluded to a similar thought during his acceptance speech (much more eloquently put than my friend’s response) in which he said, “A lifetime award? I didn’t even know I was sick.”

Lew noted the changes of the industry and organization during his tenure, in which he’s seen companies disappear, new companies arise and “even small nations have merged, such as Exxon and Mobil.” He noted the evolution of NPRA along with the industry, to more accurately reflect the needs of the industry. NPRA, he said, used to have large panel sessions in which 10 to 12 people sat at long tables trying to talk about and answer everything in the industry. This became cumbersome, and with some people filling in and giving presentations for others — some without the same knowledge — questions were met with answers, including “there will be more information in the transcript,” Lew said, “which usually meant, ‘I don’t know the answer to that, but I’ll find out,’” which could take a few months, he admitted.

So one change has been the reduction of panel members and more concise topics that ensures “the answer is more clean and crisp and when you ask a question, you’re going to get an answer then and there.”

Liolios noted the passion he feels for what he does, and believes that is the key to longevity and happiness in the industry. And we all know one of the biggest challenges this — as well as almost every other — industry faces is knowledge transfer and the need for new bodies to replace those who are moving on.

“I think it really comes down to, do you have a passion for what you do, and are you willing to share that knowledge? I really appreciate being acknowledged here because my passion is this industry. I am in the scouting industry, and one of my sayings is, ‘leave a place better than you found it,’ and I really believe I’ve done that with NPRA,” Liolios said after receiving the award.

Mettee, who started with Grace Davison in 1974, shared a medley of “historical” photos with the audience from past NPRA shows as well as Grace Davison events. One of the most interesting sets of slides included Grace coffee mugs from NPRA shows dating from 1970 through today. These were interspersed among photos of events passed, and attendees laughed as they saw themselves or peers in pictures dating 20 or more years.

The event was lively, the mood was light, the reflections were sincere and the messages were the same: “We fully believe in your mission and everything you guys do; we’re tremendously supportive of you,” Mettee said of NPRA.

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They’ll Make Fuel from Anything

August 22nd, 2008 mhitchings I read an article recently that scientists are close to being able to make fuel from bacteria - a technology that has been in the news for the past couple of months.  Not  surprising, as microorganisms produce gases that turn waste into energy through a metabolic chemical reaction process on the bacteria’s part.

Not only is the waste we produce being used to generate fuel and energy, but now tiny microorganisms are jumping on the energy-efficient bandwagon as well. We are a cyclical world — we use materials, an action that generates waste, which can be used to produce fuel and energy, thus producing more trash to recycle into more renewables. And now, the organisms that help us sustain life in other ways, are transforming nutrients and energy into waste for our fuel use. They’ve been doing this for centuries, but as energy efficiency, renewables and alternative energies are taking a more prominent position in the news in categories including technologies and public policy with the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, creative ways of generating power, fuel and energy are being sought.

Generating renewables from trash is like Native Americans using buffalo in early days — nothing went to waste (bones for weapons, meat for food, hide for clothing and shelter). We use the product that created the trash and then use the microorganisms that result from the decomposing trash to help produce power, for example.

It’s great that scientists, environmentalists and the like are conscious of global warming and the need to make the most of our resources, but is it efficient? Can enough energy be produced from the bacteria to make the process worthwhile and have a noticeable impact on energy production and consumption?

The answer appears to be maybe?

“By working together the two types of bacteria can produce much more hydrogen than either could alone,” said Dr Mark Redwood in the Science Daily article about bacteria producing power. “A significant challenge for the development of this process to a productive scale is to design a kind of photobioreactor that is cheap to construct and able to harvest light from a large area. A second issue is connecting the process with a reliable supply of sugary feedstock.”

It may appear “out there” to some, but some research organizations say the application is closer than we may think.

Weigh in — is this far-fetched science fiction, or plausible science?

 

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Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is, and Everyone Wins

August 13th, 2008 mhitchings

If you were confident enough to put your money where your mouth is that crude prices were about to reach their peak, you were among good company with industry representatives who debated the merit of prices reaching US$150 per bbl. The topic created buzz about how high prices would climb if they continued, or, more likely, how long it would take to fall to $115 per bbl. Indeed, prices have dropped nearly $30 during the past month from about $145 to $117 and are on a road - on average - to further decline as the Energy Information Administration estimates lower prices based on reduced demand. For in-depth analysis, read FUEL magazine’s September article about the supply and demand of crude oil, what caused the significant price plummet, and what these changes mean for the short and longer term.

So that seems to be one stressing element of our lives we can eliminate for the time-being, but we’re nowhere near out of the woods with the distressing state of the energy industry and its ties to climate change, food prices and the environment, just to name a few issues that keep some people up at night. These problems continue to be at the forefront of these same people’s mind, not surprisingly. But what is surprising is the thousands of scientists, professionals, educators and students that will gather for a first-time meeting Oct. 5-9 in my backyard of Houston, Texas, to discuss the latest research and trends (10 plenary sessions in all) in energy, water resources, climate change, agriculture, science education, earth sciences and related disciplines.

Why is this a first-time event and what is the significance of the timing? Seems this would be a regular event, like the multiple-time-a-year meetings the United Nations hosts to stay on the cusp of global environmental issues. For challenges that impact the world, seems a bit slow on the uptake to round up these industry participants.

This first joint annual meeting is a collaboration that showcases the sciences of The Geological Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, and Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, all of which are sponsoring organizations. Also participating is the Gulf Coast Section of the Society for Sedimentary Geology and hosted by the Houston Geological Society.

You can bet we’ll keep an eye on upcoming event developments and certainly be on site to see how this unfolds.

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