Dear SPE Aberdeen members, colleagues and friends,
Great Response to our Call for Volunteers
I would like to thank everyone who responded to our call for volunteers. We have a wide range of respondents from those who have had leadership roles in SPE Chapters in other location to those looking for their first volunteering roles.
We are in the process of matching up candidates to the opportunities and I’m looking forward to the new ideas they will bring.
Recognising an Outstanding Volunteer – Colin Black
If any of our new volunteers were looking for inspiration, they couldn’t look for a better role model than Colin Black. He is one of the SPE volunteers I admire the most for his dedication and leadership. There is no better example than Colin’s invention and leadership of 'NASA in Aberdeen'. In 2015 Colin was excited by a visit to the Johnson Space Centre and began to think about how he could bring that feeling to bear in inspiring the next generation of North East 21
st century explorers in oil, gas, energy and space. Colin’s drive and leadership blossomed into the invention of 'NASA in Aberdeen' which brings a Space Scientist and an Astronaut to visit the schools of the North East to inspire the students to continue with their STEM studies and demonstrates the links between Space exploration and the Energy Industry.
'NASA in Aberdeen' will move forward in a different context now as part of a wider Space in Energy initiative. I could not let this moment pass without recognising a hero of volunteering and an inspiration to me, the volunteering community and to thank him on behalf of all the students, teachers and NASA personnel who rightly hold Colin in such high regard.
What’s Coming Up
We are moving into our traditionally busy “Conference Season” with Well Decommissioning and Seismic taking place digitally in May followed by DEVEX and SPE international’s Oilfield Corrosion Conference taking place in June.
Stay happy and healthy in 2021,
Kenny
Kenny McAllister
SPE Aberdeen Chair
