Rubin says SPE to 'evolve' technology for communicating with members, students

Sam Fletcher
OGJ Online

Mark A. Rubin is enjoying, yet still adjusting to, his new job as executive director of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, based in Dallas.

"It will take awhile to truly settle in," Rubin told OGJ Online. "I've been a member of SPE for 20 years, but there is still a lot to learn about this association."

Rubin succeed Dan Adamson who retired in late September after 26 years with SPE.

What lured Rubin from his former job as upstream general manager for the American Petroleum Institute was "the opportunity to help lead an organization like SPE."

He said, "I enjoyed API; I had a great time at API. I wouldn't have left it for many alternatives, but the opportunity to head SPE was really attractive."

In his new position, Rubin said, "I'm not looking to make dramatic changes. SPE historically has done a good job in its basic mission of providing technical information and other services to its members.

"However, it does need to evolve, especially in regards to the technology it uses to fulfill that mission. We have to find ways to deliver technical information to our members as quickly and conveniently as possible."

Rubin said, "There really is great value to the technical knowledge that SPE can provide, especially for young engineers. I know that from my own experience when I was first starting out in this profession."

Companies today are more willing than ever to share the technical knowledge that some gained the hard way in frontier areas like deepwater exploration.

"Some of the deepwater projects now are so incredibly challenging that companies are ready to open their books and share the technical knowledge gained from their projects so that they will have the equal opportunity to learn from others," Rubin said.

The first step in the evolution of how SPE distributes information to its members will be the new internet web site it plans to activate Nov. 19 as "the pre-eminent source for E&P technical information."

The society has already invested millions of dollars in its online communications system and will spend more in the future to better refine that technology and improve delivery of services to members, said Rubin.

A message on the group's present web site says an earlier proposed launch was postponed because "in our effort to deliver the latest, state-of-the-art technology, SPE encountered a few hurdles. Thus, the Society is delaying the launch until all components of the new SPE.org are 100% ready."

Once it's operational, the new facility will feature a special "industry- specific" search engine that can shift through the chaff of similar sounding but unrelated topics to retrieve only those articles on upstream oil and gas operations of interest to engineers.

What's more, Rubin said, the system will improve itself over time as it "learns to do its job better." Like the "smart" wells that petroleum engineers now design, the search engine is capable of monitoring and assessing its own performance.

In addition to its basic job of providing technical information to its members, SPE also is addressing the challenge of recruiting future petroleum engineers into an industry that has experienced a sharp downturn at both the corporate and collegiate levels in recent years.

Enrollment in petroleum engineering courses at US colleges has fallen so low that just two companies, Schlumberger Ltd. and Halliburton Co., hired every graduating engineer from the too-small Class of 1996 during that mini-boom.

What's even worse, said industry sources, is that many of those new-hires were the first to be cut when energy prices fell in 1998.

"This industry has always been cyclical," Rubin said. "But the combination of the technical problems that we tackle plus the fact that these jobs are relatively high-paying will always attract new engineers."

Moreover, he said, it's still the age of fossil fuels, with no alternative energy source yet competitive in the marketplace. "So anyone entering this profession has the chance for a long and rewarding career," said Rubin.

That's a message that many SPE members are taking into secondary and even elementary schools in an effort to interest students in the challenges and technology of engineering. "It's not just the high school students who we are making aware of the opportunities in this field. We're also getting that information to younger students," Rubin said.

"The internet is a means to do that. We have things like our 'Virtual Magic Suitcase' on line," he said.

That's a picture and text program designed to teach the basics of petroleum exploration and production. Rubin would like to see development of even more hands-on learning tools that will attract and educate young people through computer connections.

To engage younger students, he said, "We have to think about not what we want to tell them but rather what would they be interested in hearing."

As executive director of SPE, Rubin also will double as executive manager of the Offshore Technology Conference, the petroleum industry's largest trade show and conference that convenes for 4 days each May in Houston. Planning and preparation for the 2002 OTC was underway long before Rubin was recruited for his present job.

Since OTC always draws thousands of participants from around the world, it's natural to wonder if the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will have any impact on attendance at the Houston conference this year.

"There could be some effect on total attendance, but it's too soon to tell," Rubin said. "However, probably most of the people who attend OTC are more sophisticated about international travel and not as likely to be intimidated."

Besides, he said, there was virtually no effect on attendance at SPE's own annual meeting in New Orleans Sept. 30-Oct. 3.

While some SPE members were forced to cancel at the last moment because of new corporate travel restrictions within their companies, he said, other petroleum engineers in New Orleans who had been scheduled for trips found they were free to attend SPE after all. "All in all, it seemed to balance out," Rubin said.

Contact Sam Fletcher at [email protected]