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From the
President’s Desk:
The AADE National
Board of Directors held its third annual Fin Fur Feather Food
Festival (F5 event) on November 9th in Humble, TX and
again achieved a resounding success. Over 4,000 tickets were sold
and 70 cook teams competed. Please go to the AADE web site to
review the photos of this exciting event and of the winners of the
cook off.
The funds
generated by the F5 event will be used to continue the promotion and
funding of the AADE Knowledge Box and Project Expanding Energy
Education (PE3) programs. An example of this is the
funding of the training of 20 facilitators. The facilitators will
now go out and train teachers to use the Knowledge Box and PE3
teaching aids. Actions are underway by the National Board as well
as several chapters to purchase additional Knowledge Boxes and put
them in use in public schools across the country.
In addition, your
AADE National Board and the nine AADE chapters are continuing to
look for additional opportunities to fund petroleum energy education
programs that help the general public understand our industry and
that encourages young science and engineering oriented students to
choose the oil patch for their career.
Continuing on
that note, I recently had the privilege to serve as a science fair
judge at the Harmony School of Excellence in Houston. This is a
Texas state charter school campus with kindergarten through 12th
grade enrollment that focuses on science, math and engineering.
There were 209 impressive exhibits of which several were related to
the energy industry. I firmly believe that being involved in
programs like this are the areas where AADE should concentrate its
efforts to influence young, technically oriented students to the
science and engineering arena and in particular the oil and gas
industry. I will have more news to follow in the near future
related to this and similar events.
As I stated in
the last newsletter, I am proud of the recent growth of AADE chapter
sponsored university and college Student Sections. AADE now has a
presence on 15 different college and university campuses with a
total over 400 AADE student members. This is a very important step
in getting these young, upcoming professionals involved in our AADE
Chapters after completing school as well as offering to you, our
AADE supporters a conduit to identify and recruit these fine young
professionals to your company. Three more Student Sections are in
the process of being created and when complete, that will give AADE
a presence on campuses from West Virginia to Anchorage.
The AADE 2007
National Technical Conference and Exhibition will be held April 10
-12 in Houston at the Wyndham Greenspoint Hotel. The papers have
been selected and the 40 exhibit spaces have been filled. And
furthermore, 18 student papers from 8 different universities have
been accepted for presentation. The conference this year is shaping
up to be another high quality event as per AADE tradition.
I am very pleased to announce that
AADE National Board of Directors has partnered with PennWell Digital
Media to bring all AADE members a bimonthly AADE newsletter and
technical publication in digital format. In addition to the
newsletter, the National Board of Directors will provide in the near
future to every registered AADE member the opportunity to receive at
no cost to them a one year subscription to PennWell’s Oil & Gas
Journal in digital format.
The AADE Mission is to provide the
forum for the dissemination of practical drilling technology to
those employed or interested in the drilling industry. The AADE
Vision is to be the leading forum for the dissemination and
interchange of drilling practices and technology. And
the AADE Values are to promote professionalism and respect within
the drilling industry, the community, and the environment in which
it co-exists. With the wide range of activity provided by
the chapters and the National Board of Directors, AADE’s Mission,
Vision and Values goals are not just being achieved but are being
exceeded by a wide margin.
Thank you for
being part of AADE and taking this organization to the premier
position it has achieved.
Your National
Board of Directors President,
Andy Ellis |
