Aramco SPE international award recipients with SPE 2023 President Med Kamal. (left to right) Guodong David Zhan, Ali AlYousef, Med Kamal, Saeed Al-Mubarak, and Frank Chang.
Five Aramco professionals were recognized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) for their significant technical and professional contributions to the petroleum engineering profession and to the worldwide oil and gas industry during the Society’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE), mid-October in San Antonio.
Khaled Al-Buraik, senior vice president, Southern Area Oil Operations, was honored with the prestigious SPE Stephen A. Holditch Visionary Leadership Award. Al-Buraik, a staunch advocate for the industry to rise to the challenge and adopt new technologies, received this Lifetime Achievement award for his “demonstrated exceptional leadership resulting in a lasting and momentous impact on the Society and the oil and gas industry.”
Guodong David Zhan, research science consultant, EXPEC ARC, was awarded the SPE Drilling Engineering Award. Zhan, a world-renowned materials scientist and drilling bit expert, has advanced technologies from invention through to full commercialization. Earlier this year, Zhan was recognized by the Offshore Technology Conference with a 2023 Distinguished Achievement Award for his research, innovation, and technology leadership.
Ali AlYousef, principal petroleum engineer and chief technologist, EXPEC ARC, was awarded the SPE Distinguished Service Award. AlYousef was selected for his exceptional contributions to the society and active SPE Middle East involvement. His work has been recognized with World Oil awards and he is an SPE Distinguished Member.
Saeed Al-Mubarak, petroleum engineering consultant, P&FDD, was awarded the SPE DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal. He is known as Saudi Aramco’s intelligent fields champion and served as the chairperson for the SPE Digital Energy Technical Section. Al-Mubarak has served on numerous SPE regional and international committees. He is an SPE Distinguished Member and World Oil recognized him with its Innovative Thinker Award.
Frank Chang, senior research science consultant, Aramco Americas, was awarded the SPE Completions, Optimization and Technology Award. Chang’s work has focused on developing new technologies in carbonate stimulation and productivity enhancement. He is a member of the Production Technology Team at the Aramco Research Center-Houston. Chang is an eight-time recipient of the Society’s Outstanding Technical Reviewer Award and served on the Editorial Review Board for SPE’s Journal of Petroleum Technology.
Subject matter experts from the Aramco Americas R&D highlighted our hydrogen program, drilling and stimulation technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, and others.
SPE is the largest individual member organization serving engineers, scientists, and other professionals in the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry. With more than 100,000 members, the Middle East region has one of the largest and most active memberships in the organization.
The energy transition drove this year’s program designed to match evolving disciplines and subjects challenging today’s upstream exploration and production professionals.
Subject matter experts from the Aramco Americas R&D program gave daily in-booth presentations on our hydrogen program, drilling and stimulation technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, and others.
SPE is the largest individual member organization serving engineers, scientists, and other professionals in the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry. The Middle East region has one of the largest and most active memberships in the organization.
“SPE ATCE was a great opportunity for Aramco to highlight its technological advancements as well as illustrate our broader diversification into sustainability and energy transition areas,” said Mohammed N. Alaskar, Director of Aramco Americas R&D.
More than 50 technical papers, presentations, and Aramco chaired sessions took place throughout the three-days. This is the fourth year Aramco underwrites SPE’s Energy4me Teacher STEM Workshop underscoring the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math to careers in the energy industry.
— Saudi Aramco News: October 25, 2023