Two MSc students have been picked as the winners of this year’s best energy paper competition, run by the Energy Institute.
After a tough elimination process run by a panel of seven judges from the industry, Diana Cristancho and Osemekhian Ebhohimen, both from Robert Gordon University, were selected for their papers.
They beat competition from four other students, short-listed from 70 papers, from Robert Gordon and Aberdeen Universities at an event held in Aberdeen and attended by about 60 industry and academic professionals and students.
For her paper, Diana, who has an MSc in drilling and well engineering with distinction, looked at managed pressure drilling in salt diapirs, focussing on the Mungo field in the North Sea.
Osemekhian, who has an MSc in oil and gas engineering with distinction, looked at rotary motor steerable drilling systems.
Hugh Rees, chairman of the Energy Institute Highlands and Islands branch, said: “We were delighted by the standard of the work and the professionalism of all the presentations; the high-powered panel of judges had a difficult task to allocate the prizes – and all the students will have gained benefit from the opportunity of spending time with these eminent assessors.
“It is a great opportunity for students to present themselves to industry and they are a great credit to their respective universities whose hard work also contributes to the success of this event.”
Event chairman and Energy editor Jeremy Cresswell said: “The ingenuity of the finalists in the EI MSc Best Paper contest never ceases to amaze me; it is the kind of thinking and resourcefulness that the offshore industry thrives on.”
The judging panel consisted of Mike Straighen, Wood Group board director and chief executive engineering, Chris Bird, operations director, Endeavour Energy, Paul Warwick, executive vice president international operations (west) Talisman Energy, David Lamont, chief executive Proserv, Gordon Mackay, UKCS offshore and CES director, Cape, Paul Garnham, Peterhead/Goldeneye CCS front end project manager, and Martin Grant, chief executive of energy at Atikins.