OSU are passing through Auckland on their big New Zealand adventure, and we have a meet up drinks planned for April 3rd, 5pm ish in the CBD.
Keep an eye on the event on the facebook page for location confirmation!
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For the 2017 Petroleum Conference hosted in New Plymouth, the University of Auckland was lucky enough to send 4 students as part of the Energy Skills NZ student programme co sponsored by Chevron. The programme is aimed at developing young talent for the New Zealand energy industry. This year, many thanks must go to Ewa Ginal-Cumblidge from NZPAM, and Sheree Long from ESNZ especially for accommodating the UOA students after applications had closed. We greatly appreciate all that was organised for us under the circumstances, Thank you. We’d also like to thank Chevron for their continued commitment to helping students participate in the conference in conjunction in with ESNZ.
We arrived on Monday after a long drive, we booked a bach for us 5 students to stay in for the duration of our trip. Myself, Ryan Lunenburg, Shanshan Liu, Emma OBrien, and Giovanni Pradel attended this years conference. Giovanni attended as a speaker while the rest of us were part of the student programme. On Tuesday, we made our way over to the venue where we met 22 other students from universities all around New Zealand. Students varied in disciplines from Chem-mat to Mechanical Engineering to Earthscience. After a short time of meet and greet, we heard our first speaker who introduced us to the energy industry in New Zealand as well as the importance of Hydrocarbons in todays world. After lunch, we jumped on the bus to make our way to the first field trip location, TAG Oil’s Cheal B production facility. We did have to endure through a breakdown on the way to the site which bogged us down for 30 minutes, however the bus company quickly provided us with a replacement ! At Cheal B, Ian Patterson gave us a quick rundown of the facility, the site is small, however it has a very small impact on the local community and neighbours have commended how responsibly TAG Oil have been during their time in the area. Next, it was off to Balance AgriNutrients urea and methanol plant, it was big facility for us compared to Cheal B, the scale was simply amazing. After a quick safety briefing, we began the tour. It was the first site i’d ever visited in which we had to put on a mask in case of emergency. After the detailed tour from John Mckay, we bussed back to New Plymouth for a tasty dinner at a local restaurant. Wednesday was a big day for us, the morning involved getting into the conference which we managed at around 9 am. The morning consisted of visiting exhibitions and attending the Powhiri followed by the Energy Minister’s address. At 12:30, we were paired up with Industry delegates for a valuable networking experience. I was paired with Nick Cozens, a senior geologist from TAG Oil. He gave me valuable insight into the energy industry while introducing me to a multitude of professionals including CEOs, engineers, Geoscientists and others. The afternoon was complimented by a series of talks which we attended. My personal favourites being Alan Bischoff’s presentation on volcanoes in sedimentary basins, and Alex Wunderlich’s presentation on tectonism in the south Taranaki basin. Thursday was a day of viewing presentations for the group, however Ryan and myself spent our time practicing a formal report to the delegates covering the details of the ESNZ programme and acknowledging our sponsors. The report went well and our nerves did not get the better of us ! This concluded our time in New Plymouth, and we can all say we had a memorable time which we could all recommend to anyone interested in a career in the energy industry. I’d like to thank Lorna for making this happen for us and our sponsors ESNZ, Chevron, and PEPANZ. Michael Macnaughtan Welcome to AUGA for 2017!
First and foremost, please formally register using the form here. This takes just a moment but can make a significant difference for us in things such as applying for funding, so please take the time to do it! We are currently looking for an executive committee. Positions available are President, Secretary/Treasurer, and Social Officer. The experience has been very rewarding and opened doors for past execs, so I encourage you to give it a go, even if you don't think you know how. If you have any questions, or want to submit your name for the election, then flick an email over to [email protected] by Sunday 19th March. We need volunteers! The MoTaT Street Science Fair is coming up April 2nd, and we urgently need volunteers to get on-board and help to run the demonstrations. These are very simple earthquake and volcano demos, and heaps of fun. Please get in touch via [email protected] if you are keen to be involved, even for part of the day. No prior experience required! We have plenty planned for 2017... Including a social event with the Geology Student Club from Oregon University, t-shirts in the next couple of weeks, and field trips (taking suggestions). We are also looking to become University affiliated this year, which should open some doors. This year there has been a strong drive from the staff in the faculty to build a community, so you can expect to see a lot more social events, casual research presentations, and friendly faces about. As always, any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch! |
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