A member of the Energy Institute's External Advisory Board and the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering Industry Board was recently appointed to the 2014 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Board. Janeen Judah will serve as Vice President, Finance.

Judah is general manager for Chevron's Southern Africa Business Unit, based in Houston. She has held many SPE leadership positions and was named an SPE Distinguished Member in 2003 and received the Distinguished Service Award in 2010. Judah holds BS and MS degrees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University, an MBA from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, and a JD from the University of Houston Law Center.

The 2012 Water Summit: Securing Water for Texas' Future, held May 20-21 and sponsored by The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST), received significant media coverage for the event. Coverage ranged from op-eds in the Houston Chronicle and Austin American-Statesman to dailies/broadcast such as TexasMonthly and the San Antonio Express-News.

Presentations from the Summit, video footage and a complete listing of media coverage of the event are available online at http://www.tamest.org/. An Executive Summary of the proceedings will be available later this summer.

Dr. Robert Balog, assistant professor in the department of electrical & computer engineering, offered a unique opportunity to a group of high school science teachers from A&M Consolidated High School on May 31: a chance to tour the solar installation at the Netum Steed building.

The solar project consists of a 27.6 kW photovoltaic solar panel array that is visible from Kyle Field. It serves as a demonstration test site for photovoltaic (solar electricity) generation on the TAMU campus and supports the education, research, and community outreach missions of the university. While solar energy and photovoltaic systems are well known in California, the different temperatures and sunlight availability in Texas can result in different requirements for system design and best practices.

The project is designed to test four different brand-name inverters and a micro-inverter system to compare their electrical energy generation, operation and performance. The micro-inverter system involves a newer technology in which multiple low-power micro-inverters are used to convert an array's power. These micro-inverters can theoretically produce more power from the same solar panel and are ideal for residential systems where the roof may be partially shaded by trees or chimneys.

As part of the project's community outreach, the solar installation will be used to promote renewable energy and increase awareness of solar energy use for Aggies, alumni, and regional residents. Stephanie Miller, IPC Level Leader with the science department at A&M Consolidated High School commented that "Our tour was a great educational experience.  As teachers, it is such a thrill to see a hands on example of topics we cover in class."

Dr. Ron Lacey, professor, department of biological and agricultural engineering, gave a presentation at the 2nd International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts Conference held June 10-13 in San Diego, CA.  Lacey's presentation, Discrete Event Modeling of Algae Cultivation and Harvesting at Commercial Scale:  Capital Costs, Operating Costs, and System Bottlenecks, provided an overview of DES modeling as a powerful tool to evaluate technologies for algae systems.

The conference covered all areas of emerging technologies in algal biology, biomass production, cultivation, harvesting, extraction, bioproducts, and econometrics.

Other AgriLife Research staff members who made presentations at the conference were Dr. Tryon Wickersham and Dr. Sergio Capareda. 

Dr. R.A. Mentzer, lecturer in the department of chemical engineering, spoke at the 2012 Offshore Technology Conference in May in Houston regarding 'Developing Process Safety Capabilities in New Engineering Graduates.' He emphasized courses that MKO offers to practicing engineers, including safety certificates, as well as the on-going research directly applicable to the offshore oil & gas industry.

Dr. M. Sam Mannan, Director, MKO Process Safety Center, recently gave a series of presentations to RasGas personnel in Qatar entitled:  "Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster and Lessons Learned;" "Dashboard Data for Managers for Monitoring and Measuring Process Safety Performance;" "Aftermath of the Macondo Disaster and Regulatory Response in the United States;" and "Implementation Issues with Regards to Process Safety Programs." These talks were given over a 2-day period on-site for management and frontline personnel.

The Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center, in conjunction with GexCon, will be hosting a course on Gas Explosion Hazards on Offshore Facilities on August 20 - 21, 2012 at Texas A&M University.  The course will feature a live large-scale demonstration.

Those interested in attending may register at http://engrevent.tamu.edu/event/100859 or call 979-458-1863. 

For detailed information, see the course announcement.