NEED has the opportunity to partner with some really interesting companies and organizations to help bring energy into education. One such partnership allows us to work very closely with the Society of Petroleum Engineers, a worldwide organization for professionals in the oil and natural gas industry. The Society of Petroleum Engineers, or SPE, has an energy education program known as Energy4me. Much like NEED, Energy4me promotes energy education in the classroom with a focus on careers.
Energy4me and NEED have teamed up several times in the United States to share our passion for energy education at SPE events such as The Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE), and the Offshore Technologies Conference (OTC). At these events Energy4me and NEED work together to hold teacher and student workshops related to the science, technology, engineering, and math involved in the energy industry. Students and teachers are given opportunities to experience hands-on science activities, tour exhibit floors, and hear from professionals in order to make connections between the classroom and the industry. The most recent of these events was ATCE 2013, held in New Orleans, LA.
NEED has been fortunate enough to join Energy4me at similar SPE events across the globe this year; allowing us to share energy education with students and teachers in many exciting locales! After a successful teacher workshop at the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers Conference and Exhibition in London in June of 2013, NEED and Energy4me have traveled even further together!
Recently the NEED team has accompanied Energy4me to Kuwait City, Kuwait for the Kuwait Oil and Gas Show and Conference. These workshops gave local teachers and nearly 300 high school-aged boys and girls the opportunity to learn more about energy. They experienced lots of our great hands-on activities, heard from inspiring speakers, and learned about many exciting opportunities for future careers in the industry. Students and teachers in Dubai, UAE, had the opportunity to join another great team of NEED and Energy4me staff at the Intelligent Energy International Conference. These teachers and students also heard from inspiring speakers, participated in some very cool hands-on science, and even got the opportunity to tour the exhibition floor!
The NEED team is so grateful for these opportunities to partner with Energy4me in our goal to create a network of students and future leaders that are educated and energy conscious. These experiences not only allow us to share hands-on science with others, but also allow us the opportunity to learn from others in different settings and cultures at the same time, enhancing what we do and improving how we energize education!
NEED and Energy4me will continue to share in this passion, holding future workshops at the Canadian Unconventional Resources Conference in Calgary this November, and at the Unconventional Resources Conference and Exhibition in Brisbane, Australia in November. Keep an eye out for future events in your area as well, as we continue to put energy in education in the US and abroad!
