In our Q&A column, intended to allow industry leaders to share their knowledge and expertise of projects and issues within the COPRI community, this month we turn our focus to the Offshore Technology Conference and the ASCE OTC Hall of Fame Gala. Our interviewees are Steve Balint, ASCE representative on Offshore Technology Conference Board of Directors, and Dan Smith, chair of the ASCE committee responsible for OTC technical content. Balint is the manger of civil/marine engineering for Shell International Exploration and Production Inc. Smith is an engineer with Mustang Engineering.
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| Steve Balint | Dan Smith |
Waterways: Steve, you are ASCE’s representative to the Offshore Technology Conference or OTC. How is COPRI involved in the OTC, and what is your role?
Steve Balint: The Offshore Technology Conference was founded in 1969 by 12 Sponsoring Organizations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers. It ranks as one of the 200 largest technical exhibitions in the United States and is among the 10 largest meetings in terms of attendance. The OTC is the world's foremost event in the fields of offshore drilling, exploration, production, and environmental protection. In 2008, the OTC had record-breaking attendance of more than 75,000 individuals and exhibits covering over 500,000 square feet.
COPRI leads ASCE’s involvement in OTC and each year COPRI’s OTC Technical Program Committee works hard to ensure a successful OTC. Dan will say more on the committee’s role in the OTC as well as its work organizing ASCE’s OTC Hall of Fame. I previously chaired the OTC Program Committee and am currently mid-way through a four-year term representing ASCE on the OTC Board of Directors.
WW: The offshore oil industry has seen boom and bust times over the OTC’s 40 years. In what ways has the OTC responded to the challenging times?
S.B.: In 1982, the conference brought a record breaking crowd of 108,162 individuals to Houston. However, the next year oil prices dropped bringing few individuals to the conference. In 1984, only technical sessions were offered and there was no exhibition. From 1984 to 1994, conference organizers focused on rebuilding the event with an emphasis on international developments in the field. Since then, both the technical program and the exhibit program have steadily expanded. Now, along with the technical sessions and exhibits, the conference features ethics breakfasts, young professional events, keynote speakers, an awards program, and other educational and networking opportunities.
WW: What’s next for the OTC?
S.B.: We are very proud of the existing OTC program and format and are working to continuously improve them in small ways each year. Over the last few years, however, the OTC Board has also been looking to grow and adapt to the changing market for offshore resources to better serve the community of engineers represented by the sponsoring societies. More regions of the world are developing their offshore resources, creating opportunities for the OTC to bring its services to new audiences. The Board, working with the Sponsoring Organizations, is developing plans to address these global needs, providing more value to our societies.
WW: Dan, how does COPRI’s OTC Technical Program Committee contribute to the OTC?
Dan Smith: Our committee, comprised of 20 professionals representing major oil companies, engineering contractors, small business owners, and retirees, identifies offshore civil engineering related technical content to be covered in the OTC technical program. Our committee fields an elite group of professionals who provide expertise in geotechnical design, structures, dynamics, metocean, risk and reliability, project management, floating systems analyses, and structural verification. This group solicits abstracts for of proposed papers in the areas where the technology advancements and developments occur. The committee evaluates nearly 600 the abstracts in search of the top rated papers for inclusion in the final technical program. Collectively, the committee organizes approximately seven of the 50 technical sessions at the OTC (each session includes about six or seven papers). The COPRI OTC Support Committee is also responsible for organizing one of 10 topical luncheon sessions held during the OTC. We also present an annual ASCE Best Paper Award to recognize the hard work of conference authors.
WW: Why does ASCE sponsor a Hall of Fame Gala?
D.S.: The offshore oil business started in 1947 when a well was drilled in a marsh in southern Louisiana. In the 1960’s, the offshore developments moved into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico in steadily deeper water. Since the 1960’s when OTC first started, tremendous technological development and discoveries in civil engineering fields have taken place. Our committee worried that this knowledge that was so vital to the offshore development would be forgotten. Our group developed the ASCE OTC Hall of Fame Gala, held the Tuesday evening of the Offshore Technology Conference, to highlight those technical papers and honor the authors that were so instrumental in the development of offshore infrastructure and that continue to form the core of current practice. As we continue to add papers yearly to the Hall of Fame, we highlight great accomplishments of the authors and their discoveries that have shaped the profession. The Hall of Fame volumes have been a great educational tool for industry leaders to share with new engineers entering the field.
WW: Your term as Chair of CORPI’s OTC Technical Program Committee will end in May, following the upcoming OTC, but your involvement in the OTC on behalf of ASCE and COPRI will continue. For the 2011 OTC, you will be Chair of the OTC Program Committee with responsibility for coordinating the entire OTC Conference Program. Why is volunteering for the OTC on behalf of ASCE important to you?
D.S.: Well, there are a lot of reasons and here are just a few. This is a great industry to work in, and the OTC is its premier conference and exhibition. Since its beginning, the OTC has chronicled the cutting-edge research in the offshore engineering field. I enjoy having an active role in finding the cutting-edge researchers and practitioners today, and giving them a place to present their work. Meeting these great engineers is rewarding. The people that I work with in OTC and ASCE are great people and a pleasure to work with. Leaders of the industry before me, like Gordon Sterling, Jim Dailey and Steve Balint, helped steer the OTC successfully through both stormy and favorable seas. I look forward to continuing that tradition and giving back to societies that have helped me so much.
