SQU teams excel in IBA, SEG Challenge Bowl

MUSCAT: A group of students from Department of Earth Sciences, College of Science and Petroleum Engineering Department, College of Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University, brought home accolades by winning first positions in the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Imperial Barrel Award (IBA), and Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) Middle East Challenge Bowl Competition held in Al Ain, UAE from February 26 to March 1.

The Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) is a project-based competition for geo-science students. The students work on a data set (seismic, geology, well data and literature) to identify potential hydrocarbons accumulations, and estimate their reserves. They present their results in front of panel of experts from oil industry. The team (SQU) will participate in the global competition of the IBA during AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in USA.

Challenge Bowl is a geo-science quiz organised by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) for Earth Science students. Questions are mainly about general knowledge in geophysics and geology. The competition in its regional level is amongst the universities in Middle East and North Africa. The winning team (SQU) will participate in the final round of the competition to be held in SEG Annual Convention and Exhibition, on April 2-5, in Houston, USA.

In addition to the above achievements, SQU students also secured six awards for ‘best oral presentation’ and ‘best poster’ categories. Following is the list of winners:

IBA Winning Team: Faisal al Shukaili, Samah al Rawahi, Shatha al Issaei and Moosa al Harthi (College of Engineering).

SEG Challenge Bowl Competition Winning Team: Ahmed al Nabhany and Israa al Hinai. Oral presentation (EAGE): Rufida al Jabri (1st place). Poster session: Israa al Hinai and Shatha al Issaei (1st place), Amna al Diari (2nd place) and Mooza al Shidi and Jenan Ahmed Attar (3rd place).