Saudi Aramco's EXPEC Advanced Research Center (EXPEC ARC) held a workshop with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at its Thuwal campus to develop a long-term collaborative relationship with the university on multiple upstream R&D fronts. The EXPEC ARC team, headed by acting manager Samer S. AlAshgar, made several presentations to the KAUST faculty that gave a general overview of the center and some of its upstream challenges. “The aim of this initial workshop was to have overviews of both organizations, stimulating discussions that will percolate into more focused meetings and lead to long-term collaborative research projects,” AlAshgar said. Several members of KAUST management and more than 20 faculty members attended the workshop. Presentations were given by faculty, which included overviews of the university, its research centers, labs and major facilities, with a focus on its computational and visualization capabilities, according to a report carried yesterday by Saudi Aramco's web-site. EXPEC ARC professionals made presentations on challenges related to computational modeling, drilling, production, reservoir engineering, geophysics and geology. The workshop concluded with discussions, and specific collaboration areas were identified with researchers from both sides selected to serve as contacts. KAUST faculty visits to EXPEC ARC are planned to meet with researchers for more detailed discussions. Areas identified for collaboration include upstream nanotechnology applications, computational modeling and visualization, and geophysics. --MORE
