The IADC Advanced Rig Technology (ART) Committee recently restarted its Spark Tank event series. Members gathered at the Transocean office in Houston on 27 August for the first event. This forum is an opportunity to provide active and aspiring technology entrepreneurs with a new opportunity to pitch their products and ideas to a panel of drilling contractors, operators and service companies (“sharks”). The purpose is to provide insights (“sparks”) to technology developers into what matters to those they are innovating for.
Thanks to the Drilling Sharks:
- Paul Sullivan, Innovation Portfolio Manager, Noble
- Matt Rayson, Product Director, Caterpillar Oil & Gas
- Jeff Walker, Automation Specialist, BP
- Trent Martin, Transocean, and Alex Groh, Patterson-UTI (ART Co-Chairs and moderators)
Robin Macmillan, former IADC ART Chair, provided the welcome and introductions. The following presentations took place, with 15 minutes allotted for each speaker and 15 minutes for Sharks’ Q&A:
“Size AND Shape Matter: How Can We Accelerate the Industry’s Integration of New Data?”: Calvin Holt, DrillDocs
“AI-Enabled Digital Drill Bit Forensics – It’s Available Now”: Sean Emery, Trax Electronics
“Using 3D Printing to Innovate the Hydraulic Performance of PDC Bits”: Justin Jones, Texas A&M University student
“AI-powered Documentation and Knowledge Management”: Charlie Cubitt, KnowledgeBox Solutions
