Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Italy. The world is a much changed place since I last left Houston for some far off exotic land more than two years ago. I wasn’t nervous about leaving here for there or there for here. It was the 11-hour plane ride and layover to get there that I wasn’t crazy about, but is anybody?

In the end the trip was a success, the Italians are wonderful hosts and the gelato was pretty spectacular, too. My reason for the trip was to attend the GE Oil & Gas Annual Meeting being held in Florence, Italy, which you can read more about in this month’s cover story interview with Neil Saunders, president and CEO of subsea systems and drilling for GE Oil & Gas.

There I participated in a demonstration of GE Digital’s 4-D Smart Helmet, in which I stepped through a virtual repair procedure for a turbine. With helmet securely fastened and trigger- activated wands in my hands, I found myself standing in a virtual workshop. My tools were to my left, and detailed repair instructions with hydraulic schematics were to my right. I had everything needed to remove a bearing gone bad and replace it with a good one using the wands. This virtual workshop could be the classroom setting to train the next generation of technicians, or it could be the drawing board for engineers to work through the ins and outs of a particular design without ever turning a realworld wrench. The possibilities for its use are endless.

The technologies that were on display or being presented were impressive. But it was the long trip home that left me with much to ponder after the plane touched down.

It is an experience that many of you can relate to, wherein the passenger in the seat next to yours pipes up with the question “What kind of work do you do?” How do you answer the question? Do you go with something generic like “I’m in sales,” or “I’m an engineer” and then redirect attention from you back to them? Or do you roll the dice and proudly say, “I’m in oil and gas,” only hoping that the next few hours in the flying pressurized tube will not be spent dodging the “oil is evil” debate?

I found myself on the flight from Paris to Houston seated next to a kindred spirit, a completions engineer for a major service company on his way home from a six-week stint in North Africa. We talked about the state of the industry, the “Great Crew Change,” the tremendous opportunities and lessons learned from international travel and more. In the course of that conversation he noted that innovation and collaboration are critical. Technology is a great and important thing to keep current on. But for him it’s the people he has met and worked alongside in his many years in the business that have meant the most to him. “Why do you not write about these people in your magazine?” he asked. “They are the heartbeat of the industry.” I had no good answer for him because he was right.

So, with his request in mind, I want to write about you, your coworkers, your mentors and your friends. Email me at jpresley@hartenergy.com or call me at 713-260-6470, and let’s talk. With your permission, I’ll share your story here. I look forward to hearing from you.

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