“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” - Aristotle
Art is an archetypal creative activity and it requires serious emotional commitment. Engineering is creative in other ways, but it is also considered art.
In lots of ways, the creation of a painting is much alike to the development of a software. Artists have the urge to express their thoughts and ideas. They envision the final result in their minds and step by step they create a work of art. They use all the essential tools to express their abstract vision into an artistic reality.
In a similar way, during the development process of a software, ideas are converted into technical designs that are represented by digital reports, flowcharts and databases in which the developers interpret the abstract formulas and logics into a realistic and tangible tool.
As drilling software developers, we have something to create for our clients, not only because it helps them achieve their project goals but also helps them gain more knowledge on the matter. Just like when creating a painting, each layer of color is a step closer to the final piece, when we are developing our software, every idea, thought and process takes us closer to the final result.
The difference between art painting and software development is that software is continuously improving; while a painting once it’s done it’s done.
Let’s take CTEMP, our circulation temperature model as an example of how we improve its features to make it a benefit for our users.
As the search for oil becomes more extreme, the wellbore circulating temperature prediction becomes very critical and in deepwater wells the complications can get more complicated by the presence of risers and choke/kill/boost lines. After combining ideas to create a software that deals with this matter, CTEMP was developed. Aside from predicting the wellbore circulating temperatures, this software addresses the transient heat transfer between the wellbore and the sea water/rock formation and it has interactive on-screen graphic results that provide guidelines for expensive HPHT drilling operations.
After all, with our creative activity and serious commitment we want our products to represent the inward significance of our artistic thinking.