I took a side trip to the Maldives this November while on a business trip to Abu Dhabi. It is hands down one of the most beautiful places in the world.

The hotel I stayed in was more of an open-sided straw hut suspended over the crystal blue ocean than a hotel room. Long walking bridges connected the huts to the land. Only my imagination could have created such a perfect paradise.

The calm water looks warm and inviting. When I go snorkeling, it reveals even more colorful fish than the view from above revealed. But in this underwater motion picture lies a hidden danger. The danger of fish attacks.

Every bulletin board at the hotel had signs warning tourists to use great caution while enjoying the water.

In general, people tend to ignore warning signs. They think the dangers are figments of someone else’s imagination. The type of thing that happens to other people, in other locations, at other times, if they happen at all. Certainly they only happen to mean people or people with bad breath.

The warning sign about the triggerfish was very effective though. It left nothing to the imagination because it included a picture of the fish, the severity of its attack and the emergency procedures in case you should be attacked. There was even a clearly marked sign indicating where the doctor was located in the hotel lobby.

They were not leaving anything to our imaginations. If I was not careful, the danger would be real and I would be the triggerfish’s next victim and the doctor and I would surely meet while he tended to my injuries.

I knew I would obey that warning sign. The warning has stuck with me to this day because the sign was not just information about a fish, it affected me emotionally too. I was in fear of the fish.

As human beings, we spend the majority of our lives trying to avoid things that make us afraid. Failure is one of those things. It’s one of the things we fear the most as professional engineers.

Our professional journals are full of articles telling us how successful companies are at their operations and how R&D projects have transformed their way of doing business. They seldom write papers about their failures because documenting failure doesn't put their company in a favorable light with their peers. Except learning from failures is an excellent way to help fellow engineers to avoid similar mistakes.

We need to mix success stories where we can pick up great tips, as well as, failure stories where we can learn the hard lessons too. Experience comes from both. Observing warning signs, whether about triggerfish or downhole problems, keeps us from experiencing unnecessary pain.

Cement is a funny thing. It can support the biggest skyscraper. It can take a pounding day after day on the busiest freeway. It can hold back massive amounts of water at a dam. Cement is considered the most reliable way to shore up and seal out water from penetrating well bore holes too because it is easy to inject and easy to control simply by mixing the right blend of cement for the conditions in the hole.

But, it can crumble into a pile of broken rocks in a matter of minutes if the mixture isn’t just right. Calculating the cement mixture is both an art and a science.

The art is that you have to understand the conditions the cement will be used in. This comes from years of experience in different drilling environments.

The engineers become artists when they know nifty ways to use additives, like accelerators (that shorten cement set time), retarders (that extend cement set time) and extenders (that expand cement so less is needed), to manipulate cement for any purpose, and when they understand and orchestrate special cements for deep, high pressure and corrosive environment wells, they are designing slurry masterpieces.

The science comes in when you have to calculate how much of each material is needed to go into the mixture to create the perfect blend of integrity and function. A small miscalculation can literally bring your project to ruin.

PVI’s new software product, CEMLab, makes cement slurry design easy. One feature includes the ability to customize the database variables to your specific needs, operating conditions and company specifications. If your cementing conditions change, you need CEMLab.

You can create your cementing masterpiece by inputting vertical depth, static temperature, circulating temperature and bottom hole pressure. You can consider solid and liquid additives and base fluids too. All are easily changed or updated with a click on the mouse.

You can calculate based on density, viscosity, slurry or blend, and even figure out your costs all with one click. The program will adjust and conform to your way of doing things. It truly is a work of art.

Even an engineer with experience in creating cementing masterpieces can use this software tool to make their work more precise. So leave the science to the software.

The feeling of flying is amazing. I’m not talking about in an airplane. I’m talking about the feeling that comes when everything happens perfectly – when you slip the surly bonds of earth.* When you move into a higher dimension that can only be described as “flying.”

I’ve experienced this feeling several times in my lifetime. One of those times was “flying” on the Royal Rush Skycoaster at the Royal Gorge Bridge Park in Colorado. The ride’s name is deceptive. This isn’t a sit-in-your-seat roller coaster; you are in a harness and free-fall for 100 feet at 50 miles per hour towards the Arkansas River. The Royal Rush is the scariest ride in the world.

So the high speed and my own fear of falling took some of the joy out of flying!

But on a trip to the Maldives, I had no fear of flying because this time I was in the ocean snorkeling. The Maldives is an exotic tropical locale in the Indian Ocean, with more than 1,100 islands spread across 35,000 square miles.

A simple life jacket and breathing tube turned me into a flying machine, cruising smoothly and effortlessly in the clear blue water. I closely mingled with schools of swimming fish or “flew” above them while they frolicked below me. I was flying!

Mingling with fish

Flying above fish

These photos (using a GoPro Hero underwater camera) help me to recall that feeling of flying in the ocean. Our memories fade sometimes as the day to day business of life takes over again. And, in the same way a camera captures unforgettable moments or reveals invisible scenes we missed at the time, drilling software can serve as a virtual 3D camera.

PVI’s software is more intelligent than a camera that only captures a single moment in time. With our software, you can change the input data to reflect operational parameters and immediately see the results in real time. And to change the picture, simply change the parameters! It’s like a smart camera capturing all the possible scenarios you may have in your downhole situation. It literally takes the fear out of flying!

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* Quote source: John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (1922 – 1941), poet and aviator

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
- Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

This slogan is displayed in the back of every taxi in Abu Dhabi.

Sitting by the driver, I could see the warning showing up on the small screen by the driver and voice from the speaker if the speed was more than 80 km/hr.

Violation of 3 times and sustained speeding over 1-2 minutes automatically result penalty of AED100 ($27.23)

For everything, there is a reason. Abu Dhabi Transportation Authority must have sufficient data and reasoning to implement this measure. It is like having a policeman inside every taxi. It might be annoying to both driver and passenger, but safety must have been improved.

I bet those taxi companies, which implemented this speed monitoring system, receive favorable premium.

For drilling operation, safety issue is always the top priority. Accidents occur when we continuously ignore the warnings of problems.

We, drilling engineers, face many operational parameters. While some of them are non-controllable, such as formation type and pressures, geothermal temperature; other parameters are controllable, including well trajectory, WOB, ROP, RPM, mud weight, etc.

Most rigs now have data acquisition system to record those controllable operation parameters. What are missing nowadays are the proper warnings for various conditions, so that drillers can make informed decisions based on those warnings.

This goal can probably be achieved through the collaboration of operations, service companies and drilling software companies like us.

At that time, our drilling rigs can have a sign: “Our Drilling Is Monitored!”

I made 3 trips to Middle East this year. Every time I left Dubai for Houston, my flights departed around 1 am in the early morning. One would think that by that time, airport would be like a ghost place. To the contrary, Dubai Airport (DXB) is as busy as daytime (if not busier). Outside the terminal buildings, the rear lights of taxis, shuttles and cars painted a rosy picture full of energy. Once inside, you will not feel it is the middle of the nights. A sign in the terminal says:  ”Thank you for the votes to make Dubai Airport the best in the middle east!” I would think it is probably the most efficiently utilized airport in the region.

Similarly, like taxi system in many other big cities around world, Dubai’s taxi drivers have 2 shifts: day and night. Two drivers share one car. Drivers take turn to sleep while cars run 24 hrs. It makes good sense to use whatever we purchase, rent or created as fully as possible.

We are equal in front of time: all of us are given 24 hrs a day, among which we spend 1/3 to work, more or less. Individually, it is impossible for us to work 24 hrs continuously. However, collectively, we make 24-hr work happen.

A few years ago, we formed a software development team in China and transferred some work load to Shanghai. Benefits are multifold. One of them is that we can use the time difference to our advantage. Coding and testing now can take turn to happen and follow/enhance each other. It is 24-hr development cycle.

On the software usage side, customers can now buy or rent the network license of our drilling software. Users can check out the license remotely and return the license upon finishing. This is especially beneficial to big companies with branch offices in different part of the world: drilling engineers in different regions can take turn to use the software without having additional seats of software.

According to Genesis, God created day and night, but He didn’t make them happen for all people at the same time. Probably it is his design to make 24 hrs more efficiently for human race.

I made a trip to Abu Dhabi to attend 2012 ADIPEC (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition Conference). I stopped at Dubai and spent one night in a hotel called XVA Art Hotel.

The hotel is in an old and traditional Arabic style area by the creek. There is no drive way access. I had to drag my luggage and walked a few blocks to reach the house-like hotel.

My room took one tenth of hotel capacity because there are only 10 rooms total, with a lovely courtyard in the center.  Room is nice with internet access, but no TV, telephone or door bell. Yes, it has AC.

My stay turned into an educational experience when one of the hotel staff showed me the traditional wind tower located by the courtyard, which was used to divert wind into the house to cool down the air inside. No electricity was available or required: a pure twist of natural force to our benefit.

The following pictures show a wind tower from outside and a view from inside up.  The triangle diverts the wind downward.

Of course, wind tower becomes a symbol of traditional Arabic living. Not many people are actually using it for cooling.  We use AC instead.

Looking back into the history of drilling technology, we see many similar evolutions. The first kind of bit was heavy chisel, which now replaced by PDC bit, bamboo, which was originally used in fishing in ancient China, replaced by steel pipe, even the purpose of drilling shifted from brine (Salt) to oil, …

Simple form of engineering was replaced by sophisticated system. We may not be inventors of new technologies, but our needs contribute to the wind of change. There is no best solution, only the better ones waiting for us to discover.

Long live innovation!

Reading and listening are great ways of learning. Using software saves tremendous time in solving technical problems and enables the user to make sound and wise technical decisions.

Everyone writes something sometimes in one’s life, even though not everyone writes software. When it comes to article writing and software coding, there are some common attributes. Both require careful architecture of ideas, logic and purposes. But too many times, both endeavors suffer one way thinking. That is to express what is in their mind, without knowing what readers or users want to see or use.

Writers tend to overload the information in articles, thinking the readers will benefit with vast information. Similar, software developers are inclined to add more functions in terms of buttons, menus, and check boxes than needed.

Our intentions might be good, but the results are long articles and big applications. Just like that over watering is perhaps the biggest killer of pot and container grown plants, readers and users can easily get lost in absorbing key information in an article or finding the basic function in a software package.

The gaps between creations and market needs could be bridged with the communication between writers and readers, developers and users, and conscious efforts to simplify things. It is easy to make simple things complicated, while it is difficult to make complicated things simple. This requires intelligent efforts.

We are living in a world of limited resources including time. Too much information or unnecessarily complicated application wastes our time, to say the least. They also dilute the key points or functions.

In their book "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier.

In talking about how to simply writing, they mentioned "upside-down pyramid": Journalists, when writing news, always place the most important information first within a text and the other material should in order of diminishing importance.

The origin of this style is from war-time reporter, who had to send out the most important information at the earliest, because the reporter could get killed or communication equipment could fail.

The format is also valued because readers can leave the story at any point and understand it, even if they don't have all the details.

For newspaper, if editor wants to reduce the size of certain article for "Breaking News", he can always "cut from the bottom".

If we all could adopt this style for writing or coding, our readers and users will be thankful.

During a recent retreat to Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Desert in the Empty Quarter, the largest uninterrupted sand desert in the world, I explored the sandy landscape with a 4 x 4 desert safari.

We all have experience with sands. A few grains of sand in our shoe are enemies of feet. A few dozens of square meters of sand become children’s playground. When countless tons of sand forms plains, dunes, valleys and stretch into horizon without end, the views become breathtaking and timeless. Suddenly, we feel so tiny in front of the sea of sand.

The desert tranquility was interrupted when two of our Land Cruiser 4-wheel drives bashed into the sand. The key element of desert safari is to lower the tire pressure. See our driver was releasing the tire pressure.

According to him, the desired tire pressure is 10-12 psi, compared to 35 psi of standard tire pressure. It is easy to understand that lower tire pressure will increase the contact area of the tire with ground.

I did some calculation using these numbers, assuming the weight of a Land Cruiser is 6,000 lb.

When the tire pressure is reduced to 10 psi from 35 psi, the tire/ground contact area increases 3.5 folds. The big increase of contact area enables the Land Cruiser to drive in sands, climb sand dunes and slide down. SUV becomes a boat in the sea of sand.

Here is our Land Cruiser at the top of the towering dune. My internal organs were totally disoriented during the rapid downing.

Wish you were there in the SUV so you could hear the wild screams from all three of us:
I, myself and me…

We participated in an oilfield show held in Corpus Christi in September. This is our first time to be involved in this kind of show, which related closely to oil field operation.

Upon returning, our engineer shared the experience with us. “Our giveaway is more popular than our software. People picked up our giveaways (PVI rulers) more than our brochures.” I could not help laugh out loudly. Maybe a little bit disappointed, but this mere fact was quite amusing.

I did not do any market research, but I suspect that it is probably true to many exhibitors that the giveaway is attractive.

We are living in a world of promotions. Every day, we are bombarded with e-mail messages full of best deals, with TV commercials, with flyers or brochures, etc. Among the different types of advertising or promotional strategies out there, one that reportedly gives you a high rate of success when it comes to it being effective is through product giveaways, especially in exhibitions.

The main reason behind the success of these giveaways is quite obvious and simple: everyone loves free stuff. People do turn their heads upon the sight of those freebies. Product giveaway has always been a popular marketing method to get people’s attention on which you can offer so that they can be interested in you products and your business.

I have been had good experiences of picking giveaways in those big shows such as OTC in Houston. Some of the promotional items were quite quaint and worth of keeping. I even took some photos of the promotional items with a wood status of my art collection (“Thinker”) and made some stories. See the pictures at the bottom.

One great thing about giveaways is that those who have heard and received your freebies will eventually pass the word of mouth to others or keep them in the office so other people can see them. You don’t have to pay a great deal of money to do the advertising. Your freebies will, hopefully, simply walk the talk for you.

Companies who always use giveaway must have done a good deal of market research on the cost and return prior to come up with the promotional items, at least the cost and returns are balanced.

I do not know what the best promotional giveaway item is for a drilling software company like us, but I certainly enjoy collecting some very eye-catching, innovative giveaways in trade shows. From the qualities of giveaways in trade show, one can even sense our industry’s wellness. As long as the oil price tends to be high, freebies are more likely to have clever designs at higher cost…

In August 2012, Brandon Cook, from Wilton, New Hampshire, was visiting his grandmother, who was ill with cancer in the hospital. His grandmother was longing for her favorite clam chowder from Panera Bread. However, Panera only sells clam chowder on Friday. So Brandon called the nearby Panera and talked to store manager Suzanne Fortier. Not only did Sue make clam chowder especially for Brandon's grandmother, she included a box of cookies as a gift from the staff. 

This small act of kindness created an earthquake when Brandon told the story on his Facebook page, and Brandon's mother, Gail Cook, retold the story on Panera's fan page. Gail's post generated 500,000 (and counting) "likes" and more than 22,000 comments on Panera's Facebook page.

On one hand, this story shows the power of social media and how the "word-of-mouth" can boost a company's reputation. On the other hand, no matter how busy the world is getting and how hard businesses are trying to make more profit, little has changed in terms of compassion and caring of human being.

Another story was told by Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, to the graduating seniors of Princeton University. During a summer road trip with his grandparents when he was a 10-year-old boy, Bezos, fed up with his grandmother's smoking in the car, calculated his grandmother’s consumption rate of cigarettes, the health risk of each puff, and announced to her with great fanfare, "You've taken 9 years off your life!"

The unexpected reaction was that his grandmother burst into tears and his grandfather pulled the car off to the side of the road and asked young Jeff to step out. His grandfather did not beat him, instead, he gently and calmly said, “Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever.”

There is an old saying, “Business is business.  It’s not personal.”  But in fact, everything about business is personal.

Kindness should go both internally and to clients.  Business is all about creating a “feeling” of trust.  Smartness itself does not secure a trust.  People may be impressed by your cleverness, but they care more how much you care for them. Jeff's story about telling his grandmother that she was taking 9 years off of her life was about being right, rather than being kind.  Actually, in many cases, there are ways to be both correct and kind.  And more importantly, kindness should be over the smartness.

In our drilling software business, kindness is expressed in terms of user-friendliness, among other aspects.  What we try to do is to convert complicated calculations into intuitive tools, which people can use it with ease, without training.

We realize that no matter how smart we are or try to be, if the software is designed only to show our smartness, not with our clients in mind, then, it will be doomed to fail.

Regarding the software usage, no one ever looks back on their life and says, “I wish I’d spent more time at that software.”  For us, software is our core business and we are proud of creating the best of the suites.  For our clients, our products are tools to facilitate their job, so they can spend less time doing calculation and more time to make technical decisions.

Theodore Isaac Rubin, an American psychiatrist and author, said: “Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”

Small genuine acts of kindness can go a long way, in business world as well as in our personal world. Something all of us should definitely keep in mind.