The Africa Region’s GeoMagic team is the winner of the AAPG Sustainable Development in Energy Competition.
Chinazaekpere Mary Arukwe, Ogonna Tochukwu Emenaha, Onyebum Tochukwu, Nwafor Glory Ebube and Chijioke Valentine Orabueze of the Department of Geological Sciences of Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Nigeria won the first-place prize of $5,000 for their project entitled, “Geomagic: 3D Geophysical imaging for mineral exploration and gully assessment in Ukpor, Nigeria.”
AAPG’s Sustainable Development in Energy Competition for students and young professionals is intended to encourage sustainable development in energy industries. The objective is to harness the creativity of students and young professionals to develop innovative and sustainable development projects across the energy spectrum with a positive social, environmental and economic impact. In addition, the competition is an opportunity for students and young professionals to learn about sustainable development as we undergo the energy transition.
The competition was open to all undergraduate and post graduate students and young professionals with less than two years of experience in the energy sector.
The projects submitted covered aspects of the extraction, processing, consumption and disposal of components of the energy chain.
There were 19 entries, with six teams competing in the finals, and the top three winners were chosen in early July. Each team delivered 15-minute presentations over Zoom to members of the AAPG Sustainable Development Committee, with 10 minutes of Q&A.
The second-place prize of $3,000 went to the Pacific Section’s Breanna Javier, Scott Perl and Woodward Fischer of the California Institute of Technology for their project, “Removal and processing of lithium from contaminated hypersaline brines using lithium tolerant halophiles.”
The third-place prize of $2,000 went to the Latin America and Caribbean Region’s Cindy Nina Ticona, Sergio Marcelo, Marco Antonio Rivera Villacorta, Luis Joaquin Cordova Valasco, Maicol Adalid of the Universidad Mayor de San Andres in La Paz, Bolivia, for their project, “Detection of areas of geothermal potential using remote sensing techniques for the southern region of Potosí, Bolivia.”
The winners will be recognized at the AAPG Foundation Chairmans Reception at the International Meeting for Applied Geoscience and Energy in Houston this month.
The competition is sponsored by the AAPG Foundation, Chevron and BP.
For more information, visit SDC.AAPG.org, and look for a feature article on the contest and the winners in a future issue of the EXPLORER.