Data Science Convention - Registration for In-Person Event Only

Sushma Bhan is currently Board Advisor- Data Science and Engineering Analytics at Society of Petroleum Engineers and Director at Ikon Science. Prior to this role, Sushma was Chief Data Officer- Subsurface and Wells at Shell Oil Company, where she created business co-owned data strategies and accountability for global data accelerators, standards, and subsurface digital-value funnel. Sushma was a motivating global leader of Shell’s data community of over 120 professionals across 21 countries, including a team of Chief Data Officers for Contracting & Procurement, Safety & Environment, Projects & Engineering and Exploration. Over the past decade, her team’s collective data improvements have resulted in millions of dollars in costs savings and valued outcomes, specifically in Wells, Reservoir and Facility Management (WRFM).

Liz Dennett, PhD is a passionate technologist with over a decade of experience uasing data-driven approaches to solve pressing energy challenges. She has demonstrated success pioneering novel data types, architectures, and data analytics solutions through the energy value chain.

Liz is currently the VP of Data Architecture at Wood Mackenzie where she is heping slay data silos to fueld sustainable innovation, and hosts the Horizon Podcast, Liz was the Lead solutions Architect for energy Data Plkatforms at Amazon Web Services (AWS), and held various roles of increasing scope and complexity within AWS, Biota Tecchnology, Hess Corporation, and the NASA Astrobiology Institue. A technology evangelist, Liz has given over 100 invited presentations, received  over a dozen awards, and written more than 10 acdemic and industry publications.

Dr. Hector Klie is an experienced computational and data scientist focused on developing physics-informed AI solutions for multiple engineering and geoscientific applications in oil and gas. Dr. Klie is co-founder and CEO od Deepcast.ai since June 2017. He is currently appointed as an Adjunct Professor of the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University. Prior to his role at Depcast.ai, he was director of enterprise data solutions and data science technical lead at Sanchez Oil and Gas corporation, staff reservoir engineer and lead data scientist at conocoPhillips, and associate director and senior research associate at the center for subsurface modeling in the University of Texas at Austin, and research scientist at PDVSA-Intevep.

Pavel Dimitrov is a Senior Solutions Artichect at NVIDIA. He helps energy partners and customers discover what is possible with accelerated computing in areas like electric power generation, transmission and distribution. More broadly, he likes to learn math and to apply it to other fields of knowledge. Prior to NVIDIA, Pavel spent over 12 years in oil and gas collaborating with scientists and engineers on research and development projects resulting in 16 granted patents. He holds a PhD in computer science from Yale University.

A Petroleum Engineer by background, Sidd is the co-founder and CEO of Nesh. Nesh builds Subject Matter Avatars for Complex Industries. Sidd is a Schlumberger and Shell alumni. He is also a self-described data nerd and design enthusiast. Sidd has a Bachelor's degree from Indian Institue of Technology and a Master's degree from UT Austin.

Digital Geology Advisor, Chevron Technology Center

Shane J. Prochnow is Digital Geology Advisor at Chevon Technology Center- Sub-Surface Innovation Lab. He has over 15 years industry, at ExxonMobil and Chevron. He holds a Post-Doc (3 yrs), Ph.D, MS, BS in Geology at Baylor University. He is an Army National Guard Officer (ret) and his research interests include unconventionals, reservoir characterization, geostatistics, machine learning, integrating complex systems. Shane has previously worked as Permian Basin First Principles Champion, Reservoir Characterization Advisor for MCBU Asset Development, and Geologist on the ARMT Completions Optimization Group

Manager of Digital Innovation, Datagration

Professor Voneiff has thirty-nine years of oil and gas experience, primarily in unconventional reservoirs. He founded, built, and sold several E&P companies in the US and Canada, teaches graduate-level classes part-time in the Petroleum Engineering Department at Texas A&M University, and is SVP Unconventional Solutions at Datagration Solutions Inc. He has extensive experience in risk management, uncertainty analysis, completion & development optimization in tight rock and A&D evaluations, with expertise in data analytics and economics. Honors include induction into the Texas A&M Petroleum Engineering Academy of Distinguished Graduates in 2013, recipient of the Sproule Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas in 2005, recipient of the #1 Company in the Aggie 100 presented by the Texas A&M Mays Business School in 2005, and Finalist/runner-up in the Ernst & Young Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004

Pallav Sarma is Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Tachyus responsible for the modeling and optimization technologies underlying the Tachyus platform. He is a renowned expert in closed-loop reservoir management, with multiple patents and papers on various topics including simulation, optimization, data assimilation and machine learning.  He has many years of research experience in the oil and gas industry working for Chevron and Schlumberger prior to Tachyus. He has received many awards including the INFORMS Prize, the Dantzig Dissertation award from INFORMS,  Miller and Ramey Fellowships at Stanford University, Chevron’s Excellence in Reservoir Management award, and a SIAM award for excellence in research. He holds a Ph.D. in Petroleum Engg., a Ph.D. Minor in Operations Research from Stanford University and a B.Tech from Indian School of Mines. He is a SPE Distinguished Lecturer and currently serves on the committees of the SPE Reservoir Simulation Conference, the EAGE European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery and the JPT editorial committee.

Supriya works for Schlumberger as AI Solutions Manager for Digital Production. In her role, she leads a team of data scientists, data engineers and petro-technical experts to design and productize cloud and edge AI workflows for optimizing production operations. She has over 10 yrs of experience working at the intersection of digital technologies, data science and O&G, has coauthored several SPE papers and has been an invited speaker to several industry forums. She is a recipient of the 2017 SPE Regional Management and Information Award. She serves on the advisory committee of SPEi Data Science and Engineering Analytics Technical Section and founded the SPE Gulf Coast Data Analytics Study Group in 2016 and served as its chair for 2 years.  She holds a Masters Degree in Petroleum Engineering and a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering.

Data Commercial Manager, Shell

Mubarik Hussna Choudry has been with Shell for over 20 years, having worked in various global leadership roles with last 10 years focused on Innovation and Digitalization.  Ms. Choudry is currently working as a Digital Commercial Manager in Shell’s Projects & Technology organization, part of the Computational Science & Digital Innovation team. Some of her most recent roles include Digital Product Management for Assets and Projects across the downstream and upstream businesses and Innovation Advisor for Operational Excellence.  In that capacity she was instrumental in development and implementation of Shell’s digital strategy for assets and helped identify and drive incremental & disruptive innovation opportunities in Emerging Technologies such as AI, Robotics, and Digital Realities.  She holds a BA and MS in Management Information Systems and MBA from Rice University.

Philippe Herve is SparkCognition as the SVP of Energy and Sustainability. Herve is an executive with US and international success in operations, P&L, technology, business development, marketing, sales, and client relations.

Herve’s comprehensive experience in oil and gas spans large-scale project leadership, IT, engineering, manufacturing, and operation.

Herve holds multiple patents in the field of ultrasonic and has authored many technical papers. He is a member of numerous professional organizations including the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Over the years, Mr. Herve has frequently been published in Bloomberg, Oil & Gas Journal, Journal of Petroleum Technology, World Oil, The Houston Chronicle, Drilling Contractor, and is a frequent speaker on diverse management and engineering subjects.

Herve was a late comer to the AI revolution. He only started working on Artificial Intelligence in 1985.  Artificial Intelligence had already been defined 30 years earlier.

Edward Wolfram, P.E., is a data analytics minded reservoir engineer, currently working for Occidental Petroleum on the Delaware Basin Well Analysis and Design team. After graduating Suma Cum Laude from the Colorado School of Mines with a BS in Petroleum Engineering and the McBride Honors Minor, Edward worked for Anadarko and now OXY in various petroleum engineering and data science roles of increasing responsibility; focused on leveraging algorithmic approaches to create solutions for field wide optimized economic development in unconventional resource plays such as the Delaware, Permian, and Greater Natural Buttes Basins. A recent study area of his work has been the application of machine learning workflows to enable decision making to account for the developmental impact of parent child relationships on infill well performance. Edward is a fan of leveraging python and statistics to save time and create novel engineering solutions, insights, and workflows.

James Cassanelli, Ph.D., is an analytics-focused geoscientist currently working for Occidental Petroleum on the Texas Delaware Subsurface Characterization team. Previously James worked for Anadarko Petroleum in the Texas Delaware Basin Operations group. Before beginning his professional career, James earned a Doctorate degree from Brown University in the field of Planetary Science. James’ work involves the application of various data-related disciplines to better understand and optimize the development of unconventional oil and gas assets. James has delivered multiple oral presentations at a number of national and international science conferences and previously taught a data analytics bootcamp course at Rice University.

Shan leads the software and digital operations team for the Oilfield Services business unit at Baker Hughes Company.  He is responsible for leading software and technology programs that support ~$13BN in annual revenues and ~30,000 employees engaged in field services, service shops, and manufacturing processes.  He currently leads the business’s efforts on Remote Operations digitization and journey into application of AI / ML technology for upstream operations.

Previously, Shan spent seven years leading global functions in sales operations and indirect channel sales.  Highlights include leading the commercial integration of the largest merger in the oil & gas industry between GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes, delivering a global commercial transformation including the re-design of the enterprise CRM, underwriting, pipeline, incentives, training, and sales performance processes.

Shan started his career as an Account Manager with GE Capital, subsequently joined GE Company’s Corporate Audit Staff (CAS) leadership program, and then joined GE Oil & Gas (now Baker Hughes Company).  He has worked across several continents and in many of GE Company’s business units.

 While he is a proud Canadian – he also pledges allegiance to the German soccer team (he was born in Berlin) and favors Middle Eastern cuisine (lived in Syria for 8 years as a child).  He has a BA (Honours) in Applied Economics from Queen’s University, Canada and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from McMaster University, Canada.