Data Science Convention 2024

Michael is an expert in spatial data analytics, geostatistical reservoir modeling, and machine / statistical learning, He has 19 years of experience consulting and teaching and has published over 65 peer reviewed papers and 1 textbook on the topic. This includes 13 years at Chevron, where Michael was a Chevron company-wide expert responsible for: (1) conducting and managing data analytics, reservoir modeling and related R&D, (2) conducting and reviewing data analytics, reservoir modeling projects and (3) training and establishing standards for reservoir modeling. Recently, Michael accepted a new challenge as a Professor in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and the Department of Geological Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. For complete list of his accomplishments see his website at www.michaelpyrcz.com and follow him on GitHub GeostatsGuy, Twitter @GeostatsGuy and YouTube GeostatsGuy Lectures for recent news and geostatistics and machine learning resources.

Baris has 20+ years of Chevron experience in development of reservoir simulation/modeling technologies, cloud-computing, HPC, flow-geomechanics coupling, optimization and applications to CO2 storage.

He currently manages the Reservoir Simulation Development and Environment Chapter at Chevron, which develops reservoir simulation and engineering software tools and workflows for operating companies throughout Chevron. He is responsible for formulating and implementing short and long term strategies to provide world-class reservoir modeling technologies. He collaborates with Total and Schlumberger counterparts on the INTERSECT reservoir simulation partnership. Some current focus items include CO2 storage, coupling flow and geomechanics, flow through natural and induced fractures, chemical EOR modeling, high-performance computing, usable/agile workflows, and digitalization of subsurface data. He also works with our partners Schlumberger and Microsoft to implement Schlumberger's DELFI E&P environment within Chevron's Azure tenant, including seamless integration of Chevron's differentiating IP.

Akash Sharma is an innovative leader and strategist at the intersection of technology, data, and energy. As Director of Product Innovation at Enverus Ventures, he spearheads strategic initiatives to drive growth by leveraging his expertise in analytics, data science, and complex systems engineering for decision intelligence solutions. With over a decade of experience spanning petroleum engineering, data science, product management, and consulting, Akash is an internationally recognized thought leader and trusted advisor on digital transformation. He holds advanced degrees in petroleum engineering and computational data analytics from the University of Houston and Georgia Tech, shaping his unique perspective. Akash contributes regularly to industry knowledge through publications, conferences, patents, and committees. He is a published author with SPE and AAPG and an active member of the Digital Energy Technical Section and Digital Transformation Committee. As a certified Lean Six Sigma expert, Akash brings deep commitment to efficiency and process improvement. He has proven success in delivering tangible results by bridging the gap between multifaceted engineering challenges and actionable intelligence. With a keen understanding of the global energy landscape, Akash thrives at the bleeding edge of creating technology-enabled solutions to pressing real-world problems. He leads key initiatives in AI and ML, knowledge mining, data modeling, and other innovations to optimize costs, enhance sustainability, and accelerate the energy transition. Fluent in Hindi and English, Akash excels in multicultural environments. He is especially passionate about mentoring other young professionals to realize the potential of technology to transform the energy sector. Known for challenging norms, driving change, and forming high-impact interdisciplinary teams, Akash’s vision and contributions continue shaping the future.

Dr. Eckroth has primary responsibility for the software architecture that underpins the i2k Connect AI Platform. He leads research efforts such as developing Energy LLM. He is also Associate Professor of Computer Science at Stetson University. Dr. Eckroth holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science) from the Ohio State University. Dr. Eckroth became Associate Editor for the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Interactive AI Magazine in 2021 and is Editor-in-Chief of AITopics. He has given dozens of presentations (including ATCE and SPE GCS DSC) and has authored 40 peer-reviewed publications and a book about building and deploying AI.

Dr. Pourjabbar is a senior data scientist with 15+ years of experience in industry and academia. She joined Chevron 10 years ago as a research scientist and assumed various roles in subsurface and data science domains.  In her role, she has led data science projects in the subsurface domain, applying her expertise and domain knowledge to drive innovation and deliver results. Anahita is also a patent holder, award winner, and author of peer-reviewed publications, demonstrating her commitment to excellence and innovation in her field.

Sarah Karthigan is the GM of Strategy & Innovation, Enterprise Data and Insights at Chevron. She is a reputed leader with a demonstrated history of leading digital transformation initiatives in the energy industry. She was named one of 2021’s 25 Influential Women in Energy in recognition of her outstanding work to accelerate the adoption of data science to enable data-driven decision-making across the integrated oil and gas value chain.

Karthigan started her career at ExxonMobil over a decade ago and has since held various roles of increasing responsibility in the areas of strategic planning, project management, scientific computing, and data science. She currently leads the AI operations practice, which is focused on realizing self-healing strategies, and is also responsible for managing external relationships with multiple technical business partners.

Dr. Jay Chen is the Natural Science AI team lead at Shell, possessing over 15 years of experience in data science and engineering.His expertise includes data acquisition, Monte Carlo simulation, cloud computing, software development, multivariate statistical analysis, and machine learning. At Shell, Dr. Chen is dedicated to integrating artificial intelligence into the energy industry, as part of the company's Shell.ai initiative. He is a member of several professional organizations, including APS, SPE, SEG, and Sigma Xi. Dr. Chen has an extensive publication record, with over 200 articles to his credit.

Katya has more than 20 years experience in analytics services and software development. She has worked across heavy industries like energy, mining, chemicals and smelting globally. She founded and remains CEO of DataStories International, an advanced analytics software and services firm in Belgium in 2011 with a purpose to make machine learning easy to interpret, internalize, exploit and benefit from for industry. Since August 2021 DataStories joined Partners in Performance, where Katya leads Prescriptive Analytics practice. Katya has a PhD in data-driven modelling from Tilburg University and PDEng in industrial mathematics from TU Eindhoven. She is a current and former advisor on Artificial Intelligence, materials modeling and industrial innovation to Belgian and German governments and European Commission, and a member of Forbes Technology Council.

Faisal Iqbal is the Digital Product Leader for Baker Hughes Additive Services. In his role, Faisal is responsible for the management and development of Digital Platform to industrialize Additive Technologies inside and outside Baker Hughes. Faisal has over twenty years of experience across Automotive, Energy, & Oil & Gas. During his career he has held various leadership roles driving the digitalization initiatives impacting productivity & quality improvement and increased revenue. As part of his current role at Baker Hughes, and also due to personal contribution to the industry, Faisal frequently speaks at conferences & participates in industry consortia, evangelizing the effective use of technology & data to drive new ways of thinking, working, & living; a better, safer and more creative and sustainable world promoting entrepreneurial endeavors.

Lead Engineer for Baker Hughes Emerging Technologies, responsible for research and development of right time additive manufacturing process monitoring and inspection solutions. Amar has extensive experience modeling and simulating multi-physical systems, and for the past 4 years has been leading end to end development of remote monitoring and analysis solutions from the oil field to the manufacturing floor. Amar holds a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Soft Matter Physics and Complex Fluids. With this background, Amar is passionate about exploring the domain of fit-for-purpose analysis solutions that integrate and strike an ideal balance between physics and data driven technologies.

Sunil Garg is the founder and CEO of dataVediK, a Houston based AI/ML company building DataMoKsha Hyper-Converged Data and Analytics Platform for Oil & Gas industry. Prior to this, he spent 20+ years establishing and growing Data Management, Big Data and Analytics business for Schlumberger. Sunil has deep understanding of Oil and Gas data, Data Science & ML and uses the combination to build end user centric solutions. He is a member of several industry organizations and forums like SPE, AAPG, PPDM, SPDM, OSDU and Rice Alliance. Sunil is a sought-after speaker at various industry conferences and conducts Big Data, Machine Learning and Blockchain trainings for the Industry, the Government, and the Academia. He is also an active angel investor and a charter member of TiE, an organization whose mission is to foster entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, funding, and incubation.

Dr. Birol Dindoruk is currently AADE Endowed Prof.of Petr. Eng & Che & Biomolec. Eng @ U of Houston., previously he was the Chief Scientist of Reservoir Physics and the Principal Tech Expert of Res Eng in Shell. His technical contributions have been acknowledged with many awards during his career, including SPE Lester C. Uren Award (2014), Cedric K. Ferguson Medal (1994), and Distinguished Membership. In 2017, and finally the highest society awad: SPE Honorary Member award in 2023. He was elected as a member of the NAE for his significant theoretical and practical contributions to EOR & CO2 sequestration in 2017. He was one of the Distinguished Lecturers of SPE for 2010-2011 term. Dr. Dindoruk was Data Science and Engineering Analytics Technical Director of the SPE and a member of the Advisory Committee of the SPE Reservoir Dynamics and Description Technical Discipline. He has been active in various editorial positions under SPE and also Elsevier. Currently he is the Editor In Chief for all SPE Journals. Dr. Dindoruk is well-known for his extensive work on thermodynamics of phase behavior/EOS development, miscibility assessment and experimental work, interaction of phase behavior and flow in porous media, enhanced oil recovery and CO2 sequestration, and correlative methodologies. Recently, Dr. Dindoruk has also been working in the area of data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning and focusing on effective incorporation of data sciences into the oil and natural gas industry practices and energy systems. In recent years, he has authored/co-authored various articles for hydrogen, geothermal systems and adsorptive storage. Dindoruk has 28 years of industrial experience, holds a BSc Degree from Technical University of Istanbul in Petroleum Engineering, MSc Degree from The University of Alabama in petroleum engineering and also a PhD from Stanford University in Petroleum Engineering and Mathematics, and an MBA from University of Houston.