Woodside Petroleum : Opinion - Collaboration is key to fruitful outcomes

Collaboration is key to fruitful outcomes

Woodside is one company to reap the benefits of working closely with universities

By Peter Coleman,CEO and Managing Director, Woodside

Published in The Australian (Higher Education supplement, p. 32), 26 September 2018.

Since Woodside set up a dedicated data science team almost four years ago, we have made great progress in deploying data-driven breakthroughs to support and enhance our operations.

We haven't done this all on our own: we have benefited frompartnerships with a range of universities and research institutions that have challenged us and helped us to find new ways of doing things.

As we embark on a growth phase, with proposals to expand gas production through our facilities in Western Australia, we know we will need to tap into all available expertise.

To this end, we have been thinking about what makes for successful collaboration between industry and universities.

We've refreshed our technology strategy, identifying four work streams that will be crucial if we are tocontinue to perform at the highest level and and contributeto meeting the world's needs formore and cleaner energy.

We will maintain our focus on conventional oil and gas technologies and data science while also prioritising carbon management and the development of new energy sources.

These four priorities cover industry-specific challenges and challenges that have much broader significance as society demands energy that is affordable, reliable and sustainable.

We are looking for partners who can work with us on these priorities.

Our experience of partnerships with universities through the years has taught us that the best results can be achieved when there is a systematic relationship and expectations are clearly communicated and understood by both sides at all levels.

For us, those expectations go to simplified processes and robust quality-controlled outcomes.

Ideally, we would like a straightforward process for matching our challenges and the funding that goes with them with researchers who are motivated to work on them. They may be master's or PhD students, or undergraduates.

We want to make it easy for our staff to collaborate with a university and be sure that the outcome will meet or exceed the standards we expect of work performed by our staff.

Industry research problems that are suitable for collaboration can be addressed over a mix of timeframes: short hackathon events to gather ideas; undergraduate student assignments lasting three months; research consultancy by senior staff measured in hours or days; and more conventional research grants that enable the appointment of a PhD research student and a three-year-long inquiry.

In a world where knowledge is so accessible online and lectures can be streamed at home, being able to take part in creative problem-solving on campus or with an industry partner can provide the connection students need to reinforce what they are learning.

And there is no better or more rewarding way to learn than by solving problems.

26 September 2018

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Our approach is to establish meaningful relationships with researchers while respecting the independence of their research and findings.

We aim to increase our own engagement with universities as well as encouraging inter-university collaboration, such that the brightest brains can work together and learn from each other.

We know there is stiff competition between universities-for funds, students, staff and rankings-but we also know from our own experience that competition need not preclude collaboration.

The idea that the best outcomes can be achieved by working together across industry and academe is the driving forcebehind Woodside's FutureLabprogram, developed with universities including Monash, the University of Western Australia, Curtin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Texas.

The FutureLab program will continue to play a crucial role as we explore new energy opportunities such as hydrogen and the use of liquefied natural gas as a low-emissions fuel, and as we dedicate extra resources to managing carbon emissions.

There's no better way for studentsto learn about industry than by tackling some of the challenges it faces.

Andthere's no better way forbusinesses to gain access to some of the brightest brains and to people who can challenge our assumptions and processes, thereby improving them.

Working together, we can be partners in problem-solving, productivity and learning.

26 September 2018

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