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The UL Lafayette Student Chapter of Society of Petroleum Engineers was presented with the 2011 Outstanding Student Chapter Award for North America at the recent 2011 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.

SPE presents the Outstanding Student Chapter Award annually to the chapter in each region whose programs, activities, and levels of participation during a single academic year distinguish that chapter from others.

This year’s Outstanding Student Chapter Awards went to:

Africa - University of Ibadan
Asia - UPN "Veteran" Yogyakarta
Europe - Istanbul Technical University
Latin America - University of Trinidad and Tobago
Middle East - NED University of Engineering & Technology
North America - University of ÃÞ»¨ÌÇÖ±²¥ at Lafayette
Russia/Caspian - Tyumen State Oil and Gas University

The UL Lafayette student chapter was also recognized for achieving the Gold Standard. SPE bases these awards on ten categories: membership, planning, educational, professional, service, support, fundraising, extracurricular, the financial report, and a summary of the significant contributions/challenges of the chapter.

Among the activities which helped the UL Lafayette student chapter win recognition include hosting industry professionals who come to give presentations to the students and making field trips to give students the chance to participate in more hands on learning.

The U.S. Student Chapter of SPE is also extremely active with the SPE Evangeline Section and AADE Lafayette Chapter. The student chapter has volunteered with Chevron and United Way at various events including clay shoots, gumbo cookoffs, and poker tournaments. SPE students also have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

The SPE Student Chapter has a mentor program for the freshmen and transfer students where student chapter officers help get the new students involved and also offer tutoring and student advising.

The chapter hosts a crawfish boil fundraiser every spring and also raises money through SPE golf tournaments. Dr. Fathi Boukadi, department head and faculty advisor, said that the student members are an excellent group of students who really come together to better themselves and the Petroleum Engineering department at UL Lafayette.

Current Student Chapter Officers are:

President: Stephen Davis
Vice President: Jeremy Smith
Secretary: Foster Lanie
Treasurer: Alison Sheets

Thirty members of the student chapter the SPE ATCE (Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition) this year in Denver, Colorado. The UL Lafayette Student Chapter of SPE also won this award in 2010. In 2008, before the awards were divided regionally, it was awarded the Outstanding Student Chapter Award.