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UniPort, SPDC Get New Occupant For Aret Adams Chair In Pet Engineering

By Sam Kpenu

The University of Port Harcourt and Shell  Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, operator of the SPDC Joint Venture in Rivers State have appointed Sunday Ikiensikimama, a Professor of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, on a four-year term to the SPDC JV Aret Adams Professorial Chair in Petroleum Engineering.Making the announcement in a ceremony held at the Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), the two organisations, said the new Occupant of the Aret Adams Professorial Chair came tops in a very keenly selection process. SPDC General Manager, External Relations,  Igo Weli said, “SPDC Joint Venture endowed the Professorial Chair in honour of foremost Petroleum Engineer and former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Aret Adams, to highlight the company's commitment to human capital development in the Niger Delta. he University of Port Harcourt and Shell  Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, operator of the SPDC Joint Venture in Rivers State have appointed Sunday Ikiensikimama, a Professor of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, on a four-year term to the SPDC JV Aret Adams Professorial Chair in Petroleum Engineering. “Experts have said that an endowed chair is among the most important gifts to higher education. It is a vital tool to ensure excellence. As a result, SPDC continues to support  
Weli, who is also the Alternate Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Aret Adams Professorial Chair, said SPDC believes that educating Nigeria's young population is critical to the success of the country. “For several decades, we have continued to invest in education in Nigeria, supporting a range of programmes that include six Professorial Chairs in Nigerian universities, scholarships to thousands of students in secondary and tertiary institutions, and two Centres of Excellence that promote the emergence of industry-ready graduates and advance collaborative researches with industry,” he added.According to Weli, SPDC will provide the needed support to Professor Ikiensikimama to build on the success recorded by his predecessor, Professor Adewale Dosunmu, who occupied the Chair between 2008 and 2016 and developed the award-winning Optiwell Software for exploration activities. The Acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Stephen Okodudu, disclosed that it took the University a while to find a suitable replacement to Professor Dosunmu. “We have done so now; and I don't have any doubt that, surely, just like the excellent record of the first Chair Occupant, there will also be a time when Shell will applaud the current Chair's output.”The Acting Vice Chancellor who was represented at the ceremony by the immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Professor Regina Ogali, commended SPDC and its joint venture partners for their patience while the process of appointing an ideal occupant lasted. He urged Professor Ikiensikimama to work harmoniously with his colleagues and industry players to achieve the objectives outlined for the Chair. Okodudu also enjoined SPDC to consider a Centre of Excellence for the University of Port Harcourt. Other universities that the SPDC JV has endowed Professorial Chairs in Nigeria are University of Uyo (Biodiversity and Climate Change); Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife (Geophysics); University of Nigeria, Nsukka (Environmental Management and Control); Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (Mechanical Engineering); and Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (Lightweight Automobile Engineering).
 

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