May/June 2004 D R I L L I N G C O N T R A C T O R 63

IADC CONNECTION

DRILLINGCONTRACTOR

IADC Houston Chapter donates to charity

The IADC Houston Chapter recentlydonated $40,000 to Just Like Us, Inc, acharity that provides equipment and serv-ices to benefit severely disabled childrenin special programs at T H Rogers School,part of the Houston Independent SchoolDistrict.

“We raised more than $23,500 of the totalthrough the Silent Auction held during ourannual dinner,” said Chapter ChairmanAnthony Gallegos, Manager of BusinessDevelopment for Atwood Oceanics, Inc.“A lot of hard work went into organizingthe silent auction, and the co-chairmen forthat event, Jim Nowotny, AtwoodOceanics, Pat Haygood, Ambar LoneStar Fluid Services, and Paul Kessler,Nabors Offshore, along with many othervolunteers, deserve special credit.”

“The Houston Chapter of the IADC hasselflessly worked for over a dozen years toenhance the lives of children with disabili-ties without stipulating how that will hap-pen,” said Just Like Us Director TinaColaco. “This freedom allows programs todevelop and items to be purchased as theyare needed and has changed the lives ofhundreds of children.”

With the IADC Houston Chapter funding,Just Like Us was able to provide equip-ment enabling non-verbal children to com-municate. In addition, the donation will beused to purchase a new device designed toimprove mobility of wheelchair-bound chil-dren. The device supports the child’supper torso above a slow-moving tread-mill. This $6,000 device will provide anopportunity for children to build muscles,bear weight and learn the “technique” ofwalking. Other communications devicespurchased with IADC-provided funds wereon display throughout the library. HISDspeech pathologists and special-educationprofessionals demonstrated for the IADCvisitors an age-appropriate communica-tion “game” that will involve the parents,teachers, neighbors, and other communitymembers with team members as they per-fect their communication skills.

Just Like Us, Inc. is volunteer-operatedwith 100% of the funds it receives benefit-ing the children it serves. The charity isalso involved with a new project called theLife Resource Center (LRC), providingafter-school care, vocational training, dayhabilitation, rehab, and respite for care-givers.

WellCAP Plus mini-pilotA one-day "mini-pilot” of the proposedWellCAP Plus program was held 12 Marchat the Transocean Houston TrainingCenter. Feedback from the mini-pilot willbe used to refine the program. A real-timefour-day full course pilot is set for July inLafayette, LA. Previews of the programwill be provided at the Well ControlConference of the Americas inAlbuquerque in October and theInternational Well Control Conference inDubai in December. WellCAP Plus isdesigned to focus on advanced well con-trol students utilizing a facilitated teamapproach.

The mini-pilot was facilitated by RonFuqua, BP; John Smith, Louisiana StateUniversity; and Gary Nance, RandySmith Training Solutions, all membersof the WellCAP Plus development team.

Well control kill sheetThe IADC Well Control Committee formeda workgroup to develop a standardizedIADC well control kill sheet. As with cer-tain manuals that have been preapprovedfor use with WellCAP, the kill sheet wouldbe made available to well control schoolsbut they would remain free to develop anduse sheets of their own design. The work-group is chaired by Ed Geissler, NaborsInternational. Other members includeFrank Klepper, Petroleum CollegeInternational; Dwayne McClelland,ChevronTexaco; Gary Nance, RandySmith Training Solutions; SteveVorenkamp, Well Control Schools; andHal Kendall, Noble Corporation.

The work group is scheduled to report onits progress at the next meeting of the WellControl Committee scheduled for 23 Juneat Unocal.

For more information, contact SteveKropla at 713-292-1945.

Anthony Gallegos, left, Atwood Oceanics and Chairman of IADC Houston Chapter, and Jim Nowotny,Atwood Oceanics, present a check for $40,000 to Tina Colaco, Director of Just Like Us, Inc, aHouston charity that provides equipment and services to benefit severely disabled children. IADCHouston Chapter has donated to disabled children for more than a dozen years.

2004 South Central Asia ChapterOfficers elected

The following were elected 2004 officers:

•Chairman: N Lal, Oil & Natural GasCorporation;

•Vice Chairman: Arun Karle, AskaraEnterprise;

•Technical Member: DD Jaju, RelianceIndustries;

•Legal Advisor: Sam Burjonji Jijina,Mulla & Cragie Blunt & Caroe;

•Treasurer: MK Soni. n