Professor Sebastian Geiger, Director of the Institute of Petroleum Engineering (IPE) and Foundation CMG Chair at Heriot-Watt University, has been awarded the 2017 Alfred Wegener Award by the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE).
The Award is made to an Association member who has made an outstanding contribution over a period of time to the scientific and technical advancement of one or more of the disciplines in the Association, particularly petroleum geoscience and engineering.
The citation for the Award mentioned that his contributions to the field of carbonate reservoir modelling and simulation as head of the Carbonate Reservoir Group at Heriot-Watt, co-director of the International Centre for Carbonate Reservoirs in Edinburgh, and Foundation CMG Chair in Carbonate Reservoir Simulation. It also spoke of his ‘open, accessible teaching and supervision’ and his publication track record, which comprises over 120 technical papers and 1 edited book.
It noted, ‘Sebastian is an outstanding contributor to petroleum and reservoir engineering in both academia and industry. He has advanced fundamental understanding of multi-phase, multi-rate processes in hydrocarbon and hydrothermal reservoirs, and of methods to represent them efficiently in reservoir simulations.’
The citation specifically emphasised that ‘His scientific leadership is reinforced by core values that set the highest ethical standards for young geoscientists and engineers. For his ground-breaking contributions Sebastian Geiger fully merits the 2017 Alfred Wegener award.’
Professor Geiger said, “I am deeply grateful to have received the prestigious 2017 Alfred Wegener Award from the EAGE. However I would never have been able to achieve this without the support of my students, colleagues, and collaborators, who are truly inspirational and the driving force behind our work. This award is as much theirs as it is mine.”
Heriot-Watt’s Chief Scientist, Professor John Underhill, said, “The award of EAGE’s prestigious Alfred Wegener Award to Sebastian Geiger is a fitting and fully deserved testament to his academic prowess and dedication to his subject. It is yet another superb example of the quality, breadth and considerable depth of expertise housed in our world-leading Institute of Petroleum Engineering”