John Fernando - 2018
Outstanding Volunteer Recipient John Fernando
DoodleTrain
John has been a full-time instructor at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in the school of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in the Exploration Information Technology (EXPT) program since 2001 (renamed as Geoscience Information Technology (GSIT)). He has received many accolades from his students in the Geophysical certificate program and the EXPT program. In 2010 he received the Instructor Excellence award for the school of ICT from SAIT Students’ Association. He has done his best to involve his students in industry events such as the CSEG DoodleTrain courses as class volunteers; as poster presenters in the 2010 GeoConvention; SAIT representatives in the SAIT booth at the GeoConvention; and attending the CSEG luncheons on a regular basis. On many occasions John has invited industry experts such as Graham Carter, Satinder Chopra, and Bill Goodway, to present on various topics to improve the calibre of the geophysics courses offered at SAIT. Several industry experts have also taken part as panel judges at his capstone projects in the final semester of the diploma program. John and his SAIT students have been participating in the annual Seismic In Motion field trip since 2009 in order to enhance appreciation of the various aspects involved in field operations, as well as safety procedures. His students have also contributed articles to the CSEG RECORDER and the CAGC Source magazine.
John has been involved in teaching industry professionals by offering courses on 2D and 3D seismic data basics during the DoodleTrain week held annually in Calgary, as well as a combined 2D / 3D introductory course for the SEG at the annual meetings in 2015 and 2018.
John has been an active volunteer for the CSEG as the Assistant Director of Education Services from 2009-2010 and as the Director of Education Services from 2010-2011. He was also the Technical co-chair of the CSEG/ GSPG/CWLS joint GeoConvention in 2012. From September of 2011 to June 2014 he was the Chief Editor of the RECORDER magazine. Currently he is the chair of the CSEG DoodleTrain committee and a member of the newly formed DoodleShip committee. The 2018 DoodleTrain event improved on the total registrations by approximately 50% and the net revenue by approximately 25%. The increase in the registration numbers is due to John and his committee members inviting more instructors from the US and Europe, thereby improving the calibre of the courses available to registrants.
John was instrumental in gaining the approval of the CSEG board of directors to host the DoodleShip event in St. John’s NL. The inaugural event was a tremendous success, with two companies sponsoring the instructor fees and the event costs in their entirety. Registration numbers for the two-and-a-half-day course given by Rainer Tonn were unexpectedly high, with 17 full course fee paying registrants and 16 Memorial University of Newfoundland undergraduate and graduate students whose fees were covered by the CSEG Foundation. The luncheon presentation (also given by Rainer Tonn) was a success, with the course registrants and 14 industry guests attending at a very nominal cost.
He is a member of the CSEG, SEG, EAGE, and the AAPG.
