A special win for the team!

By Eilidh McKay, Technical Services Manager, Tendeka

Although the Offshore Achievement Awards were held virtually this year, it certainly didn’t stop the nerves, (well for me anyway!).  However, we made the most of the occasion, out came the fancy frocks, wine was pre-chilled in the fridge and we had a company-wide invite for everyone to join us on a team’s call to get the good news.  Unlike other years, the virtual nature of the awards made it possible for us to celebrate with the whole company around the globe (and offshore) which did make a nice change.  Thankfully, the Emerging Technology award was first up, and to say the night started off great is an understatement… although hearing my acceptance speech did seem a bit surreal!  At least I didn’t need to negotiate the stairs to the stage to accept!

It was with immense pride that I wrote the submission, although it can sometimes feel a bit strange to “big your company up”, for Filtrex this wasn’t the case.  The project from the very beginning was a team effort and it was fantastic to be a small part of it.  Once we had the initial concept, Engineering, Technical and Marketing all got involved as part of a SCRUM group.  It was within the early brainstorming sessions that the tool grew arms and legs, which gave us the challenge of proving it.  Fast forward 2 years and we have just won a prestigious industry award for the tool, drafted our first SPE paper, have a new sand lab, all with the same team that has been involved with it from the outset.

There are a number of things I learned during this process;

1. There is no such thing as a stupid idea or question
2. Wear clothes you don’t mind getting ruined for building the first prototype!
3. Learn from everyone around you, although you may not of came up with an idea, you can develop, add to it and make a difference
4. Team structure is key, to have the stability and support of the same team makes the cogs move that bit faster
5. Give credit where credit is due
6. Ensure you enjoy it and make sure there are many laughs along the way (definitely helps with team building – this was particularly noted during the naming sessions)

This award is something we are so extremely proud of. In such a strange time for us all, it is so rewarding for our work to be recognised.  Thank you to everyone in Tendeka who worked on this, who gave their time, expertise and passion for this project.   Although, rest assured, we are not done yet; this is the beginning and I look forward to seeing what else we can deliver – hopefully in time for next year’s awards!

Congratulations to all other winners on the night, especially to the joint winner of Emerging technology award – Deep Casing Tools.  It really was such a great night, one which I will remember for a long time to come.

To find out more about Filtrex, visit www.tendeka.com/filtrex or contact Eilidh by email: eilidh.mckay@tendeka.com 

To watch the virtual awards ceremony, visit: https://youtu.be/n2tsM3JpoY0