Three SUT-US Member Volunteers Awarded Fellowships by the SUT Council

Araceli Lopez//SUT-US//October 30, 2018
 

Three of the most active member volunteers in the U.S. branch of the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT-US) have been granted the title of “Fellow” by the Council of SUT during its 2018 general meeting in London. 

 

“Having the title of Fellow is one of the highest recognitions that SUT grants to its members”, said Dr. Medina-Cetina, President and Chair of SUT-US, who submitted the SUT-US nominations based on members’ professional commitment and leadership to support SUT’s learning programs. Nominations are voted by the SUT Council, including others submitted by from all SUT branches around the world. 

 

After SUT Council’s nominations voting Mr. Stephen Hall, SUT’s CEO informed the  SUT-US branch that it has been recognized by conferring three of its members the Fellow title. These are: Mr. Steven Johnson from Chevron, Mrs. Kimberly Faulk from Geoscience Earth & Marine Services (GEMS), and Mr. Shawn Williamson from BHP Billiton. 

 

What is  most exciting about these SUT members is their willingness to give back to their professional communities. The now Fellows have supported SUT learning programs ranging from presenting science lectures to kids from K-12, chairing committees, mentoring young professionals, and serving in the SUT-US Executive Board. Below the bio-sketches of the 2018 new SUT Fellows: 

 

 

Steven Johnson is Vice-Chair for the SUT-US Subsea Engineering and Operations Committee (SEO), and has been instrumental in the delivery of the Subsea Awareness Course and presenting floating production systems during the course. He is currently planning a one-day subsea IMR course for Houston in 2018. If you would like to hold a conversation with Steven, is very likely that you will find him in the next SUT-US monthly networking event.

Steven Johnson has been a member of the SUT for over 20 years in both London and Houston. He has been designing subsea production systems for almost 40 years. For the first half, he was based in London, working for Engineering Contractors supporting Operators on multiple subsea projects in the UKCS, Norway, and Mediterranean from conceptual design through FEED and manufacture, to installation and commissioning including the Argyll subsea separator with BOET. Moving to Houston, he initially worked for an engineering company, and has been with Chevron for almost 14 years. 

Projects have included Jack St Malo where he introduced the subsea multiphase pumps. Currently, he is Subsea Manager for a deepwater FPSO, requiring a large subsea development with multiple long-distance tiebacks. He has worked on subsea projects in UKCS, West Africa, West Australia, Caribbean, Far East, South America, Barents Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.



Shawn Williamson is the Permitting Manager for Gulf of Mexico Exploration at BHP Petroleum in Houston, Texas and has been volunteering for the SUT-US for over 7 years. He previously worked as a Geohazards Interpreter with BHP Billiton. Prior to joining BHP in 2003, Shawn was a Geosciences Team Manager with Fugro GeoServices. He has over 20 years of petroleum industry experience and has performed shallow hazards assessments for offshore wells and field developments in the Gulf of Mexico, Trinidad, Venezuela, Brazil, Nigeria, Gabon, Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Myanmar, and South China Sea. While at BHP Billiton, he has participated in well planning teams for over 60 subsalt wells in the Gulf of Mexico. He was responsible for planning, acquisition, and integration of the geophysical and geotechnical site investigation program for the Shenzi Field. Shawn is an active member of SUT-US and served as Chair of the SUT-US Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Committee (OSIG) from 2015 to 2017. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Operators’ Geohazards Forum.

Kimberly L. Faulk is a Project Manager and Senior Marine Archaeologist for Geoscience Earth and Marine Services (GEMS). She has been a member of the SUT-US for over 7 years and she is the first woman to be named a Fellow in the Society for Underwater Technology. Ms. Faulk was also the first advocate to urge the SUT-US Executive Board to write its first Statement on Discrimination and Sexual Harassment, encouraging its members to educate themselves on the issues surrounding discrimination and sexual harassment in any work place, and take individual and collective actions to identify, prevent, and combat instances of discrimination and sexual harassment where ever they find it.