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Schlumberger is the world’s largest oil services company, employing approximately 126,000 people who collectively represent over 140 nationalities. Schlumbergers maintains a presence in more than 85 countries. Knowledge, technical innovation, and teamwork are at the centre of the Schlumberger corporate identity.

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Excitement rippled through the room as students and teachers made sure that everything was in place on their prototypes and their presentations were ready to go for the grand finale of the 2014 Schlumberger Excellence in Education Development (SEED) Challenge.

The event began with a welcome from host Eke U Eke, vice-president and group managing director West Africa, followed by an introduction of honoured guests from government, oil industry executives, academia, Schlumberger scientists, and representatives from the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS).

The 2014 edition of the SEED Schools Science Project Challenge and Exposition took place in the Lantana Hall of the Eko Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos on November 21.

In third place was State Senior High School, with their flood warning system. The group programmed a system that communicates with mobile phones to give alerts when a flood is occurring. This way, people in the flood zone can be reached no matter where they are – at home, school, or work.

Second place went to Calvary Arrows College, with their Rapid Response and Accident Prevention Device for Automobiles (RRAPD). By linking a GPS unit, an accelerometer, and touch sensors in one device for vehicles, the group created a system to help prevent road accidents due to collisions on poor-quality roads. If a collision does occur, the system sends a message to the nearest response centre. If a vehicle is on a bad road, the issue is reported to a road quality monitoring station.

The top award went to Tai-Solarin University of Education Secondary School. This group created a water-powered automobile by building a device to split H₂O via electrolysis. The resulting oxyhydrogen gas can then be used to power a car.

Seed Schools Science Project Challenge

The SEED Schools Science Project Challenge is a collaborative process designed to give educators, mentors, volunteer facilitators, teachers, students, and other stakeholders opportunities to engage, collaborate, and explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects through practical problem-solving activities throughout the year.

They participate in a broad range of activities. Each school is assigned a mentor by the Nigerian Academy of Science to help apply the knowledge of engineering principles as participants use critical thinking and imagination to solve problems. The schools compete at the annual exposition where the best projects in terms of innovation and sustainability are recognised.

The top ten schools from each year are invited to a STEM Teacher Training Programme with a trainer from the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education.

Faculty for the Future

It is not just young children Schlumberger aims to help attain a better prospect in life through education. Women, underrepresented in sciences and engineering at the tertiary education level, are also benefitting from the company’s dedication to furthering education. The Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Programme supports outstanding women from developing countries in their pursuit of advanced graduate studies in engineering, science, and technology at leading universities worldwide.

The programme also has an extended mission to encourage community-building, organising forums with the objective to create an international community of women leaders who will support scientific development and act as agents for change in their home countries. Fellowships are awarded to women from developing and emerging economies to pursue PhDs or post-doctorate degrees at top universities abroad.

Applicants are chosen via a rigorous selection process based on academic performance, outstanding references, research relevance, and commitment to teaching, as well as on the ability to be an agent for change and inspire other young women into STEM pursuits.

Returning Home

A key objective of the Faculty for the Future Programme is that fellows return to their home country to continue their research and teaching, in turn becoming advocates for public policy in their domain of expertise and laying the groundwork for change in regard to women in science. The Schlumberger Foundation’s 12^th Faculty for the Future Forum, which took place November 3-5 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, brought together women scientists from across the globe.

In attendance were sixty women scientists, representing over thirty developing countries, who are currently studying at one of forty prestigious North American universities. During the event, the participants shared their research and life experiences as women in STEM.

Throughout the three-day session, the Faculty for the Future Fellows had the opportunity to collaborate, share their research, and learn from each other, and to network with prominent scientists and other accomplished invited speakers who might act as career mentors.

Since its launch in 2004, 323 women from 63 emerging countries have received Faculty for the Future Fellowships to pursue advanced graduate studies at top universities abroad. To date 56 fellows are from countries along the West African Coast, 39 of them are from Nigeria.

The programme’s long-term goal is to generate conditions that result in more women pursuing academic careers in scientific disciplines.