“always aim for a higher level of perfection” · pdf fileas it happened i got a...

20 CSEG RECORDER March 2009

Continued on Page 21

“Always aim for a higher level

of perfection...”An

interview with

Satinder Chopra

Satinder Chopra, Chief Editor

for the RECORDER, is well

known among CSEG members.

On the technical side he has

contributed numerous, articles,

papers and posters.

He has also been an extremely

active volunteer for the society,

and recently the SEG.

His technical and volunteer

activities have resulted in

several awards and honours,

including the CSEG’s

prestigious Meritorious

Service Award.

March 2009 CSEG RECORDER 21

O: Well, this is different, with you on the other side of the table!I’ll start, as usual, by asking about your educationalbackground and your career – introduce yourself to ourmembers, though you don’t need any introduction really.

S: I grew up in Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh –it’s a hilly province in north India. I received my early educa-tion at St. Edward School, a missionary school at the time runby Irish Christian Brothers. After passing the SeniorCambridge examination, I pursued my Masters in Physics atHimachal Pradesh University in Shimla. I started teachingpart-time at Loreto Convent, and continued with that until Iwas finished with my studies.

In 1984, after a seven-year teaching stint at the convent, Ijoined ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) inDehradun as a geophysicist. Dehradun is in the Himalayanfoothills, and about a seven-hour drive from Shimla. Duringthe next thirteen plus years, I specialized in the processingand interactive interpretation of seismic data. This alsoincluded several years mastering special processing tech-niques used for characterizing reservoirs, like AVO, seismicinversion, attribute studies, and VSP processing.

Since migrating to Canada in 1997, I have worked for CTCPulsonic, which later became Scott Pickford, Core LabReservoir Technologies Division and Paradigm Geophysicalthrough takeovers. Since November of 2004, I have beenworking as Manager, Reservoir Services at Arcis Corporationand I am enjoying my work.

P: Were you interested in science as a child at school?

S: Yes, definitely – at school I was more interested in thesciences than other subjects. I really loved all aspects ofscience, so for my B.Sc. degree I actually took courses inMathematics, Physics, and Chemistry. I wanted to take aMasters, but couldn’t decide between Chemistry andPhysics, so I applied for both. My father was keen onPhysics—Physics was considered to give good employmentopportunities, and no one in our family had ever majoredin Physics. As it happened I got a call from the Physicsdepartment first, so I joined there, and have been hookedon it ever since.

O: I remember that when you and I first started workingtogether on the RECORDER, you had not been in Canadathat long. How did you decide to come to Canada? Was itbecause you saw it as a good environment for explorationgeophysics?

S: Well, my reason for coming to Canada was to study for adoctorate degree. I always wanted to do this. After doing myMasters in Physics, I enrolled myself for Master of

Philosophy degree in Physics, with this in mind. The univer-sity structure is different in India – are you interested in this?

O: Absolutely.

S: Well an M.Phil. degree at the time was the prerequisite toteach in a degree college. A degree college is an institutionwhere students get their bachelor degrees. For the most partsuch degrees do not form part of university curriculum, as isdone in the west. After getting their bachelor degrees atdegree colleges, students go to the universities to get theirmasters and doctorate degrees as well as doing research, butfirst have to get their M.Phil. Typically an M.Phil. degreeentailed completing four courses and submitting a thesis.

So I had enrolled in the M.Phil. program as a stepping-stoneto a Ph.D. My thesis was entitled ‘Horizontal and VerticalMulti-Junction Solar Cells’, which included some originalresearch, plus some review work that I published later in aninternational journal. I completed that and got a scholarshipto work for a Ph.D. However, I developed some differenceswith my supervisor at the time and so quit from the fellow-ship, and started teaching in a convent school for girls run byIrish Christian nuns at Shimla. This was a disappointingmove, as I had always wanted to do research.

O: Nuns? Girls? I had no idea you had such a racy past!

S: After a couple years of teaching I again gave it another shotand got admission at the Physics department at the IndianInstitute of Technology (I.I.T.) in Delhi. IITs are consideredthe premier institutions in India and carry considerable pres-tige, so I considered myself very lucky. However, at the timefamily circumstances intervened. My father was transferredto a touring job and my mother and younger brother wouldhave been left alone if I had moved out of the house to Delhi.So, my dad suggested I drop this idea.

I did not stop there. As the new session started at theUniversity in Shimla, I again started working towards aPh.D. After a few months I got a call from ONGC for the jobof a geophysicist. My supervisor encouraged me to take thejob as he said that such jobs are not easy to come by, and thatI could pursue the Ph.D. at a later time, if I wanted to. So Iquit at the University and joined ONGC.

By now I was convinced that I was destined to not get adoctorate degree! After working for over thirteen years inONGC, my suppressed desire was again aroused when Ilearned that there was a very interesting gas hydratesresearch program at the University of Victoria. India has avast coastline and I thought this would be a great project,first to understand gas hydrate characterization, and then toapply that expertise to the data that we had at ONGC.

Interview Cont’d“Always aim for a higher level of perfection…”Continued from 0


He is perhaps best known in his RECORDER editorial role, as he has spearheaded its rebirth as a world-respected technical magazine. More specifically, the many interviews he has conducted for the RECORDERhave become one of its hallmarks. By popular request Satinder graciously agreed to sit on the other side of themicrophone this time, as Oliver Kuhn and Penny Colton interviewed him for a change!

(Photos courtesy: Penny Colton)

I pursued this idea and got admission as well as fellowshipat the University of Victoria.

So in the fall of 1997 I moved to Canada with my family. Iwas married and my two children were 12 and 5 years old.But here again my desire to pursue research was short-livedas we soon realized that the fellowship I was getting was notenough to support the four of us. My wife was not allowedto work in Canada as I was on a student visa. The financialpinch soon became a painful thorn, and I was forced to eithergo back to India or find a job in Canada. Luckily, I got myfirst job at CTC Pulsonic in Calgary easily enough, and somoved here in October 1998. So, that is how I ended up inCalgary and Canada. I did not come here looking for greenerpastures, it just happened for me.

O: Because of its history most Indians speak excellent Englishand that most certainly helped you fit in so quickly inCanada. But what other languages are you conversant in?

S: Yes, you’re right Oliver. I was fortunate that my parentsadmitted me to a missionary school where right fromnursery school instruction was in English. In school I alsolearnt Hindi, the national language of India, though theworking language in offices in most provinces is English. AsI come from a Panjabi family, my mother tongue is Panjabi.So the answer to your question is I am fluent in threelanguages, English, Hindi and Panjabi. I did do 6 months ofGerman at the University, but found I didn’t have the time tocarry it through.

P: What did you find different between ONGC and CTCPulsonic?

S: ONGC is a large corporation, which has the usual top downcontrol-oriented structure. At ONGC, indeed throughoutIndia, one is expected to address one’s seniors respectfully.For example, we would stand up when a senior officerentered our cubicle or office, and we just naturally displayedthose mannerisms.

When I came to Canada and joined CTC Pulsonic, the envi-ronment was quite different. First, it was a small geophysicalservice company and it was more open in terms of greetingand meeting other employees and senior colleagues.

Apart from that, ONGC being the national oil company ofIndia, everything takes time, as there are procedures andrules and regulations, which have to be followed. Forexample, the replacement of the main computer system forprocessing seismic data took close to 4 years starting fromthe day the request was sent to the senior management untilfinally it arrived and was installed. At CTC Pulsonic whenmanagement felt a need to enhance computing capacity, Iremember it took them a few weeks to install the Origin 2000from Silicon Graphics in 1998. So there were such obviousdifferences, which I welcomed as a positive change. Besides,in a big corporation a lot of time is spent in meetings anddeveloping strategies and at times the implementation andfocus doesn’t seem to be at the heart of the ultimate goal. In aprivate service company, there is a lot of emphasis on how toachieve the ultimate goal, and quickly.

P: Did you adopt a strategy in pursuing the career options youhave made so far?

S: No, I don’t think I ever had a strategy in my mind. However,there were some genuine concerns that prompted me tomake a change each time that I did, even though change isnever comfortable. For example, when I was a teacher, I felt Iwas overqualified for the job. This was my personal opinion,not to belittle the excellent work teachers do. So I pursued ajob opportunity at ONGC when it came up, but not as part ofa larger strategy.

O: What sort of work did you do in the thirteen years atONGC?

S: At the start I had to learn geophysics on my own, havingcome from a pure physics background. I got the opportunityto work first in basic marine processing, and then carry outsome special processing. Thereafter I moved to interactiveinterpretation on workstations. This was followed by a three-and-a-half year stint on the management side – I wasappointed the Head of the management service group thatcatered to the manager who was running the biggestcomputing facility of ONGC. It was called GEOPIC(GEOdata Processing and Interpretation Centre).

P: How do people move around or advance at ONGC?


“Always aim for a higher level of perfection…”Continued from Page 21


Interview Cont’d

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S: Actually, that is another big difference! In the 13+ years that Iserved in ONGC I got only length-of-service promotions. Noteven once were merit interviews held. What this means isthat people who slog and those who take it easy get the samepromotions after a certain time, which happened to be fiveyears. This becomes frustrating for high achievers.

There was also a rotation system for geophysicists in ONGC.Geophysicists were supposed to spend about five to six yearsin data acquisition, and a similar amount of time inprocessing and interpretation, irrespective of where theiraptitudes or preferences were. Since I was first posted in theprocessing group and then interpretation, I knew I would beposted in the field for data acquisition very soon. This wassomething I was not interested in doing. So that was anotherreason that I decided to leave ONGC.

O: How has your career played out in Calgary?

S: When I moved to Calgary, I continued my work on SpecialProcessing Projects and spent close to seven years at ScottPickford, Core Labs and Paradigm Geophysical, companiesformed as a result of takeovers and mergers.

In June 2004 I was laid off along with 15 other employees,when Paradigm Geophysical took over Core Labs ReservoirTechnologies Division where I was working. This came as acomplete shock to me as I had partly stayed out of loyalty; I had disregarded some lucrative offers that had come myway. I turned down one offer just three weeks before beinglaid off!

This was my first real taste of rejection of that sort. Rejectionof any kind is not easy to deal with. I was discouraged, butdidn’t lose faith in my abilities. One thing I learned was thatloyalty in the western business world has its place, but otherfactors can or should take priority. Each individual has tomanage his own career development. This was more of acultural issue for me. I began my next innings…

O: Ah, the cricket reference!

S: …at Arcis Corporation in November 2004 where I have beensince, managing the Reservoir Services Group. This has beena very positive move for me as I have been given completefreedom to pursue whatever technologies I consider useful interms of their development and application in our industry.Besides generating revenue for the company, I have also beengiven a free hand in terms of pursuing writing and technicalcommunication.

O: I consider your career to have been successful so far, in twototally different parts of the world. What roles have luckand hard work played in this?

S: I feel that one very interesting aspect of my professional lifehas been that the successes in my career graph have had verylittle to do with luck. It may sound surprising, as there isalways some element of luck in everyone’s life, but I like tothink otherwise. It has been hard work all the way.

P: Who were some of your mentors and what influence did theyhave on you?

S: The first name thatcomes to mind isNiranjan Nanda,one of the finestinterpreters atONGC that I got thechance to workunder. His memoirwas recentlypublished in theNovember 2008issue of TLE. Oncehe got to know meand had confidencein my abilities, andgood communica-tion was established,he channeled mythinking and energy into creative endeavours in such a waythat I gradually learned the tricks or fundamentals that hemay have learnt the hard way.

When I first began interpretation, he made me interpret 2Dseismic sections by hand and transfer this onto a base map.After I did this he had me contour by hand so that I under-stood what is going on there. Contouring on the computer isnot difficult, but by doing it by hand you get to appreciatewhat the computer is doing.

Every now and then he would challenge me to a question ora problem and then ask me how I would go about doing it. Ilearned a lot during the time that I spent with him, till he gottransferred from that office. In essence his greatest contribu-tion towards my learning process was that he made merealize that I should not look at data ‘horizontally’, butshould look ‘deep’ into it, and set the process of askingmyself questions and coming up with answers. Such answerscome straight away at times; at other times they come afteryou have spent hours, days and months at them. But in theprocess you learn a lot about what you are engaged in doing.

There were some other people, notably Iqbal Siddiqui,Ananda Pramanik, and Sudhakar Vasudhaven, my bosses atvarious times. I learnt different things from Roy Hyndmanand George Spence, who were my supervisors at U.Vic. Morerecently, my association with Kurt Marfurt, my co-author of 2books, has been very enriching for me. I am now engaged inworking with John Castagna and Larry Lines and I amenjoying my association with them.

O: When we’ve conducted interviews in the past, you’ve tendedto ask technical questions, and I’ve asked personal interestquestions. So I’m really interested in Satinder the person –what makes you tick?

S: Fair enough! I see myself as a simple guy, but I’m alwaysaiming for bigger and higher things. I always strive to bebetter than myself. I am somehow intrigued to find out whatmy real potential is, and the only way I can do that is bypushing myself. Now that does not mean that I am a worka-holic. I do take time off from work-related stuff, but what-ever I am doing, Amrita, my wife, tells me that I tend to


Interview Cont’d



exaggerate it or cross limits. Butthen I don’t like to sit idle; I loveworking.

I like to do my work quietly andwhen I think a certain amount ofwork is done and can be sharedwith the community, I write that inthe form of an article or a book. Ihave always been like that.

I used to be a shy person in schooland college. I’d get uncomfortablearound people I didn’t know, butgradually I learnt the art of handlingit. Now I go out only when I have tobecause of my professional commit-ments or where my wife and kidswant me to, without feeling uncom-fortable in any way.

P: How did you get over the initialshyness or fear that most peoplehave when they have to do publicspeaking?

S: I believe that the only way you canget over your fears is by facingthem. At school and college I wasalways running away from publicspeaking. In fact at school the firsttime I was asked to read out to myclass was a nightmare experience. Iwas literally trembling. This fear orphobia remained with me until Iwas doing my Masters in Physics.

My mother was concerned that thisshortcoming of mine could affectmy career. When a ten-day substi-tute teaching opportunity at aconvent school for girls came up,she forced me to accept it. So thatwas my first teaching experience,teaching girls in grades 9, 10 and 11.I really prepared my lessons welland was able to do a good job. Whatthis experience taught me was ifyou know your stuff well, you havenothing to fear. In fact, instead ofletting fear control you, you shouldbe the one controlling fear.

O: I’ve never heard you speak of yourparents before, but they obviouslyplayed a big role in your life. Canyou tell us a bit about your motherand father?

S: My parents had a big impact on myeducation, and my two brothers’.Our father worked in the office of



“Always aim for a higher level…”Continued from Page 24

Interview Cont’d

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Interview Cont’d

the Accountant Generalat Shimla and retired asAccounts Officer, and ourmother remained ahousewife throughout.Both my parents ensuredthat we had an academi-cally conducive environ-ment where we couldfocus on studies. Bothwere actively involved inour day-to-day schoolactivities, though myfather was stricter whenit came to studies.

My father had a stablejob, but it was expensive

at the time to have all of us enrolled in Convent andEnglish-medium schools. They economized on other thingsand ensured that we were educated in a Missionary schoolrun by Irish Christian Brothers. This was a tough decision atthe time, but well worth the sacrifice. All three of us gotgood educations and our father supported us throughout.Our home routine was education-focused, and instilledgood habits in us. Good, sincere and selfless advice camefrom my parents whenever I needed it and that has rubbedoff on me, I think.

P: What careers did your brothers pursue?

S: I’m the oldest son. Number two joined the Indian Navy as aCommissioned Officer and my youngest brother first workedfor Motorola as Country manager for radio products andnow runs his own communications company. My parents arereally proud of us and my mother’s dream of educating herthree children in a Convent school was realized, despitemajor sacrifices. You may have noticed that in the‘Acknowledgements’ section in our book on attributes, I havestated that I thank them for ‘nurturing in me a thirst forknowledge which continues’, which is very true.

O: And how about your own children. What sort of relationshipdo you have with them, and do they take after you?

S: We have a daughter and a son. Both are good kids. Ourdaughter is studying medicine. She is a responsible child andlikes to chat and has a good sense of humour. Recently shewas chosen to compére a Medical Conference. So she wroteout her speeches and other notes to conduct the sessions thatwere spread over a few days. That is something in line withwhat I have done, so perhaps she takes after me a bit.

Our son is in Grade 11 and plans to do engineering. He isalso doing well academically. He likes playing basketballand keenly follows NBA and NHL games. They are bothvery respectful.

About the relationship with my kids, I think it is a veryhealthy bond we have and something that is easier to feeland enjoy than it is to describe in words.

My wife is a French Immersion teacher. Although highlyqualified, with 8 years University to her credit, she had to

face some of the challenges and hardships like other immi-grants coming to Canada. Because of her determinationand perseverance, she has been able to withstand thisarduous journey. She loves teaching with a passion andoften comments that it is a rewarding experience, wellworth the effort.

P: I heard you speak at the Earth Science Editors Meeting heldin Calgary last year, about how you got into writing as aschoolboy. Could you tell our readers about that?

S: Yes, certainly. As a child I was never really into writing.However, one quality that I somehow did possess waspatience to sit down and make notes. When my father wouldtake me along to attend lectures by eminent speakers orreally good orators, I would have a pocket diary and wouldwrite my notes. Later, at my leisure I would go over them.This habit of taking notes and then later expanding on themgradually evolved into a love for writing. But when I wasyoung I was never particularly good at writing, and I wasnever interested in fiction. It was only later when I got intoscience at university that the writing really blossomed.

P: How did your first book come about?

S: When I was doing my Masters in Physics, the foreign text-books were too expensive and not available in the local book-stores. There were two or three copies of each book in thelibrary and we were expected to make notes for whateverwas taught each day. So I believe this made me go throughlots of writing. Because of my neat handwriting, I wasselected the editor of the wall magazine of the Physicsdepartment; I was supposed to write out articles neatly onchart paper 4 by 5 feet in size and put them up on the wall. Iperformed that job for a year and enjoyed it.

O: That might explain why you create such good technicalposters for the conventions.

S: Yes, perhaps. Later, when I was teaching at the convent, thesyllabus for Mathematics and Physics was revised, but therewere no textbooks available yet for this new curriculum. So Istarted to find the topics in other books, and made up prob-lems. After teaching like this for about two years, I found Ihad collected a huge pile of calculations and problems. Bythen, a couple of revised books had appeared on the scene,but weren’t very good. They were probably written to makequick money and didn’t impart a standard course to thestudents. In addition to this, my students were performingextremely well for the subjects that I was teaching. To cite anexample in a particular year, out of 33 kids who appearedfor grade 10 Board examination, 26 got first division marks,7 got second division marks, with no third divisions or fail-ures. So that was encouraging.

One day it occurred to me that if I compiled all these mathproblems in the form of a book, it could be well received bythe teachers and students of other schools. I was somehowquite confident.

I went to New Delhi and met the chief editor of OxfordUniversity Press (OUP). I was a bit nervous and I was alsoyoung at the time, in my mid-twenties. I did not know of anyyoung authors – I was under the impression that only old




people become authors. Anyhow, the editor was a nice man.His first question to me was, “There are other books in themarket, what made you write this one?” I explained to himexactly how I felt as a teacher and gave him my reasons. Hegave me a patient hearing and then said to me, “Let me gothrough these problems.” Now imagine, these were all hand-written papers arranged neatly in a file.

After a month or so, I again made a trip to New Delhi,expecting that he would turn me down. Contrary to myexpectation he said, ‘Yes OUP would be happy to publishyour book.’ Imagine how excited I was. This book of prob-lems was successful, and led to a second, more standardtextbook-style mathematics book in 1988.

O: What about the editing aspect?

S: Well writing involves a lot of editing, as you know. But in1996, I volunteered as Joint Secretary and Editor of‘Geohorizons’, the quarterly magazine of the Society ofPetroleum Geophysicists (SPG) of India. Around that timewe organized the society’s first International Conference inNew Delhi. Out of the many papers that were presented atthis conference, we were able to request enough papers tocompile them in the form of a book entitled, ‘EmergingTechnologies for Reservoir Exploration’, published in 1998.This was a different experience, as here I was not writing, butediting all the submitted papers

P: How did the writing relationship with Kurt Marfurt comeabout?

S: My first assignment in Calgary (in 1998) involved algorithmson coherence attributes all developed by Kurt. At the time hewas working as a research scientist at Amoco. I needed hishelp to understand the algorithms and their application, so Icontacted him. I received very prompt and able guidanceand assistance, and thus began our association. It has been agreat privilege to interact with him since then.

Once again I collected good examples, and after about fiveyears I compiled all of them in the form of a manuscript andhanded it over to Kurt to get his opinion. He was by now atthe University of Houston, and working with the SEG on hisDISC program. He looked through my work and suggestedthat we could have a joint publication, which would servefor the DISC as well. This culminated in the two co-authoredbooks that have recently been published by the SEG.

P: Have you got feedback on these books?

S: Well, I’m happy to say that people seem to like them. It is anongoing process, because it covers a young technology. Aswe, and others do further work in this field, we hope todocument it in subsequent editions. If I receive criticism,which I haven’t so far, I will take that in a constructive andpositive way, as it will help improve the quality of futureeditions of the book.

P: Could you speak about your involvement in theRECORDER?

S: Both Oliver and I joined the RECORDER Committee in thefall of 2000, when there was not enough technical content in

it. It used to bemore like anewsletter. Weboth worked hardat it, brought onsignificant tech-nical content aswell as human-interest articles,besides the usualinformation in theregular columnslike TTI andGrapevine. Weintroduced anumber of newfeatures like ‘Expert Answers’, ‘Interviews’, ‘Memoirs’, etc.All these features have been well received by the member-ship and this has given us the motivation to continue at it. Inthe last eight plus years or so we have overseen aroundninety issues.

You know I have particularly enjoyed conducting interviewssuch as this one, with many reputed geophysicists. Memberfeedback shows that they are popular. Many of these inter-views have been published in the Leading Edge. At therecent 2008 SEG Convention, there was a special sessiondevoted to Rodney Calvert who passed away some timeback. I had the good fortune of conducting Rodney’s inter-view when he visited Calgary to give his DISC course. Thesession’s opening presentation was by Ken Larner, who saidhe had drawn heavily from that interview. So it was nice toknow that that information was shared with the 8000 or soSEG members who attended the Convention

It has been a fulfilling and enjoyable experience all the way.Not only the interviews, but also the hundreds of articles wehave published in the RECORDER. We have a team ofeditors that helps me solicit and edit articles. I would like toacknowledge the able support of the RECORDER Committeeand their team effort, which has been commendable, and hasmade this possible.

O: Tell us about the recent changes at the RECORDER.

S: Recently we have added more volunteers to our RECORDERCommittee and also made the different positions time boundso that more people get a chance to participate andcontribute to our flagship journal. You are probably aware ofa new feature that we introduced in the RECORDER and thatis to publish peer-reviewed articles. This has started with theDecember 2008 issue of the RECORDER. I am sure more andmore authors will have their articles included as peer-reviewed articles in the RECORDER.

O: And your RECORDER work has led to similar involvementsouth of the border, correct?

S: Yes. In November 2005, I got a position on the The LeadingEdge Editorial Board. The SEG is the biggest internationalorganization of geoscientists with a membership of over30,000 people and so the exposure and experience is significant. I have tried to remain active with my writing

Interview Cont’d“We are really proud…”Continued from Page 26


work by publishing technical arti-cles in different geoscientific jour-nals including the RECORDER,TLE, and the EAGE’s First Break.This is a great privilege and I hopeto continue with my passion forwriting for many more years tocome.

P: What is your message to upcomingwriters?

S: My message to upcoming writers isto remember that technical writersrender a great service to the scien-tific community. When writers takethe initiative to share their workwith others in the scientific commu-nity, everyone benefits, writers andreaders. Without this the progresswe make in whatever we do wouldbe impeded severely.

Writing also brings with it recogni-tion within the scientific community,which is the reward that writersreceive. Having said that, I shouldalso point out that whatever youwrite may not get published and sobe prepared to accept that and notget disheartened. But it is certainlynot a waste of your time as witheach writing assignment you learn alot. It is possible that that materialcould come in useful elsewhere, forbuilding a course, delivering a talk,etc. As a writer, you need a lot ofpatience, persistence and hard work.But the rewards are very satisfyingwhen you see your work being readby others. Remember, it is a goodidea to leave your mark on thegeophysical landscape in some way– whether it is big or small. Writingis one way to do it.

P: How do you feel about winningawards? You have won severalawards for your presentations andposters over the years. How does itfeel?

S: I don’t aim to win awards, but I dotry to bring perfection to my workin whatever way I can. Havingsaid that, I have to admit that I amalways thrilled when I receiveawards. An award, financial orotherwise, is a benchmark ormeasure of achievement, and givesone the strength and motivation tocontinue what one is doing. I have


Interview Cont’d“We are really proud…”Continued from Page 28



heard it said that awards are like ornaments for a lady; themore she has, the more her charm is enhanced.

O: I would prefer to see you with awards, but that’s just apersonal opinion.

S: [laughs] Recently, when Tad Ulrych was honoured with anaward for being the SEG/EAGE Distinguished Lecturer for2007/08 at Las Vegas, in his witty and humorous way herecalled Oliver Twist’s words, ‘I want some more.’ I tend toagree with him.

P: Well with you on that side of the table Satinder, I guess it’sup to me to ask the technical questions! Tell us about theseismic attributes on which you have written so much.

S: Seismic reflection amplitudes have limits in that theyconvey only so much information. Due to limited resolu-tion of the seismic data, it is difficult to map small or subtlefeatures. Attributes are quantities that are computed fromthe seismic amplitudes with the objective to extract moremeaningful information with regard to structural, strati-graphic and reservoir properties.

Attributes like dipmagnitude, coherence,and curvature areuseful for picking upsubtle information, andare also convenient inaccurately interpretingdiscontinuity featuresquickly, which other-wise would take exten-sive amounts of time.

Attributes forlithology or porosityestimation would beAVO and absoluteacoustic impedance

inversion. Spectral decomposition has proven to be useful forstudying the thickness of thin reservoirs below tuning thick-ness, accurately determining the boundaries of reservoirlithounits and for geomorphological applications.

Texture attributes hold the promise of helping with the detec-tion of reservoir zones in the background of non-prospectivelithology. All these attributes are used for seismic dataenhancement and subsequently more confident interpreta-tion. In fact today they form an integral part of most seismicinterpretation projects.

O: What about the analysis of several attributessimultaneously?

S: Yes, we can recombine selected extracted attributes usingneural network technology and generate other attributesuseful for a given objective. This usually involves training ofa neural network on a subset of the full data and thenrunning it over the whole dataset. The interpreter thenchurns through the new volume(s) to determine any geolog-ical or petrophysical variations that may be interpreted. The

choice of attributes for such an exercise is important. Forexample in the neural network analysis increasing thenumber of attributes that are highly correlated (containredundant information) may not enhance the quality of thefinal results.

I believe attribute analysis to be of utmost importance in thecharacterization of reservoirs and for accurate interpretation.

P: What future developments can we expect in the field ofseismic attributes?

S: I have talked about future attribute development in someof my presentations. I see them happening in threedifferent areas.

First is in the area of processing and acquisition. We havebeen applying volumetric attributes to P-wave data by andlarge. We should see the application of this to convertedwave and shear volumes. Integration of volumetric attributesand AVO technology, especially for data with long offsets, issomething we should see soon. Application of suitable attrib-utes for time lapse seismic should see more application.Advances in measuring anisotropy and attenuation shouldresult in attributes that we can incorporate in our interpreta-tion workflows.

Second is with regard to the calibration of attributes. I thinkwe should see calibration of volumetric curvature as well asazimuthal limited seismic volumes with fracture-sensitivemeasurements that would include image logs, trace data,production rates and microseismic measurements. Statisticalpattern recognition and the use of neural network applica-tion using textures should become more common,

And the third area would be algorithmic development andworkflows. It is possible that we may see the development ofalgorithms aimed at determination of attenuation fromseismic data. We use crossplotting of AVO attributes effec-tively. This methodology has immense application for otherattributes. After performing principal component analysis onsuitable attributes, it is possible to distinguish favourabletargets separating out as clusters on 2D or 3D crossplots. Thiswould be really useful.

Finally, I would like to sound optimistic about the develop-ment of algorithms in the area of image processing, just asthe concept of texture was adapted to seismic from there.

All in all, I am very enthusiastic about new developments inseismic attributes that will unfold in the years to come.

O: Administrative responsibility can take a lot of time, and sosome senior managers gradually lose their technicalexpertise. What is your take on this?

S: I had a taste of management roles while at ONGC, and Ifound that it took me away from the technical role that I usedto find so fascinating, exciting and satisfying. So, I havenever lost sight of that since then, and like to remain currentwith the latest technology developments in our profession.

P: Given that you are always looking for ways to improveyourself, or tackle new challenges, can we expect any

Interview Cont’d“Always aim for a higher level of perfection…”Continued from Page 29



surprises? I am sure you have your eyes set on something.Have you ever perhaps considered a role at the University?

S: I want to keep evolving and learning. I believe when youstop doing this, you grow ‘old’ or stagnate. I never want toget there.

Our attributes book has been well received and so I havebeen enjoying that. I want to explore some more areas ofgeophysics, so there are a few writing projects I am workingon and in the near-term I hope to complete them, probablythis year. For the longer-term I am hoping to be able toconduct courses on different topics and on different plat-forms. For this I will have to remain in touch with real dataand I am quite optimistic about it.

As far as an academic role, I think it is a good idea as BrianRussell has done. It is another option to consider. But topursue that I would need a doctorate, and going by my pastrecord that might be tough! But it is something I mightconsider some time.

O: You are a member of CSEG, SEG, EAGE, APEGGA andAAPG and you volunteer for some of these societies. Why doyou think you do this?

S: I have volunteered for professional societies in differentways. When I was in India, I was one of the founding

members of theSPG India. Iserved first as anExecutiveMember, then asJoint Secretary andalso as the firsteditor of their flag-ship quarterlymagazine called‘Geohorizons’.

Here in Canada, Ivolunteered in avariety of ways. Imust say it hasbeen fun all theway and has beenmy way of giving back to the geophysical community fromwhich I have gained so much.

I feel that Professional societies stimulate the advancement ofscience and technology, and facilitate ongoing education andexchange of information. You know, this happens in manyways – conventions, workshops, courses, and publications. Itis not unusual to cross-disciplinary boundaries as part of thejob assignment. In such cases being a member of professionalsocieties can help. Usually cross-disciplinary courses or




workshops are available through the societies to fill up suchtechnical voids that one may encounter, and volunteeringdefinitely helps one stay on top of that.

I would definitely encourage young geophysicists to becomemembers of one or more professional societies and partici-pate in the many activities that are organized by them. As Ihave said I have enjoyed being involved in professional soci-eties. It is always a fruitful and satisfying experience.

O: You’ve initiated many new CSEG features, for example theluncheon webcasts, and the invited speakers forums at theConventions, among others. What other initiatives mightyou like to see the CSEG take on?

S: I have thought of a few things I’d like to see.

I would love to see more details about the professionalcareers of famous Canadian geophysicists on the CSEGwebsite. We started the interviews, which is a step in thisdirection. However, we should have detailed write-ups of theCSEG award winners also posted on the website. All this isinspiring for the young and upcoming geophysicists.

One thing I DON’T want to see happen – there has been talkof limiting access to the technical material on the CSEGwebsite to members only. I don’t like this idea at all, andthink it goes against the spirit of our mandate, which issomething like ‘to promote the science of geophysics, andfellowship and cooperation among people interested ingeophysics.’ Having open access to our website is a veryvaluable service that the CSEG renders. I often meet peoplefrom different countries in South America, the Far East,Europe and the Middle-East, who are not members of CSEG,but have accessed the technical material on the website. Asper the statistics of the CSEG website a couple of years ago,there were more hits to the site from outside North Americawhich confirms the point I make.

David Finch documented the history of the CSEG up until1984 in his book ‘Traces through Time’. It is time to have itupdated, or I should say it is time to document the historyfrom 1984 until the present. I have run this idea by the CSEGExecutive some years ago and they were open to it.However, David Finch wasn’t free to take that on at the time.But it should be done. If it is started now it will take a coupleof years for the job to be completed and I like to think it willbe done by 2010.

The idea of a CSEG Distinguished Lecturer has turned intopractice and I believe it is doing well. It should continue todo well. I think there has to be some effort devoted toensuring a good mix of industry and academia in terms ofthe choice of the DL so that both benefit from it.

I would also like to see more activities like the SEGChallenge Bowl organized for the students from differentuniversities in Canada.

P: Of the many people you have worked with, which ones haveyou particularly admired?

S: When I was back in India, Brian Russell came to teach acourse I arranged. He impressed me greatly, and I believe my

interaction withhim providedsome of the inspi-ration to move toCanada.

I met Oz Yilmaz,also back when Iwas still in India,and I admiredhim for the bodyof work he haddone on seismicdata processingand published inthe form of hisfamous book. Iwas impressedwith the depth of his knowledge, which I witnessed duringtechnical discussions on different projects.

Since coming to Canada I have met many people who Iadmire for different reasons. As I said, Oliver and I haveworked together on the RECORDER for many years, and Iconsider him a dear friend. I have admired his encouragingand supportive attitude.

You Penny, I first met you when you defeated me in the 2001CSEG Executive Elections. You have always been warm,polite, helpful and supportive. I am indebted to you forencouraging me to become a member of APEGGA and laterTBPG (Texas Board of Professional Geophysicists), which Iwas apprehensive about joining in the beginning.

P: Gosh, that’s flattering, but I’d forgotten about the electionthing…

S: Oh, don’t worry about it! Only one person can win an election, and one should take pride in running regardless ofthe outcome.

I have always admired Bill Goodway for his knowledge, hisdown-to-earth attitude, and always being ready to enter intotechnical discussions or otherwise. Bill is a very nice andwarm person.

Thane McKay and I have been together since I joined CTCPulsonic here in Calgary in 1998. He is a trusted andrespected colleague, and I often turn to him for advice whenI need it, including project and business matters.

I met Rob Howey when I joined Arcis in November of ‘04.While I have had a good rapport with all my bosses, Rob isdifferent. He is an excellent person, very respectful, has givenme complete freedom to do my work, never interferes, isappreciative of what I do and achieve and it has been reallyenjoyable to report to him.

I have had so many interactions with many, many inter-esting people in our industry. I will rattle off a few names atthe risk of forgetting someone: Paul MacKay, Doug Pruden,Lee Hunt, John Fernando, Laurie Ross, Jon Downton, JohnTownsley, etc. and this list goes on and on. I apologize if I




have missed some names here. AtArcis, I would mention Yong Xu.Yong and I have been together sincethe time CTC Pulsonic andIntegra/Scott-Pickford merged toform Core Labs RTD, Calgary. He is avery hardworking guy, who has thatuncanny desire to learn more and ispersistent with whatever work he ispursuing. It is a pleasure to workwith him. Our RECORDERCommittee members have been veryencouraging and supportive and Ihave enjoyed working with them.

O: I’m still blushing. What are yourinterests outside work andgeophysics?

S: I believe that there should be abalance between work and one’sfamily life. So, I try to fulfill my dutiesor obligations towards my family, andenjoy them. Outside of that I do findsome time to pursue my own interestslike reading and writing. I like to goout for long walks, preferably in themorning when it is so fresh outside.Whenever we get a chance we dotravel together as a family. I have beentravelling more over the last littlewhile than I have done previously,and this has been work-related or forconducting courses. But whatever Ido, I do it with a passion and so I loveit and enjoy it.

I like to read, listen to music, watchmovies and “be with my people”,who would include my immediatefamily, extended family, some of myschool friends, and some closecolleagues.

Amrita and I don’t need to socializeor go out every day to feel happy. Weshare long evenings having tea,watching TV or video andexchanging warm vibes right in ourhouse. To be together in our ownhouse gives us more joy thananything else.

O: I have to ask the “Satinder question”!What would be your message foryoung entrants or individuals whoare planning to take up geophysics asa profession?

S: Well, having asked this questionmany times, I have given it somethought!

First, you need to be very clear anddecided in your mind to take upexploration geophysics as a career.Once you have taken it up, then aimfor perfection, i.e. always look to learnmore that will help you do your job ina more convincing and meaningfulway.

Second, you have to be patient. Allthat you aspire for is not going tohappen immediately, so be patient,diligent and honest in whatever youare doing. Your focus early on in yourcareer should not necessarily be thefinancial side of things, but more onhow you can learn more and have asound foundation on which you willbuild your career – that will keep youin good stead. Once you are in a posi-tion where you always contributemore meaningfully than others, youwill never be out of work.

Third, don’t be afraid to ask questions,but always do it in a respectful way.Don’t shy away from getting intodiscussions on technical topics andalways try and throw your two centsin whatever way you can.

Fourth, always look for opportunitiesto broaden your horizons. If you areengaged in research, it is always agood idea to keep your eye on whatdevelopments are taking place inother fields, as some of those ideascould easily find a convincing applica-tion in our seismic analysis.

Fifth, find good mentors. If you comeacross experienced colleagues whomyou hold in high regard, in my experi-ence, these people will always try toshare their knowledge and experiencewith you, and you will benefit greatly.

Finally, maintain a positive attitude. Asmile can go a long way. Seriousmatters can be a lot of fun as long asyou maintain a positive attitude. Soalways remain positive.

Ours is a high-tech industry that has abright future ahead. You shouldalways aspire to do well. Embark on alifetime of continuous learning, andalways aim for a higher level ofperfection. And you will invariablyexperience some setbacks, so learnfrom them and make the best of it.

O: My goodness, I might have to startcalling you Deepak! But seriously,thank you so much for this interview.Even though I’ve known you for overeight years, I learned a lot about you.We really enjoyed chatting with you.

S. It has been my pleasure. R


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