Dr. Eric van Oort became Lancaster Professor in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2012 after a 20-year industry career with a major oil and gas operator. He holds a PhD degree in Chemical Physics from the University of Amsterdam. He has (co-)authored more than 150 technical papers, holds 14 patents and has 11 patent applications in progress, is a former SPE Distinguished Lecturer, a SPE Distinguished Member, and the 2017 winner of the SPE Drilling Engineering Award. At UT Austin, he directs drilling and completion R&D in two industry consortia (RAPID and CODA) covering drilling automation, big data analytics, cementing and zonal isolation, well abandonment and decommissioning, drilling / completion / fracturing fluids and drilling-related geomechanics.