Happy One Year Anniversary to Us

It’s been one year since Studio X officially launched, and we’ve made important strides in that time. We commercialized three products — Xeek, XCover, and SixLab — which have allowed us to grow a community of people focused on one mission, reimagining the future of work in energy exploration. We are around 3,400 members strong and growing! To celebrate our one-year anniversary, we’re taking a trip down memory lane and reminiscing about all that Studio X is doing to change the world of exploration, and in such little time.

Projects, Challenges, and Startups

Since its launch, Xeek has held ten challenges with more than $100,000 in prizes. The Xeek platform recently rewarded two Heriot-Watt PhD students $9,000 for their innovative agent-based model that mimics hydrocarbon movement through different rock layers and structures to identify pathways and accumulation zones in the subsurface. The team placed first in the Go With The Flow challenge, competing against a total of 71 teams aiming to build the best model. The final model has been reimagined by the Studio X engineering, design, data science, and product teams to create a tool that could be used by future customers to locate hydrocarbons more accurately and effectively, streamlining exploration workflows. In the coming months, geoscientists around the world will be able to apply for free beta access to the Go With The Flow tool. Sign up here to get updates.

XCover has released 13 projects to bring innovative perspectives and workflows to the energy industry. The first XCover project sent a geoscientist on a virtual expedition to evaluate the Bremer Sub-basin and assess its potential for future energy exploration — all while maintaining a part-time and flexible schedule. Using the XCover virtual set-up, the Explorers-in-Residence (or “XiRs”) pulled together all of the collected evidence and data to create a report on the basin’s exploration risk and hydrocarbon potential. Now, future potential collaborators have data-rich insights on the Bremer Sub-basin. Since then we’ve hired more than 25 geoscientists to work in different areas of the world remotely.

SixLab has incubated eight startups with technologies ranging from an AI assistant for unstructured data to lightning-fast scientific computing with custom silicon. SixLab program participant Nesh, an AI Assistant for Search and Analytics, is currently engaged in a Shell proof of concept with results expected in late 2021. Startups in the pilot program receive dedicated support to showcase their proposal to potential customers, including technical discussions with advisors, world-class mentorship, cloud computing resources, and access to Studio X facilities. You can read more about the startups here.

Moving the Industry Forward

At Studio X, we believe emerging technologies and collaborative tools open new pathways to working faster, smarter, and more efficiently, with potential for broader impact. Through Xeek, XCover, and SixLab, we’re innovating the current ways of working in exploration.

Xeek brings the success of crowdsourcing to the exploration industry. Platforms like TopCoder in software engineering and DARPA in the entrepreneurship space are leading to crowd-developed solutions. Now Xeek is doing the same for geoscience.

XCover was designed to support exploration and expand the industry by opening data and project resources to the geoscience community and allowing them to work remotely. The virtual workstation allows users to launch projects at the click of a button and is scalable to multiple screens. The team can increase the capability of the machine as needed, and the solution offers access to the latest software available in the market.

SixLab empowers entrepreneurs in the energy exploration space. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports less than 2% of startups have a focus on the energy industry, down from 5% in 2007. SixLab was created to change that. The global incubator has 150 entrepreneurs, mentors, and thought leaders in our community who are continuously pushing the needle forward.

Looking Ahead

In a world that demands smarter and more efficient solutions, the energy industry must continue to evolve. We need new ideas, new ways of working, and to continue exploring new opportunities to power a future for all.

By creating products that foster greater collaboration and entrepreneurship, Studio X’s goal is to help experts improve outcomes. Through cross-pollination across Studio X products, scientists and innovators can reduce risk by working together to strengthen and refine conceptual approaches.

By offering software tools, on-demand work, prize-winning challenges, mentorship opportunities, and more to energy innovators, we believe we come together from around the world as an ecosystem to transform the way we work and successfully plot the map for energy's future.  

Not involved yet? Watch how you can make your mark in the video below. Join us as we continue our mission here.