Most of you hardly need to be reminded that technology is the lifeblood of our industry. Without it the easy oil would still be there because we'd have no solid way to find or produce it. But ingenuity has consistently produced the tools and techniques to chase increasingly difficult-to-find targets. There are plenty of rewards for a job well done, of course -- service companies benefit from new technology through increased sales, and oil companies benefit by having a competitive edge. But wouldn't it be nice to recognize the folks who actually had that bright idea? Here at E&P, we do. For more than 35 years we have bestowed the Meritorious Awards for Engineering Innovation, more commonly called the Meritorious Engineering Awards or MEAs, to deserving companiees that have pushed the boundaries to produce truly innovative technology. Companies large and small are encouraged to enter their ground-breaking technology into one of several categories for consideration by an objective panel of judges ("Captains of industry," you might call them!) The awards are given out at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston every May. Entering is simple (if a little time-consuming). Go to https://www.epmag.com/mea/mea.process.php and create an account. If you have an existing account, you can still use it. For each entry you'll be asked to choose a category, submit an abstract, submit a case study, and upload up to three supporting files (these can be pictures, brochures, even movies). Once your entry is complete, you submit it. You can go back and edit it any time up until the deadline, which is Dec. 31, 2009. I encourage everyone to enter -- the more entries we have, the more meaningful the winning selections become. All we ask is that the technology be commercially available. The rest is up to you. So get out there and get innovative! If you have any questions at all, please call me at 713-260-6459 or e-mail me at rduey@hartenergy.com.