Anadarko hosts 11th annual Bring Your Kid to Work Day

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Remote-operated vehicles, virtual reality, infrared cameras, augmented reality and drone technology – it doesn’t sound like your Dad’s oil company, does it?

Nearly 400 school-aged children of Anadarko employees in The Woodlands got a taste of the high-tech world of the oil and natural gas industry during its 11th annual Bring Your Kids to Work Day on June 22.

Along with these technological advances, children also learned the basics of the industry in a hands-on format, studying rocks to learn about geology and constructing an offshore facility out of Legos to understand engineering.

Activities also included writing pens that draw three-dimensional shapes, petroleum bingo, and snack cakes used to learn about the industry’s water protection efforts.

For many, the highlight of the day included a sandbox using augmented reality to teach topography and earth science concepts.

Kids shaped sand, which was then augmented with a projector and Microsoft Kinect camera to display a real-time elevation color map and contour lines.

“Our Kids at Work Day really shows our family atmosphere here, and we hope it plants a seed for many of these kids to get excited about science and technology and maybe even follow in their parents’ footsteps to work in the industry,” said Mark Smythe, Design & Communications Staff Analyst, who organizes the event. “Kids who attended our first event in 2006 have since returned from college to volunteer, and some of them are even studying some of the subjects we taught back then.”

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