Our Team

Dr Michael Trevor Gibson has 30 years international oilfield experience working in a wide variety of disciplines ranging from reservoir engineering through to drilling, testing, completions, production, intervention and well work-over in both the office and at the rig-site on land rigs, jack-ups, semi-submersibles and deepwater drill-ships.

A champion of lateral thinking, new technology, risk analysis and inter-disciplinary teamwork, Mike studied at The Robert Gordon Institute of Technology in Aberdeen, Scotland, Department of Mechanical & Offshore Engineering, under the expert tutelage of the esteemed late Professor Blythe McNaughton. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Post Graduate Diploma with Distinction in Offshore Engineering (with Shell-Esso Prize Award), two Master’s Degrees in Offshore Engineering (with Britoil Prize Award) and Engineering Technology (with Commendation) and a dual-thesis PhD in Blowouts & High Pressure Gas Condensate Field Development.

Mike has written many technical papers over the years, focusing upon drilling efficiency, well integrity and safety. He is one of the few IADC WellCap Plus (Advanced Well Control) Certified Facilitators worldwide.

Through IDEAS, he currently advises and teaches a wide-range of clients worldwide on issues ranging from the reservoir through to production and is a guest lecturer at Singapore’s prestigious National University of Singapore on their MSc in Offshore Engineering.

Mike is a Master Scuba Diver and in his spare time dives whenever and wherever he can – in places ranging from Scapa Flow in Scotland to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

Professor Andrew Clennel Palmer read Engineering at Cambridge University in England, and graduated BA in 1961. He then studied at Brown University (Providence, RI, USA), supervised by the late Professor D. C. Drucker, and graduated PhD in 1965.

Andrew has divided his career equally between practice as a consulting engineer and university teaching. He was a university lecturer from 1965 until 1975, initially in the University of Liverpool and then in Cambridge University, and there he discovered the wealth of exciting problems to be found in offshore engineering. In 1975 he joined R. J. Brown and Associates, and worked on a series of projects in the North Sea and the Canadian Arctic. In 1985 he founded Andrew Palmer and Associates, a company of consulting engineers who specialise in marine pipelines. In 1996 he returned to research and university teaching as Research Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Cambridge University in England. He was a Visiting Professor in the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, 2002-03. He retired from Cambridge in 2005, and came to the National University of Singapore in 2006.

Andrew is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a Chartered Engineer. He is the author of three books and more than 200 papers on pipelines, offshore engineering, geotechnics and ice. He has an active consulting practice, and is Chairman of the DNV Pipelines Committee.

Andrew is a member of the team that forms the Centre for Offshore research and Engineering, and carries out teaching and research in marine pipelines, petroleum facilities engineering, and Arctic Engineering.

In his spare time, Andrew is currently embarking on Mandarin lessons and is fast becoming something of a gourmet in Chinese cuisine!

Ms Lucia Ng is IDEAS Administration Manager and is based in Singapore despite frequent travel to assist with company’s needs overseas in Vietnam, India, Egypt and UK.

Lucia has a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in UK and has been responsible for all aspects of the company’s growth in Asia since December 2006 when she joined the company.

With more than 10 years of office and administration management experience, through focus and strategy, Lucia was able to generate the situation currently enjoyed by IDEAS today, ie. one of excellent reputation through service excellence, expanding and supporting operations 24 by 7, 365 in the most professional manner possible. She continues to excel in all aspects of organisation and management.

Lucia was instrumental in the two technical papers presented at OSEA (Offshore South East Asia) held in Singapore in December 2008, and the more recent technical paper presented at DTA (Deepwater Technology Asia) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in October 2009. She also prepares all material used by IDEAS for the MSc in Offshore Engineering at the National University of Singapore and all of the company’s training material, which is used worldwide.

In her spare time, Lucia enjoys yoga, dancing, walking her little baby ‘girl’ (a miniature schnauzer) and is currently reading Psychology with the University of Oklahoma, USA through MDIS, Singapore.