John Thorogood is an independent advisor to operators, service companies and research institutes in the areas of well engineering and operations, new technology, technical standards, drilling automation, human factors and remote area exploration projects.  For the last 15 years, he has been involved with the human performance challenges associated with managing drilling operations, major accidents and drilling automation.  He worked with BP for 34 years in many parts of the world and is the author of more than 50 papers.  He has BA and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge.  He is a non-executive director of several companies and has served on the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Board of Directors.