Distributed Fibre Optic Sensors and Applications,
Tuesday, 20 October 2026 | Perth, Australia
| Instructor | Dr. Mahmoud Farhadiroushan and Sebastien Soulas |
| Language | English |
| Duration and Format | Physical: 1 day |
Course Description
This short course offers a comprehensive introduction to distributed fibre optic sensing technology and its applications in the energy industry. Participants will progress from the fundamental principles of optical fibres — including fibre types, manufacturing, and splicing — through to the measurement principles underpinning distributed sensors, geophone comparisons, and key parameters such as spatial resolution and gauge length. The course then moves into practical territory, covering installation configurations, cable designs, and a broad range of field applications including flow profiling, well integrity, frac monitoring, and seismic acquisition. A dedicated session addresses Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for VSP applications, with coverage of 2D and 3D imaging workflows and real-world case studies.
Course Objectives
TBC
Participants' Profile
TBC
Prerequisites
Participants should have basic knowledge of geology, geophysics and reservoir engineering.
About the Instructors
Dr. Mahmoud Farhadiroushan is a specialist tech founder and industry leader who helped pioneer modern fibre-optic sensing system.
Dr. Mahmoud co-founded Silixa in 2007 and he is currently Executive Director. Prior to Silixa, he co-founded Sensornet in 1998 which was then received an investment from Shell Technology Ventures.
Dr. Mahmoud worked as a Senior Research Fellow on non-linear fibre optic sensors at King’s College London from 1994 to 1998. He successfully managed and completed a European project.
From 1990 to 1994, he initiated and managed a Joint Industrial Project (JIP) in fibre optic sensing for oil and gas applications that led to the formation of Sensor Dynamics which was then acquired by Schlumberger in 2001.
From 1986 to 1990 he was a Research Fellow at University College London working on fibre optic sensors, integrated photonics devices.
He was a Joint winner of Metrology Award in 2000, British Telecom Award in 2001, Institute of Physics Innovation Award in 2015, and The Queen’s Award 2021 for Innovation on the behalf of Silixa.
Sebastien Soulas completed his Master’s degree in Geophysics (specialising in Borehole geophysics) from School and Observatory of Earth Sciences (EOST), Strasbourg France, in 1994.
He then spent 12 years working in marine seismic data processing, acquisition, and analysis at various European locations before leading global borehole seismic activities for Maersk Oil in Copenhagen. He worked for BP 8 years and acted as senior Borehole Seismic Technical Expert in Upstream Reservoir Development, managing global borehole seismic operations, including the planning and execution of data acquisition, data processing and VSP data integration with surface seismic.
At the beginning of 2019, he joined LYTT as Senior Advisor for Borehole Seismic, a BP tech start-up which develop and deploy high-value applications using DAS and DTS to provide real-time 24/7 subsurface analytics including seismic applications. He played an instrumental role in the design, development, installation, and validation in the industry’s first subsea DAS VSP system using distributed Fiber Optic Sensing (DFOS) for bp in GoM Atlantis field.
He joined Avalon Sciences in May 2022 as Global Operations Manager in Somerton and is overseeing field operations, field testing and advise on internal/external technical matters. He also continues to provide support to the R&D team in downhole 3-C optical seismic sensors technology development for active and passive seismic.
He has presented numerous technical papers on borehole Geophysics including DAS seismic at EAGE and SEG conferences and workshops promoting data value, technology adoption and integration with surface seismic.
