Students/Education

The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) SPE Student chapter welcomed Leonardo Maschio last October as the first SPE Ambassador Lecturer to speak at the school. Maschio, a field service manager for Schlumberger, presented an overview of the energy business, offered personal insight on the petroleum industry, and discussed various industry career tracks available to young pr…

When people consider the petroleum industry, a lot of misconceptions arise. I find this particularly when asked why I am preparing to work in the industry. Common insinuation is that the industry will not offer professionals like me a job, let alone a career. In the past, the perception was that production had approached its peak. Whatever the truth of that (and it is…

As a young female student in year 10 in high school, I had no idea what to pursue as a career after graduating. However, one day in our science class we heard a guest speaker talk about the oil and gas industry. I was immediately fascinated by the story and decided that this was the place to be. Two years later, I found myself at the University of Western Australia (U…

The SPE Student Chapter from Texas Tech U. was recognized as the 2006 Outstanding Student Chapter at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) in San Antonio. The award came largely in recognition of the chapter’s outstanding contributions to the community around the school and its maintaining a strong, cohesive organization during significant changes …

Guarav Bhatnagar, a doctoral student at Rice U.; Lisa Stright, a graduate student at Stanford U.; and Krystina Vidiuk, an undergraduate student at the U. of Alberta won first place in their respective divisions at the 2006 SPE International Student Paper Contest. The contest was held during the 2006 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio.

Last year a group of petroleum engineering students at Imperial College, London, came up with an ambitious idea—a field trip to China. We were curious to see, understand, and appreciate how a different culture and economy has succeeded to become a competitive and modern country. Our choice was quite logical given the fact that China is also one of the major players in…

The SPE Student Chapter at King Fahd U. of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, was founded in 1996. Its aim is to give students, in cooperation with young professionals, an enhanced understanding of the oil and gas industry by exposing them to new technologies and developments in petroleum engineering through seminars, conferences, and field trips. A seco…

“It took 2 hours for two men to dig a hole 5 ft deep. How deep would it have been if 10 men had dug the hole for 2 hours?” The answer to Edward De Bono’s question may seem obvious (25 ft), but some minds may offer answers far from the obvious. How about, “Rain could flood the hole to prevent digging,” or “Deeper soil layers may be harder to dig out,” or “We may hit be…

Young professionals have visited several student chapters this year to talk about their experiences in the petroleum industry as part of SPE’s Ambassador Lecturer Pilot Program.

Kazakhstan, once one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union, has gained international prominence in the oil and gas scene. The country is a rising star in the oil and gas industry, with rich hydrocarbon reserves and several world-scale projects such as the Tengiz and Karachaganak field developments. With a burgeoning oil and gas industry, petroleum engineering and ge…