Society of Petroleum Engineering students sponsored to attend conference
Thanks to new faculty Ilham El-Monier, eight chemical engineering undergraduate students who are active in the student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE) were able to attend the 2017 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) in San Antonio, Texas this past October.
ATCE is SPE’s annual meeting of members and features groundbreaking papers and special technical events designed to accelerate the application of innovations in every technical discipline. Attendees come from around the world to ATCE to keep up with the latest technologies, industry best practices, and new product launches, and is the meeting of choice for SPE members and other professionals who want to learn more about current and future technologies that help find and produce hydrocarbons with greater efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and safety. The event attracts the energy and petroleum industry's greatest minds from around the globe, and is becoming an increasingly important international event.
El-Monier, who joined CBE last year as clinical assistant professor to ramp up the department's new petroleum engineering minor, suceeded in raising enough funds from industry to sponsor the eight students in attending.
The students greatly enjoyed the conference, particularly the opportunity to communicate directly with alumni and others who are currently working in the oil and gas industry.
"The alumni industry contacts we met there really appreciated the fact that the petroleum engineering minor was back at Ohio State," El-Monier said. "They were excited to meet the students, and students returned from the conference with great ideas for the program and for the new student SPE chapter."
El-Monier, who was recently named a Subsurface Energy Resource Center (SERC) Faculty Fellow for 2017-18, had revived the student chapters of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and Buckeye Shale Energy Organization (BSEO) in order to provide more value to students as the petroleum engineering program started back up.
SPE members have enjoyed a field trip to Halliburton in Zanesville, OH (see picture, below) and gained insights from a variety of guest speakers in classes and at SPE / BSEO events. Industry leaders have included department namesake Bill Lowrie ('66), Deputy CEO of BP Amoco, retired; Paul Dubetz ('80), VIce President for Commercial Operations, Exxon Mobil Iraq (retired), who is also serving as an adjunct professor in the petroleum engineering program; Christina Sistrunk ('82), President & CEO, Aera Energy LLC; Len Fry, District Technology Manager, Halliburton Services; Rod Osborn ('77), Manager, Energy Business Line, Battelle Memorial Institute; and Mark Moody '(76), Sr. Field Geologist, Exploration and Production Services, Battelle Memorial Institute have served as guest speakers.
