Benefits of Freshman Engineering Projects for Petroleum Engineering Students

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Bryant ◽  
Ghada Salama ◽  
Mashhad Mousa Fahes
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Petroleum Engineering ◽  
Engineering Projects

Transformative Learning Opportunities Help Prepare Students for Their Future Careers

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Alexandra Scho¨nning
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Transformational Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Graduate Degrees ◽  
Skills Learning ◽  
The University ◽  
Engineering Projects ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

A large percentage of the mechanical engineering students at the University of North Florida have been extensively exposed to transformative learning opportunities over the past five years. Through collaborative efforts with local industry and other institutions, the students have had the opportunity to utilize their engineering knowledge in real-world applications. Students engaged in these projects have improved several of their technical skills in, for example, computer-aided engineering, design, mechanical testing, and analysis. Nontechnical objectives of these projects include improving communication skills, learning how an engineering firm functions, and learning how to research relevant data. Technical and non-technical objectives were met by students working on engineering projects sponsored by partnering collaborators. The collaborators defined the engineering project and the students, under the supervision of faculty, carried out the project tasks. This paper discusses a number of different transformative learning opportunities for students; it discusses the educational objectives and skills developed for each project, and it describes how the students are better prepared for their future careers through their involvement with the program. Many of the students have found rewarding engineering careers and a few have continued to pursue graduate degrees. Furthermore, the paper discusses how the efforts of this program are aligned with the mission of the University in that it heavily emphasizes transformational learning opportunities for the whole university community.

First Year Engineering Projects to Senior Capstone Design: Are Students Gaining Technical and Professional Skills?

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daria Kotys-Schwartz ◽  
Daniel Knight ◽  
Gary Pawlas
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Professional Skill ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Professional Skills ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
Design Skills ◽  
Engineering Projects ◽  
Capstone Design

Innovative curriculum reforms have been instituted at several universities and colleges with the intention of developing the technical competence and professional skills of engineering students. First Year Engineering Project (FYEP), or Freshman Design courses have been integrated into undergraduate engineering curricula across the country. Many of these courses provide students with hands-on engineering opportunities early in the curriculum. Senior Capstone Design (SCD) courses are ubiquitous in engineering programs, incorporating technical knowledge and real-world problem solving. Previous research has shown that project-driven classes like FYEP and SCD increase the professional and technical design skills of students. While research into first year and senior design skills development has been more robust, scant research investigating the transformation of skills between freshman design experiences and senior design experiences has been performed. This research project investigates the longitudinal technical and professional skill development of mechanical engineering students at the University of Colorado at Boulder. An overview of First-Year Engineering Projects and the mechanical engineering Senior Capstone Design project course is detailed. Technical and professional skill objectives are discussed within the paper. Pre and post skill surveys were utilized in both First-Year Engineering Projects and the Senior Capstone Design classes. Initial results indicate that student skills deteriorate between the end of the first-year and beginning of the senior year.

Educating Engineering Students on Probabilistic Risk: Effects on the Perception of Ethics, Professional Responsibility, and Personal Agency

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy M. Gernand
Keyword(s):  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Professional Responsibility ◽  
Petroleum Engineering ◽  
Ethical Responsibility ◽  
Engineering Systems ◽  
Personal Agency ◽  
The Public

To better understand how improved understanding of uncertainty and probability concepts in an engineering systems context would affect undergraduate engineering students’ perceptions of professional responsibility and ethics as well as personal agency (one’s ability to affect the outcome of events), an assessment of these principles was conducted during a related course. A course entitled Engineering Risk Analysis was offered and conducted with a mix of undergraduate Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Environmental Systems Engineering, and Architectural Engineering students. This course presented and trained students in the use of system analysis techniques from the disciplines of Reliability Engineering, Policy Analysis, and Economics for understanding how uncertain circumstances interact with technological systems to produce failures and disasters. As engineering systems become increasingly complex and command greater quantities of energy, the risk of failures even when very rare, become much more severe. While there have been previous initiatives to increase engineering students’ understanding of statistics, probability, and risk, usually in response to previous disasters, this preliminary study is the first to begin to examine how this kind of knowledge affects engineering student’s perceptions of ethics, responsibility, and their concept of how their own individual decisions affect the potential for the failure of complex systems and the consequences of such failures. Students completed 5 regular survey-based assessments to judge their qualitative and quantitative skills, personal perceptions of the causes of engineering failures, and the professional and ethical responsibilities of engineers. Analysis of the response variance and a linear regression model demonstrated some significant effects after controlling for education, age, and professional work experience. Results indicate that questions related to probabilistic understanding of risk demonstrated the most significant change during the course. Indicators of agreement with strong professional ethics and greater professional responsibility as well as personal agency did not significantly change during the course. More importantly, while personal choices on risk did not appear to reflect one’s view of how engineers actually do or should treat questions of risk professionally, the amount of previous technical work experience showed a small positive association with increased agreement on statements of ethical responsibility towards workers and the public. These findings suggest that future research is needed to assess the types of instruction and personal experience that can best encourage the combination of strong ethical responsibility and personal agency that could empower engineering students to act when they have the opportunity to reduce risk to workers, the public, or the environment.

FOMENTO DE LA CREATIVIDAD EN LOS ESTUDIANTES DE LA UNIVERSIDAD ESTATAL PENINSULA DE SANTA ELENA (UPSE).

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Montalván Burbano ◽  
Ana Tapia Blacio ◽  
Gilda Rubira Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Personal Characteristic ◽  
Petroleum Engineering ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Creative People ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Fostering Creativity ◽  
Santa Elena

La creatividad es una característica personal relevante a cultivar en cualquier profesión, trabajo o actividad. Organizaciones y empresas valoran mucho a las personas creativas y normalmente estas son las que finalmente son consideradas en un proceso de reclutamiento. A pesar de que es posible que existan individuos más creativos que otros, el presente estudio propone reconocer las potencialidades innatas y fomentar la creatividad dentro de los estudiantes de la UPSE. A través de una investigación exploratoria se recabó información de 100 estudiantes de Ingeniería en Petróleos para medir el nivel creativo, obstáculos y elementos clave respecto a su propia creatividad. Fueron incluidas también algunas ideas para promover y desarrollar la creatividad a través de talleres y clubes creativos.   Palabras Clave: Fomento a la creatividad, estudiantes creativos, fuerza creativa, creatividad institucional   ABSTRACT   Creativity is a personal characteristic relevant to develop at any career, job or activity. Organizations and companies’ value creative people and normally those are the ones that actually get hired in a recruiting process for a job opening. Although it may exist individuals more creative than others, this study proposes to acknowledge their inner potential and to promote creativity within UPSE students. 100 Petroleum Engineering students were surveyed through an exploratory research in order to measure their creativity level, their opinion about obstacles and key elements regarding personal creativeness. They were also included ideas to foster and to develop creativeness through workshops and creativity clubs.   Keywords: Fostering creativity, creativity on students, school creativity.   Recibido: febrero 2015Aprobado: abril 2015

Analysis of the Behavior of Petroleum Engineering Student Enrollment in Mexico in the Last 10 Years: Evolution and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Jose Cruz-Tun ◽  
Fernando Sebastian Flores-Avila
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Students ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Traditional Education ◽  
Petroleum Engineering ◽  
Student Enrollment ◽  
Heavy Oils ◽  
New Schools ◽  
New Students ◽  
Technical Challenges

Abstract This work shows an analysis of the total enrollment, new admissions, graduates and degrees awarded in Petroleum Engineering at Bachelor's level in the last 10 years in Mexico, according to the statistical yearbooks published by the Asociación Nacional de Universidades e Instituciones de Educación Superior (ANUIES), which will allow to know the expected behavior of the student enrollment for the next 5 years. The digital transformation is discussed to propose the strategy of education in the medium and long term. An analysis is carried out on the study plans of 11 universities that teach Petroleum Engineering and have an active student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in Mexico, to know the subjects taught and detect possible modifications supported by the compression of automation elements such as data analysis and artificial intelligence. Actions taken by other universities in the world for transition from traditional education to an education aligned to new global needs are discussed as well. Results show that student enrollment exhibits a strong dependence on barrel prices, the higher the price per barrel, the greater the number of new students enrolled. Student ranges from 4,800 to 13,663 at their peak. Derived from the fall in oil prices in 2014, there is an average annual decrease of 12%. If the trend continues to be the same, there will be less than 3,000 Petroleum Engineering students in Mexico by 2025. There are 55 Petroleum Engineering schools in the country, Veracruz and Tabasco together account for 56.5% of graduates nationwide in 2019. Technological innovations and technical challenges should shape the curricula in the Petroleum Engineering degree. It was also detected that the current education contemplates the study of traditional technologies, so it is advisable to align efforts to improve and strengthen the curricula of the universities that already offer the degree, instead of opening new schools. Mexico's national fields face increasingly complex technical challenges, such as the production of mature fields, unconventional reservoirs, deep-water exploration, and heavy and extra-heavy oils. Current Petroleum Engineering students are the ones who in few years will make important decisions about the direction of the industry, so it is of great interest to know the quality and quantity of them, and focus efforts on addressing deficiencies in fields related to technical challenges.

Technology Focus: Well Testing (February 2021)

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (02) ◽  
pp. 51-51
Author(s):  
Jordan Mimoun
Keyword(s):  
Fiber Optics ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Petroleum Engineering ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Well Testing ◽  
Field Development ◽  
Environmental Commitment ◽  
Drilling Rig ◽  
Reservoir Architecture ◽  
Safety Features

At first glance, well testing may not come across as high-tech. At a time of rampant digitalization, with catchy phrasing such as “machine learning” and “Internet of things,” how can we compete with “slip joints” and “Bourdet derivatives” from the ’80s? Further down Memory Lane, bubble buckets and semilog graph paper look even more as if they are from a bygone era. Yet the former are still relied upon in specific onshore applications (I used one 2 years ago), and petroleum engineering students continue to learn the fundamentals of pressure transient analysis with the latter. Most of today’s equipment and interpretation methods are indeed not new. After all, well testing has been around for nearly a century, resulting in a legacy that may not always look cutting-edge, but these tried-and-true tools (both hardware and analytical) were so technologically remarkable that they became staples. Call it pragmatism; others may retort that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” These tools enable operators to test exploration and appraisal wells before any production facilities are installed, flowing hydrocarbons to a drilling rig in a controlled and safe manner, sometimes for the first time since these molecules were trapped millions of years ago. Service companies developed equipment that can be operated under a variety of conditions, enhancing the operator’s flexibility to tailor to virtually any circumstances, while layering in safety features and contingencies. Disturbances stemming from flowing the well are recorded by gauges that can resolve minuscule pressure changes. Far beyond permeability thickness at the well, the resulting pressure transients yield insights into reservoir architecture, thereby illuminating the operator’s subsurface understanding to inform field development and a lifetime of reservoir management. A nonexhaustive list of recent improvements and additions to our toolbox includes: Acoustic telemetry for wireless equipment actuation in temporary completions Wet-mate connectors for formation-face instrumentation in permanent completions Fiber optics for distributed temperature and acoustics with no moving parts Multiwell deconvolution for application to producing fields A business tenet contends that a compromise must be sought between quality, cost, and time. You may have heard it as “good, cheap, or fast - pick two.” While this is a simplistic vision that omits other key dimensions, technology has undeniably improved the value proposition of well testing. This month’s papers exemplify the vibrancy of technology in our discipline. Well tests are the linchpin of a carbonate’s appraisal campaign and unlock dynamic insights into nonmatrix behavior otherwise inaccessible from static logs. Heterogeneity in unconventional rocks is recognized with a fully integrated reservoir/fracture/wellbore simulator that can model different layers of varying thickness, stiffness, hardness, and stress, to name but a few. A convolutional neural network offers a brilliant engineering control to complement the traditional flare watchers and proactively monitor suboptimal combustion, furthering our industry’s environmental commitment. In the suggestions for additional reading, peruse the elegant Bayesian take on uncertainty analysis and the intriguing combination of geomechanics and well testing.

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