New Global Awards Launched for Petroleum Engineering Faculty

Abstract

Talent & Technology At the 2010 SPE Colloquium on Petroleum Engineering Education, discussion focused on the challenges that petroleum engineering faculty face. Fig. 1 illustrates the trend of the increasing ratio of student to faculty in US petroleum engineering schools over the past two decades. Although the data are not available, we believe that similar trends exist internationally. A survey of US petroleum engineering faculty demographics (Fig. 2) shows that 30% are over age 60, 38% are age 50-59, and 32% are under age 50. While some professors may continue to teach past the traditional retirement age of 65, this data indicates that about 30% or more of current petroleum engineering faculty may retire in the next five years. As a result of the colloquium’s findings, a task force was commissioned by the SPE Board of Directors Subcommittee on Educational and Professional Activities to look into the recommendations on attracting, developing, and retaining faculty worldwide. The task force used survey methods and focus groups to determine root causes for the petroleum engineering faculty shortage and to make recommendations in three areas: What universities can do What the industry can do What SPE can do Based on survey results, some of the root causes of the problem appear to be: Competition with the industry with respect to compensation Lack of a pathway for petroleum engineering PhD candidates Insufficient research funding/sources to support new faculty The industry and petroleum engineering departments share a symbiotic relationship as students with petroleum engineering degrees are uniquely qualified for work in the energy industry. Unlike other disciplines, petroleum engineering graduates work primarily in the petroleum industry. The industry also expects them to be able to contribute immediately upon employment. Without good instruction, new graduates may not be adequately trained. Fig. 3 illustrates the cyclical nature of the number of bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering granted in the most recent 40 years in the United States. Although there is a concern that history will repeat itself in that the steep rise in undergraduate enrollment will be followed by an equally steep decline, a comparison of the trend of petroleum engineering freshmen enrollment between the 1973–1992 period and the 2001–2020 period shows striking differences in the influx of freshmen (Fig. 4).