Trends in Petroleum-engineering Education? M F Hawkms, Jr and B R Hise*

ABSTRACT 5000

I UNITED STATES 1957-58 THROUGH 1967-68

Industry concern for petroleum-engmeering schools dunne. the d f i c u l t times of the slxt~es-is shown to be a

w

primary cause for the general good health of petroleum- engmeering education today Technological advances in petroleum engneering and its absorpt~on into college programs have brought petroleum engneermg, as a dlsciphne and profession, to full maturity ~ e c r u l t i n ~ efforts, scholarshps, good summer experience, and greatly improved college programs have mcreased the number and quahty of petroleum-engneering graduates, most of whom are ready for challengkg asslfients the day they graduate. Trends m enrollments, contmumg educatlon, graduate programs, and student attitudes are dacussed.

Education, particularly college education, is an unusual venture m many respects One of its unusual aspects is the difficulty assessmg the effectiveness, let alone the efficiency of ~ t s programs In an attempt to assess the present status of petroleum-engmeermg educa- tion, we have reviewed past developments We see, or thmk we see, certan trends which-may be helpful in plannmg for an adequate supply of petroleum engmeers and in shapmg the nature and extent of their educatlon The college-mdustry mterface m petroleum engneering a much stronger than the collegegovernment interface, whereas, m most other areas, just the reverse IS true. We view petroleum-engmeermg education as a joint venture between industry and the schools whch offer t h s program, and see the need for contmued good com- mumcation between the two groups At the annual AIME meetmg m Washmgton, D C m February 1969, Dr Walter Rbbard spoke of the need for plans to assure an adequate supply of engmeers for the mmeral mdustries, because of t h e ~ r importance to our national welfare and secunty He proposed a committee of mdustry, college, and government people to consider t h problem Although we endorse t L s proposal, we have no clear idea of how t h s problem may be solved by dehberate plannmg

In reviewng trends In petroleum-engneer~ng educa- t ~ o n , what we see a generally good The petroleum- engneering schools have graduated, in the last 20 years, many thousands of men who deserve a large share of the credit for many remarkable developments m drihng and production and for the a b h t y of the industry to compete and grow We r e c o p z e , of course, the contkbutions of engmeers who have been tramed m

*Louisiana State Umverslty, Baton Rouge, La ?Presented at the spnng meetlng of the Southern District, API hvmon of Production, March 1969.

Fig. 1-Petroleum-eng~neer~ng Enrollments Graduate and Undergraduate

other drsciphnes F o l l o w g somewhat hfficult tlmes several years ago, most of the petroleum-engneering departments are m good shape today. In recent years there has been greatly Increased concern by Industry for the health of these departments. Developments in petroleum-engneering education in the past 20 years have rased it t o a point where today, generally spealung, ~t appears to have come of age

To begn w t h , let us quickly review trends in petroleum-engneenng enrollments. F I ~ 1 shows the drastic, exponential dechne m enrollments begnning m the late 1 9 5 0 ' ~ ~ b o t t o m g about 1963, and turmng into a sustaned hnear nse in recent years Not indicated by the graph are the serious d e c h e m student quahty whlch accompanied the dechne in enrollments, nor the remarkable mcrease in student quality w t h the rlsmg numbers m recent years. It may be of interest to note that petroleum-engneer~ng enrollments m Russia haveb followed a simlar pattern, w t h a drop from 3,200 to 1,300 graduates between 1956 and 1963 and a growth m recent years

Many reasons have been proposed for the enrollment dechne-the 1958-59 recession, the rlse of more glamorous engmeering areas, the threat of nuclear energy, etc We feel more sure, however, of the reasons for the recent rislng trend The pnmary reason cer tmly appears to be the efforts by Industry and the schools to attract more students to petroleum engmeering Several schools have undertaken vlgorous high-school visitation programs, aded in some mstances by chapters of such orgamzat~ons as API, AIME, and WAAIME The very large rise in student quality accompanylng the rlse m numbers appears largely the result of scholarshps sponsored by the petroleum industry. Where only a few students In a much larger group held petroleum- engneermg scholarshps 10 years ago, today the larger schools have 30 to 70 students on scholarshp,

244 M F Hawk~ns, Jr and B R Hlse

Table 1 Average Startlng Salary

Louls~ana State Unlvers~ty 1967-1 968

Branch of Englneerlng Salary

Clvll Cheni~ca l Electr~cal Mechan~cal Petroleum

comprlslng a substanttal f ract~on of the total These scl~olarslups are forceful dernonstrat~ons of the mdustry's demand for petroleum englneers and the message 1s cormng through loud and clear It 1s re- mforced w t h the excellent summer employment pro- grams whlch are furthering student Interest In petroleum englneerlng and servmg as a valuable adjunct t o formal educa t~on Most summer jobs are lnterestlng ass~gnments and the good pay 1s a strong plus factor The message continues w t h t o p startmg salar~es for petroleum engl- neers As shown In Table 1, average startlng salar~es for petroleum engneers at LSU dunng 1967-68 were above those of all other englneerlng dlsc~plmes Although thls figure and several t o follow are based on the program at LSU, we know they represent In general condlt~ons 111 petroleum-eng~neer~ng education

The recent galns In enrollments are even more slgn~ficant when ~t 1s reahzed that total engineering

enrollments are at best growng slowly, nor IS there much prospect for slgn~ficant change In the years ahead, m s p ~ t e of continued growth In total college populat~ons T h ~ s 1s of slgn~ficance t o the drllllng and producmg busmess because a s~zable f rac t~on of ~ t s engneers are comlng from dlsc~pllnes other than petroleum Increased c o m p e t ~ t ~ o n can be expected In recrultmg englneers from other dnc~phnes , and, consequently, there should be greater appreclatlon for the so-called captlve market of @ t r o ~ e u i - k n ~ l n e e n n ~ graduates

In the absence of substantlal growth In englneerlng as a whole, and the emergence of new engneerlng areas, we wonder ~f the recent growth pattern In petroleum engneerlng w l l contlnue

An underlying cause for the dechnlng popular~ty of englneerlng appears t o be In the changlng values and attitudes of our young people who, according t o the authors of The Year 2000, are growng up m the U S In a "post-mdustr~al age" From tlus and other t h n g s we read, ~t appears that where prevlous generat~ons were mterested prrmarlly In becomlng englneers or busmess- m e n , today's college graduates are mcreaslngly concerned w t h solvmg the problems of the world There

1s lncreaslng Interest In the Peace Corps and government pos~tlons, and a growng bel~ef that there 1s something bas~cally evll about corporatlolls because they make a profit

Although the better college graduates of today are certainly far ahead of prevlous generat~ons, there 1s an mcreaslng propor t~on of students who are not wllmg t o tackle an englneerlng curr~culum At least a part of tlus a because of the heav~er requirements of these curricula, both In hours and course content Table 2 shows the hours for graduat~on In some of the major areas at LSU Not only 1s englneerlng hlghest, but t o ~t must be added, for many students, 6 hours of algebra and t r~gonometry for n o degree credlt The average englneer today takes about 4 5 years t o complete eng,neerlng currlcula described as 4-year programs In the catalogues There 1s a trend at LSU and elsewhere toward reducmg englneerlng currlcula to r e a l ~ s t ~ c 4-year levels T h ~ s reduc t~on could be a slgn~ficant factor In helplng englneerlng enrollments to grow

Although the cr ls~s m petroleum-engmeer~ng enroll- ments appears over, efforts t o attract students t o t h ~ s area should not be relaxed In any way H~gh-school career gu~dance efforts should be enlarged In ways best-su~ted t o local s l tuat~ons In Houston, for example, the Women's Auxllhary of AIME (WAAIME) has been dolng an outstandmg job of explanlng the nature of and opportutut~es In petroleum englneerlng t o lugh-school students and helpmg t o rec ru~t students of schola rs l~~p cal~bre Placlng scholarsh~ps In selected h ~ g h scl~ools as awards t o graduates who want a career In petroleum englneerlng 1s a poss~blllty wluch should be explored W ~ t h so much emphas~s on scholarsh~p programs, the lmpressron should not be left that there 1s a need for only the very t o p students In petroleum englneerlng

One of the most effectlve recrultmg efforts has been the Increased number of summer job offers to students at the end of thelr freshman year Many sophomores are stdl undec~ded o n a currlculurn, and a number of enthuslast~c classmates, fresh from a summer In the 011

Table 2 C r e d ~ t Hours for Bachelor Degree

Lou~slana State U n ~ v e r s ~ t y 1967-1 968

Major Hours Requ~red

Busmess A d n ~ ~ n ~ s t r a t ~ o n 128 Mathematics 128 Educa t~on 128 Geology 136 Physlcs 137 Chem~stry 141 Englneerlng 142

Trends In Petroleum Englneerlng Educa t~on 24 5

fields, can help attract some of thus undec~ded group who have Interests and talents s u ~ t e d t o careers III

petroleum englneenng For tlus reason, among others, we have been urgng all companies to lncrease tllelr summer offers to good students after thelr freshman year

In an earher statement of general developments, we suggested that petroleum englneerlng had now come of age One reflect~on of t h ~ s a found In the changes m petroleum-englneer~ng curricula Table 3 compares the present curr~culum at LSU w ~ t h that of 20 years ago, these changes generally belng representatlve of those In other schools A major change 1s the e l l m n a t ~ o n of algebra and t r~gonometry for degree cre'dlt and the a d d ~ t ~ o n of 6 hours of advanced mathematics beyond the calculus Geology o n the other hand has been

Table 3 Petroleum-engtneerlng Degree Requirements

Loulslana State Unlverslty

C r e d ~ t Hours 7

Requlred Courses 1948 1968

Mathematics Algebra 3 Tr~gonome t ry 3 Analyt~c Geometry & Calculus 9 1 0 Advanced Math 6

Sclence Chemistry Physlcs Geology

General Englneerlng Statlcs Dynanllcs Strength of Materials Hy draullcs Surveying Thermodynamics Electr~cal Englneer~ng Mechan~cal Englneer~ng

Petroleum Englneerlng

General Computer Programming Englrsh Free Electlves H & S Electlves Speech Mllltary Sclence M~scellaneous

Total 146

reduced, perhaps too much, from 2 4 t o 11 semester hours, and now ~ncludes only phys~cal geology, sub- surface, and a course In stratlgraphy and sed~mentology The reduction In geology and the ehmlna t~on of such courses as surveying and heat engnes has made room for lntroduclng new courses In petroleum engneerlng as new sclence and technology developed In thls area S t u d ~ e s In reservou englneerlng were expanded and courses In petrophys~cs, phase behav~or, and well-logg~ng analysls added, lncreaslng the requlred petroleum courses from 21 to 3 2 hours There has also been a slgnlficant Increase m the requuements of s t u d ~ e s In the h u m a n ~ t ~ e s and soc~al sclences t o wlden the vls~on of engneers

New petroleum-eng~neerlng laboratory courses have also been developed At LSU we now have SIX petroleum englneerlng laboratory courses where there were three 1 0 years ago We have also turned more t o demonstra- t ~ o n laboratory work, whlch 1s particularly sulted to experlments uslng soplust~cated apparatus Wlth the a ~ d of a teclmlc~an the equlpment 1s assembled on a rolling table and moved Into a room where spec~al q u ~ c k - connect faclht~es exlst for power, water, etc F I ~ 2 and 3 show two experlments from the reservolr mechanics laboratory F I ~ 2 1s a long core cell for measurements of 011-drsplacement efficiency by water, gas, and mlsc~ble flulds F I ~ 3 1s a radlal-flow model on whlch both steady-state and unsteady-state flow measurements are made, ulcluding pressure-bulldup measurements t o find permeab~llty F I ~ 4 shows equlpment used t o study well p r o d u c t ~ v ~ t y by use of electrlc analog models Fig 5 1s a set of nuclear equlpment for experlments lnvolvmg neutrons and gamma rays, t o prov~de an understanding of the bases for nuclear well loggng

In add l t~on to new lecture and laboratory courses In petroleum englneerlng, there have been changes m the old ones The trend 1s toward more emphas~s on fundamentals and on the quant~tat lve approach A modern-day college course ~n drlllmg, for example, contams more about clay mineralogy, bas~c hydraulics, and teclm~ques t o optlnuze penetrat~on rate, and less about drilling equ~pment and rlg des~gn Problem assignments are harder and more frequent than In earller years There are just n o such ttungs as c n p courses any more

A requlred course In computer programmmg was added t o our curr~culum 7 years ago, and an o p t ~ o n a l course In numerical analys~s methods uslng the computer has been offered for 3 years An lncreaslng percentage of students are elect~ng t h s second course, and a sub- stantla1 f rac t~on of our graduates are qulte profic~ent In computer usage A course In reservolr s~mulat lon 1s our next offerlng In tlus sequence of courses We plan t o depend prlmarlly upon these courses for computer tranlng, even though there 1s Increased use of the computer In other courses

246 M. F. Hawkins, Jr. and B. R. Hise

Fig. 2- Oil-displacement Efficiency in Long Cores

Widespread interest in continuing education on an individual basis among engineers in the petroleum industry is of relatively recent origin. A number of approaches are being tried to offer engineers o p portunities for self-improvement. The professional societies are making large contributions in this area by acting as catalysts and arranging courses of interest t o the members. Faculties of petroleum-engineering schools have participated along with industry people in putting on these courses, and they have expanded extension- course offerings under college sponsorship. Both types of courses have been successful and undoubtedly will continue.

AU of the continuing education experience in petroleum engineering at LSU has been with college-level extension courses. Although the professional societies help promote these programs, the University has the full responsibility for the details of the courses and awarding

credit. This helps with educational refunds and satisfies the desire of students for some type of official certifica- tion. In Louisiana, because of state subsidy of college extension-course work, it is possible to offer these courses to groups as small as 15 students at nominal fees ($60 for a 3 semester-hour course).

Table 4 summarizes the extension work LSU has offered in New Orleans and Shreveport in the past 2 years-17 courses with a total enrollment of 490 students. Most of the teaching was by University professors; but, in five instances, engineers in industry helped with the effort.

The ex.tension program in New Orleans has led to a request for an off-campus MS program in petroleum engineering there. We hope to be able to offer a 30.hour program leading to a Master of Petroleum Engineering. This would include 24 hours of course-work and 6 hours for an engineering study, the counterpart of the thesis in

Trends in Petroleum Engineering Education 247

Fig. 3-Unsteady-state Radial-flow Model

on-campus programs. Even with a course load of 24 hours, we are talking of 3 or 4 years to complete the MS program envisioned. During this time, of course, many engineers may expect to be transferred. If they find themselves where they can continue their program, they will also find that only a maximum of 6 hours can be transferred from another graduate program. We believe offcampus, MS programs will grow and see no alternative t o the eventual establishment of multi- university degrees based on hours accumulated at two or more graduate schools. This is far out right now, when graduate schools are reluctant even to approve off- campus programs.

Where the concentration of petroleum engineers precludes formal course offerings, opportunities for continuing education are being developed using video- tape. Although much remains to be done, continuing education courses of one kind or another are

increasingly available to petroleum engineers who want to maintain and further develop their technical competency, and to engineers from other disciplines who are breaking into petroleum engineering. The availability of continuing education is necessary in the attraction and retention of engineers to driliing and producing operations.

There is a growing and somewhat undesirable trend for engineering schools to make their new faculty appointments from bright, new PhD's who have had limited or no experience as practicing engineers. Faculty additions to petroleum-engneering departments, on the other hand, continue to come largely from industry. These faculites are, by and large, very competent, both as engineers and teachers. They are well-oriented to the problems and needs of our segment of the petroleum industry and are one of the factors in the high and rising quality of petroleum-engineering graduates. In addition

248 M. F. Hawkins, Jr. and B. R. Hise

Fig. 4-Electric Analog of Well Productivity

t o their university teaching, many of these faculties are involved in on-campus short courses, off-campus exten- sion teaching; and several serve as special lecturers in company-sponsored schools and short courses, as well as courses sponsored by professional societies. Quite a few are recognized as experts in various areas.

Among the problems of teaching petroleum- engineering courses is the limited supply of suitable textbooks, primarily the effect of a somewhat restricted market. Books in this area are usually handbooks, treatises, and monographs which are more suited t o practicing engineers than college students. The lack of suitable textbooks is offset t o some extent by the ease and low cost of printing or duplicating handout materials, and the ease of making overhead projection negatives or slides.

The rapid growth of graduate and research programs in recent years also marks the maturity of petroleum-

-.

engineering education; but, at the same time, it poses s o m threats to the BS programs. We believe it is necessary to maintain strong BS programs to feed the graduate programs, but, more important, because we see good BS graduates as the primary need of the producing industry both now and for some time to come.

Petroleum-engineering enrollments at the graduate level have risen rapidly in recent years, paralleling the growth pattern of other engineering areas, where an increasing fraction of students are going on for graduate work. Of the 56,000 engineering degrees awarded in 196768, one third were graduate degrees and one third of the petroleumengineering degrees were also graduate degrees. Some people have expressed concern over this trend

in petroleum engineering because they feel the BS graduate is best-suited for the majority of new hires, particularly with the strengthening of undergraduate

Trends in Petroleum Engineering Education 249

Fig. 5-Gamma Ray and Neutron Experiments

curricula. Our opinion is that today's graduate is well-prepared to enter industry and feel somewhat neutral about the advantages of the MS degree. It turns out in most cases that those who are well-qualified to go on for graduate study are just those who are well- prepared to make their way with only the BS degree.

Concerning graduate study the final report, Goals of Engineering ]:'ducation, issued by the American Society for Engineering Education about a year ago, recom- mended "wider publicizing that graduate studies are a normal part of engineering education and that a BS degree is not sufficient for engineering work". They further recommend that "in the years ahead basic engineering be extended to include at least one year of graduate-level work leading to the Masters degree". A committee of the Engineer's Council for Professional Development was called on to review the Goals report as a guide toward action on the part of the engineering

my-

i- 71*

profession. Although supporting many of the recom- mendations of the report, this committee took i a u t with the recommendation cited concerning the need for graduate study in engineering. They feel that recom- mendations for the most suitable basic degree and years of study should come from the appropriate professional society, in our case AIME. People in industry must take part in these decisions, if its needs are to be reflected in the college programs.

Another trend which is developing some momentum is a change from bachelor of science, master of science, and PhD degree to bachelor of engineering, master of engineering, and doctor of engineering, respectively. Fig. 6 shows this trend in the prediction of engineering degrees in California for 1980 and 2000. For our part, we endorse this trend and believe that engineering colleges should develop professional schools similar to law and medicine, and stop riding the coattails of

250 M F Hawhns, J r

Table 4 Cont~nu~ng-educa t~on Program

LSU Extens~on Courses

Course Tlrnes Offered

7 Computer Prograninilng Reservo~r Englneerlng

3 Part 1 3 Part I I 1 Dr~lllng Englneerlng 1 Nunier~cal Analys~s 1 Water t lood~ng 1 Statlstlcs

science We recognize, of course, that Just changng the names of degrees 1s nleanlngless unless the course content 1s oriented lllore towdrd engineering practice a i d less toward sclence In most schools graduate englneerlng study tends to be tlieoret~cal and sclent~fic, so lt 1s the graduate programs more than the current BS programs whose orrentdtlon would be a f f e ~ t e d most by a trend t o profess~onal degrees Beside tlus trend t o englneerlng degrees as opposed to science degrees, Flg 6 also predicts a strong trend toward graduate degrees ~s ternunal rather than the BS o f today, and hopefully ~t also predicts a larger riutliber of eiiglneer~ng graduates

In a recent survey we found that our current grdduates consider the type of assignment the most Important dspect 111 cons~der~ng ~ o b offers We know that m most cases these graduates are gettulg challenging assignments, and, to the surpnse of some, glvlng good account of themselves The average petroleum- ellglneerlrlg graduate today IS a good one We are attractlrig much better students ~ n d t l ie~r educa t~on 1s better A nidjor~ty of students at graduat~on have worked three sunimers 111 ~ndus t ry and are pretty well o r~ented tlie day they go to work

We were soniewhat surpr~sed In our survey t o flnd a relat~vely small fractlon who stated a nianagenient p o s ~ t ~ o n .is tlielr prlnlary goal In industry Qulte a few ment~oned ~t as a poss~ble later goal, but the general tone was a deslre for Interesting englneerlng work The trend today appears to be toward a Inore soph~stlcated. less rugged, and perhaps less forceful type of grdduate. and, as tlie survey lndlcates. more or~ented at graduat~on toward englneerlng than supervlslon and nianagenient Eng~neer~ng curricula today b y and large contam few courses 111 ~iianagement Tlus 1s surprlslng because so uiaiiy engineers move into nianageliient p o s ~ t ~ o n s There IS no pressule, so far as we know, by Industry or others to ~nclude more riianagernent courses In englneerlng curr~cula In fact. there 1s general d~scouragenient of plans for MBA degrees follow~rig englneerlng degrees

and B R H ~ s e

Rlslng levels of BS programs and llicreaslng numbers golng on for graduate degrees are reduclng the numbers avdllable for more or less routlne englneerlng assign-

ments Those who v~sualize tlie MS degree as "the" profess~onal englneerlng degree In the years ahead, suggest those who are ternunated w t h the BS as those who w l l d o most of the routlne engneerlng work Tlus plcture, however, presumes a sufficiency ~f not a surplus of engineers ftn~slung at both the BS and MS levels In the nleantrme, some of the routine engneerlng work 1s belng handled by englneerlrig aldes recru~ted malnly from BS graduates In sclence and niathematlcs More teclui~cian-level people are belng sought also t o help fill tliu need Teclmlclans, however, are also In short supply, and further, we understand as a group they are more uicllned t o plant-type operations than those of d r~ lhng and product~on. It 1s lnterestlng t o note that ECPD does not 1st one accred~ted program In petroleum-engneer~ng tecluiology dmong the 162 accred~ted engneerlng- technology curricula offered by 45 mst~tut lons m the United States

SUMMARY

In sunimary, the trends we see are generally good They ~nclude the general niatunty of petroleuni- englneerlng educa t~on and ~ncreased concern of tlie petroleum Industry for tlie liealtlz of tlie petroleum- englneerlng departments Enrollments are rlsllig and average student q u a l ~ t y IS except~onally li~gli The slow growth of all englneerlng enrollriients and some other f x t o r s , however, cast some doubt on how long the growth trend In petroleumenglneerlng enrollments will contlnue

There I S a trend toward reducing englneerlng curr~cula t o real~stlc 4-year course requlremerits for the bachelor

YEAR 1964 YEAR 1980 YEAR 2000 DEngr

f , MEn#

BS BS

TRANS T R A N S T R A N S

JC J c JC

t TRANS f T R A N S f TRANS

H S HS H S

Fig. 6-Paths to Eng~neer~ng Degrees U n ~ v e r s ~ t y of Cal~fornta Forecast

Trends m Petroleurn Eng~neerlng Education 25 1

degree and tlie emergence of a trend toward BE , ME, and DE degrees and away from BS. MS, and PID degrees In englneerlng Cunt~rlued developments In tlie format and content of petroleunieng~neer~ng courses ~nc lude increasrrig ernplias~s on fundamentals and computer usage

W ~ t h a greatly Improved educa t~on and an average of three summers In the oil frelds, most petroleum- englneerlng grdduates today are ready for c l ia l le~lg~~ig englneerlng ass~g~iments almost the day they go to work More are golng on for gr-aduate degrees or t a k q part In curi t~~iulng educa t~on 111 several types uf prograois