In a campus ceremony today (Sept. 18) BP America announced its significant upgrade of computer resources for integrated hydrocarbon reservoir studies at Texas A&M University.

BP’s Richard Morrison (left) announces laboratory support with department head Stephen Holditch.

BP’s gift, funded through the Texas A&M Foundation, will establish the BP Laboratory for Field Studies in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering.

“This targeted investment by BP in Texas A&M students and faculty creates a state-of-the-art, highly collaborative working environment to deliver one of the most advanced, team-based, undergraduate reservoir engineering courses in the world,” said Richard Morrison, BP’s vice president of Gulf of Mexico production. “The environment created here feels less like a classroom and more like team space in one of BP’s deep water producing assets.”

“One of the most important functions of a petroleum engineer is to conduct studies where geology, geophysics, petrophysics and reservoir simulations are used to describe reservoir behavior, predict well performance and optimize reservoir development. Such courses are very computer intensive. This gift by BP will allow us to completely rebuild our computer laboratory with the best technology,” said Dr. Stephen A. Holditch, department head and holder of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Endowed Chair.

The BP lab expands the level of technology and computer resources available to petroleum engineering juniors, seniors and graduate students in their reservoir modeling and capstone reservoir design courses. Director of the facility is Dr. Maria Barrufet, assistant department head and holder of the Baker Hughes Endowed Chair.

The lab will provide students for the first time with GeoGraphix® software, reservoir simulation software by Computer Modelling Group Ltd. (CMG), 40 new computer workstations, three SMART boards and all new furniture.

GeoGraphix® is a flexible program for petroleum exploration and development that allows engineers to handle and interpret a large diversity and volume of data. The computational results from GeoGraphix then populate a CMG reservoir simulator to analyze reservoir data, predict future performance and optimize reservoir development. SMART Technologies Inc. is the leading manufacturer of interactive whiteboards that connect with a computer and projector. Images projected from an instructor’s computer appear on the whiteboard, which accepts touch input.

“BP is a model corporate partner with Texas A&M and the petroleum engineering department. They are committed to helping improve and advance the quality of education of our future engineers and we cannot thank them enough for their continued support,” said Brady Bullard, director of development for petroleum engineering with the Texas A&M Foundation.

The Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering in the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M is ranked first in undergraduate programs and second in graduate programs among public institutions by U.S. News & World Report. Unofficial fifth day enrollment numbers for the department’s fall 2009 semester are 608 undergraduates and 231 graduate students.

Written by Betsy Ellison, betsyellison@tees.tamus.edu

Popularity: unranked [?]

Dr. Ronald J. Robinson

Dr. Ronald J. Robinson, former head of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, passed away on Aug. 30 at his residence in College Station. Robinson, who was 63-years-old, served as the head of the department from 2001-2003.

Robinson was awarded a Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M in 1974. In 2001 he assumed the position of Professor and Department Head, A.B.

Stevens Endowed Chair at the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, a position he held until 2003.

He was born March 10, 1946 in Pueblo, Colorado and graduated from East High School. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Southern Colorado in 1968. In 1971, he was awarded a Master of Science degree in physics from Baylor University. He has been distinguished as a NASA Fellow and earned numerous professional awards.

Robinson was employed by Getty Oil Company, Grace Petroleum and Intercomp Resource and Consulting and Texaco. In 1996 he was named president of the Texaco

Technology Division.  He retired from Cheveron/Texaco in 2001.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be contributed to the Dr. Ronald J. Robinson ‘74 Memorial Graduate Level Scholarship in Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M. Please note in the memo line on your check:  Dr. Robinson Memorial Scholarship. All donations should be made payable to: Texas A&M Foundation, Attn: Brady Bullard, 334 WERC 3126 TAMU, College Station, Tx. 77843-3126

Popularity: 19% [?]

Joe Wellborn ’41

His summer jobs in the 1930s Texas oilfield were hot and dirty, but for Houston high schooler Joe Wellborn they fueled dreams of a future career.

Wellborn went on to earn a petroleum degree at Texas A&M University and spend four decades with the company known today as ExxonMobil. Now he has created a scholarship to help others pursue their goals.

“I want to give back to the school that did so much for me,” the retired Exxon Co. operations superintendent said.

His contribution of $30,000 to the Texas A&M Foundation will establish the Joseph H. Wellborn, Sr. ’41 Endowed Scholarship in Petroleum Engineering. Matching funds from ExxonMobil Foundation will help complete the gift.

“This scholarship from Mr. Wellborn will be instrumental in helping Texas A&M attract and retain the most highly qualified students to the field of petroleum engineering—and in providing graduates who will meet the needs of a growing oil and gas industry,” said Dr. Stephen A. Holditch, petroleum engineering department head and holder of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Endowed Chair.

Wellborn’s student days at Texas A&M were busy. A member of the Corps of Cadets, he was B Battery Field Artillery’s first lieutenant. After classes he waited tables at Sbisa and Duncan dining halls to pay expenses, yet still made time to participate in the Duncan Volunteers and the Houston, Newman and Petroleum Engineering A.I.M.E clubs.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1941, he worked briefly for Humble Oil and Refinery Co. before joining the U.S. Army. He rose to the rank of captain, training soldiers at Fort Sill. After atomic bombs hit Japan, Wellborn escorted 562 men and 30 officers from Portland, Ore., to Nagasaki, Japan, for occupational duties.

Following the war Wellborn returned to Humble Oil where his ability to instruct young minds benefited the company through years of growth and change. He said: “I trained a lot of young engineers, and my motto was always ‘safety first.’ ”

Wellborn’s vigorous health also benefited his employer. He achieved 43 years of perfect attendance before retiring in 1984.

Wellborn met his future wife, Emily Alexander, when he was stationed at Fort Sill. They were married 65 years at the time of her death in 2008.

Among their gifts to Texas A&M are a President’s Endowed Scholarship, Endowed Opportunity Award scholarships and a fellowship for the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. Longtime members of the 12th Man Foundation and the Century Club at the Association of Former Students, they supported the Kyle Field expansion, George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band and other academic projects.

“Mr. Wellborn continues to this day to care about Texas A&M and the importance of providing scholarships to deserving students. His scholarship will help ensure that future generations of Aggies will have the resources they need to complete their education,” said Brady Bullard, director of development for petroleum engineering with the Texas A&M Foundation.

Wellborn’s family includes three children: Joseph H. Wellborn Jr., Texas A&M Class of 1966; and Pegi Cariker and Sue Cox, both graduates of Baylor University. Also seven grandchildren: Joseph H. Wellborn III, Texas A&M Class of 1990; Ryan D. Wellborn, Texas A&M Class of 1992; Emily C. Cox, Texas A&M Class of 2000; Alex Wellborn, Sam Houston State University Class of 1997; Elizabeth Wellborn Richardson, St. Edwards University Class of 2001; Emily Cariker Shuart, Baylor University Class of 2003 and Oklahoma University Law School, 2006; and Allan Cox, Texas Tech University Class of 2002, whose wife Gina Meredith is Texas A&M Class of 2000.

Written by Exa York

Popularity: 73% [?]

Dr. John Lee

Dr. W. John Lee, Regents Professor and holder of the L.F. Peterson Endowed Chair in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, has been honored by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The award, the Law and Policy Award, was given to the Oil and Gas Reporting Rule Writing Team of which Lee was a member. In 2007, Lee was appointed an Academic Engineering Fellow by the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance where worked on various issues related to the disclosure of oil and gas reserves.

The SEC Law and Policy Award “recognizes individuals or groups who develop legal theories that respond to the nation’s changing capital markets, and who demonstrate dedication to the goals of the securities laws through their untiring efforts on legislative issues.”

Lee came to Texas A&M in 1977. He was the initial director of the Petroleum Engineering Department’s distance learning program. He received the Distinguished Achievement in Continuing Education Award in 2001 from the Texas A&M Association of Former Students. His areas of specialization include oil and gas reserves estimation procedures and unconventional resources.

Lee previously worked for Exxon where he focused on integrated reservoir studies and headed Exxon’s major fields study group. He also worked with S.A. Holditch & Associates, Inc. and retired in 1999 after serving as executive vice president.

He has been a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers for 46 years and has held numerous positions, including membership on the Board of Directors. From SPE, he has received many top honors, including Honorary Membership in 2001, the highest recognition awarded by the society; the Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal in 2003, the society’s top technical award; and the DeGoyler Distinguished Service Medal in 2004, the society’s top service award. He also received the SPE Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1982 and the AIME Mineral Industry Education Award in 2002.

He was elected to the United States National Academy of Engineering in 1993 and to the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences in 2006. In 1994, he was elected to the Georgia Tech Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni. In 2008, Lee was appointed to serve on the National Research Council Committee on Understanding the Impact of Selling the U.S. Helium Reserve.

Lee holds bachelor’s, masters, and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech.

Written by: Lesley V. Kriewald, lesleyk@tamu.edu

Popularity: 28% [?]

The Board of Directors of the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) elected Dr. Stephen A. Holditch, the head of the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, as its new chair.

Dr. Stephen A. Holditch, P.E.

Holditch succeeds Mark Murphy, president of Strata Production Co. in Roswell, N.M., who completed a two-year term. The organizational bylaws stipulate that the chair position alternate between industry and academia every two years.

RPSEA President C. Michael Ming said, “Dr. Holditch has served on the RPSEA Board since our inception and has served as the Chair of the RPSEA Strategic Advisory Committee for the last three years. Along with his commitment to the RPSEA mission, Dr. Holditch has had a distinguished career and brings an array of experience in the oil and gas industry and academia to the RPSEA Board. Steve has been a pioneer in many of the technologies associated with unconventional resources, especially hydraulic fracturing. It is an honor for us to obtain his leadership.”

After receiving his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate from Texas A&M University, Holditch joined the faculty there in 1976 and was named head of the petroleum engineering department in 2004. Holditch, holder of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Chair in Petroleum Engineering, was the Society of Petroleum Engineers International (SPE) president in 2002, SPE vice president-finance and a member of the SPE Board of Directors from 1998 to 2003. In addition, he served as a trustee for the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) from 1997 to 1998.

In 1995, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and in 1997 to the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. In 1998, Holditch was elected to the Texas A&M University Petroleum Engineering Academy of Distinguished Graduates. He was elected as an SPE and AIME Honorary Member in 2006.

“This is an opportunity to increase my involvement with RPSEA to focus on the technology we need to produce more natural gas and oil from unconventional reservoirs and ultra-deep water environment,” Holditch said. “RPSEA is extremely important to the 25 research universities who are members of RPSEA. These universities are educating the professionals that America needs to find and develop domestic hydrocarbons to meet the needs of the USA.”

RPSEA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit consortium with more than 145 members, including 25 of the nation’s premier research universities, five national laboratories, other major research institutions, large and small energy producers and energy consumers. The mission of RPSEA, headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, is to provide a stewardship role in ensuring the focused research, development and deployment of safe and environmentally responsible technology that can effectively deliver hydrocarbons from domestic resources to the citizens of the United States. Additional information can be found at www.rpsea.org.

Written by Danette Mozisek
281.313.9555
dmozisek@rpsea.org

Popularity: 27% [?]

Texas A&M University’s student chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has been selected as the 2009 Outstanding Student Chapter for the North America Region.

SPE Outstanding Student Chapter Awards recognize student chapters whose programs, activities and levels of participation during a single academic year distinguish those chapters from others.

Winners will be recognized Oct. 4 during the Student General Session at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans. More information is available online at http://www.spe.org/atce/2009/.

Popularity: 53% [?]

Three professors and a student in petroleum engineering will receive prestigious technical awards from the Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE) at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.

Dr. Christine Ehlig-Economides

Dr. Christine Ehlig-Economides, professor and A.B. Stevens Endowed Chair, has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the SPE Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal — SPE’s highest award for technology development — for her work in advancing both reservoir engineering and hydraulic fracturing technologies. Her work in reservoir engineering helps the industry estimate the amount of resources available; her work in fracturing helps extract resources from unconventional, challenging reservoirs.

A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Economides currently leads Texas A&M University’s program in energy engineering that engages students from multiple disciplines in shaping their outlook on sustaining a positive energy balance for the future.

Dr. Akhil Datta-Gupta

Dr. Akhil Datta-Gupta, the LeSeur Chair in Reservoir Management, has won the John Franklin Carll Award, SPE’s second-highest award for technology development. Datta-Gupta manages the largest and most active joint industry project in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering. His research into sophisticated systems of dynamic data integration has helped simplify problems of how fluids move in the subsurface so they can be recovered for use.

Dr. Hisham Nasr-El-Din

Dr. Hisham Nasr-El-Din, holder of the S.A. Holditch Faculty Fellowship, will receive the SPE Production and Operations Award. Over his 40-year career, Nasr-El-Din’s work has touched nearly every approach to improved production technology, mostly through the development of products and processes that move hydrocarbons from their locations within a reservoir to the wellbore, where they can be produced to the surface for processing.

Graduate student Abhishek Anchliya will receive the Young member Outstanding Service Award. Anchliya has served as a member of the International Student guidance Committee and the Young Professionals Committee, where he has worked to coordinate programs that help students move into the professional organization. He has also served as editor of The Way Ahead, the SPE magazine for young members.

Written by Darla-Jean Weatherford

Popularity: 63% [?]

Texas A&M Engineering students have won multiple third-place awards in the 2009 Ideas Challenge.

Students at Texas A&M University focus on innovation through the annual Ideas Challenge event, hosted by the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE) at Mays Business School.

Patrick Duffy and Ryan Becker from the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution placed third with their Bottle-Net WANulator, a WAN (wide area network) simulator that will allow for a company’s remote users to have the bandwidth necessary to run applications.

Alfredo Ramirez, Paul Nester, Matt Achimon and Brent Dyer also from the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution placed third with their invention, Temperature Guard, an autonomous child entrapment identification and alarm system.

Other engineering students who were part of several third-place teams include Gordon Burgett, Richelle Kila and Colin Bryson from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Kyle Logsdon from the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and Seong Kang from the Department of Nuclear Engineering; and Michael Massicotte from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, John Tyler from the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering’s Ocean Engineering Program and Klark Kurz of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Teams presented their ideas during the May 6 competition, which gave students the chance to pitch their ideas for new products and services to successful members of the business and academic world.

The competition, open to all Aggie students ranging from freshman to doctoral level, began with an essay requiring participants to describe their “big idea.” Out of more than 400 student entries, 40 finalist individuals and teams were chosen to present their ideas to a panel of judges that included lawyers, consultants and executives from across the state.

After a five-minute presentation by the would-be entrepreneurs, the judges challenged participants to think on their feet through a tough question-and-answer session. Judges quizzed the students on the marketability and feasibility of each proposal, providing friendly, constructive feedback to the students.

The top 10 teams split a total of $13,000.

About Mays Business School and the CNVE

Mays Business School currently enrolls more than 4,000 undergraduate students and 875 graduate students. Mays is nationally ranked among public business schools for the quality of its undergraduate program, MBA program and the faculty scholarship of its 110 professors in five departments.

The Texas A&M Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship provides encouragement, education, networking and assistance to entrepreneurially-minded students, faculty and Texas businesses. Founded in 1999, the center is part of Mays Business School’s Department of Management. The center enhances student education through campus speakers, competitions, work experiences and financial support.

For more information, visit http://mays.tamu.edu or http://www.cnve.org.

Lesley Kriewald, lesleyk@tamu.edu

Popularity: 31% [?]

The oil and gas industry may encompass the globe, but its engineers are a close group who honor their own. Nowhere is that loyalty more evident than at Texas A&M University where petroleum engineers from the Class of 1975 have established a permanent tribute in memory of classmate Charles A. Rohan.

Charles and Toni Rohan

Rohan was a retired Chevron engineer who lived in Richmond, Texas, at the time of his death in 2006.

“Charles Rohan personified the high ideals of what it means to say, ‘I am an Aggie petroleum engineer.’ His name will live on forever through this scholarship, which will help us prepare other fine young people for careers in the profession he loved so much,” said Dr. Stephen A. Holditch, petroleum engineering department head and holder of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Endowed Chair.

A $275,000 endowment at the Texas A&M Foundation will create the Charles A. Rohan Memorial Scholarship in Petroleum Engineering. When fully funded, the scholarship will be awarded annually to four or more students with a minimum grade point ratio of 3.5 in their department coursework and an overall minimum 3.0 GPR. Preference will be given to juniors and seniors who demonstrate leadership quality, financial need and involvement in oil and gas related extracurricular activities.

Trent B. Latshaw is the class representative coordinating activities and contributions associated with the scholarship. Lead gifts by Latshaw, Terry W. Rathert and Ted H. Smith helped start the Class of 1975 gift.

“This group of men truly embodies the Aggie Spirit. The honoring of their classmate and the demonstrated passion to give back to Texas A&M are evident with this tremendous scholarship in petroleum engineering,” said Brady Bullard, director of development for petroleum engineering with the Texas A&M Foundation.

Rohan and his wife, Toni, were high school sweethearts in Richmond. They moved to Mississippi where Charles enrolled in a university with a co-operative work program of keen interest to him.

“But Charles’ heart belonged to Texas A&M,” Toni said. “One day he saw an Aggie bumper sticker in Starkville, Mississippi, came home and told me, ‘We’re heading home — I’m going to Texas A&M.’ We saved our money for a year and then moved to College Station.”

At Texas A&M Rohan briefly pursued a kinesiology degree with the intention to coach high school football. After one year he changed to petroleum engineering.

“He was going to change to mechanical engineering, and I told him the day before enrollment that I was glad that he hadn’t chosen petroleum engineering because it looked too hard — and it was like Charles to take a challenge,” Toni said.

She went on to serve as president of the Petroleum Engineering Wives Club as her husband became increasingly active in the Petroleum Engineers Club. After an internship with Getty Oil, he joined the company’s office at Conroe, Texas, after graduation.

Rohan advanced to area engineer for Getty Oil Onshore in Lafayette, La. For a decade he was Getty Oil’s recruiter at Texas A&M job fairs. He was a sponsor for Dr. Robert Shivers during his dissertation work and helped provide expertise, field knowledge and insights into petroleum engineering fundamentals. Rohan stayed with the company through its merger with Texaco and Texaco’s subsequent merger with Chevron.

For many years he was a member of Texaco’s first response team for the United States. After retiring from Chevron in 2002 after a 29-year career, he became an independent consultant.

Juli, Christi, Charles and Rusty (Charles Jr.) Rohan flash their Aggie rings.

“Charles spent his life dedicated to his family and the career he was passionate about — drilling for oil. Together we instilled a love for education in our four children, who in turn have dedicated their lives to educating young minds. Our family is touched and honored by this scholarship, which will further Charles’ dream: providing assistance to young men and women who otherwise may miss out on their education and dreams because of financial difficulties,” Toni said.

Their son Thomas graduated from the University of Texas Pan American where he received a full baseball scholarship. Christi is Texas A&M Class of 1998; Charles Jr., Class of 2000; and Juli, Class of 2004.

Charles and Toni also passed a love of Texas A&M traditions to their grandchildren. Toni predicts nine future Aggies in the family at current count.

Friends and family of Rohan are invited to contribute to the scholarship. Donations may be mailed to the Texas A&M Foundation, 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, Texas 77801with “Rohan scholarship” on the memo line.

Written by Exa York

Popularity: 12% [?]

Several students from the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University took top places at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Gulf Coast Regional Student Paper Contest on April 18-19.

In the Bachelor of Science division, Aaron Clark won first place for his paper, “Determination of Recovery Factor in the Bakken Formation.” Craig Freeman took second place in the Master of Science division for the paper, “A Numerical Study of Performance for Tight Gas and Shale Gas Reservoir Systems.”

In the Ph.D. division, Ahmed Alhuthali won first place for the paper, “Optimal Water Flood Management Under Geological Uncertainty Using Rate Control: Theory and Field Applications,” and Eric Bhark won second place for his paper, “An Adaptive Multi-scale Approach to Production Data Integration for Efficient Global Reservoir Characterization.”

Eric Calderon also participated in the Bachelor of Science division, and Daegil Yang was a contestant in the Master of Science division.

All participants who participated were required to give a 20-minute presentation that was based on a research project the student is involved with. They were judged on presentation skills, degree of difficulty, importance to the industry, and performance during a question and answer session.

Written by: Lauren Kern at laurenkern@tees.tamus.edu

Popularity: 8% [?]