When daddy told me that I would not study anthropology on his funding but that I would join an engineering curriculum, I knew that I was not supposed to argue for my case. After graduating in mechanical engineering, I went to work for the aircraft industry before joining an oil service company. Today, I am used to introducing myself as a petroleum engineer, with substantial anthropological experience, thanks to this industry exposure. On the last rig I visited, I shared great discussions with the mud engineer: after years as a drug chemist, this pharmacy PhD had enough of his city life and had joined a drilling fluid company. He was now enjoying new adventures in the Gabonese jungle.
A couple of years ago, at the SPE drilling forum in Dubrovnik, a participant poll revealed that only half of the attendance was holding petroleum engineering degrees. The other drilling specialists had mechanical, civil, chemical, electrical, etc. engineering backgrounds, though they were all sharing relevant and innovative ideas on drilling technology. In the so-called big crew change, like at the Dubrovnik forum, the outgoing crew is likely composed of individuals of many diverse engineering backgrounds.
Because the search and extraction of hydrocarbon is increasingly difficult, the development of new technology is necessary. The complexity is such that these technologies can only be designed and implemented by teams of people with cross-discipline insight, including people coming from other industries. Thanks to this mixture, creative thinking is generated toward game changing discoveries and innovations from other industries can find implementation in ours. There is no such thing as a talent pipeline running from feeding stations of petroleum engineering departments at reputable universities, supplying a talent thirsty oil and gas industries through a ramified network. Talents are geographically, discipline, industry and gender diverse. Our industry will be able tomorrow to incorporate bright minds and turn them, like so many before, into petroleum engineers, in great part thanks to the SPE. It is through a fair competition - that includes compensation, career opportunities, job satisfaction, lifestyle, etc. - with the other sectors that the oil and gas industry has to attract the best ones, and I like to think that petroleum engineering graduates can also thrive in other industries. I cannot help but remember that Alfred Wegener was not originally a geophysicist, and that my compatriot Henri Darcy was a civil engineer.
In Switzerland, there are world-class engineering schools but no petroleum engineering curriculum. Some of their students could though make exceptional recruits and develop further as petroleum engineers. SPE volunteers pay regular visits to these institutions, where they present the art of hydrocarbon exploration and production. In their quest to attract the best talents toward our industry, they sow the seeds from which the next generation of petroleum engineers will be blended. At the end of these events, the same question from students always arises: “is your industry ready to take me for a long term internship?” Indeed, internship is one of the best ways to interact with students and faculties. It is a tremendous tool to introduce brilliant young individuals to our industry, it is crucial to education while it enhances the image of the companies that provide them. For these students coming from non petroleum engineering curricula, the internship is the soil and water that will nurture the seed and allow it to grow.
Unfortunately, our industry is very inefficient at using these opportunities for itself and for the students. Too often, internship requests are turned down by companies’ recruiting departments that are not equipped to properly deal with them, or internships are considered a favour opened in priority to employees’ relatives. In the internship market, supply and demand almost never meet for a lack of organisation, awareness and communication. On the other side, SPE can provide great help by changing the way technical internships are dealt with and by easing contacts between companies, schools and students.
As SPE members and as citizens, we must encourage managers and project leaders to look, in every project, if there is room for internship(s). A limited scope of work could be written and passed on to an organisation such as SPE. The offering company would also commit to the successful internship by providing proper mentoring and supervision to the student during the entire project duration and after, if necessary, by reviewing the various reports, and eventually by attending the intern’s presentation at the school. These internship offers could be dispatched through the SPE network and to universities and engineering schools that would then supply students with the proper skills and background to undertake and progress these projects. Increasing cooperation between company’s engineering departments and educational/research institutions can only benefit to everybody, create a more exciting and smarter world while building strong foundations for innovation and growth.