The University of Houston announces “New Petroleum Engineering Degree to Begin in Fall“:
Perhaps more challenging for the petroleum industry than finding new ways to extract hard-to-reach resources may be locating the people to do it. At the University of Houston, a bachelor’s degree plan in petroleum engineering will be offered starting next fall to help replenish the industry’s aging workforce.
“Launching a new undergraduate program in petroleum engineering is a significant step toward meeting the workforce needs of the energy industry,” said Cullen College of Engineering dean Joseph W. Tedesco. “The demand for petroleum engineers has never been greater, and we are now situated to better serve our energy-centered region as well as our nation.”
The Society of Petroleum Engineers projects 40 percent of the industry’s workforce will reach retirement age next year. That, coupled with growth in the industry and a national decline in the number of students pursuing degrees in technical fields, has businesses scrambling for talent.
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Approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Thursday, the degree program will combine the fundamentals of petroleum engineering and geosciences with economics, energy law and business. The program, along with a pre-existing master’s degree option, aims to fill gaps in the workforce and arm graduates with the skills needed to respond to the evolving industry.
The curriculum was established after consulting extensively with the college’s petroleum engineering advisory board, which is made up of industry professionals, and Devon Energy and Marathon Oil have contributed $1.6 million toward the program.
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Found via BlogHouston.
