Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) Carolina Gomez Garcia has taken home the top prize in an annual competition held by the Energy Institute (EI) to celebrate Aberdeen’s best MSc students.
The event, sponsored by Nexen Petroleum (UK) Ltd, was organised by the EI Aberdeen, Highlands and Islands branch to honour the best energy papers from MSc students at Robert Gordon University (RGU) and the University of Aberdeen (UoA).
Carolina Gomez Garcia, who won £250 for her efforts, presented her winning thesis ‘Integration of the Minimum Well Profile Energy Criterion and Geomechanics Model for Wellbore Trajectory Control, a Roadmap Tool for Drillers’ to a panel of experts at a special event held last month.
This annual event is held to bring together industry and academia, showcasing the latest thinking and research from MSc students and provide chance to network with prospective future employers.
Six students were shortlisted by the two universities with the judging panel including senior industry figures from Well-SENSE Technology, Ensco, Aker Solutions, ENGIE E&P, The Oil and Gas Technology Centre and Ecosse-Subsea Systems in addition to host Nexen Petroleum.
Winning student Carolina, who is studying an MSc in Drilling and Well Engineering, said: “I am very proud to have won the first prize of the ‘Energy Institute MSc Student Best Paper Competition 2016’.
“There was a high level of talent and to be selected out of so many students is a fantastic surprise. Being recognised at the Energy Institute competition is a big confidence boost and I look forward to progressing in my career in oil and gas engineering.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many people from RGU’s School of Engineering, Energy Institute and the oil and gas industry who assisted and supported me in particular my industrial supervisors.”
RGU student Priya Sihag, won the third place prize of £100 for her thesis – ‘Hydraulic Fracturing Design Optimization to Minimize Proppant Flowback’.
Priya who won £100, said “It was brilliant to take home the third place prize given the level of knowledge and skill of my fellow participants.
“This was a great project to be involved in as it gave us the opportunity to work with and present to industry professionals and something I consider to be an invaluable experience.”
Dr Mohamed Amish, Oil and Gas Engineering Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer at RGU’s School of Engineering, said: “I am extremely delighted and pleased for Carolina’s and Priya’s significant achievement.
“Throughout the projects they worked closely with the oil and gas industry and showed a high level of engineering knowledge and skills, initiative and independent thinking, alongside a commendable attitude and enthusiasm in implementing and executing the final product.
“Carolina and Priya’s excellent performance in the MSc Drilling and Well Engineering Course and RGU’s MSc Petroleum Production Engineering culminated in their win. It reflects very well on the high standards of the Oil and Gas Programmes we offer in the School and the high quality students we attract.”
Laurie Mackay FEI, Chair of the local Energy Institute branch said: "Once again the two universities in Aberdeen have proved to be centres of academic excellence. These two world renowned establishments bring to the marketplace some pioneering ideas and solutions. The student's submissions covered a variety of topics across the exploration, drilling, projects, operations and environmental aspects of our industry and they clearly demonstrated the type of innovative thinking needed to tackle the many challenges we face.
"The judges were extremely impressed with both the quality and relevance of all six student presentations and this was clearly reflected in the close scoring. It is really encouraging to see in-depth research and fresh ideas coming from the next generation and I want to congratulate all the students for their high calibre submissions. Students are the lifeblood of an ever evolving sector and in the current climate it is even more important that academia and business are closely aligned.”
Mike Backus, Vice President Operations UK, Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited, added: “Nexen is delighted to have hosted the Energy Institute’s MSc Best Energy Paper event again this year. It’s the second time that Nexen has held the competition in past three years and I am encouraged by the continuous stream of high quality students who are graduating from both RGU and University of Aberdeen.
“Nexen is strongly committed to supporting graduates into the industry and giving this generation of young explorers, scientists and engineers a foundation into one of the most innovative and highly skilled industries in the world.”