Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering

New research from The University of Texas at Austin finds industrial buildout in oil, gas and petrochemical sectors in the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southwest regions could generate more than half a billion tons of additional greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2030. That figure is equivalent to 8% of total current annual U.S. emissions. These emissions are driven by the regions’ oil and gas boom, and a substantial fraction comes from large industrial facilities such as new petrochemical plants, liquefied natural gas export terminals and refineries. The vast majority of these emissions will come from Texas and Louisiana.

With a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Cockrell School of Engineering is launching a unique initiative that aims to make The University of Texas at Austin a national hub for geothermal energy expertise and startups. The new Geothermal Entrepreneurship Organization (GEO) will bring together engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs to develop technologies and launch companies to help advance the geothermal energy industry.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is investing $8 million in engineering research at The University of Texas at Austin that aims to create a more efficient process for recovering oil from naturally fractured reservoirs using engineered water. Water flooding is currently the cheapest and safest method, but also one of the least efficient in naturally fractured reservoirs. Finding new ways to make water-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) more efficient and effective will help safeguard U.S. energy independence into the future.

Established in 1957, the Distinguished Engineering Graduate Award is the highest honor that the Cockrell School bestows on its alumni. The five distinguished engineering graduates for 2019 are innovators, entrepreneurs and highly respected leaders in their industries and communities. Including this year's honorees, 286 alumni have been selected for this award, recognizing them as highly respected professionals, dedicated engineers and supporters of higher education. We honor them for their dedication and generosity, and we are proud to call them Cockrell School alumni.

For several days throughout the Spring 2019 semester, petroleum engineering alumnus Scott Sheffield (B.S. 1975) returned to the Forty Acres to engage with students and faculty as part of the new Alumni-in-Residence Program in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. Sheffield drew from his four decades in some of the most pivotal roles in the oil and gas industry for discussions about where the industry is headed, why petroleum engineering remains one of the nation’s most significant fields of study and how students can prepare now for the changes sure to come in the future.

Engineers with The University of Texas at Austin signed a $5 million deal over 10 years with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

Four professors from The University of Texas at Austin, along with one alumna, have been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2018. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions bestowed upon an engineer.

A transformative gift has been made by the Hildebrand Foundation to support the Cockrell School of Engineering’s nationally recognized Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. The gift will provide significant resources for student and faculty initiatives and investments in new teaching and research technologies. In recognition, the university will name the department the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering.

Engineers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin have been selected to help lead a five-year, $20 million National Science Foundation engineering research center aimed at developing new mobile technologies for converting natural gas into transportation fuels near rural natural gas sites.

When oil mixes with or enters into water, conventional methods of cleaning the water and removing the oil can be challenging, expensive and environmentally risky. But researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin believe they may have developed a better method.

Statoil, an international energy company based in Norway, has signed a $2.5 million partnership renewal agreement to support graduate student research focused on geology, geophysics and petroleum engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.

Petroleum and geosystems engineering sophomore Karan Jerath was chosen as one of 17 United Nations Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals.

In an industry downturn, it is especially important to discover innovations that enhance oil and gas operations’ efficiency and minimize costs. Two UT Austin petroleum engineering professors and a research scientist are creating solutions to meet these critical needs. From building the world’s largest database for multi-phase flow to developing a new technique for obtaining residual oil from old reservoirs to analyzing real-time data, these faculty members are revolutionizing the recovery process.

Research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that rock salt, used by Germany and the United States as a subsurface container for radioactive waste, might not be as impermeable as thought or as capable of isolating nuclear waste from groundwater in the event that a capsule or storage vessel failed.