Spring 2017 Education Center Newsletter

Barry Russell, President & CEO, IPAA

The 2016-17 fall semester closed with many activities being provided for the students in the five IPAA/PESA Petroleum Academies in Houston and Fort Worth. These would not have been possible without the tremendous support of the many companies, organizations and individuals who have helped sustain the work of the IPAA/PESA Energy Education Center since the creation of the first Petroleum Academy at Charles H. Milby High School in the Houston Independent School District. Along with the Petroleum Academy at Milby High School, there are Academies at Westside High School, Southwest High School, the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy and the Energy Institute High School.

We are very thankful for the involvement of organizations both large and small and other industry associations. There are now between 50 to 100 individuals, companies and organizations that support the Academies. In particular, I would like to mention the involvement of other associations, such as the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Houston Geological Society, Houston Producers’ Forum, North American Prospect Expo, National Ocean Industries Association, Outer Continental Shelf Advisory Board, Ocean Energy Safety Institute, Offshore Technology Conference, Society for Independent Professional Earth Scientists of Houston, Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston. The Petroleum Academy Education Advisory Board has been instrumental in the continued growth and sustained success of the Academies, with many board members having served since the inception of the Academies 10 years ago.

We are very thankful for the support this past semester of the following organizations that provided field trip locations, camps, and support for our students, many on multiple occasions: Bureau of Economic Geology, Consumer Energy Alliance’s Houston Energy Day, Fort Worth Museum of Science & History, Gearhart Industries, Gulf Publishing’s Women’s Global Leadership Conference, High Island Beach Trenching, Houston Geological Society, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Marathon Oil, Offshore Energy Center Career Day, Perot Museum, Schlumberger Surfside Beach Cleanup, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University Energy Institute & Fossil Dig, University of Texas, Arlington, and Weatherford Training Facility.

Academy students are very competitive and they participated in the annual Shell STEM Showdown Competition at the University of Houston with involvement from Rice University, University of St. Thomas, University of Houston and University of Texas, Austin; the annual PetroChallenge Competition sponsored by Occidental Petroleum, Schlumberger and NeXT; and the Fort Worth Speaking Competition with support by American Association of Drilling Engineers member companies.

This semester we held the second annual Guest Speaker Lecture Series Conference in Houston to model how students should prepare for and conduct professional presentations. These conferences were made possible through the support of Core Laboratories, INEOS, Marathon Oil, National Ocean Industries Association, Schlumberger and Southwestern Energy. Additionally, guest speakers from the following organizations presented to academy students, many on multiple occasions at multiple academies: Apache, Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, EOG Resources, Halliburton JRC, Lamar University, Houston Geological Society, Limerock Partners, Lockheed, Occidental Petroleum, Railroad Commission of Texas, Texland Petroleum, University of North Texas, Weir Oil & Gas and XTO Energy.

In the spring semester we are gearing up for two Training Fundraisers provided by Energy Training Resources with support by North American Prospect Expo and Society of Petroleum Engineers, the summer externship program, further field trips, competitions, guest speakers and the second annual Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement competition with involvement by the Ocean Energy Safety Institute and the University of Houston.

Thank you again to all the many and various organizations and individuals who contributed to this past semester’s success and helping to create the NEXT GENERATION of talented energy professionals.

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