世界石油期刊 Journal Petroleum JPT-2026_03.pdfVIP

Features

EnergizingTomorrow:EngineeringEducation,Upskilling,andSPE’sRole

Petroleumengineeringeducationisatacrossroads,withuniversityenrollmentsshrinking

andatalentgaplooming.Takealookatwhatthedatareallyshowaboutdegreetrends,why

GenZisturningawayfromengineering,andhowSPE—fromK–12outreachtolifelong

upskilling—isuniquelypositionedtoimpacttheindustry’sfutureworkforce.

Doyouknowthatfeelingwhenyouaresousedtosomethinginyourdailyroutinethat

you’resurprisedwhensomebodyelseasksyouaboutit?Alongthelinesof“that’sstandard,

whywouldsomebodycare?”,I’vecometorealizethatI’mthatwaywithpetroleum

engineeringeducation—orjustacademicsingeneral.

AstheDepartmentHeadofPetroleumEngineeringatColoradoSchoolofMines,Iliveand

breathehighereducationonadailybasis.It’sjustpartofmyDNAatthispoint.However,it’s

finallysunkinthatnoteverybodyisasimmersedasIam.Thisrealizationoccurreddueto

thesizablenumberofquestionsIreceivefromSPEmembersabouthighereducation,

industry/academiarelationships,researchfunding,continuingeducation,upskilling,etc.

BeforeIjumpintothistopic,IwillstartoffwithaHUGEdisclaimer.Yes,Iamanacademic,

andonlythethirdsittingacademiciantoserveasSPEPresident.However,thatdoesn’t

meanthatIknoweverythingaboutthestateofalleducationalareas.Especiallyina

worldwidesetting.Therefore,IwillsharesomethoughtsthatIbelievemightbeofinterest

toSPEmembersatahighlevelbasedonthequestionsthatIamgenerallyaskedonthis

topic,butifyouwanttodigintosomedetailsonaparticularregionorsituation,Iencourage

you