Sustaining and rapid response engineering in the reservoir sampling and pressure group of the commercial products and support organization at Schlumberger Sugar Land Technology Center

Abstract

This record of study investigates twelve months of engineering industry experience, a required internship of the Doctor of Engineering degree program at Texas A&M University. The internship company was Schlumberger Limited. The record of study begins with a brief introduction to the company. Three projects undertaken by the intern during the internship are discussed. The projects show how a wide variety of knowledge, both technical and practical, is required to solve engineering problems. Issues facing newly graduated engineers in industry are discussed. Issues facing newly graduated engineers exposed to industry for the first time are quite different than a traditional engineering curriculum has prepared them to encounter. Industry today is demanding a well-educated engineer capable of tackling technical problems in several areas as well as engineers with the ability to easily communicate and interact with others and develop leadership potential. Academia, industry, and society all have a highly influential role in developing engineers. The engineer must consider the interaction of technology and society when searching for a solution to optimize the benefit to all. The study further investigates academic challenges as well as the declining number of engineers, international competition, industry responsibility, and observations made during the internship period. Research has shown that in the next few year as the Baby Boomer generation of approximately 77 million people begin to retire, the next generation of approximately 44 million will have difficulty keeping up with technical and scientific demands. Industry demand for science and engineering graduates is beginning to overwhelm academia’s ability to respond and produce. Few U.S. undergraduates are continuing education in graduate schools. This leaves a large student population base to be filled by international students. U.S. citizens accounted for only 35-percent of the total number of doctoral degree recipients in science and engineering during the 2005 academic year. Observations made during the internship period will be used to make recommendations to both industry and academia to help align industry demands and academic abilities in order to produce engineering graduates that are ready to accept the vastly different challenges encountered in industry.