MESSAGE FROM DEPARTMENT HEAD
Wow – what changes a year brings! I would like to start out by first saying that I hope you and your loved ones have remained healthy and untouched by the COVID-19 virus in these unprecedented times. It is obvious that our industry has not, and we are in for some rough times ahead, but as many of you have expressed to me, I believe that we will weather this storm and come out stronger on the other side!
I thought that I would start out by providing you some information on how Mines and the Petroleum Engineering (PE) Department have been dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. The university went to a fully virtual mode on March 17th, with all non-essential faculty and staff working from home. After an extended two-week spring break to prepare, we were teaching all classes online starting March 30th through the end of the semester on May 8th. Taking an entire university online in two weeks was a challenge; however, I’m proud to say it was one met head on with much success. In PE, all faculty, staff, and students stepped up and finished the semester out strong. As of the writing of this article, we have just started the Fall 2020 semester and are proceeding with a mix of classes including face-to-face, remote/online, and hybrid (a mix of both types). It’s definitely challenging to keep it all straight (you should see the lab schedules!), but, whatever the semester brings, we will continue to meet the challenges!
As you can imagine, the state of the economy did have some impacts on our students with both internships and full-time offers. Many of the internships were shortened or taken virtual, with some unfortunately rescinded. However, even in the latter case, many of the participating companies reached out to students with scholarships or partial salaries to lighten the blow. With full-time offers, a very small number were withdrawn, while others have had start dates pushed back. I give all sorts of credit to the senior class and graduating graduate students, our newest alumni, in that they have handled all of this with grace and a resilient attitude as they enter the industry in such an unusual time.
COVID-19 aside, the department has undergone several changes in the past year. We unexpectedly lost Dr. Azra Tutuncu last September, which was a shock to her students and her Mines’ family. The remainder of the PE faculty helped to pick up her research and graduate students, many of which have now successfully completed their studies. A memorial to her is included in this newsletter. On a much hap - pier note, we have appointed the first Professor of Practice to our faculty. Professor James (Jim) Crompton has joined us part-time to help in the area of data analytics and science. Jim was the 2019 recipient of the SPE International Management and Information Award and recently retired from Chevron (conveniently for us to Colorado Springs). Jim has helped shape our data analytics classes, our data analytics undergraduate minor and a new, fully online, Petroleum Data Analytics Graduate Certificate that launches this fall.
Which brings me to another point. Even before the pandemic, we had begun work on some fully accredited online courses, intentionally designed with the Mines’ Trefny Center, to build some flexibility into our coursework. A few of these classes are undergraduate level designed to eliminate some bottle-necks in our flowchart, while other are graduate level with the intent of providing people who can’t attend graduate school full-time, an opportunity to add to their personal portfolio (or take classes until they can get to campus). We have around 8-10 courses that fall into this category, and if you have interest in the details, please contact us. Additionally, keep an eye out for information on the new Petroleum Data Analytics Graduate Certificate mentioned above, which is available fully online and we believe is a one-of-a-kind opportunity that Mines’ is offering.
The past year has brought some other changes to the departmental leadership and staff. You might have notice that I no longer have the moniker “interim” attached to my title. I was asked to assume the full-time department head position in April, and am very honored to have stepped into the role. Additionally, Xiaolong Yin accepted the Associate Department Head position last October. Finally, we are happy to welcome Nellie Link, who joined us as our new Department Manager in March – one week after the school went virtual, which made for a challenging start to a new position, but a challenge that she has met head on.
It has just been announced that the SPE annual conference, ATCE, will now be fully virtual in late October. Unfortunately, this means that we won’t be able to hold our annual alumni reception. We are so sorry that we won’t be able to see you in the usual manner, but look forward to making it up in 2021! Instead of the reception this year, please stay tuned to our social media outlets for updated on various department and student activities.
I will sign off for now with a heartfelt wish that all is well with you and your loved ones. We love hearing from you and how you are doing, so please feel free to reach out via Zoom, Teams, Skype, email, letters or whatever your preferred mode is. We mostly look forward to the time that we will just be able to host you back on campus in person once again!
Take care and please stay safe,
PETROLEUM .MINES. EDU
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https://petroleum.mines.edu/