On 11/6/2020, two petroleum engineers- graduate students Sydni Tomblin and Katie Kowalchick- set out to tackle intense drilling operations on Petroleum
Peak, located in the Sawatch mountain range in CO. The surface hole went well and the formation was soft. As they drilled deeper, they ran into some operational issues and broke the bit off from the drill string. Additionally, the water supply was beginning to freeze so operations were been postponed for the
season. These are great learnings we can take with us moving forward. Overall, it was a successful exploration drilling operation.
Image credit to Katie Kowalchick.
PANDEMIC PRECAUTIONS
Mines had a comprehensive pandemic plan in place and students, facul- ty and staff followed those guidelines so Mines was one of the schools that never had to shut down during this past academic year. Campus had to be creative in finding additional classroom spaces as we adhered to social distancing guidelines and most of the existing classrooms got Live Capture systems so students could participate remotely. Teaching while wearing a mask was a challenge for both our faculty and the students, but we were able to push through and still have an effective school year.
Handling the labs under pandemic restrictions was especially difficult. We staggered lab stations to maximize how many people could be in the room while maintaining the required distancing and added additional lab sections. Masks, fogging goggles and other complications had to be over - come, but the hands-on experience was worth all the hassle.
Some of these precautions will still be in place for this academic year and some have gone away, but no matter what the circumstances we will continue to do everything we can to continue to give the best learning experience possible to our students.
12 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
Students from the drilling course practicing social distancing during
one of the mud labs.