FIELD SESSION 315
Figuring out how to have Field Session 1 while working under pandemic restrictions was chal - lenging, but happily we pulled it off! Everyone got to sleep in their own beds at night and we did day trips all around Colorado while following all of the campus pandemic protocols. We loaded everyone into nine mini-vans every day to go to our sites. The group consisted of 52 students from the US, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, South Korea and Kuwait, faculty (Drs. Linda Battalora, Xiaolong Yin, Mark Miller, and Yilin Fan), staff (Rachel Mc - Donald, Nellie Link, and Joe Chen) and teaching assistants (Gamma Firdaus, Gunnar Merrick and Jennifer DiCarlo). Some students from Saudi Ara- bia came off planes only days before field session began!
The first day we were on campus and started off with a presentation on “Environmental and Social Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility” by David Van der Vieren of Western Midstream , DJ Basin Regulatory Group. That was followed by a virtual AERA Energy panel session from Mines alumni about working in the oil and gas industry after graduation from Mines. Participating alums were George Hunsacker PE ’85, Matt Erbes PE ‘13, Molly Fantasky ME ’17, Linda Mohammad PE ’07 and ‘09, and Nicole Kennedy PE ’14. In the after - noon we headed over for an OXY Production field tour where we learned about OXY’s tankless site design. Our host, Telbe Storbeck, OXY Stakeholder Relations Advisor, and OXY tour guides did a great job leading our students while working around thunderstorms.
Day two started off with a visit to one of PDC ’s drilling rigs. Alum David Lillo, PE ‘87, Senior Vice Pres- ident Operations, organized the visit, and we toured the rig led by PDC Energy employees and rig contractor employees. They were waiting for a part so students were able to get a close look at the control booth and other parts of the rig that would have been off-limits if the rig was in use. We then headed over to a Cres - tone Peak Resources (CPR) hydraulic fracturing site for a very muddy visit, thanks to afternoon thunderstorms. Mark Balderston, PE’83, Completions Superintendent, organized this tour. Our tour guides were CPR employ- ees and Liberty Oilfield Services employees, including Matt Pullos PE ‘13, District Engineer, Liberty Oilfield Services.
Day three was a simple day as we broke into two groups and took turns visiting the EVRAZ Steel Mill in Pueblo where students learned how seamless pipes are made. It was fascinating, loud and hot, but we learned a lot from our host and guide Mines alum Ryan Willis MME ‘18, Quality Manager, Seamless Mill.
Top picture is of the whole group at PDC’s drilling rig. Center picture is of some of the students at the Evraz Steel Mill. Below is one of the groups of students being led around
the PDC rig.
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