The Next Generation Of Petroleum Engineering Students: Challenges And Needs

Abstract

The next generation of petroleum engineers will need to be prepared with knowledge in both the domains of petroleum engineering and technology, innovation, and digital knowledge due to the industry's rapid adoption of technology and digitization, as well as the necessity to address and work toward sustainability. As the sector develops quickly, they will also need to promote sustainability, meet the demand for higher efficiency, and be prepared for a career path that will constantly alter.

This paper presents some ideas and suggestions that could improve the performance of petroleum engineering education in the next few decades. This improvement in academic performance will assist petroleum engineering students in controlling the rapid development of technology used in the oil and gas industry. The paper showed the most important changes in the petroleum engineering industry for the time being and also the future trend. This future trend is driven by the oil and gas industry, which is focused on the improvement in exploration, drilling, and production technology and innovations. The paper suggested how to change the students' learning outcomes through the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, to give the newly graduated students the required knowledge and skills needed in the work field to handle any task given to them without extra time and effort for any new training. The required competencies for petroleum engineering students, such as those in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, advanced robotics, the internet of things, three-dimensional visualization, and big data management, will provide them with a competitive advantage and assist oil and gas companies in increasing productivity at the oil fields or in oil and gas wells.