2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Enhancing Petroleum-Engineering Education through Active Student Engagement, Hands-On Experience, and Technology Integration

Presented at Technological and Engineering Literacy/Philosophy of Engineering Division (TELPhE) Technical Session 3

The oil and gas industry is continuously changing; therefore, it is essential for the petroleum engineering education to keep pace with these changes to keep attracting the brightest students. This is important because petroleum engineering schools need to prepare the future engineering leaders of the industry. The aim is to equip them with the essential skills and to make them agile and adaptive so that they can use their technical background and experiences to attain new skills and tackle challenges whenever needed. Thus, the petroleum engineering (PETE) program at Texas A&M at Qatar (TAMUQ) has implemented different educational tools (integrative and cooperative capstone project, fourth-year comprehensive exam (CE), augmented reality and 3D visualization, fieldtrips and laboratory simulators, engineering video games, programming and data analytics skills, 3D printing, research, soft skills enrichment program) to enhance the learning experience of petroleum engineering students and derive engineering education excellence. In this paper, the used educational tools and their role in achieving these goals are assessed and discussed. These tools are assessed through faculty observations and enrolment monitoring. The results show increased student enrolment in the program and improvement of students problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and thinking skills, as well as reinforcing theoretical concepts. In addition, the involved faculty members believe that the educational tools improved students’ learning experience, helped them in job interviews, and improved their employability.

Authors

Dr. Mohamed Fadlelmula Texas A&M University at Qatar [biography]

Dr. Mohamed Fadlelmula is an Instructional Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ). Fadlelmula is dedicated to teaching excellence, therefore, he has participated in several projects to improve students’ learning experience, motivation and engagement. He has received different teaching awards such as the TAMUQ Teaching Excellence Award 2022, and the College Level Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching from the Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University in 2020. Fadlelmula also serves as the ABET coordinator of the Petroleum Engineering Program since 2018.
Dr. Nayef Alyafei http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3510-9642 Texas A&M University at Qatar [biography]

Dr. Nayef Alyafei received his Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College London in 2015 and joined Texas A&M University as a faculty member in 2015. Dr. Alyafei is known for his passion in teaching with a unique teaching style. He received
Dr. Albertus Retnanto http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2015-1634 Texas A&M University at Qatar [biography]

Dr. Albertus Retnanto is a Program Chair and Professor of the Practice of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University at Qatar and has been in the Petroleum Engineering program since 2009. He received his Ph.D. degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University. He held a Principal position with Schlumberger and has more than 18 years of experience worldwide in technical and management positions in well testing, field development, and production enhancement. He served as SPE Drilling & Completion journal review chairman, SPE Cedric K. Ferguson Medal Award committee member, SPE Drilling, and Completion Advisory committee, and SPE advanced technology workshops. He received the A Peer Apart SPE Award, which is dedicated to the technical excellence of authors to the industry. He received the Associate of Former Student of Texas A&M University College-level Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching and Distinguished Achievement for Petroleum Engineering Faculty, Society of Petroleum Engineers-Middle East & North Africa Region. Dr. Retnanto is an active Program Evaluator (PEV) with the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET.

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