Schlumberger’s long-established values have always included a commitment to invest in existing and future talents and have a positive impact on the communities where the company operates. Over the past few years, in cooperation with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Egypt Chapter, Schlumberger led a significant number of activities and workshops such as the SPE Monthly Technical Sessions, the SPE Young Professionals Yearly Educational Week, and the SPE Women Events.
Last September, Schlumberger agreed with the SPE Egypt Chapter to design the “Undergraduates Field Trips” program for engineers and geoscientists who represent the future talents of the Egyptian oil and gas Industry.
This program is part of the people development pillar in the Ministry of Petroleum’s Modernization Project, which aims to better utilize the sector’s human resources with a qualified and capable workforce.
The objective of the initiative is to give students the opportunity to explore different activities across Schlumberger operations and have hands-on training to experience the real world of the oil and gas sector. Another objective is to sponsor graduation projects for high profile students.
During the first semester of year 2018 – 2019, around 150 students had the chance to visit two Schlumberger facilities: the Egypt Center of Efficiency in 6 of October City and the Artificial Lift Workshops in Nasr City. Moreover, Schlumberger expanded this program to add a population from Suez Canal University in the second semester to reach a total number of more than 250 students.
These trips were a real success and generated positive feedback from both students and professors.
According to Dr. Ismail Mahgoub from the Future University in Egypt this practical training helped students get familiar with the main equipment used in oil and gas fields. As a result of the training, students showed much better interaction with lecturers and demonstrated higher performance in their classes than before the trainings.
“The program is well organized, and the topics very attractive. I think this program adds strength to the current curriculum of Petroleum Engineering at Cairo University. The Schlumberger initiative is an excellent way to narrow the gap between academia and practice. It helps improve the performance of our undergraduate students and develop their skills and knowledge, and they also learn about the latest innovative technologies and tools,” said Dr. Mahmoud Abu El Ela from Cairo University.
Meanwhile, Dr. Gehad Mohamed from the American University in Cairo (AUC) noted that the program “is considered as a new module which aims at strengthening the spirit of teamwork between students from different universities.”
Feedback was just as positive from the participating students who noted that they appreciated the opportunity to meet with Schlumberger professionals and being exposed to a wide scope of technologies and domain expertise.
According to student Farah Ibrahim, from Cairo University, what is special about the program is that it consists of several sessions in different branches of Petroleum Engineering such as Drilling and Production. “Also, the program is an ideal gateway to expand our knowledge and increase our information base” she indicated.
Likewise, student Ahmed Negm from the AUC expressed his appreciation of the program. “My gains were numerous by being introduced to the new technologies used by Schlumberger in various jobs and how safe they operate,” he explained.
