Shell Petroleum Camp a Success

A dozen University of Michigan students, including seven chemical engineering students, recently participated in an all-expenses-paid Shell Petroleum Engineering Camp in Robert, Louisiana, thanks to the Shell Oil Company. The week-long camp included training sessions on various aspects of the petroleum industry, such as drilling, petroleum operations, and subsea operations, as well as health, safety, security and environmental issues. Participants also toured One Shell Square, and Shell’s Geismer Chemical Plant. “You begin to appreciate the difference between 20 and 25 plates in a separation tower,” says Stephen Kerns, one of the participating students, upon his return. “I began to consider things like ‘If I make it 15 feet taller, do I risk the wind blowing it down?’’’ One of the most exciting parts for some students was the water survival and helicopter underwater evacuation training.

Shell is a strong industrial partner of the College of Engineering and U–M, providing employment and learning opportunities for students, expertise for advisory boards, and important financial support. The camp was organized and hosted by Rick Meyer (MSE ME and NAME ’77), staff regulatory engineer and manager of Shell’s U–M recruitment team, who went to great lengths to make this camp possible for our students, because, as he said, “we wanted to make this hands-on experience with oil and gas drilling and production operations available to some great Michigan students.” Rick, along with many Shell employees, including recent U–M alumni Wenni Guo (BSE ’03), Jason Van Roeyen (BSE ’04), Sara Scott (BSE ’05), and Sabi Balkanyi (MSE Aero ’01), also gave students a flavor of New Orleans, including side trips to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the lower Ninth Ward, and the French Quarter.

“It was a wonderful experience getting to learn more about how the oil industry works,” reflected student Trudy Huang, “and to explore the possible career paths that a chemical engineer can take after graduation.” We would love to make other such training experiences available to our students. Please contact Undergraduate Program Advisor Susan Montgomery at smontgom@umich.edu to discuss possible opportunities.

Article from the 2007 Chemical Engineering Newsletter.