Dr. Jennifer Miskimins
Petroleum Engineering Department Head
Greetings from the start of another school year! The M Climb has happened, Census Day is past, and everybody from students to faculty seem to be settling in nicely. First, let me start off by introducing our new newsletter format. We have decided to expand our newsletter to three times per year rather than just the historic one time in early fall. We feel this might be a better way to keep in contact with you all as well as offer more timely updates on the department and the numerous events and happenings that we have going on. You can expect to hear from us roughly in the September, January, and June time frames. Additionally, you’ll see the format is a little more – shall we say modern – with links to various stories and updates. We hope you enjoy this new format!
Much has happened in the past year to catch you up on, and you will find quite a bit of information in this newsletter edition. We ended our 100th anniversary celebration with a bang with the inaugural Colorado School of Mines Petroleum Engineering Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It was a wonderful evening of celebration for our history and Mines’ PE alumni contributions to the industry. I encourage you to check out the profiles of our inaugural class. The Hall of Fame will be an ongoing event held every two years, so be looking for the next version in 2024 and plan on joining us for the celebration if you can.
In other news, our field sessions went well this year with Massadona once again on the menu for the second field session, and Midland, TX, as the site for the first field session. I was able to visit both classes, and the students were enjoying themselves immensely this year. Thank you once again to all the companies and alumni that helped to host these groups – we truly couldn’t do it without you!
This school year has started off well and there is definitely a feeling of being back to 100% normal after the last few years. We appear to be seeing an uptick in the first year students’ interest in the petroleum engineering field, which is positive for the department but also for the students, as opportunities after graduation have been strong this past year and should be again in the coming ones.
The faculty is doing well as a whole, and we added three new faculty to our ranks in the past year, Drs. Parisa Bazazi, Serveh Kamrava, and Pejman Tahmasebi. I encourage you to check out their profiles on our department webpage, as well as introduce yourself if you see them at a conference or otherwise. We are very happy to have all three add their strengths to our department. Dr. Bill Eustes was pulled out of retirement (willingly I promise) this fall to teach our drilling classes as we search for a new drilling professor position. If you know of anybody that would be a good additional to Mines, please send them our way!!
As I write this note, I am sitting in the Damman airport in Saudi Arabia after a visit to some of our departmental partners in this area. While here, I was so fortunate to be able to see and speak with numerous Mines’ alumni and former students, including a wonderful dinner with several of my personal formal graduate students. It is so incredible to see them all having so much success in their careers and making the world a better place. Having such opportunities reminds me personally why I love being a professor, but it’s also a strong reminder of the place that Mines’ alumni have in the world and the many contributions they are making to society. Keep it up, Orediggers!!
Until next time…
Jennifer