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45 comments on The Big Crew Change: Turnover in the Oil Workforce

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Luis de Sousa on March 16, 2007 - 5:30am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I think that most of the engineering degrees are thought today as specializing courses with a very narrow focus. That's why you have so many different engineering degrees out there, whereas 50 years ago you had just 3 or 4 (mechanics, civil, chemical).

People today are not taught to think outside the box, to look at other science fields parallel to theirs. Like so many times commented here, PO requires some understanding in several different fields from mathematics to sociology, from geology to politics.

On a personal basis I find oil depletion research pushing especially my knowledge on mathematics, and not so on geology or petroleum engineering. BTW my base formation is on Information Systems and Programming.

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plucky underdog on March 17, 2007 - 4:19pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Hi Luis (no accents on this keyboard),

I think that most of the engineering degrees are thought today as specializing courses with a very narrow focus

American university education has always been broad and time con$uming, of course, but even in the UK now an engineering student would study a broad core curriculum for the first two years (of four for a BSc or BEng, or five for an MEng). This would include...

  • Engineering mathematics (calculus, vector calculus)
  • Strength of materials and structures
  • Machine design
  • Statics, kinematics, dynamics
  • Hydrostatics, some fluid mech
  • Thermodynamics
  • Some nuclear science
  • Economics (mostly discounted cashflow)
  • Probability and stats
  • Workshop and manufacturing practice
  • One foreign language

    • Then they would spend their final two years learning about petroleum engineering, with that lot as a foundation. The same would be true for an aeronautical engineer, say, or a nuclear engineer. Engineering students work just as hard as medical students, and by the time they graduate they know a lot more about a lot more than the average humanities scum.

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    Hans Blix on March 17, 2007 - 10:45pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

    "average humanities scum"

    And who would that be?

    I am an just an electronic engineer, but if I'm not a petroleum engineer, does that make me just an average humanite scum?

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    plucky underdog on March 18, 2007 - 1:28pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

    Not at all old chap - that was just for humorous effect.

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    45 comments on The Big Crew Change: Turnover in the Oil Workforce

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