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| May 09, 2008 |
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Reinstated UW petroleum engineering program graduates first students
LARAMIE - Just two years after the University of Wyoming reinstated an undergraduate degree program in petroleum engineering, 12 students will receive Bachelor of Science degrees in the discipline. Commencement is scheduled for May 10.
Reinstating the B.S. degree “was a good decision," according to H. Gordon Harris, who heads the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in the College of Engineering and Applied Science?
"All of the graduating students have been offered positions in the oil and gas industry," he said.
Harris was on the UW faculty during the oil and gas boom of the late 1970s and early '80s, which was followed by a steady decline in industry activity, oil prices and student interest. UW in 1997 eliminated the undergraduate degree, although it maintained its masters and doctoral degrees programs in petroleum engineering. Harris doesn't anticipate a similar decline happening anytime soon.
"The worldwide demand for oil and gas is not going away anytime in the foreseeable future," he said. "We anticipate a steady increase in the number of students interested in our program."
UW had 66 students enrolled in petroleum engineering this spring.
Industry interest in recruiting UW students is also on the rise. The UW Center for Advising and Career Services reports that 16 specific oil and gas companies requested petroleum engineers for summer employment, internships or full-time jobs. Additionally, 12 companies attended the fall career day and 10 attended the spring job fair, and six already are scheduled for the coming fall semester.
John Fanto, True Oil’s production superintendent for Wyoming, said True Oil has hired two UW undergraduate petroleum-engineering students, to work as interns this summer.
"We are an independent oil company that will be looking to hire workers who would want a career with a Wyoming-based company," he said. "A student from Wyoming would have a leg up on someone from elsewhere who plans to move on."
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Wyo Delegation reacts to AML decision
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Rep. Barbara Cubin have issued the following statements regarding the Office of Surface Mining’s (OSM) decision that $51 million in abandoned mine land funding will be available for projects approved by the Wyoming Legislature:
“I am pleased Wyoming will get more money from the federal government than ever before. The $51 million was Wyoming’s money to begin with and should never have been held captive for this long. I worked long and hard for its release,” Enzi said. “The hoops the feds have forced Wyoming to jump through are uncalled for.”
“Wyoming is finally set to receive the $51 million in AML funds we’re rightfully owed,” Barrasso said. “We shouldn’t have to justify our expenditures to bureaucratic bean counters in Washington.”
“It is gratifying to know that after all those years of my hard work and bi-partisan negotiation these dollars can now be spent for the betterment of Wyoming and her citizens. AML is no longer a four letter word in our state,” Cubin said.
“The Wyoming delegation is continuing work to stop the bureaucratic madness and get Wyoming’s future money without all the red tape,” Enzi vowed.
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Jackson architects present at Greek green conference
JACKSON – Some innovative Wyoming buildings were among the earth-friendly architecture on display in Athens, Greece, last month when Tom Ward and Mitch Blake of Jackson-based Ward + Blake Architects attended the International Conference of the American Institute of Architects Continental Europe in Athens, April 10-14.
Titled “Athens: Ecology + Environment + Architecture,” the conference brought together Greek, European and American architects and architecture students with a focus on inspiring architects to practice in an environmentally conscious way.
Among the distinguished speakers at the conference were “green skyscrapers” architect Ken Yeang; “landscape healer” landscape designer Julie Bargmann of DIRT Studio in Charlottesville, Va.; Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis; and “BedZed London zero-emissions development” director Benjamin Gill of BioRegional.
Participating architects were invited to submit green buildings designed and/or built by AIACE members using a variety of energy-saving and eco-conscious materials and technologies. Conference literature notes that buildings—the products of architects—are responsible for 40 percent of energy consumption and 70 percent of CO2 emissions globally. The conference hoped to send architects home “to reconsider the way we practice architecture: each in our own office, each in our own country; all combined, in a new environmentally conscious way.”
Ward + Blake projects on display in Athens included the TK Pad, a seismically stable rammed earth residence with interior design by EK Reedy Interiors in Jackson; the environmentally friendly headquarters of the Nature Conservancy in Lander, the Warshaw residence in Jackson with interior design by EK Reedy, and the mixed-use Shervin Building in downtown Jackson, which incorporates a second-floor sod roof.
Ward + Blake’s use of a “New West” architectural vocabulary epitomizes the growing Western Modernism movement and has been featured in the pages of the Wyoming Business Report as well as in Architectural Digest, Western Interiors, Cowboys and Indians and other architecture and design magazines. For additional information, visit www.wardblakearchitects.com.
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national news
Hungry world to get record wheat, rice crops
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boosted by high prices and good weather, the world's farmers will reap record wheat and rice crops this year, the U.S. government said on Friday, which should somewhat allay fears of scanty food supplies.
March trade gap narrows on record import drop
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A record drop in U.S. imports because of slowing domestic demand took a big bite out of the U.S. trade deficit in March despite record high oil prices.
Oil hits record over $126/bbl as bull run goes on
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil jumped to a record of over $126 a barrel on Friday, extending gains to more than 11 percent since the start of the month on fuel supply concerns and a rush of speculator buying.
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