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UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
AT LAFAYETTE
STEP Committee
Technology Fee Application
Petroleum Engineering Computer Lab Upgrade
to Meet the Requirements of Simulation in
Curriculum and Professional Development
Title
Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari & Dr. Fathi Boukadi
Name of Submitter
(Faculty or Staff Only)
Petroleum Engineering
Organization
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Title: Petroleum Engineering Computer Lab Upgrade to Meet
the Requirements of Simulation in Curriculum and
Professional Development
Date: 7/16/2018
Name (Contact Person): Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari
Address: Madison Hall 222E
Phone Number: 337-482-6115 Email: [email protected]
Department/College/Org: Petroleum Engineering/ Engineering
Abstract:
When the oil and gas industry first began, it was based around people who were willing to get their
hands dirty. Over the last 150 years, this industry has become more innovative and efficient to
provide the energy demands of the world in a safer, more cost efficient and environmental-friendly
manner. There are numerous types of computer software packages which can model and simulate
situations which operate the oil and gas industry. In our department’s computer lab, we have been
fortunate enough to get several of these costly packages donated so students can be proficient in them
when they make it into industry. Unfortunately, we cannot run these software packages properly
because the computers do not meet the minimum specifications that the packages require. This is a
problem for teaching our students to learn the skills effectively.
Based on recent survey, 81% of the petroleum engineering students feel that the current hardware in
PETE computer lab does not meet the requirements for their curriculum and professional
development for the simulation of oil and gas operations. On behalf of petroleum engineering
department (both faculty and students), we are proposing that we need a major computer lab upgrade
in order to run the provided programs properly and contribute to the professional development of our
students. Below, we clearly elaborate the current situation of the PETE computer lab to replace 30
outdated computers with 30 modern workstations to address this immediate need for petroleum
engineering students.
Purpose for Grant and Impact on Student Body as a Whole:
The purpose of this grant proposal is to provide computers to our petroleum engineering students to
educate them with the computers skills required for their curriculum and professional development.
The major problem that is faced with the current computers is that they do not provide enough RAM
to run the petroleum engineering softwares, they are slow or they are broken. The computers we have
are equipped with either 4 or 8 GB of RAM. This amount does not meet the minimum requirements
of the software packages that we have installed on them and makes running them a great deal slower
(See Attachment #1). Also, the monitors we have are out of date and cause issues with display which
hinder the programs maximum performance.
One of the PIs of this grant, Dr. Mokhtari, recently purchased the COMSOL class kit software (with
more than $9,000 budget from VP research) to advance the computer skills in the college of
engineering. However, the efficiency of offered course on using COMSOL was low due to failed or
slow efficiency of working with computers in the PETE computer lab. Additionally, Dr. Mokhtari and
his colleagues recently received a grant with total funding of more than 9 million dollars to study
Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) in Louisiana and Mississippi. There is budget for the purchase of
several advanced computers for research through the TMS project and they will be located in
graduate research office in Madison 234. For educational purposes, however, the STEP grant is
required to upgrade the undergraduate computer lab (Madison Hall Room 132), so undergraduate
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students can also benefit from this significant grant since the PIs will attempt to translate the research
results to educational curriculum in undergraduate level for this huge shale oil resource in our
backyard in the border with Mississippi.
Because of the mentioned computer system issues, we are requesting to receive the funds to purchase
(60) Dell 22 inch Monitors-P22117H (double monitors to enhance simulation/learning efficiency),
(60) C2G 10ft Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapter Cables, and (30) Precision Workstation
T3420 SFF computers. (See Attachment #2).
Projected Lifetime
Since this model of computer is considered medium to high grade, the lifetime of them can be
projected to be at least 8 years. With proper maintenance (five year warranty is included in the quote)
and room conditions they can last over 10 years.
People Responsible
This document has been produced as a result of teamwork between faculty (Dr. Mokhtari and Dr.
Boukadi) and several motivated students (Archie Metoyer, Jr, Shubhankar Shrey, Philip Wortman,
and Anh Le). Archie Metoyer took the lead in running the survey and preparing this document with
the supervision of faculty and input from other students. Philip Wortman used his computer skills to
set the computer packages based on the requirements for running PETE softwares, Shubhankar Shrey
surveyed the status of current computers in the PETE lab and Anh Le assisted in running the survey.
If the grant is accepted, Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari will take the lead in the purchase of computers and will
be responsible for the maintenance of computer lab He will consult with the leaders of student
associations in this regard.
Justification
Upgrading the Petroleum Engineering computer lab will majorly impact our student body by
providing professional computers to simulate and model situations related to the industry. Whichever
side of the industry our students decide to be a part of (Reservoir/Geomechanics, Drilling,
Completions, and Production), they will have to be proficient in operating computer software and will
need professional computers for that use. Starting their junior year, our students will take classes that
consist of learning the software packages. These classes include Phase Behavior, Drilling
Engineering, Petrophysics, and Reservoir Fluid Flow (See Attachment #3). Once they reach their
senior year they will work on a yearlong senior design project. This project consists of students
working as a team of engineers to create well plans, risk analysis, and overall operations for
producing oil and gas. Every software that our department offers will be required to be used
thoroughly. These courses are very important to the quality of engineers we produce in our
department and developing them into professionals prepared to enter the field. The enhancement of
PETE computer skills is also emphasized in the several past PETE industry advisory board meetings.
If we do not upgrade these computers soon, we will no longer to be able to give our students these
resources to learn and become skilled in and it can jeopardize our ABET accreditation. To portray
how important this is to our students, the leaders (Presidents and Vice Presidents) of the five student
associations in our department has put together a formal letter. In this letter, students explain why we
need a computer lab upgrade and how it will help them in their educational goals. There is also a
survey that portrays how dissatisfied our students are with the computer lab we currently have (See
Attachment #4).
Previously Funded Grants
There are no previous STEP funding awarded to the department of Petroleum Engineering.
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Budget Proposal
1. Equipment $54,180.00 (Quote Attached)
2. Software $
3. Supplies $
4. Maintenance $
5. Personnel $
6. Other $
TOTAL: $54,180.00
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Attachments:
1) Specifications for the current computer and the software used in the Petroleum Engi-
neering Computer Lab
Figure 1: Specifications for most of the current computers in the lab (4 GB)
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Figure 2: Specifications for the remaining of the current computers in the lab (8 GB)
Figure 3: Minimum system requirements for Schlumberger software Petrel.
Figure 4: Minimum system requirements for COMSOL.
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2) Quote for the requested equipment
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3) Flow Chart for Petroleum Engineering Curriculum
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4) Letter by student organizations along with detailed survey
Monday July 16, 2018
STEP Grant Committee
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Petroleum Engineering Computer Lab Upgrade
Dear STEP Grant Committee:
We as the leaders of the organizations of the Petroleum Engineering department feel that we
are in major need of an improved computer lab. As Petroleum Engineers, there are a number of
software that are essential in building the skills of simulating and modeling. As students, practicing
and mastering these software are vital to becoming professionals that are getting equipped to enter the
oil and gas industry. In saying that the software is highly professional, it requires high performance
machines to run them properly. As a department we currently have access to a few of the software,
but we unfortunately do not have a proper facility to operate these programs and maximum
performance. The problems we face with our current computer lab include: insufficient storage, bad
quality hardware, and major lagging. These problems make it quite difficult to fully build the skills
and become specialized with the programs. All in all, we want to better our department and build the
best engineers around. So in order to do this we are requesting the funds to receive an improved
computer lab.
A survey of ten questions was put together to display that it is not only us leaders who feel
that our computer lab needs improvement. The survey was sent to all Petroleum Engineering
Undergraduate and Graduate students. Of the students who responded, the results show that 35% feel
dissatisfied and 46% feel very dissatisfied with the current computer lab. This means that 81% of the
Petroleum Engineering students feel that they are not getting the skills that they should. The rest of
the detailed results are provided on the pages below. Thanks for your time and we hope you consider
our concerns.
Sincerely,
Brian Boatman (SPWLA Vice President)
Damon Emmitt (IADC Vice President)
Kassie Comeaux (AADE Vice President)
Coby Authement (Pi Epsilon Tau Vice President)
Mitch McElderry (SPE Vice President)
Archie Metoyer, Jr (SPWLA President)
Colby Williford (IADC President)
Allison Morency (AADE President/Pi Epsilon Tau President)
Bryan Holmgren (SPE President)
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5) Survey of Petroleum Engineering Students Sent to All PETE students from July 2, 2018-July
6, 2018. ( The survey was conducted by Archie Metoyer, the president of SPWLA student chap-
ter)
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